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Twycross Times

TWYCROSS HOUSE SCHOOL | THE GREEN | TWYCROSS | NEAR ATHERSTONE | WARWICKSHIRE | CV9 3PL | T: 01827 880651 1TWYCROSS HOUSE SCHOOL | THE GREEN | TWYCROSS | NEAR ATHERSTONE | WARWICKSHIRE | CV9 3PL | T: 01827 880651

TWYCROSS HOUSE SCHOOLTWYCROSS HOUSE PRE-PREPARATORY SCHOOL

SUMMER 2017

TIMES

Both senior and junior school teams have enjoyed phenomenal success across a wide range of sports this year. The U20, U17 and U14 male and female Ultimate teams were National Indoor Champions in five out of the six categories and were runners up in the sixth. The U15 boys’ football team won the Nuneaton and District Cup and were runners up in the District League Division 1. The U14 and U16 boys’ basketball teams won the District Tournaments and the U16 team went on to claim the County title and finish in the last 32 of the national English Schools’ competition.

The U13 boys’ table tennis team won the District Tournament and went on to represent North Warwickshire at the School Games Finals at Coventry University. The U13 girls’ tennis team were the top team in Leicestershire defeating the likes of Loughborough Grammar and Leicester Grammar whilst the U15 boys finished as runners up in Division 1.

The U15, U13 and U12 netball teams all finished second only to the mighty Higham Lane in their District Netball Leagues, whilst the U11 team did even better, winning the District League and Cup and then the Warwickshire School Games title as well. Further junior success included the U11 girls and boys cross country teams winning the District Championship, the U11 girls winning the District Athletics and the U10 and U11 teams winning the overall title; the U9 girls winning the District cross country race; the U11 mixed hockey and mixed rounders teams winning the District Tournament and representing North Warwickshire at the School Games; the U11 girls rounders team winning the District Tournament; the U10 boys’ football team winning the district Cup; and the U11 swimming team finishing a very close second in the District Gala.

In addition there are many individual pupils are excelling in their chosen sports and activities and gaining GB, Midlands, County and District honours. These representative honours vary widely from our many GB Ultimate players including Kate Gibson and Amy van Zyl who have been selected for the U24 Womens’ GB team to compete in Australia, to Midland basketballer Ethan Morrell who is also a County footballer, Ellen Oberheim who was winner of international dance competitions and Jai Parmar who is a top youth polo player.

Congratulations to all and we look forward to an equally successful year in 2017-2018.

Twycross House Sport Success 2016-2017

TWYCROSS HOUSE SCHOOL | THE GREEN | TWYCROSS | NEAR ATHERSTONE | WARWICKSHIRE | CV9 3PL | T: 01827 880651

Twycross Times

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A level and GCSE success at Twycross House SchoolStudents, parents and staff at Twycross House School are celebrating exceptional results both at A level and GCSE, which are the culmination of great commitment and hard work over the last two years.

A Level ResultsAt A level 31 students took a total of 96 A levels in 18 subjects.

The pass rate was 100%

20% of the passes were A* grades

46% were at A* or A

73% at A*, A or B

90% grades A to C.

These excellent results have enabled them to make successful applications to universities around the country.

Many of our students obtained all A*/A grades and deserve particular mention: Eleanor Christon has achieved a place at

Birmingham to study biochemistry; Bronte Dufour will read international relations at St Andrews; Amman Malik medicine at Birmingham, George Pickens chemical engineering at Bath and Joseph Dugas chemistry at Durham. Tomas Moghadam has obtained a prestigious offer from Christ Church College, Oxford University to read Physics, Paige Thomas has a place to read mathematics at St Andrews, and Amy van Zyl will travel to Bath to read PPE. Isobel Sinclair was awarded A* in English Literature and Latin and an A in Greek; she is taking a working gap year and will apply for university entrance in 2018. We would also like to congratulate Euan Tebbutt, who attained five A* and one A grade, and has not only achieved a place at Jesus College, Cambridge to read Maths with Physics, but who also over the summer won a gold medal at the International Physics Olympiad in Indonesia, and a bronze medal at the International Olympiad in Informatics in Tehran.

Headmaster Steve Assinder said: ‘We are immensely proud of these outstanding results, which are a credit to the students, their supportive parents and of course our teaching staff. These results are testament to the great industry and dedication of the young people we teach, and I am so pleased that the students have also continued to experience such broad and varied opportunities. Many of our Upper Sixth leavers have been at Twycross House since the age of four. It is with great pride and confidence that we send them off to their bright futures, and we look forward to celebrating their success at our Presentation Evening in November.’

This means that the percentage of our students achieving these top grades maintains the excellent standard of previous years.

Among the many excellent individual performances were Oliver West, with seven grades at A* and three 9s, and Olivia Milner, who achieved six grades at A*and two 9s, and one A grade and one 8.

Headmaster Steve Assinder said, ‘We are all delighted to see the hard work of our students rewarded by these excellent results. They have received a high level of support throughout both from our able and committed teaching staff, and from their parents. We are very proud of all they have achieved. Congratulations to everybody and best wishes for further success at A-level.’

GCSE ResultsAt GCSE the 42 students are to be congratulated for their excellent set of results.

100% passed 5 or more A* - C: 9-4 grades each and including 9-4 in both English and Maths.

28% were at A*:9-8

63 % at A*:9-8 and A:7

93% at A*:9/8, A:7 and B:6/5

Twycross Times

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Real Ecology can only be taught outside!Lower Sixth students battled the elements, in North Wales, to complete their ecology research practicals.

Day 1: Freshwater ecology

Rivers are aquatic ecosystems in which there is an interaction between abiotic factors and biotic factors. The abiotic characteristics of rivers and streams change along their length and in turn distribution of living organisms can vary.

Students were asked to sample three sites along a river to observe how the diversity of invertebrates varies with distance upstream of the source of the river. The sampling at each site used the kick-sample technique which allowed the students to measure the biotic components of the river e.g. invertebrate species.

Day 2: Rocky shore ecology

Shore communities are dependent upon two major factors; the tides and wave action. Tides expose the organisms to large temperature variation and drying, whilst the force of the waves may dislodge organisms from the rock. Students completed belt transects to study the distribution of organisms and then studied the heights of Patella Vulgati (limpets) on exposed and sheltered rock faces. The data collected allowed students to complete statistical analysis to determine if the results were significant or due to chance.

Day 3: Sand dune ecology

The process of change in a plant community over time is called ecological succession. Succession occurs in sand dunes following the initial colonisation of an embryo dune. As species become established, they have an impact on the abiotic environment of the sand dune such that it becomes

more favourable to other species. Over time, the species of plant will change until a climax community (stable) is reached in the grey dune. Students completed a transect to collect data on the distribution of species, enabling students to observe the process of succession and identify the pioneer species.

