balcarras on balance winter 2013

Balcarras School Magazine Issue 03 February 2013ras School Magazine Issue 03 February 2

On Balance

Featured In This Edition ...

National Teaching AwardsPages 16 & 17

Spotlight on the RE and Science DepartmentsPages 4 & 5

Interview with Prize Giving Guest Speaker Laurence Shahlaie5

Literacy Competition Winner for ‘Make Them Scream!”Pages 22 & 23

Welcome to the 3rd edition of ‘On Balance’.

As Staff Editors it has again been a fascinating process watching the latest editon take shape, and once again we are really pleased with the result. We hope you like the new ‘look’ which has brought the magazine in line with the new logo, website and prospectus. It is now an established element of the school and we are convinced it will continue to go ‘from strength to strength’.

Congratulations to Will and the student editorial team for their continued hard work and attention to detail - as well as thanks to the many contributors in the form of other students and staff.

We would also like to thank our friends at Action Colour Printers for their continued support and brilliant design ideas.

Happy reading!

Editorial team message

Rebecca Sweringen and Rachel Morris

Front cover photograph featuring Sam Forbes 13C as Scrooge in‘A Christmas Carol’

Your Team for On Balance Edition 3Name Tutor Group

Hannah Joshua 8F2

Yaseen Almaghrabi 9S1

Myles Mcdevitt 10O2

Toby Jones 8F2

Will Baxter – Editor 11O1

Lucy McMillian 11O1

Lydia Hazlewood 12J

Chloe D’Arcy 12B

James Tibbles 12K

Hannah Williams 12A

Jack Howell 13L

Katie Barnes 13D

Emily Howard 13K

Ela Antosiewicz 13L

Rebecca Sweringen Rachel Morris

Our new logo 2012

Our new logo was developed last summer and is linked to both our new prospectus,

of which I hope you received a copy, and to the introduction of our new website, launched at the start of 2013.

We went through several drafts from the designers before we settled on this fi nal version, which retains the school’s oak tree, although in more abstract form, whilst celebrating the importance of the house system through their colours. The lettering of Balcarras looks smart and professional, we thought, and fi nally we revived the strapline “From Strength to Strength” because it captures the optimistic ethos of the school.

I hope you like it!

Chris Healy, Headteacher

Welcome to the third edition of On Balance, the school magazine.

A lot has changed at the school, including new buildings, a new logo and, of course, a new editor for the magazine. James Ghandi is now studying at Oxford, meaning a replacement has come in to fi ll his (very capable) shoes. I am very happy to be editing the magazine, and have experience from being sub editor on the previous issues.

This issue contains staff interviews, spotlight on departments and an insight into the competitive world of staff football. I hope you enjoy it!

Will Baxter

February 2013 On Balance 01

WelcomeContentsPage 1Welcome

Page 2Balcarras in the News

Beyond Balcarras

Pages 4 & 5Spotlight on Departments –RE and Science

Pages 6, 7 & 8Staff and Pupil Interviews

Page 9Prefects’ Roles andOpen Evening

Page 10Young Enterprise

Pages 11 & 12Trips and Events

Pages 13Expeditions Update

Pages 14 & 15Prize Giving andInterview with World’s Strongest Man

Pages 16 & 17National Teachers’ Awards

Pages 18 & 19Charity Events

Pages 20 & 21Sports Update

Pages 22 & 23Literacy Short Story Competition

Pages 24 & 25Christmas Events

Pages 26 & 27School Clubs

Pages 28 & 296th Form Events

Pages 30 – 32School Matters

Inside Back CoverPuzzles and Summer Preview

Issue 3 and the magazine is now a year old! It is a great addition to the

life of the school and each publication is highly anticipated. Well done once more to Miss Sweringen and Miss Morris, and congratulations as well to all the many contributors, marshalled by the new editor Will Baxter.

Much has happened, of course, since the last edition and many of the highlights are rewarded in these pages. I would like to pay particular tribute to our GCSE record-breakers, most of whom are now in Year 12. Their achievements have set a new standard for other year groups to strive for and they deserve many congratulations! Well done to all of them and to their teachers.

Enjoy your reading!

Chris Healy, Headteacher

A message fromthe Headteacher . . .

Editor’s message

Will Baxter – Editor

in the News

Teenager Olivia Pym is doing what some of her peers may dread and getting her long locks chopped

Olivia Pym, 1101, will donate seven inches of her brown hair to the Little Princess Trust so children suffering from cancer can have a real wig. She works at Stuart Holmes hair and beauty and they are on board to help others take part. Olivia has been working hard at arranging a hair harvest in aid of the Little Princess Trust, a Hereford-based charity that makes wigs for children who have suffered hair loss.

02 On Balance February 2013

Artistic youngsters show off their creative talents

On October 12th 2012 pupils showing an artistic fl air went to Cheltenham’s Bournside School to take part in a special lesson. Children aged 13 and 14 from schools across the town took part in the Gifted and Talented Art day. Pupils from Bournside, Pates, Balcarras, Pittville and Winchcombe all took part in the day. The students worked with clay as well as natural materials to create pieces of art. It was a huge success.

Paralympics torch relay for Battledown teen

Last summer, Robbie Taylor, 10S2, had the privilege to carry the Olympic torch. He took part in a 24 hour torch relay and carried the torch at Stanmore Hill in the London Borough of Harrow. Robbie said “I was quite surprised to be chosen and I think I am really lucky to have had the opportunity.”

Duke – X Factor success!A trio of beat boxers from Cheltenham entered the X Factor stage thinking they had what the judges were looking for. Marko Pandazis, Edward Travers and Flynn Stronach blew the judges away with their version of Seal’s – Kiss like a rose. With Flynn playing the guitar, Edward beat boxing and Marko singing they received four yes votes and continued on through Boot Camp and into the ‘Judge’s Houses’ where they sang for Louis Walsh. Unfortunately the journey ended there. To our surprise one of the members of the band has a daughter who is a student at Balcarras; Kytana Stronach. Well done to Duke for reaching judge’s houses and we hope Kytana is very happy with their success!

Over the past few months there have been various occasions where pupils from Balcarras have been in the local newspaper, the Echo.Here are a few examples:

Kytana Stronach 7S1


Cheltenham Fashion Week Jessica Harvey in 1102 has been involved with Cheltenham Fashion Week. Here she tells us a bit about it and why she got involved:

Cheltenham Fashion Week was founded two years ago with the aim of raising the profi le of Cheltenham on the Fashion atlas, and providing a platform for people in the area who want to work in Fashion. Two of the main aims of Cheltenham Fashion Week are to be a yearlong series of events; (not just two weeks in February and September as is customary with larger fashion weeks), and also to incorporate and assist as many local businesses/businesspeople as possible. I became involved with Cheltenham Fashion Week after I chanced upon it on the internet, and then hounded the Creative Director until she agreed to let me work with CFW to incorporate a teen side of the events. I am currently the Teen Fashion Ambassador for CFW, and attend all team meetings and CFW events to represent the younger generations of fashion enthusiasts in Cheltenham and the surrounding areas. CFW is an amazing thing for me to be involved in. Not only is it a foot in the door of the fashion industry (I

intend to work in Creative Direction for Fashion), but it has

allowed me to meet and work with a plethora of talented and inspiring individuals. The CFW team is full of lovely people, and I look forward to another year of working with them.

Jessica Harvey 1102

Ben Elvey and 7 other under

18’s from the Gloucester and Bristol Diocesan Association of Church Bellringers entered the National Children’s Bellringing Contest which took place in Birmingham.

The second Bell Ringing World National Youth Contest was held at St Paul’s in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham (Saturday 30 June 2012). Fifteen teams entered, no member of which was to be older than 18 on the day of the contest. Judging was divided between those teams ringing call changes and those ringing methods with one overall winner.

The G&B team rang Grandsire Triples in fi ne style and carried all before them to be placed fi rst in the method ringing section, and were overall winners of the Whitechapel Trophy.

Other key members of the support team in the runup to the event were Carole Bucknell – Administration, Rupert & Teresa Howes - Transport, and Jo Dawson, Ann Eyles & Alan Woodward.

Ben’s team came fi rst out of 15 teams from all over the country, and are very proud winners. Congratulations to them.

Mrs Dawson TA

The Nuffi eld Foundation Science BursariesOn the 23rd October 2012 a group of budding scientists, all from different schools scattered around the South-West, came together to explain to each other the projects that they had all been working on throughout the six weeks of the summer holiday.The projects varied from researching the diverse colours of many insects and bugs and what kind of an impact these colours had on the senses of the creatures, to researching what kind of decomposable materials could replace the glass substrate that was used in radar chaff as well as the literature review focusing on patterns of diabetes around the world by Azahra Almaghrabi, a year 13 student at Balcarras school. The aim of the six weeks’ hard work was not only to fi nd out about interesting topics, but also to have an experience of what conducting research in a university would be like. After the students explained their research, and the stages they took to reach a conclusion that answered their initial hypothesis, they all received a certifi cate to award them for all their hard work. Hopefully more students from Balcarras will take part in this exciting experience in the future.

Yaseen Almaghrabi 9S1

Beyond Balcarras

Winners with bells on!Ben Elvey 10S1

Azahra Almaghrabi 13A

‘ ‘

Ethics lesson with Miss Ebanja

Mr Constance


I spoke to Mr Constance, a member of the RE department:

What’s the difference between teaching in lower school and Sixth Form?

In Key Stage 3, we focus on fi nding out about world religions and we start to ask the big questions in relation to God. As pupils move into Key Stage 4, we emphasize moral and social issues from both religious and non-religious points of view, including medical ethics, identity and environment. In Sixth Form Philosophy & Ethics, we continue Religion and Morality, as well as exploring Ethical Theories such as Utilitarianism and Situation Ethics. We also look at Applied Ethics, covering Sexual Ethics and War and Peace. The main difference is that in Sixth Form, pupils are encouraged to be a lot more independent and have a lot more time to cover each topic and discuss it. We have now introduced the option of taking Philosophy and Ethics at GCSE for years 10 and 11 to encourage them to take it at A-Level.

What is your favourite thing about teaching R.E and what is your favourite topic to teach?

My favourite thing about teaching R.E is having the chance to ask big questions and think about the important things in life, as well as fi nding out about why people have the beliefs that they have. I have two favourite topics to teach: Philosophy, because I have a natural interest in it, and I like asking questions that we may not fi nd answers to, and Islam because to me, it is fascinating to see how the truth of the religion is different from how the Western media portrays it as.

What facilities do you have in the department?

Although we have textbooks and computers, the best facilities of the department are the staff; they bring individual strengths to it that really makes the department come together. Other than that, Mr Meredith has a blackboard, which is the only one in the school!

Has the department been involved in any trips or events outside of school?

