Inside this issue

Exam Results Children in need Open Evening Trips Fundraising Year 7 Sports news Plus lots more news & informa on

2

Bo sham Village College

Lode Road Bo sham

Cambridgeshire CB25 9DL

Tel: 01223 811250 Fax: 01223 813123

enquiries@bo shamvc.org

“This is an outstanding college, where a very strong

ethos of community, high quality learning and

aspira onal academic achievement exists

throughout.”

AA message from the Principal

Another wonderful start to the year: we have

welcomed our new Year 7 group into the College

family and have been delighted at the way they

have settled in so quickly and smoothly. You

can gather a flavour of some of the activities they have been up

to this term in the middle pages.

Our Year 11 students have been working hard to prepare for

mock examinations and are beginning to plan for the next

stages in their education, visiting a range of colleges and

sixth form centres.

Congratulations to our new Student Leadership Team (SLT)

who have been organising our charity days and raising the

final funds for the new school baby grand piano. I am sure

that students and all members of the community will gain

great pleasure from this purchase for many years to come.

As we draw towards the end of another busy and successful

term, we would like to wish all of you a very enjoyable and

restful Christmas and best wishes for a happy 2015.

Kate Evans

Friday 19th December - Term Ends at 1.25pm Spring term 2015 Monday 5th January - Term starts Monday 2nd—Friday 13th February—Year 9 Options week 16th - 20th February - Half term Friday 27th March Last day of term Summer term 2015 Tuesday 14th April - Term starts Monday 4th May - Bank Holiday Monday 11th May - Start of exams season 25th - 29th May - Half term Monday 29th June—Year 6 Intake day 1 Tuesday 30th June—Year 6 Intake day 2 Monday 29th June - Friday 10th July—Year 10 work experience Monday 6th—Friday 10th July - Activities Week Friday 17th July - Term Ends at 1.25pm

Dates for your diary

3

On Thursday 2nd October we welcomed record numbers of parents and children to our annual open evening. The Sports Hall was packed with visitors who watched presenta ons from the Principal and members of Year 11, with very brave speeches from two Year 7s who had only been at the school for 5 weeks!

Parents and children then experienced presenta ons and ac vi es in all faculty areas. In Science, visitors could see many different and exci ng experiments as well as dissec ons of eyes and working lungs! In the Project Area the BVC electric car was on display along with examples of GCSE Product Design and Tex les. Visitors could make their own works of art, sample the delights of the cookery rooms and watch students using technology equipment. There was a chance to take part in compe ve rowing in PE, language quizzes, maths puzzles and watch dance and drama performances.

We are very proud of all our students and the way that they gave their me and energies to guide parents around the buildings, put on demonstra ons and provide entertainment for our visitors. We would also like to thank all school staff for their wonderful contribu ons to the evening and look forward to mee ng parents and children again in the summer term for our transi on events.

In the mean me, if any prospec ve parents have queries or would like a prospectus, please do not hesitate to contact us at the college.

We are very proud of our 2014 examina on results. Over 78% of all students achieved five or more A*-C

grades, the crucial benchmark which enables students to move on to higher level courses.

Over one third of all grades achieved by students were at A* & A grade.

68% of students achieved five or more A*-C grades, including English and Mathema cs, significantly higher than na onal results.

42% of students gained the English Baccalaureate qualifica on

These results consistently enable our Year 11 students to progress onto their chosen course or des na on when they leave us. The overwhelming majority of our students take up places at sixth form centres in Cambridge. Students are fortunate to have access to a range of highly regarded establishments offering a variety of academic and voca onal programmes.

These results were all the more remarkable in the light of the widely publicised ghtening of marking regimes and raising of pass marks.

Students returned for the annual cer ficate presenta on evening in November and we wish all of them well for their next steps in educa on and work.

4

On Friday 19th September, the whole school supported Jeans for Genes day by wearing non-uniform. This charity day is organised by four na onal chari es, raising funds for research into gene c disorders and birth defects. These serious and o en life-threatening gene c disorders affect thousands of children and the funds raised provide laboratory equipment and facili es, as well as valuable advice and support for families. Through this funding children with these diseases are given hope of surviving their symptoms and poten ally leading rela vely normal lives.

In the week of Jeans for Genes Day the college held assemblies outlining the importance of these gene c issues, how it affects people’s lives and how the funds raised can make a difference. We are proud to announce we raised the fantas c total of £1082.38.

Bo sham Village College and Swa am Bulbeck Primary are lead schools of the Anglian Gateway Teaching School Alliance. We are leading the way for more school-led teacher training. This is really important to us because it means we can choose the most talented and dedicated people and develop them as teachers. Being able to choose who we train as teachers helps us to deliver the best outcomes for the students and pupils in our alliance. We have vacancies now to start training from September 2015 and we would be very interested to hear from you if you are thinking of becoming a teacher, or know someone who is. We are looking for people who have (or will have) at least a 2.2 degree, have a passion for educa on and teaching and want to inspire young people to fulfil their poten al. We can also provide you with support and guidance on your applica on form and offer you school experience if you just want a taster of what teaching would be like. For more informa on please visit -

www.angliangatewaytsa.org or www.educa on.gov.uk/get-into-teaching or

Contact Anne O’Reilly on aoreilly@bo shamvc.org

Debaters Have a

Capital Time A er having recently being nominated to be the next Conserva ve parliamentary candidate at the next general elec on, Lucy Frazer QC kindly invited Bo sham Village College to partake in a deba ng compe on. As a student, Mrs Frazer was a keen member of The Cambridge Union Deba ng Society, culmina ng with the presidency during her final year.