The field trip was a great success with the students determined to not let the weather ruin their fun. Let’s hope for better weather next year!

Mrs Lauder

Duke of Edinburgh SuccessThis year the Gold groups enjoyed better weather for their final expedition in Snowdonia. The navigation however proved just as challenging! Congratulations to the participants for their teamwork, humour and determination which enabled them to successfully complete the challenge.

Earlier in the term the Bronze groups all successfully completed their expeditions and it is excellent to see that many have now enrolled to take part in the Silver expedition in September.


Twycross Times

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Form 3 Alice in WonderlandTo give Form 3 a little taster of what they could expect from Drama next year, we spent the last half term working on a mini-version of Alice in Wonderland. It was very much an experimental piece where the cast played everything from trees to mushrooms to a chest of drawers – and not once did they question my sanity! We had 8 different Alices and each girl performed with confidence and with the right level of curiosity for the young girl who finds herself in the mad world of Wonderland. The children were keen to showcase what they had been working on to their parents

so on the last Wednesday of term, we all ventured outside to the shade of the horse chestnut tree on the field to put on the play. The sun was shining and it was an ideal setting for the play. Every child played a pivotal part in the performance and certainly made it evident that we have some very talented actors in this year group. I can’t wait to see what they get up to next year in our lessons!

Miss E Clift

Swallows Hill Summer SchoolThis year activities included bushcraft and den building, abseiling and climbing, watersports and low ropes.

Twycross Times


Form 4X Charity EventForm 4x organised their own charity event in May. The pupils formed small groups and organised: a table tennis competition; table tennis rally; guess the number of sweets in a jar; name the teddy; lottery; and a 1p and 2p challenge to go all around Swallows. On the Thursday they held: a healthy and unhealthy cake sale; sweet sale; pin the tail on the tiger; bounce the ball into the cup; move smarties between tubs using straws; pick up sweets with chopsticks; and throw the wet sponges at William and Theo. Finally the remaining water was thrown over them. Prizes were awarded to Ben McLean, Charlotte Brooks and Mila Ellis-Edwards. Working as an excellent team they raised a total of £178.93 for the Swallows Charity ‘Back-Up’.

Mrs G Leney

Plant CrazyForm 3 have been busy this term in Biology on their ‘Plants’ topic. We set up mini greenhouses so that we could watch the runner beans growing.

Courgette, pea and edible nasturtium plants were grown for all the children to take home - and look after, hopefully!

The annual ‘vegemal’ competition was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. Amazing models of dolphins, owls and tortoises were imaginatively created from assorted fruit and veg. The children (and perhaps the parents!) certainly have some creative flair.

This was followed by the miniature garden competition. Once again a fantastic set of gardens in boxes, bowls and pots were brought into school.

Both competitions were judged by our two wonderful Science Technicians Mrs L. Watson and Mrs L Cooper.

Once again they had a very difficult task, but the best four from each class were awarded small prizes.

Not to be outdone by their younger colleagues, Form 5s were given a post exam task. Using only potatoes, carrots, beans, sweet corn and peas and a few wooden sticks, they had to create an animal. They certainly let their imagination run riot!

Mrs L Holland


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French Trip to Maison Claire Fontaine 2017Early on Sunday morning a bleary-eyed group of Senior 3 students and their teachers gathered in the school car park to start their French adventure. It was half -term and they had a long journey ahead of them – 15 hours in a hot and sticky coach!

The coach pulled in finally at Maison Claire Fontaine in Burgundy that evening, just as dinner was served – spaghetti Bolognese – and although we were all very hungry we had to sort out dormitories and listen to the house rules and have our fire drill before we could tuck in!

The first day was spent at the circus tent and doing archery. It was a really hot day under the big top. Laurent our circus leader took us through our warm up and soon had us shimmying up the ribbon and balancing on the trapeze. We also learned to use our body weight to balance each other in a miniature human pyramid!

On Tuesday morning, we baked a cake called a Tartouillet, made from apples. It was a culinary competition to be judged by Mrs Knight and Miss Clift based on taste and presentation as well as being our dessert that evening. In the afternoon, we visited a beautiful chateau complete with moat and bridge, the home of Roger de Bussy-Rabutin, who had been exiled from Versailles by Louis XIV. After a short tour, we completed a maze game in the grounds

of the chateau. It was so hot and a very long way to run while having to remember at least a couple of questions from the

information we had been given on the tour, so both brains and stamina were required!

On Wednesday, after a quick lesson on shopping vocab, we visited a medieval town called Noyers-sur-Seine to buy our lunch. It was an exercise in teamwork and bravery to try out our French on the stall holders. Once back at the centre we prepared and presented our feasts to the rest of the group before we tucked in! In the afternoon, we visited Vezeley Basillica – a stunning cathedral on the top of a hill. The views across the Burgundy landscape were breath-

taking and well worth the climb (and the French questionnaire we had to complete on the way up). We had a bit of free time afterwards which was mostly spent queueing for ice-cream, kindly bought for us by Mr Assinder! Merci!

Thursday seemed to go in a flash and after making mosaics in the morning and a quick trip to the supermarket to stock up on supplies for the journey back, we were suddenly having our last meal and final presentations. Along with many prize-winners for the activities and various competitions we had taken part in during the week there was an opportunity to try the local Burgundian specialitiy……you’ve guessed it, snails! Congratulations must go to Frank Burton and Mia Clark who were awarded the ambassadeur and ambassadrice of the week.

A disco rounded off what had been a magnificent week and we said our fond farewells to the staff at Maison Claire Fontaine, grateful for a fabulous experience and one which I am sure will stay with us for a long time.

Mrs V Knight

Twycross Times


Electronics in the Lower SixthElectronics students in the Lower Sixth have been working on summer projects following the completion of their examinations.

Calum Baugh has made a radio receiver using a ferrite aerial, a radio chip and standard circuit components. It can detect both long and medium wave stations. Dan Page and Sam Everson-Crane have built a shooting gallery in which a light dependent resistor target responds to a laser. Rory Fulwell has constructed an electronic keyboard based on an astable timer chip.

C Baugh, Lower Sixth

The HikeAt the end of a long week of exams, Swallows Hill went on their annual hike to let off steam! This year the energetic pupils explored the terrain of Bradgate Park.

S2 History trip to the Black Country Museum – Industrial RevolutionAs an excited group of Senior 2 gathered outside of the museum we met our tour guide – Dave who was there to help us take a step back in time. As we strolled through the Museum’s village we were shown how to make metal chain by a rather enthusiastic blacksmith and his tamed robin who flew bravely close to the flames. Then we were offered the opportunity to play with some old toys, a skipping rope (thoroughly enjoyed by Mrs Dodd), a ring and hook which you rolled (it’s harder than you think), and a ball and cup! After we finished trying to master the toys we trailed off to the old school house where we were separated into boys’ and girls’ lines, and had to stand up straight which was hard because it was cold! We then had a lesson with a not so strict teacher but he demonstrated very well how strict the teachers were back

then by “hitting” Mr Assinder on the back with a cane…but he missed and hit a metal frame. It was very funny!