For years 12 and 13, there is a Philosophy & Ethics trip to New York, which is also available for pupils taking A-Level History and Politics. This trip usually takes place every couple of years and in the past has been a great success. The Year 12 and 13 pupils also went on a day trip to Gloucester Cathedral, to watch a debate on euthanasia. The students found it an interesting experience which opened up new ideas and gave them lots to discuss. As for events, we occasionally host the Gloucestershire R.E teachers meetings and we were involved in an essay writing competition nationwide – and won, the victorious student being Hannah Wilcock in Year 13. Not to forget, we have Sixth Form pizza revision sessions!

What does a day teaching R.E consist of?

Each day is different; it can go from Year 8 on Buddhism to Year 13 Philosophy. Key Stage 3 only have one lesson a week, so we end up teaching almost every pupil in the school at least once! That’s the good thing about teaching R.E, you never know what to expect and each individual teaching group has different ideas and opinions, which makes the whole experience more enjoyable.

Spotlight onDepartmentsIn this edition we focuson the RE and Science Departments

RE Department


Miss Taylor (Biology) What is the most interesting biological fact you can think of?If you opened out all the tiny air sacs in our lungs and laid them out fl at, then they would cover an area the size of a tennis court. That is 80 times the surface area of our own skin!

What interested you to be a Biology teacher?I found it really interesting to know how living organisms work, and what makes us able to evolve, fi ght disease and fi x problems using new technologies such as stem cells.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?When the pupils leave your classroom, you know that they know things that they didn’t know when they walked through the door an hour earlier. It’s also really rewarding when you see your pupils go on to be successful at University and beyond.

What KS3 and KS4 Biology units are there?In Biology we look at The Basics of Life; Environment; Human Biology; Microbes and Disease; and Humans and Plants at Key Stage 3. Then in Key Stage 4 it’s Human Biology; Environment and Evolution; Cells; Enzymes; Diet and Immunity; Nerves, Hormones and Drugs; Plants; and Genetics. It’s a pretty packed 5 years as there is so much to learn about Biology!

What sixth form units are there?We have 6 units at A Level, 2 of which are practical units. We then study Biology and Disease, The Variety of Living Organisms, Populations, Genetics and Cycles, Coordination and Control, and Genetic Technologies. We cover a lot of material, but it’s interesting and we do lots of different activities to help our students to learn everything they need to know.

Mr Ball (Physics) What things do Physics cover with different units?

At GCSE level: Electricity, Mechanics, Waves, Nuclear Physics, Energy. AS Level: Electricity, Waves and Light, Mechanics and Materials.A2 Level: Further Mechanics, Fields, Particle Physics, Astrophysics, Nuclear Decay, Oscillations.

Are there any trips for Physics and what are they?

Once a year, Year 12 go to a gliding club to see gliding in action at Nympsfi eld gliding club near Stroud. The Engineering in Education Scheme means that groups of students visit local companies such as Messier Dowty and Spirax Sarco. Miss Foster ran a trip to CERN a few years ago and we would like to return.

What units would you like to cover with Physics in the future?

Lots really, Miss Foster would like to teach multi-dimensions and the multiverse, Mr Clancy the physics of fl ying and sailing and I would like to teach geophysics and computer modelling.

We spoke to 3 teachers from the Science Department

Science

Mr Hope (Chemistry)How many chemical equations are there?

There are literally too many chemical equations to count! In lower years we learn a few simple chemical equations, however by Sixth Form we don’t expect you to remember equations but instead you would need to construct equations just from being given some of the reactants.

What is the hardest part of Chemistry to you?

For me, the fi rst thing that I could not grasp was how electrons behave in solid materials. This looks at why metals conduct electricity and how lasers work. The maths was way beyond me and so I struggled to keep up with the lectures at university at fi rst.

What units do you do in Chemistry for Sixth Form?

In Sixth Form there are 6 units. The fi rst one is about fundamentals in chemistry. After that there are 2 units on “organic chemistry” this looks at the chemistry of carbon. The last examined unit looks at rates of reaction (how fast reactions go), acids and alkalis and transition metals. The other two units are coursework which comprises of a set of experiments done in class time.

Who is a chemist role model for you?

There are many chemists who inspire me. Dmitri Mendeleev drew up the fi rst draft of the modern periodic table. When he made the periodic table only around half of the elements we know now had been discovered.

Staff & Pupil InterviewsWas Balcarras welcoming when you fi rst joined?

Extremely! The English department here have been really friendly and helpful and this has helped me to settle in quickly. Staff from other departments are also really sociable and friendly.

How have you found your fi rst term at Balcarras?

Ace (I apparently use this word a lot when teaching!). The school is really driven and the pupils all really strive towards excellence which makes this a really exciting place to work.

Tell us about a previous job you’ve done:

I was a student ambassador for the English department at Swansea University.

We talked toMr Bee, the newest addition to the English department, and Mr Findon, new Mathematics teacher about their experiences upon joining the school

Why did you want to become a teacher?

I was inspired by one of the most amazing teachers ever. She made English fun, excitable and everyone was always really excited to go to her lessons. Just to be able to inspire one young person to do well, to succeed, or even to be a teacher(!) would mean the world to me.

What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s happened to you at Balcarras so far?

On my very fi rst lesson at Balcarras I fell over walking across the classroom.

What do you think you bring to the school?

I hope to bring determination, a commitment to the community within Balcarras and a passion for making sure that students do well in and enjoy English.


When did you fi rst realise you enjoyed maths?

I enjoyed maths at school. I’m not in love with maths but I like the challenge of making it interesting. My degree is in economics. When I get into it, it becomes more interesting, but there are other things in life to be into, like cycling.

So why did you decide to become a maths teacher?

I used to run a business and employed students in the summer. Their ideas were very refreshing and exciting. That’s why I wanted to become a teacher. I fi nd economics easy to understand, which probably would make it harder for me to teach it as I wouldn’t understand why pupils are getting stuck, whereas maths is hard. I have to learn it myself, that helps me select the best ways of teaching it.

Why did you choose to teach at Balcarras?

For family reasons I moved to Cheltenham. To be honest, I was lucky to end up at a really good school like Balcarras.

How does Balcarras compare to your previous school?

I’ve taught at two previous schools, one in Manchester and the other in Cheshire.

Have you faced many challenges in teaching at Balcarras?

The Balcarras VLE works and there’s loads of information on the system, so it will take me ages to explore every nook and cranny.

Do you teach specifi c year groups or all of them across the school?

I teach year 7 to year 13. I’m also a form tutor to 10O1 and it makes a big difference if you teach a nice form group. (My house head is really good too – Mrs McClelland.)

I understand your last school followed a different exam syllabus. Does this present any diffi culties in teaching?

Edexel is slightly different in the order and context of material so I frequently have to check the syllabus to ensure I teach the right things.

How have you settled into Balcarras?

Everyone has been exceptionally friendly. The pupils are polite and mature, well-behaved and interesting (especially the mountain bikers)

Do you have any other interests besides teaching maths?

Millions! Training: that’s gym work and cycling. “Travelling off the beaten track.” I hate tourist places, as there are too many people around. My degree is in economics so I enjoy my current affairs and I’m interested in science, history and geography. I love documentaries and books.

How was your fi rst day at Balcarras?

The fi rst day was interesting as there were only year 7 pupils around. It was great because it was less busy than usual. The day before was a staff training day, and meeting all the teachers in normal clothes was a lot less scary! Also I was in sixth form here so it was nice seeing some faces I recognised.

What does your average day at Balcarras consist of?

I usually spend one hour observing a lesson. I do a lot of lesson planning and also look for maths games on the internet – too much! I do a lot of reading for University and I go there every Thursday.

Have you taught at previous schools? How does Balcarras compare?

I taught at a Catholic school in Cardiff which was underachieving and has since been closed down by Ofsted. It was like chalk and cheese compared to Balcarras, because the pupils were hard to deal with but here they are so nice!

How would you sum up your experience of Balcarras?

The atmosphere here is suspiciously lovely – it feels like it’s so lovely it can’t possibly be real! Are there celebrity cameras hidden?! A great thing about Balcarras is the lack of bullying and intimidation; it’s amazing. The pupils can be individual.

Jack Howell 13L and Emily Howard 13K

Miss McGlade – Maths

Miss Scott – LanguagesHow have you enjoyed the experience of being at Balcarras?

“Everyone’s really friendly and helpful, the school is lovely and there is a lovely atmosphere here.”

Which year groups have you been a part of teaching?

“I’ve seen other years but I’m only teaching year seven and I’m also helping with 7O1’s tutor group which is really really nice.”

What do you think of the teaching standards at Balcarras School?

“It’s really high, I’ve wanted to come here as I used to be a student at the school and I have learnt so much from the Balcarras teachers. Both teachers and students try really hard and I love it, they put in so much effort and it makes a difference.”

Why do you enjoy teaching your subject?

“I love Russia, I’ve always wanted to do languages, as soon as I started learning the Russian alphabet, it’s such an interesting subject and studying Russian and French meant that I got to live abroad in Russia and in the south of France. Languages are a real life long skill, there’s so many different ways of learning it and that’s why I love it. It makes learning other languages so much easier and the skills are transferable to so many other things.”

What are your plans for the future?

“To fi nish my training year, and if there was a job, I would love to work here or stay in this area.”

Lydia Hazlewood 12J and Hannah Williams 12A

“Schools Direct” Teacher Training Scheme

Balcarras is one of the fi rst schools in the country to sign up to the School Direct initiative.

The Government-run scheme aims to guarantee jobs to high-performing graduates in subjects experiencing a shortage of teachers.Places in maths, physics, chemistry, languages and English have all been chosen as the subjects.The places, which are available in schools assessed as Outstanding by Ofsted, are backed by bursaries of £20,000 for candidates with fi rst-class honours degrees.Becky Atkin, training manager at the school, is looking forward to a full batch of recruits to the scheme.She said: “We have recruited four highly-qualifi ed, talented graduates. They are already showing that they will be capable, committed teachers.Both Pippa and Danni are former pupils of Balcarras.Pippa McGlade – “I didn’t hesitate for a second. As soon as I received the letter informing me that Balcarras was an option I was determined to train here. I am really enjoying it and looking forward to starting my career next September.”Danni Scott added: “There aren’t many places that offer Russian but it is an important subject at Balcarras and I am really enjoying teaching it alongside French.”

New challenge: Balcarras

teachers Danielle Scott, Gemma

Hencher and Pippa McGlade



New Staff Governor New Pupils in Year 10

Why did you decide that you wanted to become a school governor?

I decided to become a school governor as I wanted to have a deeper understanding of the way in which the school is run. In addition, I thought I would be good at representing the views of the staff when decisions were being made and wanted to be more involved in

helping to drive the school forward and make it more successful in both an academic and extra-curricular sense.

What sort of things have you been involved in doing so far?

As a governor I have attended a range of different meetings looking at various aspects of the school such as the curriculum and how the school is fi nanced and where the money is spent. It has allowed me to gain a deeper appreciation of how the school works and all of the work that goes on behind the scenes. I have also gone to school events as both a staff and governor representative such as the play and carol concert.