The compe on began with a preliminary round, held in the school library with the Year 11 society ba ling out in a place for the final. Given the looming Sco sh independence referendum, the mo on was both current and controversial:

“This house believes that Cambridgeshire should be independent from Westminster”

As has evolved over the past years, the style was typical of Bo sham students: informed, incisive and incredibly hard fought. However, a er a very useful feedback session from Mrs Frazer the eventual winners were Freya Thomas and Indy Vadhia. As victors, they were give the privilege of deba ng at The Houses of Parliament.

Given the challenge of deba ng the ills and benefits of reality TV, both Freya and Indy debated with flair, engaging with others’ ideas and responding accordingly: the hallmarks of excep onal deba ng. Although other schools seemed to be using pre-prepared speeches and the event

resembling more of a public speaking compe on, Freya and Indy raised key points, rebu ed with ease and delivered high-quality and memorable points. It was a marvellous effort, with three very proud teachers looking on: Mrs Lawton, Miss Turner and Mr Compton.

Congratula ons to them both and to all who took part in such a memorable compe on.

by Mr E Compton

Once again BVC staff and students entered into the spirit of ’Children in need’ and through a variety of events we raised an amazing £ 1919! This is a record amount raised

by the college for a charity.

The week saw cake stalls, a lunch me concert, staff vs students basketball match and non-uniform day.

Year 7 did amazingly well with their cake stalls. Each form competed to raise as much money as possible with form 7.8 raising an incredible £99.52! All eight classes raised a

record-breaking £530.49 in total.

All the events were organised by our Student Leadership Team who did a fantas c job.

A fantas c effort by everyone. Well done!

5

6

Water research wins prizes

Back in July a team of students from the college won £1000 of new science equipment for the school in a science and technology compe on for Year 7 and 8 students in Cambridgeshire.

The compe on was organised by Ely-based sensing and instrumenta on manufacturer, Michell Instruments as part of its 40th anniversary celebra ons. They chose ‘The Science of Water’ as the focus for the compe on as this fits with the core business of company – designing and manufacturing sensors and instrumenta on to detect trace moisture. The compe on was judged by Dr Stephanie Bell from the Na onal Physical Laboratory, Dr Peter Wothers from Cambridge University and Mike Bannister, CEO of Michell Instruments. Six schools entered the compe on, with a total of 15 teams. The equipment was presented to Head of Science, Mrs Eastwood in October and included an orrery and Van der graaff generator. The aim of the compe on was to research a property of water and produce a poster which demonstrated their findings. The winning team chose to look at ways to remove moisture; examining de-humidifiers, evapora on and desiccants. The compe on organisers were very pleased with the outcome of the compe on and plan to make it a yearly event, as part of Michell’s on-going programme of schools outreach ac vi es which also include offering work experience placements and par cipa on in careers events in local schools.

Henry Morris Travel Awards The Henry Morris Memorial Trust will be awarding grants again this year to enable students aged 13 and over to travel for the purpose of enriching their educa on and their personal development, or to undertake a home-based project for the same purpose. The key thing is that, whatever the ac vity is, it should have been substan ally planned by the students themselves.

Last year they gave 15 awards totalling £2500 with some students receiving £400.

All of the informa on that students need is to be found on the website www.henrymorris.plus.com where they can also download an applica on form. The closing date is 31st January 2015. Students whose applica ons meet the criteria will be invited to meet the Trustees at a short interview, which is normally held at Queens’ College in Cambridge University.

Dutch Exchange 2014 Our five days spent in the Netherlands allowed us to learn more about the Dutch culture and the difference in their lifestyle. A er an extremely long and entertaining journey through the Euro Tunnel and through France and Belgium, we met up with our Dutch families for the first me; we had already exchanged details with our partners earlier in the year. The families were very easy to talk to because they all spoke fluent English; they were also very welcoming and caring throughout the dura on of the week in which we stayed with them.