After the lesson was over we impatiently waited to have lunch with half of us wanting to try the delicious, famous chips but being sadly disappointed because we had to leave the line due to running out of time!

When we had eaten our packed lunches we set off down the mines. We were greeted with safety gear and

to everyone’s dismay torches which only shone as much as a candle. We were guided through the maze of dark tunnels meeting a few mannequins on the way and a ground shaking demonstration of the use of dynamite! As we left the mine with relieved faces we rushed to the chip shop and the old fair with many people taking a spin on a Victorian fairground ride – it was fast! Then with our heads spinning form the rides we finally sat down on the canal boat. We were taught all about the canals with some pleasant videos that were projected on the tunnel walls. On our way back we got to have a look at some fossils and have a go at legging – pushing the boat along the tunnels with your legs. This was very enjoyable to watch, especially when the teachers had a go! As our day concluded we thanked our tour guides and teachers with tired faces and we trundled onto the coach for a relaxing ride back to school. Overall the trip was very enjoyable and we learnt a great deal about life in Victorian England. Everyone had a pleasant day.

Mary – Anne Banks. Senior 2 Y

Geography Field Trip ReportAt the end of the summer term the senior 4 Geographers took part in 3 days of field work activities. These field work experiences provide a fundamental part of the new Geography course and it gave a chance for the Senior 4s to take their geographical knowledge in to the real world. The groups travelled to Dovedale to measure river transects and

study the landscape carved out by the river. They travelled to Leicester to undertake the ‘Clone Town’ survey and to evaluate the regeneration of Leicester city centre. The groups also got to know the local area around the school

in Twycross much better with land use surveys, interviews with the residents and traffic counts on the A444. All their experiences will be invaluable come next summer’s new GCSE exams.

M Beavan


Twycross Times

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Euan Tebbutt – International Informatics Olympiad 2017 Euan attended the British Informatics (Computing) Olympiad finalists’ competition at Trinity College, Cambridge over Easter.

As one of the winners, it is wonderful news that Euan has now been selected for the international competition, taking place in Tehran over the summer.

We wish him every success and look forward to hearing from Euan in September to let us know how he got on.

Mrs J van Arkel

PoetryAfter entering a poem into the school’s poetry competition and coming in second place, I thought I’d take my chances with a wider scale competition, as I had nothing to lose! So I entered a competition through Forward Poetry online, thinking nothing would come of it. I thought not to mention it to anyone as I was certain that my piece wouldn’t be selected, which meant I was rendered utterly speechless as I received a letter from Forward Poetry informing me that my original poem ‘Epitaph For A Dream’ would be published in an anthology of poems called ‘Spring Awakening’ which comes out at the end of September this year.

Epitaph For A Dream

And the way the flowers jolt in the breeze so lightlyThey attempt to hide themselves in the veilThe Spring has powers beyond recognition, so mightyThe lace lined their Parisian cheeks like a sour cocktail

Ex nihilo fit aliquid in the words of NatureTheir stare, so piercing and intimate, yet vulnerableThey arch over the empire, the lords of Ursa MajorSuch a charming parade by the Seine is insufferable

The colours of the Earth, grey, dark, and matteThe unhappy two drift idly to each otherAs the Son provides its lifeless beam in blackInto arms like a daughter to a mother

As the tranquility approaches the hostile gardenNow is time for the parting of waysThe chaos is given an overdue pardonAs they try to escape their fateful gaze

Many a story was sharedBut no longer can this joy be declaredOnly as the elements pounce on us nowWe turn our heads, kneel and bow.

Tom Bryan, Lower Sixth

Staff FarewellsThis year, we were sad to say goodbye to a number of valued members of our teaching staff, some of whom had only been with us a short time, while others had made a fantastic contribution to the school over a number of years.

Dr Charlwood and Dr Pauncefort, who were with us on temporary contracts to cover staff illness, and Miss Manson, who covered Mrs Du Sautoy’s maternity leave, will all be resuming their academic careers. Although they were only with us for a short time they each made a huge impact on the students they worked with and the school as a whole, and we are grateful to them for sharing their many and varied talents with us. We know they each have bright futures ahead of them!

Also we must say farewell to Mr Pickens, who was with us on temporary contract to cover Mrs Dunham’s maternity leave. He taught physics, chemistry and biology, and will be missed greatly. His

Winner – Duck RaceCongratulations to the Form 4Y duck (decorated by Form 4Y pupils) which won the duck race down the Derwent in aid of Sight Support.

contribution to Duke of Edinburgh also was greatly appreciated by all staff and students involved.

We also would like to extend our thanks to Miss Marshment, who has been a member of the English department since 2011, and in that time has worked tirelessly with the students to help them progress. Her extra-curricular contribution to school like was also hugely important – in particular we would like to thank her for her work organising trips to the Holocaust Centre, and this year inviting Holocaust Survivor Rudi Oppenheimer in to school to give an incredibly moving and informative talk to the students. Miss Marshment is changing career to work at the Nationwide Building Society, and although she will be missed, we wish her every success in this exciting new chapter

of her life.

Finally, it is with great sadness that we say goodbye to our Head of English Mrs Murfin, who joined us in 1985, and has taught English throughout that time, with the exception of maternity leave. It is a mark

of her dedication to teaching that she inspired so many pupils to study English at prestigious universities, including Oxbridge. Testament to the immense impact she had on the young people she taught, was the steady stream of past pupils who arrived to wish her well when the news of her imminent retirement spread. We would like to thank her from the bottom of our hearts for all that she has given to the school, and the English department will sorely miss her, but look forward to building on all of her fantastic work in the future. We wish her the best of luck for a happy and fulfilling retirement.

Twycross Times


S1 CampAt 1pm on the Friday of exam week, the Senior 1s were queuing to get out of the school grounds and hop on the bus for a weekend of camping fun; this excitement and enthusiasm didn’t dwindle once throughout the course of the weekend despite their tiredness!

A brief stop in Welshpool saw a visit to the best sweetshop in Wales but they had to work for it as Mr Assinder took them on a detour

through the deer park of Powis Castle first! With pockets full, we headed off to the campsite to begin our packed weekend – oh, but there was another walk to get there.

After all tents were successfully put up and the first meal was cooked without a hitch, they were taken on the infamous badger hunt. Clearly, however, it wasn’t meant to be and all we spotted were sheep!

A restful night’s sleep was had by all leaving us all refreshed for a day at Lake Vyrnwy. Half of the day was spent with the RSPB, river dipping, learning about local wildlife and touring a local farm – most of the children even got to hold some lambs. The other half of the day was spent canoeing out on the lake itself – needless to say it got very competitive! Unfortunately, archery had to be abandoned in the morning due to the swarms of midges. An ice cream rounded off a great day.