Are you enjoying it?

I am enjoying my new role within the school. There has been a lot of new information to get my head around and I am still learning elements of the role each time I attend a different meeting. I hope that once I settle in further I can play a more active part on the governing board.

What is your favourite aspect of the position?

Knowing that I will be able to help drive the school forward to even greater success!

While Miss Niblett is new to the governing body, she is well established on the staff, having taught for over eight years in the geography department, where she is Second in Department and as the school’s Extended Project Coordinator: EPQ is a qualifi cation taken alongside A-levels, aimed at preparing them better for university and work. Aside from her academic curriculum interests, Miss Niblett has also held pastoral responsibilities within both Foley and Selvey houses. She also takes a very active role in extra-curricular activities, having coordinated the Outlook Expeditions – where students spend four weeks in far-fl ung places, doing community work – for the past 3 years, and having helped out at other clubs such as netball.

Jack Butler-Kettle 10F2:Jack came to this school in September after attending Westlake Boy’s

School in Auckland, New Zealand. He says he likes all the subjects, especially Science, mainly because it’s interesting. He said “the staff are nice, and he feels very welcome”

Alex Godson 10G1:Alex joined Balcarras after October half term after studying

at Queen Elizabeth School in Nuneaton. His favourite subject is PE, mainly because he enjoys being in the open air. His favourite teacher is Mr Greenway.

Alicia John 10O1:Alicia joined in September. The school that she used to go to was St Peter’s

High School in Gloucester. Her favourite subject is PE, mainly because she is “an active person”.

Miss Niblett

Interviews continued:

The 8 House Captains, from left; Fin Maguire, Will Baxter, Louis Brown, Olivia Williams, Becky McQuillan, Charlotte Fry, Jonty Wilkinson, Emma Lewis.


Within the houses, Ottewell, Selvey, Graveney and Foley, there are various roles within the prefecting system. Within each house there are two house captains who have the role of representing the house at different school events such as open evening and prize giving.

Then there are the vice captains who also take a responsibility in the house system and can fi ll in for house captains. Sports captains are in charge of organising the sports events within the school, a big part of this is organising sports day and house matches. Next are the secretaries, responsible for organising the year eleven

ball, taking pictures at house events and taking minutes at meetings.

There are then school and house prefects, with school prefect status awarding privileges not given to house prefects. These include: wearing the perfect tie, access to the prefect common room and going home at lunch time. House prefects are able to be promoted to school prefects if they meet a certain set of targets which are set by their head of house.

Roles include doing duty, which is patrolling corridors at break

Prefecting is a role which Year 11 students take on, with roles awarded during the summer of Year 10.

Open Evening 2012

Thursday 27th September 2012 was the evening hundreds of parents descended upon Balcarras, eager to see what the

school could offer to their children. They certainly didn’t leave disappointed! Whether they were making volcanoes in Geography or blowing things up in Chemistry, Balcarras defi nitely offered new and exciting experiences for the families.

Every department of the school was open for the parents to tour. Aided by a select few enthusiastic pupils, the departments pulled out all of the stops in order to give the best possible evening for the parents.

Geography focused on the physical aspects of KS3 and GCSE studies, including making glaciers and volcanoes out of everyday home essentials. Science featured working displays of the experiments completed throughout the school, whilst maths offered a quiz with a fantastic prize of a scientifi c calculator. History also offered a quiz, with tasty treats

offered for correct answers. P.E featured displays of badminton and gymnastics, whilst Art had creative students making incredible pieces throughout the evening. GCSE students were also present, ready to show parents the sort of quality expected for GCSE Art. English had a very competitive spelling bee, with pupils and visitors alike all trying to gain the glory of completing the competition. Modern Foreign Languages opened a hugely popular international café, serving dishes such as croissants to visitors who could correctly ask for what they wanted in the language of the dish they were asking for. Drama had a

dedicated team of GCSE students showcasing their best performances, complete with light effects including powerful stage lights. R.E had a team of KS3 students explaining the studies conducted throughout the team. Food Tech had a delicious variety of options being cooked by the school’s budding Nigellas and Jamie Olivers. The D of E team pitched tents and cooked food outside.

Lead by a team of House Captains and Prefects, the tours were a great success, with parents being shown all of the school’s fantastic qualities.

The Head gave two speeches and the evening concluded with cake and drinks in the 6th Form common room, where parents were able to talk to Mr Stitchman, the deputy head of the school, and the Chair of Governors Mr Phil Collie.

The evening was a great success, with fun being had by visitors and students alike – and thanks go to Miss Sweringen who co-ordinates this impressive event.

Prefects’ Roles

and lunch to ensure that younger students do not break rules inside. It is a respected role and a good chance for pupils to prove themselves.

Lucy McMillan and William Baxter 11O1

This win enabled them to go on to Bucharest in Romania to compete in the fi nals where their hard work earned them the Fed Ex Access Award as the Young Enterprise Company of the Year. In addition, Cicely Elliot Berry, who acted as the managing director for the team, was also chosen as one of 16 others to go to Brussels to shadow a CEO for a day with the Alumni Leadership Award.

The team decided to use the African super fruit Baobab in their tea which meant they had a focus on sustainability and fair trade. They used free-lance farmers for the sourcing of their ingredients rather than plantations, commenting that it was part of their story ‘to do it all the right way.’

They took into account not only the environmental and social factors that this would impose but also the

market that they were trading into which was recognised in the award they were given. At the end of the programme, the team liquidated their company, prepared a profi t and loss statement and balance sheet and reported to a panel of their sharleholders on their key lessons learned.


As featured in the last edition . . . The Balcarras Young Enterprise team ‘Vitamin Boom’ won an astounding £1000

for their creation of a Tea drink called ‘Super Froo-Tea.’ The cheque was presented to them by Dr Vince Cable at the HSBC Young Enterprise Innovation Awards at the Intercontinental Hotel in London on July 2nd.

Young Enterprise Team receives award

The judges were highly impressed with the team’s professionalism and obvious understanding of global trade.

The proof of their success is demonstrated by already having won orders for their product from several independent retailers. And by also having had recognised interest from larger stockists including countries outside the UK who are in the process of negotiation right now.

The team has said that although they will be dotted all over England next year as they begin various University courses, they hope to spread the ‘Super Froo-Tea’ franchise and keep on expanding the business.

The Balcarras Young Enterprise Team members were: Cicely Elliott Berry, Toby Burden, Annie-Mae Champion, Nicolo Di Pasqua, Charlie Henderson, Budd Nicholson, Emily Robinson, and Josh Cheal.

Mr Luke Perry, Co-ordinator of YE

Iceland Trip 2012

On 20th October 2012 at 8am a group of slightly tired but incredibly excited pupils and 4 teachers set off for Iceland

from Balcarras School.Year 8 Pitt Rivers Art Trip

In November Year 8 had a school trip to the Pitt

Rivers Art Museum in Oxford. The museum is made up of 2 sections; the Pitt Rivers Museum and the Natural History Museum. The Pitt Rivers Museum is focused on collections of many different objects and how they have changed over time. These objects ranged from weapons to model vessels to shrunken heads and vases. Philip Pullman (the author of ‘His Dark Materials’) got his inspiration for what the main character wears - Lyra - from a piece of clothing displayed in the museum. Lewis Carroll is another well-known author (‘Alice In Wonderland’) and he got his ideas for the strange creatures and what they wore from the museums as well.

In the Natural History Museum, its contents vary quite a lot in comparison to the Pitt Rivers Museum. This extravagant part of the museum is made up of studies and skeletons of many animals, including dinosaurs. There are skeletons of many different species, ranging from insects and arachnids to dinosaurs and small mammals. Upstairs they have shelves stacked with insects, and downstairs they have cupboards crammed with skeletons and models of dinosaurs and other large (and small) mammals.

By Hannah Joshua 8F2

Our fi rst impression of Iceland was “it’s very brown and very empty”. However we then drove to the Blue Lagoon, an amazing naturally heated outdoor pool surrounded by rocks from volcanic eruptions. The water was an opaque pale blue that had all of us exclaiming when we saw it. The next day we were up at 7am to go to one of Iceland’s six geothermal power plants where there was a serious smell of rotten eggs from all the sulphur gases. We got back on our coach and got ready to go to a valley carved out by a glacier. This was incredible with huge beautiful landscapes as we walked into the gorge created by the glacier. It was also really fun as we had to jump over the frozen streams; luckily no one fell in.

The drive there and back in massive Icelandic jeeps was hilarious as there were not really any roads just rocks and huge fl owing rivers we had to get over. So everyone was falling and bumping around like a “roller-coaster ride”. Later we got in to eight wheeled jeeps to go up to the top of a glacier, although designed for extreme environments one of the six jeeps still succeeded in getting stuck but managed to get to the top in the end. The glacier was huge and the view was stunning with an Icelandic sunset to fi nish it off.

That night at around 12:45am we got a knock on the door to tell us the northern lights were here; although they weren’t as bright as pictures of them, the stars more than made up for them. Thanks to our early

wakeup call most of us fell asleep on the coach that morning but we soon woke up as we arrived at the iceberg lake. This was at the edge of a glacier where huge chunks of ice broke off from the main iceberg. Some of the ice was blue and there were four seals swimming round as well. We also got to go on a boat trip around the lake which was a good opportunity to take photos.

On Sunday we walked behind a waterfall, visited a museum about the volcano that caused the massive ash cloud a few years ago, saw a geyser that erupted every seven minutes, found some moustache balaclavas, and then fi nally went bowling. Unsurprisingly we all slept well that night. The next day we had to get up at 5am to get to the airport to go home. Overall it was an amazing trip and we would like to thank the teachers who put up with us for 4 days, especially Miss Masters who organised it all.

Sophie Liggett 12L andRosanna Lloyd 12M

Trips & Events


Balcar

ras School Trips

2 0 1 2

Trips & Events continued

Senior team mathschallenge

On the 12th November, Oliver Lynch, Chris Taylor,

Emma Locke and Zach Kellett took part in the UK senior team maths challenge at Wycliffe college in Stroud. We were one of sixteen schools taking part in this regional round, and the other schools included Pates Grammar, Rendcomb College and the Ladies College, so we knew once we got there we would be up against some very strong competition!

Altogether we took part in 3 rounds. The fi rst round was a team challenge where we had to solve certain mathematical problems. There were 10 questions altogether and we had one hour to answer as many as we could. The total for the round was out of 100 points, with each correct answer contributing 10 points. We managed to successfully answer half the questions correctly and in turn earning 50 points. Overall we were pleased with our points tally as some of the questions were very challenging and required a lot of working out.