We tried lots of new and delicious foods, the highlight being the chocolate sprinkles which a few of us imported from the Netherlands a er the trip. The second day was spent at our partners school (Anna Van Rijn) researching and discussing the importance of Human Rights in which we learnt a lot about the World Wars and Anne Frank. On the third day we went to Amsterdam with our partners to visit Anne Frank’s house. It was very interes ng to see where she lived behind the bookshelf. Later that day we went to the huge NEMO museum where we watched some videos about our future and there were also many fun and strange experiments which we could try. Overall, we

thoroughly enjoyed the en re day ending with a small shopping spree in the city centre. On the fourth day, we were able to spend some quality me with our families, this included watching a local and very compe ve hockey match, going bowling, swimming, visi ng museums and walking around historical landmarks in such places as Utrecht. On the fi h day, we were all very emo onal as we said our farewells to our host families. We waved a fond goodbye to our partners from the coach and started our long journey back to Bo sham. by Imogen Downs 9.6 and Verity Routley 9.3

Geographical Associa on Quiz On the 26th November six members of Year 10, Joe Nichols, Evie Nichols, Joel Thompson, Emma Walters, Karl Heider and Will Chris e, competed in the annual Geography Quiz at Long Road. The teams showed great enthusiasm for Geography and demonstrated their

knowledge. Bo sham had strong compe on from schools including The Perse and Sawston VC but came 7th out of 18 teams which was the best result ever for BVC! Congratula ons to the team for their par cipa on. Test your own knowledge on some of the ques ons (answers below) 1. What is the name of the con nent with no permanent inhabitants? 2. What is the name the city where the Wall came down in 1989? 3. What is the name the canal joining the Pacific and Atlan c Oceans? 4. What is the most south-westerly p of the Bri sh mainland? 5. In which country is the ancient city of Petra a tourist a rac on?

by Mrs K Neville-Jones

Answers—1.Antarcca 2.Berlin 3.Panama 4.Lands End, Cornwall 5.Jordan

We would like to welcome Miss Davison to the Duke of Edinburgh team. Miss Davison will be working alongside Mr Lamb in leading the Bronze scheme while Mrs Neville- Jones will con nue to lead Silver. The Bronze Award con nues to a ract astonishingly high numbers with 120 Year 10 students taking up the challenge this year.

Despite the expedi ons gaining publicity and being a highlight for many students, it must be stressed that students are and should be working towards their physical, voluntary and skill ac vi es throughout the year.

The last expedi on of 2014 has taken place. This was the Silver prac ce expedi on to the area around the village of Winster in Derbyshire. A fantas c weekend was had, and emerging on the top of the dales with the fog below was magical. As winter is now upon us the Silver assessed expedi on will take place on the 20th-22nd March.

The Bronze cohort can look forward to warmer weather and April showers with their prac ce expedi on on the 18th- 19th April.

During the expedi ons please don’t forget to follow us on the schools Twi er page.

by Mrs Neville-Jones, Mr Lamb and Miss Davison

We are delighted to inform you that Bo sham Village College has been awarded the Bri sh Council Interna onal School Award, which recognises schools which have excelled in the area of interna onal learning.

What is the Bri sh Council Interna onal School Award? The Award is an interna onally recognised accredita on, awarded to schools which forge links with partners overseas and add an interna onal dimension to the curriculum. Through working on joint projects and adding interna onal elements to lessons, pupils and teachers are given a fresh perspec ve on the world and their place in it. Taking part in the Award:

links schools with others around the world teaches pupils about other countries and cultures prepares pupils for living and working in the global economy enhances teaching standards through sharing best prac ce and teaching methods leads to a new outwardly facing perspec ve and ethos for the school as a whole

If you would like to know more about the Award, and hear about inspira onal stories from around the world, then go to www.schoolsonline.bri shcouncil.org and visit the Interna onal School Award pages. We hope you will join us in congratula ng the school on this award and encourage pupils and the school to further develop and enhance their interna onal learning and skills. The Bri sh Council Interna onal School Award Team

A Royal Inspec on

Newmarket Royal Marine Cadet and BVC student Simon Fagg was lucky enough to be selected as one of the 500 cadets to take part in a parade and an inspec on by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, at Buckingham Palace, in celebra on of the Royal Marines’ 350th anniversary. The parade is the first me that the Royal Marine Cadets have been inspected by The Duke of Edinburgh, who holds the

tle of Captain General Royal Marines. Simon, who is part of the Royal Marine Cadet Detachment of the Newmarket Sea Cadets, commented, "It was by far the most amazing thing I've ever done. Standing in my Number 1 Uniform in Prince Phillip's back garden in front of hundreds of people was the most proudest moment of my life."

Prior to their arrival at Buckingham Palace the Cadets had the privilege of marching down the Mall, led by the Royal Marines Band. Pe y Officer (SCC), Rebecca Simpson, Officer In Charge of the Newmarket Sea Cadet Unit, commented, "We are all very proud of Cadet Fagg. Opportuni es like this are what make the Sea Cadets and Royal Marine Cadets such a fantas c environment for young people. They get to experience things they never thought possible; from sailing tall ships to mee ng royalty!" More informa on about the Newmarket Sea Cadets and Royal Marine Cadets can be found at h p://www.sea-cadets.org/newmarket

7

SLT 2014At Bo sham Village College, we believe that all students should have the opportunity to develop their leadership skills, according to their strengths, their abili es and their interests. Back in June , Year 10 students were invited to apply for the Student Leadership Team. A er a long applica on and interview process, the students that were chosen for 2014 were John Doak, Tom Walker, Shay Jenkins, Alex Cornwell, Grace Walsh, Freya Thomas, Hannah Knowles and Ela Maczkiewicz.