Back at camp and having cooked another delicious meal, everyone cosied up in their sleeping bags to watch Harry Potter. A few got too cosy and nearly got left outside to sleep!

On Sunday, the Senior 1s went off to Red Ridge Outdoor Centre for the day to do kayaking, artificial caving, climbing, high ropes and the zip wire. They all had a great time and many overcame fears and tried things they never thought they’d do. Every single one of them should be proud of what they achieved.

On our return to camp, competitive fire building began with some rather beautifully decorated fires – it was a shame these then had to be lit! After a BBQ cooked by staff (and no food poisoning…phew!), we all retreated up to the forest to enjoy the fires and some s’mores under a canopy of stars!

The following morning, fitting tents back into bags took a lot longer than getting the tents up on the first day but eventually we started back on the road to Twycross with a short picnic stop in Shrewsbury for the distribution of some well-deserved awards. Well done to Tom Adey and Charlotte Hicks for receiving ‘Best Boy and Girl Camper’ for always getting stuck in and generally being superstars! This was a difficult decision for all members of staff as all of the children had been fantastic all weekend. There

was no moaning, their energy was an asset to the trip and challenges were overcome with courage and determination. Yes, we all returned tired but it was definitely a satisfied tired!

Thank you again to all staff who helped to make this such a successful trip. Until next year!

Miss E Clift


Twycross Times

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Alumni visitWe are always pleased to see former pupils and to hear their news.

Pictured here, left to right:

Tom Dwyer – left school in 2013 and graduated with BSc in Real Estate from the University of Reading. He is now working as a land buyer for a PLC housebuilder. Last year he climbed Kilimanjaro and raised money for Young Minds, a children’s mental health charity

Danielle Newey – left school in 2013 and graduated from University of Exeter with a BA in Modern Languages. In her third year abroad she spent 8 months teaching French students

and also studied Chinese in Beijing for 1 month. Her Chinese studies will take her back to Beijing where she has an internship at the British Embassy.

Katie Boam – left school in 2013 and graduated with a BA in history from the University of Warwick. She has completed her PGCE with QTS and is now teaching Year 4 in a local primary school

Emma MarshallEmma has graduated this year from Lincoln University with a First class honours degree in Art Conservation and Restoration. She was also project leader for the faculty’s end of year exhibition – giving a speech to an invited audience on behalf of the department.

In July she will be undertaking a project for the Duchess of Rutland at Belvoir Castle, renovating the gildings.

Summer ConcertIn May, a selection of our talented musicians gathered together in Underwood for a short informal recital. This involved performances from students across the school as both soloists and in groups. The orchestra kicked off the evening with a variety of pieces followed by our soloists including singers, flautists, cellists and pianists. ‘Ensemble’ closed the event with a taster from this year’s school musical and the modern and upbeat ‘Shut up and Dance’. Although a short evening, it was certainly sweet and showcased that not only are Twycross students brilliant sportsmen and women, they are also fantastic musicians as well.

Miss E Clift and Mrs Z Griffiths

‘This is a Voice’ WorkshopOn Sunday 2nd July, Francis Mayes, Isobel Morgan, Miles Gibson, Polly Bill & Georgia Wilkinson took part in the ‘This is a Voice’ workshop held at Burton-upon-Trent organised by VocAL Intuition and run by singing practitioners Jeremy Fisher and Dr Gillyanne Kayes both of whom have coached singers on ‘The Voice’ and in the West End. It was a fantastic opportunity to learn about how the voice works and to try out some vocal exercises. They even had the opportunity to watch four students be taken through a masterclass with Jeremy and Gillyanne which will prove invaluable for their own singing development.

Miss E Clift

OrienteeringSophie and Harry Sanganee have been competing in fixtures in the North West Leicestershire primary orienteering league. They were delighted to finish in 1st place (in Harry’s case) and 3rd place (in Sophie’s) at the end of the competition.

Over the Easter Holidays they also took on the challenge of climbing Ben Nevis. Despite the weather turning wet and cloudy, they managed to make it to the snow-capped summit. Having decided to raise money for The Epilepsy Society, they managed to raise £500 in sponsorship.

Congratulations on their excellent achievements.

Twycross Times


U15 District Cup TriumphFor the first time in over twenty years of entering the competition, the Twycross U15 football team won the prestigious and ancient District Cup in the most dramatic and thrilling final ever held according to the District Association’s chairman who has witnessed them all since the early 70s.

The run to the final had been a relatively easy one with a couple of byes and the usually difficult obstacle of Nicholas Chamberlaine School overcome with a 7-2 victory. Having enjoyed a testing second half of the season the U15s were now on a roll but had a long wait including the Easter holidays until the day of the final played on the huge 4G pitch at Bedworth United on a stiflingly hot afternoon.

Their opponents Higham Lane had romped to the District League title winning all their matches comfortably including an 8-2 home thrashing of the Twycross side and were supremely confident going into the final as clearly one of the best teams in the County. A large host of their parents and what looked like the rest of their Year 10 pupils had also come along to witness their completion of a double success and lend vociferous support to the overwhelming favourites.

Like David fighting Goliath the Twycross team needed an effective game plan and I am ashamed to say that they took a leaf out of Leicester City’s book and played with two players up wide looking to hit Higham Lane on the counter attack. The rest of the midfield and the defence would need to remain compact, work very hard and defend the edge of their area. After twenty five minutes, with the score remaining goalless and Higham Lane’s finishing somewhat wayward, the plan seemed to be working but then the Twycross defence did not react quickly enough to a loose ball following a corner and the ball was poked home

to give Higham a deserved lead. The favourites had been dominating possession and passing the ball fluently and the energetic Twycross midfield who had been chasing the ball down like hyperactive spaniels were beginning to wilt in the heat as half time approached.

Lady Luck then made one of a number of welcome appearances on Twycross’ behalf and a horrendous mix up between the goalkeeper and a defender allowed Jacob Youles, who ran his legs off to exert any sort of pressure he could on the Higham Lane defence, to nip in and guide home the equalizer. 1-1 at half time was a remarkable achievement in itself given the strength of the opposition but with a number of players dead on their feet and the opponents able to refresh their team from a squad of six substitutes the prospects for the second half looked grim.

However, the character of the Twycross team now began to emerge as well as their fitness level and they continued to frustrate their opponents with some stalwart defending restricting them to long range efforts that failed to trouble the excellent Desmond Cheung in goal whilst always looking threatening on the break. Midway through the half Jacob Youles again caused uncertainty

in the Higham Lane defence and steered the ball home to give Twycross an unexpected lead. The team held on heroically until with six minutes of the match to go a drilled Higham cross from the right was sliced into his own net by one of Twycross’ superb central defenders.