Round 2 was a crossword. The 4 of us had to split into 2 pairs, where one pair worked out the down clues, and the other pair worked out the across clues. Again we had an hour to get as many correct as we could, scoring 1 point for every number placed correctly. However this round wasn’t as easy as we expected, as some of the clues required other answers (eg the clue to 4 down could be “the lowest common multiple of 9 across”). Some of the vaguest clues included “a prime number” and “a palindromic number”, which took a very long time until we eventually worked the answer out. This round was out of a total of 57 and we managed to score 53, which we were extremely pleased with, and it put us nearer the top of the leader board.

The fi nal round was a relay round, where we remained in our pairs. There were 4 sets of questions, and each set contained 4 questions in which we had 6 minutes to answer all of them. However as the name of the round suggests, you had to answer one question before you could answer the next one, for example question 1 may ask you to work out a certain value from an equation, and question 2 will ask you a question in terms of T, where T is the answer to the last question. This also applies for questions 3 and 4. There were 19 points on offer for each set of questions, with 4 points awarded for each correct answer, and a bonus 3 given for fi nishing the relay in less than 4 minutes. The questions as we realised were much harder than we anticipated, and we only managed to score a total of 16 points. This was a generally low scoring round for all the teams, but our team felt we could have scored more.

Overall we scored a total of 117 points which was enough for us to fi nish 10th out of 16. Overall we were very pleased with the position as most of the other top 10 included private and grammar schools. Our overall experience was a very enjoyable one, and if we had the chance we would happily take part in it again and try and get further up the leader board next time!

Oliver Lynch 13C


Year 12 Art Trip

The fi rst Art trip for Year 12 this year to the National

History and Pitt Rivers Museum supported the Year 12 Art and Photography student’s investigations into their projects.

Speaking to Miss Bruce, Art teacher . . .

Why did the art department decide to run the trip?

“No amount of studying art from books or computer screens can be a substitute for seeing actual pieces and artefacts in a museum or gallery.”

Why did you decide on the National History and Pitt Rivers Museum?

“There is such a broad range of artefacts in both museums that we thought it the ideal place to inspire both the artists and the photographers. The intention of the trip was that every pupil would be able to use an element of what they saw during the day to develop their projects back in school.”

How do you think the trip went?

“The trip was a real success, what is interesting is the variety of outcomes from the day and the work now being developed back in the classroom. It’s a defi nite possibility to run the trip next year. I think an art trip of some sort is just what you need to get going on a school project and as a result all the a-level students now have galleries on the school VLE system.”

Both the teachers and students greatly enjoyed the trip to Oxford, as one student states, “I loved the atmosphere and the wonderful selection of artefacts.

Expeditions Update

Tanzania team –

With the expedition less than 6 months away the

Tanzania team started off the year with a big fundraising event – an auction evening on 5th October, 2012.The groups took the initiative to contact a range of local businesses and were able to acquire a host of lots; ranging from a round of golf to a professional family photo shoot. With Mr Davidson as the guest auctioneer the evening was highly entertaining and everyone enjoyed the competitive bidding. The night proved to be a real success and raised important group funds for our project work in Tanzania.

One of the challenges in our expedition is to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and to help with our training we have started weekly sessions in the fi tness suite at school. We have also decided to devote some time in our weekly lunchtime meetings to learn more about the culture in Tanzania. Each member of the group is responsible for presenting information on a specifi c topic, including the culture and wildlife of the country.

China team –

The China team has continued to raise

money by providing delicious refreshments at the parent’s evenings over the last few months.With all of their plans now confi rmed the China team are very much looking forward to the challenges that the country will bring.


With only 6 months to go until our bags are packed and we are on the plane to Borneo a lot has been happening

to prepare for this trip. Here is a collection of updates from individual teams and how they have been getting on over the past few months…..

Borneo A –

Despite the pressures of study at both GCSE and AS level, the Borneo 1 team has been doing a lot of fundraising for their expedition next July. Some helped pack bags at Sainsbury’s, and were a bit nervy at fi rst offering their assistance to weekend shoppers. In November (during the teacher’s training day) the team managed to wash and polish a lot of cars. I was particularly pleased that my car was done fi rst! Never before has it looked so clean! In December the team was active selling ice creams during the ‘Christmas Carol’ school production and also helped to supervise youngsters and a few oldies on the ice skating / shopping trip to Cribbs Causeway. The expedition to Borneo involves SCUBA diving training and trial dives will be taking place at Brockworth pool. At Easter all expedition teams will be doing their fi nal training weekend on the Devon moors (hardly the same climate as Borneo) but nevertheless it will be a crucial team exercise where the participants will trek and camp in wild country. All students and staff are now looking forward to actually being in Borneo where these cold winter days will be a distant memory!

Borneo B – The Borneo B team have had a busy year preparing for the summer 2013 expedition. We have raised over £1500 in funds by holding a very successful quiz night in February and running a trip to Thorpe Park. We hope to use some of these funds to contribute to the marine reef conservation project that we will be taking part in in Borneo. The team have also been busy preparing in other ways. We also had a muddy training walk in the Cotswolds. We decided that it might be wise to practise our cooking skills, so we cooked a meal on stoves in Miss Hunt’s classroom on an 80p budget per person! Miss Hunt, Miss Niblett and Mr Critchley have advised that we need to brush up on recipe ideas! We are now looking forward to the last phase of preparation where we travel to the black mountains in Wales for our training in March!


On Thursday 18th October 2012 the school held one

of the most cherished events in the school calendar: the annual Prize Giving ceremony.

Every year Balcarras holds this joyous occasion to celebrate the school’s achievements. The event comprises of accounts about notable achievements from throughout the year; a selection of musical performances; and of course, the presentation of prizes, preceded by a speech from a guest speaker.

This year’s ceremony was incredibly enjoyable with an array of speeches and presentations to refl ect on Balcarras’ extremely successful year. One of the highlights was presented by Cicely Elliott-Berry and Budd Nicholson who gave the audience an insight into their Young Enterprise success with The Vitamin Boom – an outstanding accomplishment of

the year! Other items included the traditional House Captain’s Review of the Year, an account of the Kenya Link Trip 2012 and of course the address from our Guest of Honour: Mr Laurence Shahlaie – otherwise known as Britain’s Strongest Man.

Laurence Shahlaie, a previous pupil of the school, joined us for the evening to give an interesting and inspiring speech; the main focus of which was the notable message that ‘anything is possible’. Prize-winner James Vencl, who spent the afternoon in a workshop with Shahlaie, said “it was an enjoyable afternoon and evening thanks to Laurence’s genuine character.”

Shahlaie’s visit brought not only a sense of ambition, but also a feeling of nostalgia; but his vivid memory of trips to Mrs McClelland’s offi ce is one that only a handful of students can relate to – hopefully.

Finally, Shahlaie’s speech was

followed by the Presentation of Prizes. Each winner, nominated by teachers, was presented with a book of their choice as a token for their achievement.

Perhaps the most endearing point in the evening was the presentation of trophies. These prizes go to pupils who are oblivious of their nomination and receive prizes for reasons such as determination, perseverance through diffi cult times, and ‘Service and Sincerity’ – Will Baxter who won the JM Alcock award for Service and Sincerity commented that he was “delighted to have received the award and felt the whole evening was a fantastic event”. This view was undoubtedly shared by all prize winner.

The night fi nished on a vote of thanks from Emily Carter and Sam Forbes, after which, parents and pupils left looking forward to what hopes to be another fantastic year!

Annual Prize Giving 2012


How did you get into weightlifting competitions?“At school I was really into rugby (and table tennis!) I saw some strong-man competitions on TV and thought why not give it a go!”

How has Balcarras changed since you attended?“It seems a lot smaller now – that’s probably because I’ve got bigger! Obviously it’s changed a lot but it’s still a really good school. I went here 13 years ago and it’s amazing to see some of my old teachers; they haven’t changed!”

What does your family think of it all?They were all incredibly proud despite being originally sceptical when I started. My mum still texts me when she sees me on the TV! One of my proudest moments was lifting my daughter on my shoulder after winning Britain’s Strongest Man.”

I heard you were also an extra in the fi lm ‘The Golden Compass’?“Yes, my friend was a stuntman in the fi lm and told me about it so I auditioned originally to be a stuntman but ended up being an extra. You can see me in some of the scenes, with a huge tattoo on my face! Being in that fi lm and also taking part in Deal Or No Deal was

fun. I lifted up Noel Edmonds! I’d like to do more things like that.”

What are your plans for the future?“Well short-term I need to recover from my injuries – I damaged my shoulder after I last competed – but then I’m hoping to compete in the World’s Strongest Man competition: beat my last record and come fi rst. I’ve probably got a fi ve-year window to continue doing strong-man competitions and then maybe I’ll become a commentator and get a proper job!”

By Emily Howard (13K) andKatie Barnes (13D)

Laurence Shahlaei, otherwise known as Britain’s Strongest Man, came to visit Balcarras on 18th October 2012. As he attended

Balcarras in his childhood he was keen to have a look around! Not only did he kindly agree to be the guest speaker at prize-giving, he also spent a lesson giving weightlifting techniques and advice to some of the school’s best athletes and aspiring strong-men. The World’s 4th Strongest Man also answered some of our questions:

An interview with Laurence Shahlaie –our guest speaker

Britain’sStrongest Manvisits his old school


Balcarras teacherwins Gloucestershiresports award


The Annual Gloucestershire sports awards were held on the 19th of November 2012 this year at Cheltenham

Racecourse. Organised by the Gloucestershire media group, comprised of the Echo, Citizen and other Gloucestershire newspapers, the award is one of the most prestigious accolades in the county. The evening, presented by BBC sports commentator Jill Douglas, consisted of several awards, including a presentation and meal with Gloucestershire’s Olympic and Paralympic competitors, including rowing gold medallist Alex Gregory and Paralympic cyclist James Brown.

The award of Sports teacher of the year was contested between three nominees, all present at the awards ceremony. The winner of the prize was our own Mr Paul Greenway, who is also the head of Graveney house, appropriately named after England Cricketer Tom Graveney.

Mr Greenway, as well as teaching P.E. at Balcarras, is the Chairman of the Cheltenham and District Physical Education association and chairman of the Athletics and Cross Country.

Fellow P.E teacher Mark Harvey nominated Mr Greenway for the award, based on his valuable contribution to sport at the school, including running and coaching the Year seven and ten rugby teams, as well as the tennis teams during the summer.

William Baxter (11O1)

It was great to be nominated by my colleagues and “

“

selected by the Gloucestershire Media Group and its sponsors. The event itself was a wonderful celebration of sport in Gloucestershire during the Diamond Jubilee and London 2012 Olympic Games. Meeting Alex Gregory, a member of the gold winning rowing four, was brilliant and to hold his Olympic Gold medal was something I will never forget. I am very proud to have won this prestigious award and would like to take this opportunity to thank the pupils, parents, colleagues and friends who I have worked with at Balcarras and in Gloucestershire over the past 30 years.