8

…… get Streetwise

Year 7 students got the road safety message loud and clear thanks to the efforts of a visi ng drama company. Performance in Educa on brought ‘Streetwise’ to BVC, telling the story of a school trip that went horribly wrong because young people were not following the rules when near busy roads. In a fast-moving produc on, with plenty of laughs along the way and par cipa on, the three actors ensured their young audience were fully engaged. The students were introduced to the characters of Will, Mark, Jo, Chloe and the mischievous Tegs and Ripper and watched them as they made a series of blunders proving that they were not streetwise and had plenty to learn about keeping

themselves safe. There were near misses as they were distracted by their phones and music, messed about at the side of the road, dropped items onto the motorway and chose an unsafe place to cross ignoring the lollipop man. At the end the actors checked that their young audience would not make the same mistakes as they checked on their knowledge of the play and general road safety and sta s cs with a ques on and answer session and fiercely-fought quiz. The year group clearly enjoyed the performance. “Although I knew most of the things they talked about, it made me really think about my safety when I’m out with my friends,” said one Year 7. And another, “I thought the actors were good and made the play fun despite its serious message.”

Year Seven … The new Year 7s have made a stupendous start to their time at BVC, taking enthusiastic advantage of many of the opportunities the College has to offer whether it is arts, music, sport, lessons or charity events. Highlights have included a trip to Framlingham Castle, a food collection for a Cambridge night shelter for the homeless, a visiting drama company, a sponsored reading event, a history competition which attracted the best entries the teacher had ever seen, a mini enterprise day and a fantastic fundraising effort for Children in Need. It has certainly been a busy time and the students have taken it in their stride. Here is a selection of just some of the activities they have been involved with in their first few full weeks at their new school.

……. build castles

Year 7 wowed the history faculty this term with their incredible castle-building skills. A er visi ng Framlingham Castle in October, they were challenged with designing and building an a ack-proof medieval castle. There were 7 castles entered into the annual compe on each displaying excellent defensive features, including murder holes (holes over the castle entrance through which defenders could throw boiling oil at their enemies), curtain walls, gate houses and even the La n inscrip on “Mortem Inimicis Nostris” to scare away invaders!

Judging the castles seems to get harder each year, and this year was no excep on. The winning castle that was finally chosen was built by Isabella Armitage and Keziah Reed. The girls had clearly spent a long me thinking about the brief and had not only included numerous a ack-proof devices but had also wri en a le er to ‘Lord Bo sham’ explaining exactly why their castle was so strong. Owen Bentley and Sebas an Abbo also built superb castles and were joint runners-up. All three of these castles will be proudly displayed by the history faculty for years to come. A huge thank you and well done to all Year 7s who entered.

...….. ……. get reading

Every Friday morning the library is alive with the sound of …reading! Each week around forty Year 7 students sit and read to a Year 11 buddy, to improve their skills and gain confidence with words. “The aim of the session is to help our developing readers con nue to make progress and it’s making a real difference,” said Year 7’s Head of Learning, Mr Baker. “It has been a great success thanks largely to a team of very enthusias c and commi ed year 11 students,” he said.

…… visit Framlingham Castle Framlingham Castle was the des na on for Year 7 historians – a trip designed to help them in their studies of medieval England.

The event was run over two days ensuring smaller groups got the most from their visit to the beau ful 13th century Suffolk fortress.

“We were very lucky to have some lovely sunshine in the a ernoon on both days,” said trip organiser, Mrs Hill. “The purpose of the trip is to help students develop their understanding of medieval England. They are studying how William the Conqueror maintained control of England a er the Ba le of Has ngs and how castles played a large part in this. At the start of his reign there were just three in England, by the end there were more than 300!”

Students took part in a series of ac vi es led by BVC staff, to discover the castle’s history, its links with the Bigod family, its design, its strengths and its flaws for would-be a ackers, comple ng a workbook as they went along.

Their visit included exploring all areas of the castle including its ba lements at the top and its ditch at the bo om and there was me to pick up a souvenir or two at the gi shop.

….collect food for Jimmy’s

Generous Year 7s brought in a whole host of harvest goodies to help homeless people in Cambridge.

The food collec on for Jimmy’s Night Shelter was organised as part of the year’s harvest celebra ons and students responded magnificently by dona ng everything from ns of tuna to teabags.

Jimmy’s is open every night of the year, providing food, shelter, care and a community for men and women (and the occasional dog) who would otherwise be forced to sleep rough on the city’s streets. It is the second year BVC has supported the charity. The food was delivered to Jimmy’s by Year 7s Assistant Head of Learning, Miss Tozzi.

…… reap rewards

Years 7s have been set the ‘Readathon’ challenge to raise money for children’s chari es. They have been invited to join thousands of book lovers throughout the country and take part in the annual sponsored event.

Year 7s Head of Learning, Mr Baker and assistants, Miss Tozzi and Mrs Turner have pledged their support and chosen the book they will be reading – ‘Us’, the latest novel by David Nicholls.