Earlier in the season the team might have crumpled at this point but they dug deep and in fact had the best chance to score the winner just before the final whistle but Ewan Clamp couldn’t force the loose ball home following a well worked corner. A final score of 2-2 meant extra time and Twycross needing to draw on huge reserves of stamina and mental strength and water, to keep competitive. The first period of extra time passed goalless but early in the second period a delightful chip that just crept under the bar saw Jacob Youles complete his hat-trick and give the team something to hold on to.

Twycross retained the lead until the final minute of extra time when they somewhat carelessly conceded a corner. With the excellent Toby Nicholas off with cramp and the replacement left back slow to react, a perfect cross came in and was headed firmly past the Twycross keeper to give Higham Lane a last second equalizer with no time left for the restart and the match now going to penalties. This scenario had not even been contemplated before the game but five players were ready to step up to the plate and take on the onerous responsibility of the spot kick.

Twycross won the toss and opted to take the first penalty kick which the ever confident and excellent Ewan Bryan rammed home. Higham Lane’s turn and their spot kick clipped the bar and went over. 1-0 Twycross. Next up was keeper Desmond Cheung who dispatched a perfect penalty into the corner and went on to save the next Higham Lane spot kick. 2-0 Twycross. Twycross’ third spot kick was not struck well enough and wasvsaved whilst Higham scored. 2-1 Twycross. The next penalties were both saved leaving captain Rufus Hart with the opportunity of scoring Twycross’ fifth penalty to win the cup. Keeping his nerve incredibly well despite the antics of the Higham Lane keeper who did his unsporting best to put him off, Rufus struck the ball hard and true and although the keeper got a hand to it he couldn’t prevent the ball nestling in the back of the net to give Twycross a historic victory. A momentous and emotional achievement that led to the Twycross coach being close to tears for the first time (in a sporting context) in thirty three years!

C Perry


Twycross Times

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Senior Sports Presentation 2017The final Thursday of the summer term saw the annual Junior and Senior Sports Presentation ceremonies take place in the school sports hall. We were delighted to welcome former pupil Mr Andrew Morrell, the school’s first professional footballer and current Tamworth FC manager, to present the awards.

Many individual pupils are dispelling the myth still perpetuated in some quarters that Twycross is purely a school of academic excellence by excelling in their chosen sports and activities and gaining GB, Midlands, County and District honours. These representative honours vary widely from our many GB Ultimate players including Kate Gibson and Amy van Zyl who have been selected at the tender age of eighteen for the U24 Womens’ GB team to compete in Perth, Australia, to Midlands basketballers such as Ethan Morrell who is also a County footballer, to County hockey, table tennis, badminton, tennis players and athletes, through to winners of international dance competitions such as Ellen Oberheim and top youth polo players like Jai Parmar. And many more besides!

Both senior and junior school teams have enjoyed phenomenal success across a wide range of sports this year. The U20, U17 and U14 male and female Ultimate teams were National Indoor Champions in five out of the six categories and were runners up in the sixth. The U15 boys’ football team won the Nuneaton and Disrtict Cup for the first time in Twycross House School history and were runners up in the District League Division 1. The U14 and U16 boys’ basketball teams won the District Tournaments and the U16 team went on to claim the County title and finish in the last 32 of the national English Schools’ competition.

The U13 boys’ table tennis team won the District Tournament and went on to represent North Warwickshire at the School Games Finals at Coventry University. The U13 girls’ tennis team were the top team in Leicestershire defeating the likes of Loughborough Grammar and Leicester Grammar on their way to the Division 1 title whilst the U15 boys finished as runners up in Division 1.

The U15, U13 and U12 netball teams all finished second only to the mighty Higham Lane in their District Netball Leagues, whilst the U11 team did even better, winning the District League and Cup and then the Warwickshire School Games title as well. Further junior success included the U11 girls and boys cross country teams winning the District Championship, the U11 girls winning the District Athletics and the U10 and U11 teams winning the overall title; the U9

girls winning the District cross country race; the U11 mixed hockey and mixed rounders teams winning the District Tournament and representing North Warwickshire at the School Games; the U11 girls rounders team winning the District Tournament; the U10 boys’ football team winning the district Cup; and the U11 swimming team finishing a very close second in the District Gala. Phew!

Many thanks must go to all of the enthusiastic and talented pupils, the dedicated and hard-working staff and to the supportive and committed parents who have made such a terrific sporting year possible. The ceremonies saw the following trophies, cups and awards given out:

Most Valuable Basketball Player - Ethan MorrellMost Improved Basketball Player - Luke BarrowcloughMost Valuable Female Ultimate Player - Kate GibsonMost Valuable Male Ultimate Player - Ethan MorrellMost Improved Female Ultimate Player - Hannah JarvisMost Improved Male Ultimate Player - Sebastian HartNetball player of the Year - Niamh RooneyMost Improved Netball Player - Lucy DightonMost Promising Junior Netball Player - Olivia CoxFemale Footballer of the Year - Jessica BarkerMale Footballer of the Year (The Goode Trophy) - Desmond CheungMost Improved Female Footballer - Lucy JarvisMost Improved Male Footballer - Connor WrightMost Promising Junior Footballer - Alex FitzgeraldFemale Badminton Player of the Year - Anna CarlyleMale Badminton Player of the Year - Lawrence CockrellFemale Most Improved Badminton Player - Olivia DippleMale Most Improved Badminton Player - Yash SomaiyaHockey Player of the Year - Alex WylieMost Improved Hockey Player - Keeva MorrellMost Promising Junior Hockey Player - Steven McHaleVolleyball Players of the Year - Amelia Fellows / Amelia BluntMost Improved Volleyball Player - Alicia GuintoliRounders Player of the Year - Emma Slater

Most Improved Rounders Player - Abigail StaceyMost Promising Junior Rounders Player - Isabella CockrellTable Tennis Player of the Year - Michael McHaleMost Improved Table Tennis Player - Marshall ClarkeThe Morrell Cricket Shield (Cricketer of the Year) - Nathan WrightMost Improved Cricketer - Frank BurtonMost Promising Junior Cricketer - Jacob McMahonVictrix Ludorum - Jessica BarkerVictor Ludorum - Jacob YoulesFemale Senior Cross Country Winner - Emma YoulesMale Senior Cross Country Winner - Tim CotterillMost Promising Female Junior Athlete - Alex WylieMost Promising Male Junior Athlete - Will SimmonsMost Improved Swimmer - Rupert Tavinor-HodgeFemale Junior Games Player of the Year - Alex WylieMale Junior Games Player of the Year - Sam CooperMost Improved Senior Sportswoman - Zoe CalderOutstanding Contribution to School Sport - Luisa LeylandBen Cosgrove Trophy - Cameron LewisJunior Team of the Year - U11 NetballSenior Team of the Year - U15 FootballBest Year Supporting School Sport - S2Hornbuckle Plate - Max Dighton

Twycross Times


Kirkpatrick Cup Plate SuccessTen local Under 9 primary school football teams contested this year’s Kirkpatrick Challenge Cup and produced a feast of football in front of large crowds of enthusiastic spectators. Twycross A team performed well in their group matches, defeating Sir John More and Sheepy Magna, losing to eventual winners St Joseph’s, but just missing out on the semi-finals of the Cup competition due to a goalless draw with Warton.