Paul Greenway


Thick Jumper/Onesie day 7th December

We are currently a ‘D’ rating (similar to the A-G rating you get on new electronic products), this means that our energy use is slightly lower than average in terms of our carbon emissions.We spend almost £76,000 a year on heating and electricity. To help reduce this cost and subsequent environmental impact we took part in ‘switch it off fortnight’ where we are encouraging people to make an effort to turn off lights and projectors if they are not being used. This saw year 7’s being nominated as ‘green giants’ to help monitor energy use.

Then on 4th to 7th December we have a wear a vest week where we will be turned the heating down to encourage people to not leave outside doors open, or to not have windows open and radiators on. This culminated in our Onesie and Thick Jumper day on Friday 7th December. Pupils got into the spirit of the day and wore a wide selection of Christmas knitwear and Onesies. There were prizes and a fashion parade for the best Onesies. “It has helped people to be a bit more aware of closing outside doors and windows around the school, a real

success” said Mr Pearce. The pupils got to decide where their money for this mufti went to in an online poll from the VLE, the most popular choice was ‘Save the Children’ who will get all of this money. There were over 1,000 pupils, teachers, support staff and parents who voted on this issue.

John Pearce, Geography Teacher

The school has been taking part in a number of initiatives to reduce our carbon footprint.

Update on the Kenya Link Project

Balcarras has a healthy link with St Aloys Gem

Secondary School in Western Kenya, as featured in our fi rst edition.

The link is going from strength to strength, just over a year ago students from Balcarras visited St Aloys for the fi rst time. Miss Foster is still in regular contact with

teachers from the school and two pupils and two students came to Balcarras in June. They joined various lessons, had a tour of the school and Cheltenham as a whole and watched Midsummer Music. Some students also stayed with Balcarras pupils, ensuring they experienced the school in much the same way we experienced St Aloys last year. Kenya is preparing for elections at

the moment which will be held in March, so the focus at the moment is on fundraising – we are currently selling calendars featuring student artwork in aid of St Aloys. Hopefully in the near future we can send some more students to Katito; the trip last October was a huge success and a link like this benefi ts both schools hugely.

Jack Howell 13L

Onesie and jumper competition winners

From left; Harriet Ebanja, Alison Springer, Hilary Burke

Miss Ebanja’s tutor group 7O2

Charity Events


Charity Events The Bristol Half Marathon 2012

On 30th September 2012, a group of 15 teachers donned their running shoes and headed for Bristol to run the half

marathon.

What is the fastest fruit over a half marathon?To help boost the fund raising efforts three teachers dressed as bananas, with the added aim of trying to break the world record for the fastest piece of fruit to run a half marathon. Offi cially, a tomato holds the current record at 1 hr 48 min 52 sec according to the Guinness World record’s website, but we know of at least three who have beaten that time. Yes, the “brilliant bunch of Balcarras bananas” (Mr Pearce, Mr Critchley and Mr Thomas) all fi nished the 13.1 mile course quicker. Mr Pearce and Mr Critchley couldn’t

be split when they crossed the fi nished line together in 1 hr 39 min 46 sec and Mr Thomas followed behind with a time of 1 hr 45 min 24 sec.

“Pearce and Critchley skinned me with great split times, so I peeled off and slipped back in the bunch. With my fi tness I was ripe for the picking but I’m still green with envy.” – Mr Thomas

“I thought I’d given Mr Pearce the slip, but he caught me up in the last few meters and we crossed the line together; fair trade” – Mr Critchley

The aim of our team was to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Care to support the work that they do. The team included 6 fi rst timers who had never run that distance before. Mr Constance hadn’t even done any training!

Over 10,000 runners entered the race, which made it a popular story for the local media. Some of our team made it onto BBC Points West and the ITV local news and a few were even interviewed on Heart

radio. Miss Hunt, Mr Constance, Mr John and Miss Niblett all spoke to the radio station about our school , the sponsored walk, healthy schools and of course the team running for Macmillan.

The course took us out to the Clifton suspension bridge and around the town and there were thousands of supporters cheering us on, which was much needed in the last few miles! Everyone completed the distance successfully and there were

at least two personal best times alongside the fi rst timers, so we were all really pleased with our efforts. The satisfaction was further boosted by fi nding out that we had raised a total of £860 for Macmillan.

Mr Thomas, Maths Teacher

Bristol HalfMarathon Route


SportsNewsSports Update for the year so far

On Thursday 20th September the

Cheltenham and District Schools Swimming Relay Competition took place at Cheltenham Ladies College.

We had teams competing in the junior (years 8 & 9), intermediate (years 10 & 11) and senior (years 12 & 13) relays for both the medley and freestyle events. All teams came in the top three and did the school proud so congratulations to everyone who took part. A special mention should go to the intermediate boys relay team who came fi rst in both the freestyle and medley events.

The following Wednesday was the South West Division Swimming Competition held at Millfi eld School. Schools from all over the South West entered raising the standard of performance. Balcarras did well however the standout performance was the intermediate boys relay team who came 8th and 9th in the freestyle and medley relays respectively. Congratulations to all who took part.

Congratulations to Piers Harris for gaining a place in the Cheltenham District Rugby squad.

Rugby

Hockey

Swimming

Congratulations also to Will Haly, Morgan Churchill, Laurence Slim, Matthew Dickens and Ed Bogue for being selected for Gloucestershire Rugby Academy for their year group.

On Thursday 15th November Balcarras Year 8 rugby ‘B’ team played in the fi rst round of the Year 8 ‘B’ tournament at the Prince of Wales Stadium. The team performed well on the day, beating Pates and Cotswold. They also drew with Chosen Hill leaving them lying top of the group at the half way stage. Congratulations to all who participated and good luck for the next stage of the tournament!

On Tuesday 30th October Balcarras hosted the annual Year 7 rugby tournament for local schools. Our team was placed in group one competing against Cleeve ‘A’, Pittville and Cotswold. The boys lost

to Cleeve ‘A’ but managed to win against both Pittville and Cotswold leaving them 2nd in their group. They went on to play Tewkesbury in the match for 3rd and 4th place and unfortunately lost giving them an overall position of 4th out of the eight schools. This was a great achievement considering they have not been playing as a team for long. Congratulations to the team, we hope to see many more wins in the future!

On the 30th October the Year 9 rugby team travelled to Whitecross to play in the fi rst round of the EDF Energy U14 Schools Rugby Cup. A win was essential if they were to progress any further in the cup, luckily the team had an excellent game beating Whitecross 68-5 and can now look forward to facing Sir Thomas Rich’s or St Peter’s in the next round!

On Tuesday 9th October the U16 County Hockey

Tournament took place at Dean Close School. The girls did exceptionally well, coming 2nd in their group, meaning that they reached the semi-fi nals. In the semi-fi nal they played Cheltenham College and unfortunately lost, however considering that Cheltenham College went on the win the competition they did really well. Congratulations to all who participated!

Year 7 hockey

On Monday November 26th, Balcarras hosted the annual Year 7 hockey tournament. Six schools attended and as the hosting school we were able to enter two teams into the tournament.

The Balcarras A team did extremely well, making it through to the semi-fi nal stage. They unfortunately lost to St Edwards who then went on to win the tournament but they did

beat Bournside in the match for 3rd and 4th place leaving them third out of eight teams. The Balcarras B team also played brilliantly fi nishing 6th, beating some of the other schools’ A teams!

Congratulations to all the girls who played and also a big thank you to Claudia Burden, India Rayner and Verity Howes for assisting in the organisation of the event.

Olympic Legacy

BBC Radio Gloucestershire? Wanting to speak to the Balcarras water polo team? Apparently they were doing a feature on

the legacy of the Olympics and were talking to schools to see if they were participating in sports that they hadn’t done prior to the Olympic games. Well yes, we were: water polo; and so it was arranged that a reporter would come to interview our team of year 9 boys to be broadcast in January 2013.


On Tuesday 25th September the U16 County Netball

Tournament took place at Cheltenham Ladies College.

The girls did exceptionally well coming 3rd out of the nine schools in their group. Congratulations to Elise Cooper, Olivia Richardson, Emma Lewis, Claudia Burden, Ella Davies-Smith, Ashleigh Smith, Naomi Paterson, Tamsin Beech, Vicky Taylor, Phoebe Benjamin, Emily Helsby and Verity Howes for all their hard work.

Netball District Cross-Country District Cross-Country

Race Foley Graveney Ottewell Selvey

Year 7 Girls 4th 2nd 1st 3rd

Year 7 Boys 3rd 4th 2nd 1st

Year 8/9 Girls 1st 2nd 4th 3rd

Year 8/9 Boys 3rd 1st 2nd 4th

Year 10/11 Girls 3rd 2nd 1st 4th

Year 10/11 Boys 1st 3rd 4th 2nd

Overall scores 3rd 1st 2nd 4th

Race Place Girl’s Tutor Group

Boy’s Tutor Group

Year 7 1st Jessica Smith 7O2 Oliver Powell 7S1

2nd Georgina Byrd 7O2 Oliver Jones 7S1

3rd Barbara Diesel 7G2 Leo Robinson-Wall 7F1

Year 8/9 1st Emma Williams 9O1 George Bygrave 9G2

2nd Damaris Kellet 9G1 Ben Roberts 8F2

3rd Helen Babbage 9F1 Gabriel Chinn 9O1

Year 10/11 1st Amber Everett 10O2 Jotham Kellet 11G2

2nd Charlie Fry 11O1 Ben Ravenscroft 11F1

3rd India Rayner 11O2 Jack James 10F1

House Cross-Country Results

On Friday 16th November, Balcarras attended the annual District Cross-Country event hosted by St Edward’s School.

We entered teams for every age group and had the biggest squad by far! Congratulations to the Minor, Junior and Inter boy teams who fi nished fi rst and the Inter girls, Senior girls and the senior boys who fi nished second overall. We were really pleased with the amount of effort everyone put in considering the weather wasn’t great. Congratulations to the following pupils who fi nished in the top twelve of their age group category and consequently received an invitation to try out for the county squad: Georgie Byrd, Oliver Powell, Oliver Jones, Emma Williams, Damaris Kellett, George Bygrave, Ben Roberts, Ben Williams, Gabriel Chinn, Rory Lipscombe, Ben Ravenscroft, Will Testeil, Amber Everett, Charlie Fry, Emma Lewis, Edward Johnson, Fraser White, Oliver Turner, Zach Kellett, Jamie Kirby, Sophie Ingledew, Hannah Rowe and Cat Middleton. Congratulations to Amber Everett, Oliver Powell, George Bygrave, Ben Roberts, Ben Williams and Fraser White who attended the county try outs and now have a place in the County Cross-Country Squad.

Talented Pupils

Hockey – Congratulations to Jess Roe 10G1 who has been selected as a member of the Junior Regional

Performance Centre (JRPC).

Netball – Congratulations to Emily Helsby 10G1 and Tamsin Beech 10S1 who have been selected in the Talent and

Performance Squad.