The fundraiser not only encourages a love of reading but helps four UK chari es: CLIC Sargent, the leading cancer charity for children and young people; Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity which specialises in helping children with neurological or blood condi ons; ReadWell which provides books and storytellers for children in hospital and Together for Short Lives, a charity suppor ng children with life-limi ng or life-threatening illness and their families. Some of their sponsorship money will be used to buy books for the College.

“The reason I love the Readathon is that it gives students a chance to read what they enjoy and to do some good at the same me,” said College Librarian, Mrs Tootell. “The Readathon is helping other children and young adults; some of them even as local as Cambridge. The chari es it supports are changing the lives of young people who are gravely ill or in hospital for long term care. “Imagine yourself in a hospital with nothing else to do except think about your illness; the joy of an exci ng book to take you away from that situa on would be really life changing,” she said. Since Readathon was founded 30 years ago, it has raised millions of pounds for good causes.

Back in July the art department entered the ‘Imagining the Brain’ compe on organised at the Science Medical Centre, Cambridge. In its tenth year, the compe on invites local students from age 9-13 to communicate science to a diverse audience. Young

people produce works of art on set topics and the work is judged by professional ar sts and scien sts. The 3 prize winners from Bo sham were Adam Hill, Eliot Mann and Joe Nichols. In October, an awards evening was held at the laboratory, where Adam, Eliot and Joe were presented with their prizes of £50.00 each in the form of Amazon Vouchers

“As I entered the giant building I was greeted by a women who led me through the futuris c glass wall by swiping a card on the door. It then slid open and revealed an indoor skyscraper of science labs. We walked down to the end of the labs where there were seats for everyone and food ranging from chicken s cks to chocolate muffins. There was an amazing display of all the entries and the work ranged from sculptures to prints to drawings and pain ngs. We were presented with our awards and I am looking forward to spending my prize money.” by Adam Hill 10.5

On the 6th November a group of students travelled to the junc on to watch a show performed by the Jasmin Vardimon dance company. It was a 2 hour long performance with elements of surprise and overall some great choreography, the piece incorporated dance into the story showing emo on in different ways with different moves.

The following day GCSE dance students were lucky enough to have a three hour workshop with two of the dancers from the company who performed in the show the night before. We started off with a one hour warm up, then we were split into two groups to learn a phrase from the performance. In the last hour we were given ten minutes to come up with a solo and had to perform it in front of the group in different ways. It was good to work with dancers from the company as it gave us an insight into the life of a Jasmin Vardimon dancer and how they trained as dancers. The experience was not one to forget. by Ka e Saunders 10.7

At the end of November BVC student Charlo e Hyland

won the Rotary Young Chef compe on at Cambridge Regional College. The compe on was fierce, with teams from Chesterton CC, Impington VC and Swavesey VC who each had two compe tors, but Charlo e blew the judges away with the three course meal she produced. The Head judge was from Queens College and he was extremely impressed. Charlo e won some money and a three course meal at Quy Mill for her family. She now goes on to the Eastern region finals in February.

In July, Eddie, Luke, Alfie and myself par cipated in a 5 day Sonic Pi Summer School at The Junc on in Cambridge. We learned how to programme a Raspberry Pi computer to compose music. We had to write computer code and some of us performed the music live. Eddie and his partner pre-programmed their music to play Axl F. Luke and I performed live coding and also controlled the ligh ng from the box room.

In October, some of us were invited back to par cipate in a TV broadcast for CBBC's Newsround. There was 1 cameraman and we were interviewed by the presenter called Jenny. This was broadcast on Saturday 22nd November but you can see the film via this link: h p://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/30151730 by James Andrews 7.8

The music department is thrilled to announce that after 3 years of fund-raising, our new grand piano has been given pride of place in the main hall just in time for the Creative Design Faculty evening. Thank you to all parents and members of our community who have supported us and helped to make this possible. There will be more details about the Creative Design evening in the next newsletter.

News from the

Creative Design faculty

The art department are starting work on a mural project for the dining hall. This will be in the style of ‘futurism’ and in ‘joiner style’ , which means the students will all be working on it at the same time and putting it together like a puzzle. There will be four murals each eight feet x four foot. More in the next newsletter!

10

On Monday 13th October a group of GCSE art students took a day out of school to visit the world famous V&A museum in London. The group of excited year 11s (who are in the middle of planning their mock exam) took a coach into the heart of London where they saw some amazing sights - before even ge ng into the museum!