The team dropped into the Plate competition and eased through to the final against last year’s cup winners Congerstone. The match ended without either team able to break the deadlock and so went to an ice hockey style sudden death ‘dribble from the half way line to score’ shoot out. Congerstone failed with their first attempt but Joshua McMahon, who had played for the opposition in last year’s tournament, calmly took his chance with a sublime and audacious chip over the goalkeeper to claim the Plate trophy for the A team.

The Twycross B team put great effort and endeavour into their four group matches, managing scoreless draws with Dixie A and B teams but losing by one goal to Congerstone and Crescent School from Rugby. The defence was solid and the midfield created chances but a failure to stick the ball in the back of the net cost them in the end. Nevertheless, they enjoyed the experience and learnt a great deal from it that will stand them in good stead in the future.

C Perry

Outdoor Nationals – Ultimate ReportTwycross sent 6 teams, across two divisions to the National School Outdoor Ultimate Championships in Birmingham.

The U14 teams played incredibly well and after the initial pool play all 3 teams made it to the quarter finals. The 3rd team improved throughout the day with players such as Imogen Pound and Mary-Anne Banks producing some great plays supported by the likes of Jessica Barker and Keeva Morrell. Their team finished 6th. The second team once again played incredibly well to move up to 3rd seeds going in to the quarter finals. Strong play by Emma

Slater and Zoe Calder was supported with great grabs from Luisa Leyland. Abigail Stacey and Yash Somaiya battled hard on defence and the team eventually finished 8th. The first team battled their way to the semi-finals but just fell short losing 7-6 in overtime. They finished 3rd with

dominant performances from all the players especially Nathan and Issac Dugas.

The U17 division was hotly contested and Twycross teams produced some amazing ultimate to finish 10th, 5th and 2nd. The third team were unlucky early on, but won 4 of their last games to finish in the top ten with Ethan

Shepherd a constant threat and Olivia Milner providing reliable handling. The 2nd team only lost to the two eventual finalists. Comprised mainly of S4s the team have worked really hard in training to improve on their indoor result. With Jack Pickering and Seb Hart solid with the disc in hand, Ewan Clamp, Ewan Bryan and new recruit Jacob Youles caught most of the points. The 1st team lost in the final last year and unfortunately history repeated itself despite the best efforts of team captain Nathan Harris and the constant running of

Billy Roberts and Tom Leyland.

All the teams played outstandingly well and continue to impress me with their commitment, attitude and positivity. Well done all of those that went.

M Beavan

Sports Day


Twycross Times

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Cricket 2017This season has seen a tremendous upgrade of the cricket facilities at the school with the purchase of the village cricket ground and so for the first time in the school’s history home matches have been played on our own properly prepared grass wicket for which the teams and coaching staff are very grateful. There has been a mixed bag of results for the teams with nine wins and six losses and the heavens always seem to have chosen to open on afternoons when matches are arranged putting paid to a number of fixtures.

The U9s have some talented young players and won both of their A and B team matches with victories over Ockbrook and Lichfield. Oliver Salt in particular looks a great prospect for the future. The U11 team also has some very promising players and came out on top in matches against Priory, Lichfield and OVS. Stand-out players were captain Sam Cooper and ‘Most Promising Junior Player’ award winner Jacob McMahon plus bowlers Steven McHale and Lewis Duffield.

An inexperienced U13 team lost both of their games but have made good progress during the season whilst the U14 team, under the captaincy of ‘Cricketer of the Year’ Nathan Wright, won matches against Dixie and Lichfield. There were good bowling performances from Nathan Wright, Chris Lumb and Daniel Whitehall whilst Frank Burton won the ‘Most Improved Cricketer’ award for his progress as wicket keeper and for his stubborn performances with the bat.

The strongest performance for the U15s this season came from Vishan Khiroya, and it is certain that the improved playing facilities, the enthusiasm of the younger players and the development of the coaching set up can only help to further raise the level of cricket at Twycross House School next summer.

C Perry

Rounders ReportThis year the Form 3 have played their first competitive rounders fixtures. After only two lessons and one practice we travelled to Derby to play Old Vicarage School. Winning the toss, we elected to field and for a first fixture were well drilled and managed to field well and also got quite a few players out on second post thanks to Isabella White. The batting was very impressive with Daisy and Sophie Whitehall and Sophie Ashford hitting the ball well to score full rounders. It was a long journey for a short amount of playing time but the girls all loved the experience.

Our second Form 3 fixtures were home games verses Lichfield Cathedral School. Almost every girl in Form 3 participated in an A or B team squad. The B team game was a fantastic match seeing Twycross House win 10.5 to 1, as was the A team game, as they won 9 to 3.5. The girls were all enthusiastic and worked hard in the field, getting all of the opposition’s batters out.

On the last Tuesday of the term we once again hosted the mini girls’ tournament at Twycross. Four teams entered and our A team won the overall competition with some outstanding fielding and batting on display, leading to the girls easily winning all three of their games. Skipper Isabella Cockrell bowled superbly, Alex Wylie was a whizz dashing between first and second post and Ingrid Davies and Olivia Cox were very quick on the pickup as backstops. In one game Olivia and Alex got eight players out on first

post. The B team lost out to the A team, beat Stockingford and narrowly missed out against Weddington loosing 3.5 to 4, putting them into third position overall. Well done to both squads for their commitment and enthusiasm for this sport; you have a great future ahead of you and should do amazingly well.

Once again the weather intervened with the NPSSA mixed team tournament, which was scheduled to be played on one of the wettest Tuesdays in the summer term. Only a couple of teams could make the reserve date so we got a bye into the Level 2 event versus schools from Bedworth and North Warwickshire without even bowling a ball. With some last minute team practices, thanks to Mrs Williams the squad won all their games at this event and qualified for the Level 3 School Games at Warwick University on the last day of the term representing Northern Warwickshire.

The team played six games in total, winning two, drawing one and narrowly losing three by 2 to 2.5, 2 to 1.5 and 2 to 4.5. Overall the mixed team finished in tenth position, which out of all the schools in Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire is exceptionally good. Isabella Cockrell captained the side very well scoring some excellent rounders and bowling accurately. Olivia Cox, Molly Palmer-Thomas, Ellie Mills, Isabel Whitehall and Zara Martin all played well and fielded tightly. The boys James Callaghan, Finlay Thompson-Lowe, Alex Fitzgerald, Dylan Reece and Henry Alves supported the girls scoring some impressive rounders and catching well in the field. A great way to end the term!