Hockey – Congratulations to Maisie Holbrow-Wilshaw 10G1 who has been selected as a member of the

Junior Academy Centre (JAC).

As part of the School Games programme, Balcarras was invited to enter a team into a 4 a side water polo competition in May 2012. It wasn’t a sport we had any involvement with but Mr Harvey suggested a word with Archie Bayliss, then in year 8, who played water polo outside school.

Archie gathered a team of eager swimmers; Archie of course, George Stenner, Rudi Beauchamp, Sam Privett, Digby Elliot-Berry and Olly Turner; who were all up

for a challenge. The team did well but were beaten in the district fi nals in July by Cheltenham College. By September 2012 there were now eleven keen year 9 water polo players in need of a match. It took longer than you’d imagine but on November 20th we went to Tewkesbury with the 6 original players and the new recruits; George Bygrave, Jack Bassett, Josh Chatfi eld, Ben Williams and Ryan Winters and gained our fi rst win. Mrs Roylance

A long time ago in a mining village in Langley Moor, Durham in the North of England lived my Great Grandma, Susannah. By day she helped deliver babies and care for the sick. By night she laid out the bodies of those that had died. Scary! But there is more... This is a true story of one evening that is passed down through my family.

One cold, dark, wet night she was working with her friend, Betty. Betty did not whisper, she could gossip all night long recounting tales of village life and local dramas. In the dark shadow of the colliery, they were called to the mining cottage of James Dawson.

Susannah and Betty had to prepare his body after his untimely death in a pit accident. There had been a gas explosion. Four men died. But my family only talk about James. His arm was blown off and his body was black and charred. He was taken home by friends and laid down on a trestle table in his living room.

In the dark and eerie glow of candlelight they began to work. Susannah and Betty did not whisper while they washed and cleaned his body. They chatted. They shaved his face. And they chatted. They put pennies on his eyes as they kept opening and staring at them…

Jack Daubeney 9O2,Winner of the Year 9 prize

Darkness FallsA Tesco bag is fl apping wild in the wind, trapped under a rock that

has lost its way. Nearby, a crushed coke can has been rudely stamped

on by a random passer-by. And a foot away is the bin, which is

completely and baffl ingly empty.

Usually mothers direct their children to the other – cleaner - sections

of the play park, like the smooth slide or the harmless swings.

Except the gravel nearby is spotted with drops of rusty blood - three

metres away from the harmless swings. The wind carries the ghost of a past scream,

shrieking through the trees, swishing through the grass and echoing in and around the

playground equipment.

The park is deserted. Not even the pigeon perched on the fi reman style pole that

children slide down is making an appearance. It usually sits there, on the very top,

every day like the king of its castle and watches. It watches the sliders whizz down to

the wood chips at the bottom, it watches the monkey imposters swing on the bars to

the other side, and it watches the fl ight of the swing.

Up and down, up and down, its rider simply bursting with glee every time he comes

face to face with the clouds, and every time he has a greeting with the ground.

The council can’t afford wood chips everywhere. They are scattered sparsely around

the bottom of the slide, because the idea of it is to send kids hurtling down to the

ground as quickly as is enjoyable. The swings are meant to keep children airborne, to

please them with the joy of fl ight, and distract them from the loud and spine chilling

squeak that also, along with the gravel, comes with the swing set.

The left hand swing becomes still as the wind dies. Alongside it is the other swing,

unnaturally and permanently deadened by the accident. The fall.

I never found out what happened to the boy. Never understood what went wrong.

There’s no one to ask now. No one who saw is speaking up. No one who didn’t see

wants to know.

The sun is going down and the wind is becoming still. Tearing

up the air, is one sharp never ending scream.

As darkness falls, the swing begins its fl ight again. Up and

down, up and down.

Lizzie Oates 801, Overall winner in Year 7, 8 & 9

As part of the Literacy Strategy Balcarras launched a competition this term for aspiring writers in Year 7, 8 and 9.

Almost 80 entries were submitted by the deadline, and over half of the entrants were boys. Their challenge was to write a ghost story based on the titles “Ice Cold”, “Whisper” or “Darkness Falls” and to impress the judges in fewer than 400 words.

The creative writing talent that we have at Balcarras is unbelievable – judging was a pleasure. All entrants received fi ve merits each and 7F1 really took advantage of this, with

almost every member of the tutor group having entered! After much deliberation, the year group winners were chosen. Charlie Oliver (7G2), Jasper Meeuwissen-True (8S2) and

“ ”!Jack Daubeney (9O2) have all received book tokens. The worthy overall winner Lizzie Oates (8O1) has been given a Kindle Fire. Her atmospheric tale about a haunted playground is beautifully crafted.

There will defi nitely be more writing competitions to come this year. Watch this space! In the meantime, please enjoy this spine-chilling selection of best bits...

Miss Parry, English teacher


Literacy “Short Story” Competition


Scampering as quiet as a mouse, making sure not to disturb any of the creepy critters that hide away in the depths of the woods, unexpectedly, Tabitha caught her leg on a frost covered branch. Suddenly, she came to a brisk halt. There it was, standing as proud as a lethal lion.

Phoebe Fulvio-Mason 7F1

Tap. Tap. Tap. The noise increases.

A warm liquid oozes from a gouge on the prey’s forehead. Stretching out his frosty fi ngers, the man briefl y strokes the substance before his eyes start to bulge and his throat starts to gag. Feeling woozy, the sufferer tries his hardest to get a grip on the collapsing walls of reality.

An instant before his eyes roll back into his skull and his breathing ceases, the man glimpses the shape of a dark fi gure reaching out its claws. The tapping noise had stopped. Instead, there was the sound of someone or something rasping for air. The darkness falls around the man.

Hannah Joshua 8F2

“Help me...” a soft whisper pleaded. Tom stumbled towards the bathroom. His hand reached towards the door handle. Suddenly he was no longer human. He was an animal. An animal relying on his instincts alone. Gently, he turned the handle and pushed the door open... Nothing. “Help me...” The whisper again. He turned round... squinting into the darkness. Joe Woolston 8S2

It was now, if I was going to do this, I had to do this right now, as all their eyes gazed in amazement at what I was about to do.

My hands were shaking and I was trying to hide this in front of them. I knew that what I was about to do could seriously cause some

danger. But I was aware of this and felt some kind of respect

as I looked down at the teardrop bottle sculpted in my hands,

my warm, sweaty hands. It was dark and humid.

Olivia Symes 9F1

Night had fallen, darkness immersed him. A pale streak of moonlight edged through the glass panes. Henry lit a match, he saw the photograph again. This time he studied it. […] With the candle held out in front of him, Henry cautiously approached the stairwell. A whisper shivered past his shoulder, uttering the words “I’ll take you to heaven”. Henry shuddered and turned. Nothing, empty space, but the door

had closed. Sweat poured down his neck, his hairs stood up. Again, “or could we go together?” Henry pulled a wooden cross from his pocket, held it to his face and began to utter a prayer. Yet again, a laugh, a sinister, cold laughter. Henry dropped the cross. A whistle of wind, he dropped the candle. Whispers. Darkness had fallen. –

Charlie Oliver 7G2, Winner of the Year 7 prize

I rushed outside in a panic. I could smell the rotten swamp, I could hear the wind wailing in my ears and I could see noth-ing but fog.

I looked back at the house, the fog began to clear. I could only see its shadow.

The house had vanished leaving its shadow behind. […]

Confused, I pushed the huge, heavy wooden door, which

creaked loudly on its rusty hinges.

At that moment, a whisper seemed to escape from the gap

in the door, forcing me backwards. As I looked down, the

ground appeared to be eating me, absorbing my fl esh!

Jasper Meeuwissen-True 8S1,Winner of the Year 8 prize

Immediately, he stopped and clutched his throat. He couldn’t breathe! His eyes went blurry and he could feel his body slowly fading away. He reached out towards the distant tent, but it was too late. He felt the fi nal bits of life shrink away. He stumbled forward and tripped. He was dead before he hit the sand.

Daniel Gardner 7S2

It was a cold frosty November morning, with a low,

bright orange sun and a blue sky. The ground had

a white frost and the puddles from the recent rain

had a thin layer of ice on top, which cracked and

snapped when I walked on them. As the sun was

rising, it was creating a light white mist from the roads and gardens which had an evil, eerie silence.

Elliott Rowe 8G2


A Christmas Carol

Christmas Events

Sam Forbes, year 13, took the lead as Ebenezer Scrooge and many talented students from across the years took up their roles as quintessential Victorian characters.

The ghosts gave a fright, with exceptional performances and costume, sound and lighting emphasising their eerie scenes. (Not to mention the smoke!) The show certainly contained sad and scary moments, and at times brought a tear. However the chorus and the jolly characters also gave plenty of laughs with entertaining scenes of dancing and frivolities! The comedy

duo ‘washer women’ were typical pantomime characters, and put a smile on everyone’s faces.

At fi rst dubious of how this infamous play could be turned into a musical, all doubts vanished once the orchestra began to play. The dramatic music from the student musicians alongside the singers’ performances really lifted the story to another level, and showed off just how much talent Balcarras has. This was also proved by the fantastic dancers from all over the school, who brought the story to life, even within the audience at times!

One of the most exciting events of the winter term is the school Christmas production. This year was the fi rst ever year that the

tickets were sold out for almost every performance! Balcarras got into the Christmas spirit with the play-turned-musical, A Christmas Carol. Far from the Muppet version, the spooky tale was performed in the school hall for three consecutive nights.

The twists and turns of the complex tale were well directed with the help of co-directors from Year 13. Students also got involved with the making of props and costume, the tech and the behind the scenes management.

The infamous tale of woe resolved to an uplifting fi nale, with ‘Bah Humbug’ replaced with ‘Merry Christmas’! As the happy dancing and singing came to an end, snow fell. The audience was left with a joyous feeling and I’m sure that everybody was moved to be a bit more giving this Christmas. As Tiny Tim concluded, “God bless us, every one.”

Emily Howard13K


Carol Concert at Holy Apostles

The annual Christmas Carol Concert was held at Holy

Apostles Church on December 5th last week. The Concert went swimmingly and was thoroughly enjoyed by those who took part, the parents, teachers and friends that came to watch.

The evening ran very smoothly and it was obvious that lots of hard work had been put in; especially into the school orchestra which played a number of lovely pieces capturing the childish excitement of Christmas that I know for sure we all still get at this time of the year.

What was also impressive this year was the number of pieces conducted by our own 6th form students and of an extremely high calibre, including the wind orchestra conducted by Eleanor Fawcett and the string group conducted by Phoebe Barnes.

All of the students who organised their own individual acts performed exceptionally, especially Emma Lewis, James Watts, Zac Walker and Barbara Diesel with their performance of God Bless Us. This is also true for the students who read so fl uently. The concert was well attended as indeed, were the refreshments at the end offering the congregation a chance to meet and greet with mince pies and mulled wine. As a member of the school choir, I would like to thank Mrs. Watts who conducted for both us and the orchestra and put so much time and energy into both and Miss Hayes and Ms. Buckley for organizing the event.