Once in the museum, each student was handed a booklet which they were to complete during their visit. The booklet was to help inspire the students into sketching work based around the category they had chosen for the mock exam. This, as a result gave the students a wider and be er range of research as they were seeing the famous pain ngs first hand; rather than on the computer screen. As the students were able to roam around the museum at their own convenience, it meant that they could see the exhibi ons and art that was relevant to them, allowing them to sketch and photograph the art that would help boost their mock exam grade. Overall the trip to the V&A museum was both enjoyable and helpful for the GCSE students and the teachers are already looking forward to next year’s trip.

by Alice Tebbit 11.6

Art

Every year, GCSE geography students have to collect data for their controlled assessment. Therefore, just before half term, 75 students and 8 members of staff headed off to Norfolk for the weekend. Ac vi es over the weekend included:

Collec ng mountains of data on the beaches of Norfolk Wri ng up controlled assessment in the ICT suites at the Kingswood centre Taking part in a variety of ac vi es including climbing, aeroball and archery Relaxing around the Kingswood centre site Ea ng fish and chips and ice-cream from Ronaldo’s (the best ice-cream shop in Norfolk!)

Every year we get more and more students signing up for this residen al weekend and each year we see the quality of work increasing, which was true again this year. We are certain that all this hard work will pay off in outstanding GCSE geography controlled assessment marks. Thank you to everyone, including staff, for their hard work and energy on this trip. It definitely is a highlight of the geography calendar. by Mr J Gilbert , Head of Geography

Goodbye Mr Pain It was with great sadness that BVC said goodbye to Mr Pain before half-term. He had been at Bo sham for over 13 years and in that me the phrase “Dave will know the answer to that” became a well known phrase! His tle was ICT Strategy Manager but he turned his hand to everything including catering for hundreds three mes a day at Year 7 camp, being a Sound Engineer, mended plumbing, depu sed in the Site Team, redefined exams administra on, driven students in the minibus, helped students in the wood workshop, been involved in DofE and used his skills as a First Aider. The list could go on, no challenge was too daun ng or too menial for Mr Pain. Mr Pain was presented with a hand-made garden bench for his new home in Wales. He will be greatly missed and we all wish him well in his new career.

All we want for Christmas is a new shed!

A Christmas Wonderland and light extravaganza with 60,000 twinkling lights, Santa’s gro o and falling snow is suppor ng Bo sham Village College’s hor culture students this year.

15 Geoffery Bishop Avenue, Fulbourn, CB21 5BU will be lit up for the public on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from the 6th

December to the 1st January between 5pm – 8pm.

Father Christmas will be there every Friday and Saturday evening in his Gro o.

All dona ons given will go to BVC hor culture group for gardening equipment and if enough is raised hopefully a new shed!

For his latest history project in Learning Support, Tim White has been involved with building a 1:50 scale model of a Cornish Engine House. The model is complete with a representa on of its Newcomen Atmospheric Engine inside the building. These substan al buildings, now mostly derelict, were a common site in Cornwall from the end of the 18th Century, right through the 19th and 20th Century at working n mines. They originally housed a beam engine that drove, via long coupling rods, a water pump at the bo om of the ver cal mine sha . This allowed for deeper mines that could follow the veins of n (some mes under the sea) without the workings flooding. This was a significant contribu on to the early days of the Industrial Revolu on. The project ran to a plan involving me, cost and quality. Tim had to hold regular progress mee ngs with Miss Gallagher (who acted as the ‘client’ for the project) and Mr Howell (who was the ‘Project Manager’). At these mee ngs Tim described progress to date, materials he needed next and what the plan was for advancing the building of the model. Tim's next history project is likely to be ‘something medieval’ such as a siege tower or a working, model trebuchet.

by Mr Howell

11

Tim's Tin Mine

Data and Chips in Norfolk

1312

BVC Riding Club News We have 12 students registered to ride for BVC at Na onal Equestrian Events. Five students took part in an Eventer Trial on November 15th at The Jays Equestrian Centre, near Bury St. Edmunds. The team consisted of Emily Howe, Ma lda Manning , Mia Biggs , Imogen Trump and Molly Mercer who came first in the 90cm class and third in the 80cm.

Ellie Stringer also qualified for Na onal riding club SJ finals at Hartbury.

The Jays team were up against some steep compe on and were a credit to Bo sham. Also a big thank you to Mrs Parsons for standing in on the day.

WW1 Ba lefields Compe ton Winners

As part of events to mark the centenary of the World War 1, the government offered every school in the country two free student places on a trip to visit the ba lefields in March 2015.

We recently heard that two Bo sham students, Ka e Cory and Scarlet Delanoy won places with their entries. To win a place, the students had to present a story about WW1 that was not well known. Ka e based hers on Dazzle Camouflage, and Scarlet wrote a diary as Edith Cavell.

Ka e and Scarle said “We are very excited about the trip and we hope to learn a lot from this experience that we can then share with the rest of the school on our return. “ by Mrs K Hill

Organisa on & Safety: Key reminders from Student Support

Communica on Students are expected to have their mobile phones switched off during school at all mes. Parents should not a empt to contact their children by phone. Student Support are always happy to take messages from parents and pass onto students.

Organisa on Students should ensure that they have packed all they need for the day ie: PE kit, cooking ingredients, homework etc. Student Support are receiving an increasing amount of equipment le by parents for delivery to students. This means classes have to be interrupted and we would like to keep this to a minimum.

Buses Students must only travel on the bus for which they have a bus pass. Student Support do not issue temporary passes for students to visit friends a er school.