Mrs J Thomas

Twycross Times


U13 Rounders and U12 and 13 Netball This year has been a fantastic season for U13 Rounders. As a team they have been committed to every practice and every fixture. They have encouraged one another to be the best they can be and it certainly shows in their results. They played Old Vicarage School winning both innings 14 to 3.5 and 8.5 to 2. They then played an away fixture at Dixie again winning both innings 9.5 to 2.5 and 3.5 to 1.5. Lastly, they faced Arnold Lodge which saw them finish their Rounders season unbeaten, by again, winning both innings 11.5 to 5 and 8 to 2. They should be very proud of the dedication and team spirit they have demonstrated this year. Well done!

This year’s Netball League results have been confirmed and I am extremely pleased to confirm that both our U13 and U12 teams came runners up in their leagues. Congratulations, another successful netball season!

Miss S Robinson

Twycross U11s’ Hockey Report The Twycross U11s’ mixed hockey team have had a tremendous season which culminated in them winning the Sainsbury’s Level 3 School Games tournament on behalf of North Warwickshire on the last day of Summer Term.

To qualify for the finals, which were held at Warwick University, they had already been victorious in the Nuneaton Schools’ Sports Association Tournament and the North Warwickshire Schools’ Tournament, winning both tournaments without really being tested.

The School Games Finals were a different story altogether. They played against the best teams from all over Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull and were tested to their limit.

The side finished runners-up in their group. Their only loss in the league stages of the tournament was against Coventry East, a team who were beating everyone before them. Finishing second in their league meant that they qualified for the semi-final knockout match against the winners from the second group, South Solihull.

The team looked to be coasting to the final after taking a 2-0 lead with only minutes to play. Goals from Stephen McHale and Charles Blood looked to have taken them through. However, South Solihull had different ideas and came back strongly to equalise on the final whistle.

There followed a tense penalty shoot-out, but excellent defending from Ingrid Davies and captain Sam Cooper saved the day and the team went through to the final.

The final was against Coventry East, the only undefeated team in the tournament and the side who had already beaten our side. It didn’t look to be going too well in this match either as Coventry took a 2-0 lead into half time. The character of the Twycross team really came through in the second half following a couple of subtle team changes. The final whistle went with the scoreline on 3-3 following a tremendous comeback and show of determination from everyone in the team and excellent support from parents and the Twycross Rounders team on the sideline.

Once again there was a penalty shoot out to decide the winner! Once again the Twycross attackers stepped up and scored and once again the defenders repelled the skillful opposition. This time, victory meant that we were Tournament winners!

Team: Charles Blood, Sam Cooper (captain), Ingrid Davies, Lucy Jarvis, Jacob McMahon, Stephen McHale, Ella Morris, William Simmons, Bea Pound, Alex Wylie.

M Thomas

Junior Athletics ReportOnce again the NPSSA Athletics event fell in exam week. So, firstly a big thank you to all the parents for allowing their children to have a mid week rest from revision. For the first time in four years we fielded a full team of boys and girls for each age group. And what teams they were!

Due to the large number of schools entering the majority of events had two heats which were timed so on the day we did not know the overall positions for any of the sprints. Both girls’ teams were outstanding with some amazing results. Laura Critchlow came second in the

80 metres and Olivia Cox first. In the 150m Isabella Kluger and Evan Gilman were both second. It was a very fast 600m on a really hot day with Alex Wylie running a fantastic race and moving into first place with only metres to go. William Simmons was also in the top three in third position. In the throws Sophie Ashford and Jacob McMahon picked up second place and Isabella Cockrell third. Long jump saw Lauren Garland in second place and Alex Fitzgerald and Fiona Hart in third place. Special mention must go to Lauren and Sophie competing against girls who were all a year older. The final race of the day was the relay and after a quick discussion of how important a good baton exchange is the team of James Callaghan, Olivia Cox, William Simmons, Laura Critchlow and Alex Fitzgerald crossed the line in first position in their heat and also won overall first position due to the excellent time they achieved.

Overall positions saw both Form 4 and 5 girls pick up the trophy for first place, Form 4 boys were third and Form 5 sixth. When all the scores were added up we narrowly missed out on first place and were second overall out of eleven schools.

16 THE HOLLIES | THE GREEN | TWYCROSS | NEAR ATHERSTONE | WARWICKSHIRE | CV9 3PQ | T: 01827 880725

The Hollies

Earlier in the summer term Twycross House took part in the annual Nuneaton school swimming gala.

Overall Twycross came second out of 8 schools which is a fantastic result. Huge thanks to Arthur Davies, Ruben Mills, Victoria Hudson and Kara Mitchell who all represented the Hollies in both individual and team races. They all performed exceptionally well.

R Cooper

YogaWe all thoroughly enjoyed our workshops with local children’s yoga

specialist, Fiona Hallas. We learned many yoga positions and some fabulous relaxation techniques.

We shall be welcoming Fiona back in September when she will be teaching yoga on Thursday mornings.

Fond farewellsIt was with great sadness the Hollies said farewell to Mrs Margret Brownlow and Mrs Linda Marriott on the last day of term. Both ladies had been teaching assistants for various age groups, jointly they had been at the Hollies for over thirty years.

Mrs Marriott joined as nanny to Mr and Mrs Assinder’s youngest child and moved into school as he began nursery school. Perhaps now he’s a married man with his own young family she feels she’s free to move on? Both ladies have been loved by many Hollies children over the years, they have wiped away tears, bathed scraped knees, given reassurance, always treated the children as if they were their own.

Mrs Brownlow is looking forward to spending more time on her dressmaking and craft skills and joining her husband walking their dog. Mrs Marriott is looking forward to continuing what she loves as she is to become a grandmother in the Autumn.

Staff and children wish both ladies every happiness in their new roles; we hope they will come and see us, dogs and babies are always welcome!

Musical InstrumentsIsabel Greenall was delighted and a bit amazed when her parents very kindly came into school to introduce all of the children to their amazing musical instruments. All of the children were able to produce interesting sounds and the older children were glad not to have missed out on contributing to a musical performance of the theme from Frozen. We would like to thank Mr and Mrs Greenall for coming in to visit

the young children and then coming back to do it all again for the older classes.

Nuneaton Swimming Gala

17THE HOLLIES | THE GREEN | TWYCROSS | NEAR ATHERSTONE | WARWICKSHIRE | CV9 3PQ | T: 01827 880725

The Hollies

First Years

Orton WoodWhat an amazing adventure we had when Captain Teachum came to school. He took us to Orton Wood where we found some ‘campfires’ which had been made by his crew and even some holes where cannon balls had landed! To make our quest even more exciting we followed the clues left by the pirates and found their treasure.Ducklings

Mrs Morton brought in some ducklings and chicks that one of her hens had hatched. The children were fascinated by these small creatures and interested to learn the difference between them.