Dickens’ ChildrenBalcarras – The Old Curiosity Shop Teacher Directors: Nina Slater, Richard Wood and Tony Bennett Corinne Baker – Dick Swiveller; Emma Wall – Quilp’s Wife; Livi Davis – Fred; Jenny Hinks – Gentleman; Rob Taylor – Kit; Annabell Lisk – Grandparent; Kirsty Lines – Mrs. Jiniwin; Hannah Symcox – Nell; Sekai Waterman – Quilp

Just before half-term members of our Junior Drama Club took part in a prestigious event at The Parabola Arts Centre

in Cheltenham. Along with various other local schools they performed a piece based on a famous work by Charles Dickens. All who took part were superb on stage – and equally as excellent ambassadors for our school at an event involving professional and amateur practitioners. Well done everyone!

Louise Partridge from Cheltenham Everyman writes…“When I was exploring what to do for secondary schools with our second year of Heritage Lottery funding, it seemed logical to create something to celebrate both the 200th Anniversary of Charles Dickens’ birth and Cheltenham’s Everyman Theatre ‘Dickens’ season. The Everyman and Daylight Theatre Company are two organisations that have been highly valued by teachers and pupils across Gloucestershire and a project where these two organisations could work together seemed an excellent opportunity not to be missed. So ‘Dickens’ Children’ was created, as a way to ignite a passion in young people for reading, creative writing and performance. Daylight Theatre Company (supported by the expert tutelage of the Everyman Theatres’ professional drama practitioners) worked with pupils from six secondary schools to explore the characters and themes in selected Dickens novels. The stories have come to life over the past 6 months and are now ready to pass on to you as an audience and the future generations that will use the scripts that have been especially adapted by Hugh Young.”

Stage make-up ready! Costumes ready!

Last minute advice from the Director!


School ClubsBalcarras Cycling Club

Founded in the summer of 2011, the Balcarras School cycling club is without a doubt one of the most unique, new and

innovative clubs the school has.

Balcarras School cycling club is the only school one in the area, adding to Cheltenham’s already impressive number of clubs, including the Cheltenham and County cycling club and the Montpellier Velo club.Ran by Mr Cook (ICT) and Mr Thomas (Maths), the club has recently diversifi ed into two groups, with Mr Thomas running the year seven, eight and nine club, and Mr Cook running the year ten and eleven club. For students interested in joining, the lower school club meets on a Monday break time in Mr Thomas’s room (3A1), with the upper school meeting on a Thursday break time in Mr Cook’s room (6B2).

The club is one of the few organisations in the school that is open to both students and staff. Indeed, Mr Healy is a huge supporter of the club, regularly attending rides and events. During the winter, Mr Cook organises rides available to both staff and students.

Events are a huge part of the cycling club is about. Recently, in June, a twenty four hour cyclathon took place, with all club members participating. Set up to raise funds for the club Jersey, the event was a tremendous success. Another ride is planned for the summer, with the target of raising over £1000.

In addition to this, last year saw the fi rst trip for the club. A group of around twenty riders were taken to the Newport Velodrome, one of only three Olympic standard tracks in the UK. This was the track used to train Chris Hoy before his three gold medals in Beijing, and perhaps the next Olympic champion took their fi rst ride there that day.

The club is inclusive, and open to any discipline of cycling, including road, track and mountain biking. Other plans include a residential trip to see the Tour de France, as well as riding in France.

William Baxter 11O1

Staff Football Match Commentary

It started some years ago as a fun end to the week. Friday

Football has since become a gladiatorial contest; a trial with a place in the staff team at stake for regular matches against Cotswold School, Winchcombe or the year 13s. Even staff from yesteryear return each week to put on a shirt.

I decided to watch one Friday, to see if the standard matched the hype and surprisingly it did! Yellow and red shirts were distributed as last week’s pals were often this week’s rivals. Perry showed quick feet for the Yellows with a slick pass to Thomas ensuring the opener early in the game. This was followed by a cool cross from Reeves on the wing for Perry to fi nish acrobatically. Perry doubled his tally, after some nifty passing from Arris, with a cool fi nish into the top of the net. Pride was at stake and some red-faced Reds looked to pull one back. Bennett nipped in on a stray pass at the back to square to Critchley who slid in; player and ball crossing the line. Pearce was given the ball in space only for his blasting shot to be tipped over the bar. Critchley took a spell in goal, following a competitive (or ‘high’) challenge from Perry, only to concede a goal. The Reds fi nished the game disheartened as Thomas squared for Perry to stroke home the fi nish, ensuring bragging rights for the Yellows – for one week anyway! A different week sees a very different game. Next time I look forward to seeing the skills of Harvey, Leatherbarrow, Hazael, Clancy, Baxter, Davis, and Rice. Their reputation goes before them, as it does with the legend that is Dean!Full Time: Reds 1-5 Yellows

Laurie Cleevely 11F1


AmnestyInternational Club

The Amnesty International school club is made up of sixth formers, Phoebe Harris, Catherine Rice-Williams, Beth

Millican, Ruth Miller, Kerry Palmer-Hadfi eld, Lydia Hazlewood and Josephine Sherwood.

Coding Club

This year saw the ICT and Computing department

launch a new club. Recently in the news it has been mentioned how pupils and students alike are not gaining the skills meant for the outside world.

Mr Rice has started a computer programming club which has been open to all years of the school. It is attended by all age groups from year 7 to 13. It aims to teach pupils key concepts and incorporates logical thinking essential to becoming a good programmer. Initially we have been using a programming language called Python however it is hoped that Visual Basic will be available so pupils can create fully interactive forms like they see on a day to day basis.

Mr Rice “It always amazes me how many parents of pupils are actually associated in some way with coding and programming, embedding these skills at such a young age is only going to have a positive effect on their learning across the whole school ”

The programming club is currently open to the whole school and is every Tuesday after school.

Myles Mcdevitt 10O2

It runs as a twilight session on Mondays. It is taught by Miss Phillips and Miss Clemow. There are 4 units to this course each one different. In unit 1, pupils have a written paper in which they do

‘swans song’ and ‘still life at the penguin cafe’. The next unit involves students implementing a set study in which they are practically examined. In unit 3 they have the opportunity of performing in a group or as a

Although a small group we are eager to raise awareness within the school of the issues surrounding human rights, planning to introduce small projects around this topic for years seven, eight and nine. So far we have put up a display board in the sixth form common room with current articles on news involving human rights. Many people of our age do not have a detailed understanding of these events as there are few articles aimed at younger audiences, especially in the lower school, to interest them in this area. Therefore we hope to do a presentation on issues surrounding the situation Syria to encourage interest in this subject. Additionally, we hope to involve students in further projects throughout the year and are optimistic that they will be successful.

I spoke to Catherine Rice-Williams about being involved in Amnesty International:

Why did you become interested in Amnesty International?

We were really interested in re-starting the Amnesty International group in school as we wanted to raise the awareness of some of the human rights issues in the world as some people don’t understand or even know about some of the things that affect countries like Syria today, even though they are front page news almost every day.

Is it something that you are interested in taking further on in later life?

I am hoping to study International Development at University and understanding the effects of violations of human rights will provide a useful background.

We would really like as many people as possible to join the group as we currently have a few members and believe that awareness is the fi rst step; with more members we will be able to make more of a difference and be more effective.

Lydia Hazlewood 12J

duo. The last part of this module is made up of two sections. A solo composition is the fi rst part of the section whilst in the last piece of this module is choreography which can be done as a solo, duo or a group performance. This course is brilliant for anyone who loves dance.

GCSE Dance

GCSE dance is a mixture of year 10 &11 pupils (12 in total).

Left to right: Catherine Rice-Williams, Phoebe Harris, Kerry

Palmer-Hadfi eld, Ruth Miller, Lydia Hazlewood.


6th Form Events

6th Form Committee

Every year an intrepid group of fresh-faced Year 12s take on the monumental challenge of being a Sixth Form Committee

member. This means that as well as having to cope with exams, homework and revision they must give up some of their time to make improvements on the common room, pupil regulations and opportunities.

Phoebe Barnes, a current committee member, relishes the challenge – “As soon as I heard about the opportunity I wanted to get involved, as I think it is very important to have your own say in how the Sixth Form is run and be able to improve the learning experience for everyone”.

One of the most recent efforts of the committee was to decorate the common room with decorations in time for Christmas – with a tree, tinsel and a festive message sprayed

in frosted glass spray paint making everyone get in to the holiday spirit! Continuing with this theme, the committee then organised a Christmas buffet for the students with a delicious spread on offer.

With just over half of the school year gone, this year’s committee have already proven themselves up to the challenge, and I am sure that the coming months are to be just as successful.

Katie Barnes

On 20th December 2012 Balcarras 6th Form joined

together to enjoy a wonderful Christmas buffet.Spirits were high as the end of term was drawing closer and the 6th formers were looking forward to a chance to celebrate all together. The whole school from years 7 to 13 enjoy the opportunity to have a Christmas dinner in the canteen , however the 6th formers wanted an opportunity to have a slightly more informal buffet in the comfort of their own common room, with just year 12 and year 13 pupils present. In tutor groups or groups of friends the 6th formers enjoyed a wonderful spread of food provided by the school canteen staff. Teachers and tutors were welcomed too! All involved enjoyed a delightful opportunity to come together in the spirit of Christmas.

6th Form Christmas Buffet

Every September all of Year 12 and their tutors take part in an ‘ice-breaking’ session of fun and games – to help them get to know each other. These include anagrams, sack races, ball-pass etc. The teams have set colours and make posters and banners. The winners this year were 12K.

for Year 12

Left to right: Poppy Kilby-Tyre, Phoebe Barnes, Hannah Bailey, Ellie Dobson,Ed Chidley, Georgia Smith, Furqan Mahmood, Ced Palo and Evan Bailey (not present in photo)


6th Form Events

6th Form Debate TripOn Sunday 25th November 2012 Mrs. Bennett and Miss

Rogers were kind enough to take a group of 6th Form pupils to London to attend the fi nal round of the John Smith Memorial Mace Debate at Church House in Westminster. The morning was spent travelling through London, being rejected by every electric machine possible and thus ordering panic cappuccinos*. Before we attended the debate, we were let loose for a wander around London Town; namely the colourful Petticoat Lane Market, full to bursting with wonderful bric-a-brac and some real bargains; if you had both time and a good eye!

Following our foray to Petticoat Lane we joined the competitors, members of the English Speaking Union and its sponsors in a public forum on the topic of press regulation in light of the Leveson Enquiry. This was chaired by the editor of The Independent: Chris Blackhurst and the rest of the panel was made up of Jason Cowley- editor of The New Statesman, Professor Natalie Fenton- Department of Media and Communications at Goldsmiths College, London, Chris Bryant- Shadow Minister for immigration and Joan Smith- author and victim of phone hacking herself.