Cycling to and from school Students who cycle to and from school need to be seen! These short winter days make it even more important than usual to wear visible jackets/hi-vis gilets and to ensure that lights are used every journey

Picking-up & Dropping-off Recently we have seen an increase in the number of parents entering the college car park (via both the staff entrance and main entrance). Not only does this pose a safety risk to students but also creates conges on and prevents the school buses from entering and leaving the site. At the beginning and the end of

the school day do not enter the school car park to drop your child, unless they have a medical need which requires them to be dropped off close to the main recep on, or they have heavy musical instruments etc.

Parking Please be mindful of our local residents of Lode Road and Jenyns Close and do not park across their driveways, or obstruct pavements etc. We hope you will appreciate that we are trying to create a safe environment for our students and therefore ask that all parents/carers help us in doing this.

RRecord amount of £254.55 raised for this year’s

poppy appeal

by Mrs K Stringer

14 13

NNews from the Library

by Julie Tootall, Librarian

We have started out the Autumn term with a great amount of excitement in the Library! There has been a great influx of year 7’s using the library at break and lunch after an exciting introductory class with the ever popular Where’s Wally game! The library has in fact become so popular that we have had to set a maximum limit. We are happy to announce that we now have seven student Library Assistants who will be responsible for assisting with enquiries, shelving books and keeping the library tidy. The new assistants are: Aaron Fuller, Alex Debenham, Ella Deegan-Fleet, Lizzie Harvey, Michael Hewitt, Sophie Chau and William Beeton. Well done to all the applicants. Alongside our well-played ‘Quiz of the Week’, we have now introduced the Dewey Quiz. Each week a Dewey Decimal Number is published on Twitter. The first person to bring me a book we have under this number wins a

prize! It’s a great way to get to know the library and win yourself a sweet! The open evening on October 2nd proved to be a very exciting evening in the Library by kick-starting our Black History Month celebrations. We had a book display, a ‘match the quote’ game of influential black people and traditional gospel music. We’ve also had an on-going book sale which has been well supported by staff and students. We have lots more in store in the coming weeks. If you haven’t visited the Library lately I urge you to come and check it out. You’ll be surprised by how exciting the Library can be.

A Thrilling Ride! You may remember last February, in the Library, we held a Scholastic Book Fair. One of the elements of the book fair included a nation-wide competition to design a thrilling theme park ride like you would find at the likes of Thorpe Park. Out of all the entries, Connor Gipp in year 9 was a runner up. He wins a copy of the DVD Catching Fire from the Hunger Games trilogy.

Well done, Connor!

A er a year off, the Christmas Fayre returned to great fes ve form! With live reindeer and owls to boot, people were spoilt for choice with things to do and stalls to visit. Over 100 children visited Santa, made baubles and home made bespoke mugs.

“This was a really fantas c community event” said Rebecca Foreman, “not only did we have a wide range of local cra s and businesses but also performances from local theatre and singing groups”.

The final fundraising total is yet to be counted but will be announced on the Facebook page of the Friends soon. In the last year, Friends has raised a fantas c amount to support the school, and together with previous efforts the Friends have over £12,000 in reserves. This term the Friends have purchased yoga mats for the Learning Support department and addi onal equipment for the Science faculty.

Another great story this term has been our successful Lloyds Bank Community Fund award – thanks to all the parents, staff, supporters and young people who voted for our Charity. With the £2000 award we are purchasing much needed so ware for the new laptops – this will provide children at the school with extra support when they need it most.

Finally as we lead up to the big Christmas spend we are asking all our parents and supporters to sign up to ‘Give as You Live’. It is a great way to shop online whilst raising money for the college.

Find out more on our Facebook site or visit www.giveasyoulive.com/charity/bo shamcollege

Update from the Governors This term has seen several important topics discussed by the school Governors. Some of these are listed here.

The perennial concern of the amount of income that the school receives from central Government s ll causes challenges. As most parents are probably aware by now, Cambridgeshire schools are the worst funded of any in the country. The situa on will be par ally alleviated from September 2015, as the Government has announced an increase in funding. Although this is welcome, it will s ll leave Cambridgeshire less well funded than many other areas, and money is likely to be ght for the foreseeable future.

The Governors have received feedback on how the current arrangement, under which both Kate Evans and Chris Tooley are running Netherhall School as well as BVC, is progressing. Things are running smoothly, and the senior staff in BVC have done an excellent job of providing extra leadership capacity.

Public consulta ons over changes to the management of the Sports Centre have taken place, and much feedback received. A model where users from the community form groups to manage some specific use of facili es themselves seems viable, and should lead to the pool being available for early morning swimming.

To end on a very posi ve note, Governors have reviewed the excellent GCSE results from last summer. These compare very well to na onal averages, and are a reflec on of much hard work from staff and pupils. The teaching staff have discussed ways to ensure that the gap in grades between girls and boys, which is a na onal trend, is minimised.