Thank you Isabella and Charlie for sharing your pets with us.


The Hollies

First Years

Ramadam and EidMrs Patel very kindly came into school to help us to learn about Ramadam and Eid. She brought some traditional costumes for us to wear for Eid. It was interesting to find out about fasting, and other people’s celebrations.

Thank you Mrs Patel and Bahauddin.

Healthy PicnicFood is important to all of us but we learned about what makes a healthy meal. Thinking about this we made healthy sandwiches and had an indoor picnic – we can change what we eat but we can’t make the w e a t h e r behave!

Annual Visit To The ZooThe annual visit to the zoo was enjoyable and all of the children behaved impeccably – a real credit to the school. We were able to see many different animals and the weather was kind. The highlight of the visit was persuading Mrs Marriott to pose behind the gorilla mask – what a star!


The Hollies

Second Years

PlantsAs part of our plant topic we made up some poems to help our plants grow.

There was a runner bean called Paul. Who dreamed of growing straight and tall.

By Henry Jeans

Runner beans grow green and long. We help with a happy song.

By Rose Redfern.

Runner bean, runner bean, grow strong and tall. Runner bean, you will please us all.

By Sebastian Murfin

Sunshine, water, soil and chatter. Make my bean grown big and fatter.

By Alex Colcough

We had fun popping broad beans out of their pods. The record was 7 in one pod!

Our Beautiful School As part of our topic ‘Around our School’ everyone in class 2O chose their favourite part of the school to write about.

Move over Mr Assinder! The children are ready and willing to conduct the school tours from now on, as Mrs James can testify!

Gladstone Pottery Museum, Stoke on TrentOur topic ‘Materials’ provided us with the opportunity to find out about how clay is used to make pottery.

The children were very interested in the history of pottery making and enjoyed experiencing the ‘hands-on’ tour around the museum.

One of the activities was designing and painting a plate in the style of Clarice Cliff. It was lovely to see the children so engrossed and well behaved throughout the day.


The Hollies

Third Years

Homework ProjectsWe did lots of interesting projects for homework in Year 3.

We designed:

• a coat of arms for history

• a seed packet for science

• a ‘Save The Rainforest’ T-Shirt for geography

Tamworth CastleAs part of our history topic, we visited Tamworth Castle. We learned a lot about life in a Medieval Castle.

Floral Art


The Hollies

Third Years

ScienceDuring the second part of the Summer Term we’ve spent our science lessons investigating ‘Living things and their habitats’. We found different micro habitats in the school grounds and hunted for mini-beasts.

To encourage more mini-beasts into the school garden we built our own mini-beast hotels and placed them in various different secret places around the garden.

As part of this topic we visited Twycross woods, where we searched for more mini-beasts, used our identification keys and found evidence of food chains.

Sports DaySports Day was another great success this

year. The children took part with determination and enthusiasm and an enjoyable afternoon was had by all.


The Hollies

Fourth Years

4th year visit to St John’s MuseumThe 4th year children and staff enjoyed their visit to St John’s Museum, Warwick, which supported their topic on The Victorians.

During the day they had a hands-on taster of Charlotte the laundry maid’s chores and a lesson in the school room overlooked by the School Inspector and the Vicar’s wife, among others!

A super day, made even more special by the children who looked fantastic in their Victorian costumes.

Homework ProjectsWe did lots of interesting projects for homework in Year 3.

We designed:

• a coat of arms for history

• a seed packet for science

• a ‘Save The Rainforest’ T-Shirt for geography

Art and Music awardsThe Music award was given jointly this year to Martha Bettley and Kara Mitchell.

The Art award was given to Alessandra Beck.


The Hollies

Fourth Years

4th Year Shadow PuppetsLinking to our Science topic about light and shadows, the 4th years have been busy writing plays based on Traditional Tales. In groups, the children made their own shadow puppets and had great fun performing the plays to each other.

End of year summer concertlt’s My Life

2017 was a particularly vintage year for musical talent! Sixteen soloists with chorus singing ten wonderful songs. They included themes that unpick the diversity, wonder, creativity and uniqueness in all of us. We heard many inspiring quotations from famous people such as Shakespeare, Isaac Newton, Christopher Columbus and even an appearance from Peter Pan himself. Not forgetting Tinkerbell too!

As teachers we know that their future depends on what we do in the present. Judging from the incredible performance this year, we know the Hollies is getting it right! Well done to all the children in the 4th year and to quote a saying from the concert;

‘What a wonderful thought it is that some of the best days of our lives haven’t happened yet.’


Twycross Times

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Thessaloniki 2017A group of students studying Classical Civilization and Ancient Greek headed off to Stansted Airport on the first Monday of the summer holidays. Having weathered the torrential rain on arrival at the airport, they eagerly set about the task of gathering lunch once inside the terminal. A few hours later, we stepped off the plane into the warmth of the Northern Greek air.

After a good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast, we headed off the next day to the main attraction of Vergina, the UNESCO world heritage site of the Royal Tombs. With its dazzling array of gold set amidst the darkness, and the sight of the painted tomb facades looming out, the underground museum left more than a few students lost for words. Later that day the punishing heat at Pella (the birthplace of Alexander the Great) encouraged us to seek sanctuary in the outstanding new museum with its stunning mosaics.

Amphipolis is a city of many dimensions, and few of those who hiked to the off-road exercise area could imagine runnning or wrestling at the end of

their walk! The leafy site of Dion, memorable for its mosaics and the city’s watery remains, soon gave way to the heights of Olympus. The crisp, cooler mountain air prompted numerous photo opportunities, as Senior 4, 5 and the sixth form realised that they would probably never again stand on the mountain with the same company.

The final night’s walk to the city walls left many breathless and exhausted, but the particularly hardcore early morning coffee crew met on the final day for a ghostly breakfast in Aristotelous square. They gained an extra member on the way back to the hotel for their second breakfast, and a further canine companion joined us later in the day on our seafront walk.

W e saw a range of state-of-the-art museums, Thessaloniki’s archaeological museum in particular was a stand-out teaching space with information panels and neatly organised artefacts which helped bring alive the day to day life of the ancient Greeks. But despite the grandeur and golden crowns, it was the human aspect which impressed and gave us an idea of an archaeologist’s work. We saw a child buried whose adult teeth were still visible behind her milk teeth and an adult female with her plaited hair still intact.

They were a hardy group, and easily kept pace with the early starts and hill climbs without (too much) grumbling. Certain members of the group needed regular iron intake, and their fondness for grilled meat delighted local restaurant owners! Others managed to restrain themselves to more modest dinners but still dined well. In the spirit of digesting all we saw, we managed to cover an immense amount of historical ground in the four days we were there, and hopefully the students returned home knowing that Ancient Greece did not start and end with Classical Athens.

Dr S Assinder

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