The discussion was fi rst between only those on the panel but was then opened up to the fl oor, giving

members of the public a chance to have their own questions answered. The widening of the discussion brought some very interesting points to light; would press regulation lead to Soviet style control over media? And would it also restrict investigative journalism? Not only was press regulation touched upon, but also the matter of regulation of sites like Twitter and other blogospheres that are able to pass news all around the world in a matter of minutes. Although this can be considered brilliant, could it also be and has it not already been damaging; for example the recent miss accusation of Lord McAlpine on Twitter that lead to him having to resign from a very recently acquired position in parliament.

The motion for the fi nal debate was ‘This House Believes that the Press Cannot Be Trusted to Regulate Themselves.’ The Teams we allowed 15 minutes to prepare their arguments and once their prep time was up, the debate commenced. The students were highly competitive speakers and appeared very well prepared, each team accepting at least one point of information from the opposing team and handling it smoothly without getting fl ustered. An interesting and articulate set of arguments ensued with little deviation and well thought through points.

Once the debate was over, the judging panel, chaired by the Rt. Hon. Lord Hunt of the Wirral PC, MBE, left the room to discuss and decide the winner. During their decision making, the debate was again opened up for the public to throw questions at the competitors who duly tackled them seemingly easily.

After what must have seemed like hours to the competitors, the panel had made their decision and particularly praised were the depth and breadth of the arguments made by every one of the speakers, however it was Kaplan A Team that were deemed the winners and so were presented with a cheque for £500 and the English National Championship Trophy.

The day was a great success and the 6th form students that attended the debate found it highly informative and enriching.

*Defi nition of a panic cappuccino: The instance at which you are asked for your order in a coffee shop and you suddenly realise you haven’t decided.. Involuntarily you order a Cappuccino. ‘Not again’ you groan ‘I don’t even like Cappuccino.’

Jack Howell 13L


School Matters

The PTFA have been very busy this term supporting

school events and organizing fundraisers.

This year, for the fi rst time, we organized a ‘ladies pamper evening’ which was a huge success. Over 130 people came to the event which featured a fashion show, various stalls and the chance to try out a range of treatments. We raised £1000 for the school and we are certain to run it again next year.

In addition to this our usual job of providing the bar for the production and the refreshments for the carol concert were both enjoyable and successful.

Beccy Roberts, Chair of the PTFA

Teaching School NewsOur work as a teaching school continues to fl ourish. Since the

last edition another two schools have joined the partnership taking the number to 16.

In November we organised the partnership’s fi rst Teaching and Learning Conference which was attended by over 240 teachers and teaching assistants.

The theme of the day was ‘Closing the Gap’ and the keynote speaker was Professor Charles Desforges from Exeter University. He was an engaging speaker and talked passionately about the role schools play in getting the best out of every student no matter what their background.

In the second part of the day Balcarras staff presented a range of workshops on areas such as raising boys’ achievement, excellent marking and feedback and questioning techniques. It was a hugely successful day and the feedback was particularly positive.

Although the conference was defi nitely the centrepiece of the partnership’s activity in the autumn term there has also been a full range of networking and INSET events. We have a number of subject networks including mathematics, geography and ICT but we have also arranged several training events including a course for aspiring senior leaders. The partnership has also set up a research project which aims to improve the quality of literacy provision and to develop best practice. Several schools are involved.

In March we celebrate our fi rst year as a Teaching School and by then over 500 teachers will have attended partnership events.

Dominic Burke, Assistant Head

Mr Burke and Mr Healy with keynote speaker Professor Charles Desforges

Teachers from 16 schools attended the event

PTFA


School MattersNew Psychology Rooms!

It has been an exciting time in the Psychology department with the arrival of two newly built classrooms!

New Food Rooms!

We have now had a full term in the new food rooms and things seem to be going very well, we fi nally have no more

boxes to unpack! After having half a term teaching in a number of non-food classrooms, demonstrating practical work with the use of a small cooker, washing up bowl and an equipment trolley it has been great to get back to busy practical lessons.

The plans were discussed in the summer term of 2012 and came to life over the holidays. An unused space above the school Pavilion was reconstructed into two new classrooms, with additional offi ce space. The rooms include ICT facilities and an invaluable teaching space for one of the most popular and highly subscribed A levels at Balcarras.

It has made an unbelievable difference going from one shared teaching classroom in the 6th form block to this purpose-built space. This has provided our psychology students with a more consistent learning environment and given Miss

Rogers and I a permanent space to do our work. It has made it easier for us to teach lessons simultaneously and hold revision sessions and workshops outside of lessons.

Chris Healy (Headteacher) added, “We have transformed what was a little-used storage space into just about perfect accommodation for our brilliant psychology department. There were a range of possible tenants for it but I am sure we have made exactly the right choice!”

Rachel Morris – Psychology Teacher

We would like to thank the pupils we taught at the end of the last academic year for being so patient and understanding with us as the refurbishment started. As well as the modifi cations, the addition of the new food and textiles computer room has had a real impact in the department. We sometimes cannot remember what the rooms were like prior to the refurbishment. It is great to be able to work, teach and share our enthusiasm for our subject in such an exciting classroom environment.

One of the best things about the refurbishment we have enjoyed has been pupil reactions (past and

present) to the new room layout. Comments from pupils include “wow, this is great”, “it’s just like being on Master chef”. We have particularly enjoyed seeing prospective new pupils and parents on open evening and on the sixth form open evening, their reaction was simply amazing and pupils coming from other schools were most envious of our facilities.

We are hoping to have the food rooms offi cially opened at some point during this term, more details to follow.

Cath Saunders – DT-Food Teacher


Balcarras was awarded the green fl ag in the summer of 2012; a benchmark award that aims to encourage pupils to look

into ways of reducing the environmental impact of the school community.

School Matters

Balcarras have worked extremely hard to reduce the school’s carbon footprint by making numerous improvements to the school. For example, we positioned new recycling bins around the school and installed solar panels onto various rooves of the school building. What’s more, to compliment our efforts, the school have monitored the energy use through a snazzy Thermal camera! As a result of our “Switch it Off’ campaign and adaptations to the school, we managed to reduce the schools carbon footprint to 10% of 2006 levels.

Furthermore, pupils have been involved in a host of eco-schemes: the ‘Young Energy Project’, the Comenius project, the BBC School report and a ‘low carbon schools

in Gloucester’ project. One of our whole school projects was ‘Thick Jumper Day’ which aimed to raise awareness of energy loss through open doors and windows. For one day the school heating was turned down, giving everyone an excuse to dig out oversized, thick jumpers and wear them for the day!

On the other hand, as well as reducing energy loss, pupils have conducted work on the school grounds, planting trees to encourage habitats to grow around school. Our gardening endeavours even included planting a garden with salad and vegetables, which have been sold to raise money for our link school in Kenya.

We have even conducted projects away from home turf. Old

computers and books have been shipped to schools in Africa through various charities, and a number of pupils have taken part in environmental work as part of their expeditions. For instance, the Tanzania group dug water pipes for a local village, and in Argentina the group recycled old fencing materials to be reused by local farmers.

A lot of pupils have taken part in activities that have reduced the environmental impact of us as a school community. Why not join the campaign and think about ways in which you can reduce your own carbon footprint.

Year 11 pupils from Pittville School visited us again recently. We caught up with a few:

Pittville PartnershipUpdate

What have you enjoyed so far?

“The facilities look really nice. I liked the sixth form common room; it’s a bit like the one in The Inbetweeners! And the facilities like the study room are good; it’s impressive how many computers there are”.

“I really liked the canteen. Especially the food. The food is nice”.

“Also there’s a really friendly atmosphere, everybody smiles and says hello. The teachers have been relaxed to talk to as well.”

What subjects are you thinking of taking?

“Geography and business are my favourites. I like the business department here, it’s quite big. And the geography block is really modern and cool”.

“I’m thinking of taking psychology. It looks interesting.”

How would you describe Balcarras in 3 words?

“Big, relaxed and friendly!”

Jack Howell & Emily Howard

Balcarras and Pittville make plans to continue school partnership

The schools are deciding to keep on expanding the

relationship as the new school year continues.

Chris Healy, headteacher, said: “We are expanding what we have been doing, consolidating the improvements we have made and taking it even further.”

“We look forward to more exciting events in the future.”

Preview of our

Next Edition Summer 2013Spotlight on the Music and History departments

Celebrity Guest Visits and Interviews

Next steps for our Year 11 and Year 13 students

Students’ work showcased

The Year 11 Ball

... and much more!

Follow us on

Remember to follow @BalcarrasPR on Twitter for news updates about Balcarras in the press. Balcarras PR is our Twitter page we have set up for people to follow Balcarras in the news. It is embedded into the VLE so that pupils/parents can see it without being on Twitter but those who are on might want to follow our page.Here is the link: https://twitter.com/#!/BalcarrasPR

VLE access for ParentsType in www.balcarrasonlinelearning.com and register for access to your child’s homework, attendance and much more.

On-line payments system nowup and runningSee the VLE for details.

Quizzes and Puzzles

Answers to July 2012 edition puzzles

Geography True or False … answers:1. False 2. True 3. True 4. True 5. False

Logic puzzles answers:A man pushed his car. He stopped when he reached a hotel at which point he knew he was bankrupt Why? – He was playing monopoly!

Matchstick Puzzle – SolutionCan you move only twomatchsticks and rebuildthe glass in the same shapeso that the ice is outside of it.

Guess the country from the image and the clues below

Clues –1. GDP growth rate for fi rst quarter of 2012 was

1%2. Largest consumer of Amazon rain forest

timber3. There are around 1,500 earthquakes every

year in this country and more than 70% of this country consists of mountains

4. Coffee is very important here, they import approximately 85% of Jamaica’s annual coffee production

5. This country is the largest automobile producer in the world

Answer will be published in the next issue along with another ‘guess the country quiz’.

Q. Which River has four eyes and one mouth?Q. Johnny is tied to a chair and can’t escape.

Why doesn’t he mind?Q. What weighs virtually nothing, but you

can’t hold it for more than three minutes?

New school website has been launchedHave a look at the many features you can access.

Website QR code

B a l c a r r a s T e a c h i n g S c h o o l

Partnership

BalcarrasFrom strength to strength

Balcarras SchoolEast End Road, Charlton KingsCheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL53 8QF

Telephone:01242 515881

Fax:01242 250620

Email:[email protected]

Website:www.balcarras.gloucs.sch.uk

Headteacher:Christopher Healy BA MEd

On BalanceEmail (for submissions):[email protected]

NationalTeachingSchool

balcarras on balance winter 2013

Documents

new editor

new website

new prospectus

new buildings

new look

balance edition

staff interviews

staff editors