14

Bo sham Village College Sports Centre

New opening hours from 2nd January

Monday to Friday - 4pm to 10pm Saturday and Sunday - 8am to 4pm Bank holidays - 8am to 4pm

New Fitness metable Monday Zumba 6.30pm—7.15pm Cardio

Bootcamp 7.20pm—8.05pm Muscular Endurance

Spinning 8.15pm—9pm Cardio

Tuesday Aqua Zumba 6.15pm—7pm Pool based

Yoga 7pm—8pm Holis c

Swim fit 7.45pm—8.30pm Pool based

Wednesday Interval 6.15pm—7pm Muscular endurance

Pilates 7pm—7.45pm Holis c

Thursday LBT 6pm—6.45pm Muscular Endurance

Spinning 7pm—7.45pm Cardio

Cambridge ke lebells (not included in membership)

Friday Aqua 4.35pm—5.20pm Pool based

Bootcamp 7pm—7.45pm Muscular Endurance

Saturday Spin 8.15am—9am Cardio

Pilates 9.30am 10.15am

Sunday Bootcamp 10am—10.45am Muscular Endurance

From January 2015 we are offering an all-inclusive membership at only

£22.50. This includes use of the fitness suite, pool and access to our exci ng new programme of fitness

classes. As a special offer, new users can join

for free and the first 100 new members get one month free.

Nuffield Health are working with the College from January 2015 to help the sports centre achieve an excellent opera onal and customer service experience. We hope that through this rela onship with Nuffield we can make further improvements to the customer experience. This summer the College invested in improving the changing rooms for the swimming pool as part of it’s on-going improvement plan.

The College and Nuffield are working with the community to find ways of con nuing community use of the centre. Several enthusias c members of the local community are forming an early morning swim session. Anyone interested in taking part or helping with the running of the group should email Colin Marshall at colinrm@b nternet.com. The College will also be establishing a community user group, to meet monthly and consult about the running of the facili es. The first mee ng will be in January 2015.

Website : www.bo shamvc.org/sportscentre tel: 01223 811121 email: sportscentre@bo shamvc.org

15

Rugby & Hockey It was another successful start to the extra-curricular calendar in PE, with hordes of students turning out for rugby and hockey clubs. A er a posi ve series of fixtures against local schools, the tournaments commenced in October and November. Par cular men ons must go to the Under 16 girls hockey team, who won their regional group at Linton before narrowly losing out to St Mary’s in the district final; the Year 7 rugby squad, who came and 5th and 8th respec vely with over 30 students represen ng them; the year 11 rugby 7’s team that ba led valiantly to end up runners up to St Bede’s.

Well done to all students who represented BVC in rugby and hockey this term, and to all sports leaders who contributed to clubs.

Year 8 Boys Rugby Squad Year 9 Girls Hockey Squad

Year 7 Boys Rugby Team ‘A’

Netball The Under 16 girls’ netball team took part in the county finals this term at The Perse, a er qualifying as district champions last year. A er a slow start and losing to The Perse 4-2, the girls kept their spirits up and went on to win their second game against Kings Ely 4-1. Following one more win and one more defeat, sadly they narrowly missed out on progressing to the finals by just one point! A huge achievement from all the girls that played.

Year 7 Girls Hockey Team ‘B’ Year 7 Girls Hockey Team ‘A’

16

Year 4 Basketball Fes val

This year saw the inaugural Year 4 basketball fes val being hosted at Bo sham, which can only be described as a roaring success with lots of posi ve comments fed back from students and teachers alike. 250 Year 4 students from 10 different primary schools par cipated across 3 sessions, all of which were capably led by Year 10 GCSE students. Well done to all of our fantas c sports leaders!

Dodgeball Evening Once again we had a fantas c turnout for the Key Stage 4 dodgeball tournament, with seven teams forming to ba le it out for the tle of champions! The eventual winners, a er ending the tournament undefeated, were a Year 11 group. The final event of the night was a dodgeball royal rumble, with Year 11 taking on Year 10. A er some valiant dodging from Jacob Miller and powerhouse throwing from Ewan Kingdon, the Year 11s again reigned supreme against an army of Year 10 students.

Well done to everyone who came along.

For all informa on on fixtures and clubs over the coming year, follow @BVCPhysicalEd

Callum signs for Ipswich Town

We would all like to congratulate Year 11 student Callum Fullwood on the fantas c news that he has been signed to play as a professional footballer for Ipswich Town Football Club. Callum has been a ending Ipswich Town Football Academy on day release since February this year. He will be moving to Ipswich when he leaves BVC next Summer. We look forward to following his professional football career. Well done Callum!

Cross Country & Triathlon Cross-country season has begun once again, and the PE faculty have issued hundreds of personal best cer ficates to students in years 7-9! Well done to all students who achieved a personal best this year, either in lessons or at club. A par cular men on must go to David Dow, the only student to achieve a me under ten minutes this year.

Similarly, triathlon club has had a fantas c turn out each week with lots of Year 7s in a endance! Once again, par cular men ons go to Josh Jones, Emily Kear and Holly Rolfe for achieving terrific mes for their age group.