Spring Newsletter 2017

Dear Parents

As we come to the end of a long Spring TermI should like to update you on the work wehave done as a school, particularly in light ofthe recent Ofsted visit. Primarily, an updatedschool action plan was produced with evengreater focus on ensuring the progress ofspecific groups of students who were identi-fied in the inspection report. It is clear thatwith the recent changes in education policywe need to focus our energies as directed byOfsted. Let me assure you that, whilst weundertake this directive, it will not be at theexpense of all of the great things Burgatestudents and staff already achieve. It will,however, involve a shift in emphasis in ourapproach to how we teach lessons – for thebenefit of all students. By strengthening ourteaching and learning team, more time will bespent directly working with teachers to im-prove the learning experience in the class-room and beyond. Specifically, we will betaking a more standardised approach to ele-ments of lessons based on the very best Bur-gate models to ensure consistency across thecurriculum and all year groups. Consultationwith students, in particular, will help to shapethis process over the forthcoming term.We have also recognised the necessity tosimplify some of our school processes to en-sure the very best educational opportunitiesfor all students. For example, we now have a

sharper system for tracking student attend-ance and intervening where necessary. Tosupport this initiative we have redeployedstaff to enable the appointment of an Attend-ance Officer. Likewise we are refining theprogress reports we send home to parentsfollowing the overhaul of the national exami-nation system with the abolishment of Nation-al Curriculum levels (Life After Levels). Theintention is that reports will inform parentsmore clearly about the progress of their child,as well as encouraging students to give of theirvery best in all that they do at school.

We have also reflected that the school hasmany great strengths, some of which the shortinspection was able to identify. Recently wehave often been in the local news, for exampleon reaching the national finals of the DebatingMatters competition for the second time inthe school’s history and for winning the Lions’Den competition versus Ringwood School,where we took first and second place out ofeight teams. There is much to be very proud ofat The Burgate - you can read more aboutthese and many other stories in this newslet-ter.

It remains for me to wish you all a very happyand enjoyable Easter holiday.

David Pover

Headteacher

News from the School Governors

It’s been a busy term for the School Governors - in the autumn we had decided that inorder to meet the fast changing, and ever more demanding, requirements of schoolgovernance in 2017 (as determined by the Department of Education and Ofsted) weneeded to undertake an external review to help us work out the next steps in our owndevelopment. We were keen to do this so that we were sure we were leading the schoolas well as we could and because we knew there were some things that we could dobetter…How right we were!

As you will know from the Ofsted inspection in February this was an area that Ofstedalso felt needed more development. We had already asked the National GovernorsAssociation to undertake an external review, something that complies with Ofsted’srecommendations and have been able to make speedy progress. I am pleased to reportthat we have just finished that review and will be planning some changes over thesummer term to take effect from September.

While the detail is still to be worked out we will be changing the way we do our businessand ensuring that we have stronger links with the day to day business of the school. Webelieve this will enable us to focus on what is really important in driving school improve-ment and leading the school. We will provide more detail in the summer newsletter butI am keen that parents are aware that we too are actively responding to the Ofstedjudgements.

Jenny Hair

Chair of Governors

Burgate Win Debating Matters!Burgate School are South of England debating champions. The team have made itthrough to the National Final of Debating Matters, beating another five schools inan incredibly hard fought competition.

In total, six Sixth formers represented the school and will now have the honour ofgoing to London to challenge the rest of the country's top debaters. Miriam Cake-bread, Megan Sanger, Ethan Mann, Tom Lansdale, Olivia Beatson and Rebekah Wildformed a team led by Mrs Troup:"I am so proud of my team and the way they conducted themselves today."

Not only did the Burgate win their Regional Final, but Olivia was Commended, andMiriam Highly Commended for their exceptional contributions to debate. It's a realhonour to be recognised by such a respected body" said Olivia.

The judges commented very positively on the outstanding research done by all theteam and praised the atmosphere of mutual respect that the Burgate created.

"The competition was incredibly tough," said Megan, "but we are all so proud ofeach other for all the hard work and what we have achieved."

Lower Sixth former Rebekah Wild was an addition to the team for this round; takingpart in the toughest final debate. According to her, "The most important thing is notso much the winning, but what you learn from the experience."

There will be plenty of learning to do now ahead of the three day event at the endof June.

Louise Troup

Burgate's Got Talent 2017

A fantastic evening was had by all at Burgate's GotTalent 2017. The event was hosted by the school PT-SA and was a sell out. Faboulous students perform-ances wowed the sell out crowd.

Top places went to stand-up comedy Ollie Vassallo(third place), and singer songwriter Izzy White (sec-ond). However, the winner of the top prize was Up-per Sixth drummer OSCAR BOWERMAN!

The evening concluded with a spellbinding perform-ance by former Burgate student (and BGT winner!)Anna Baines. Anna is currently studying Popular Mu-sic at Goldsmiths in London and will be appearing atGlastonbury this summer!

A huge thanks to all the staff who assisted, Martha,Lucy and Daisy for all their help in advance and alsoto the Davy family for their spectacular stage show.

Ben Clemson

Burgate's Got

Talent 2017

World Book Day at The Burgate

The 2nd March 2017 saw the 20th anniversary of World Book Day - a brilliant opportunity toremind the students of how great books are and how it is so important to be able to read.Book shops give out free tokens for every student to get a specially written book to mark theday, or use as £1 against a book of their choice.

To mark the anniversary, I requested staff members to come up with a favourite book of theirsduring their childhood/teenage years, and a little blurb describing why. I was hoping for 20entries, it being the twentieth anniversary, but I had a fantastic response, with the staff reallygetting involved, and had 27 in total..

All tutor groups in the lower school then participated in the WBD Quiz- tutor groups were splitinto groups of 2/3 and used answer sheets containing the names of all staff who contributed,to match to a PowerPoint slide with the book cover and the anonymous blurb… some greatanswers, and a few clues for the children to pick up on.

Out of the 27 entries the maximum score was 13- very impressive, as they were really tough,and some were not what you might have expected…..!

The highest scorers from each year group then received a box of (book) ‘heroes’ chocolates astheir prize in their celebration assemblies in March. They were as follows:

Year 7- Fin Coles and Isobel Hodgson from 7FB with 9 correct.

Year 8- Devan Patel and Umer Siddiqui from 8NP with 7 correct.

Year 9- Ella Moody, Paula Fourmachat and Grace Newton from 9NH with 9 correct.

Year 10- Adam Young and Luke Woodward from 10JB with the highest score overall, 13correct.

Year 11- Peter Williamson, Charlie Barr and Will Hall from 11MC with 7 correct.

Emma Harris

7PR Raise Funds For Cancer Research Kids and Teens

In support of World Cancer Day on 4th February, 7PR decided to raise money for Cancer Re-search Kids and Teens as our community challenge. We ordered nearly 300 cancer unity bandsfor the school to raise money!

Around the school lots of pupils and staff were wearing unity bands in an array of differentcolours which we were very pleased to see, and we managed to raise £192.14 that all went tohelp buy equipment and medicines. The school also had a non-school uniform day on the 17thof February, with all the money raised going to different cancer research charities.

During PSHE the lower school watched a clip about a young boy called Felix Brown, who hascancer and is being supported by Cancer Research Kids and Teens and thought about how can-cer can affect families. 7PR are thinking about another challenge to raise money that will bevery fun for all so make sure you’re looking out for a chance to be in on the action!

We would like to thank everyone that helped us to raise money by donating through the non-school uniform day and the unity bands. We raised a lot and it has all gone to support kids andteens that have cancer and need our help.

Marcie Collie

Burgate AlumniWe are delighted to announce we now have nearly 200 members of our alumni which was setup in September to celebrate 60 years of the school. The alumni is open to all ex students andstaff who would like to continue their Burgate journey. You may also wish to see our facebookpage which has archived photos from previous decades - over 10,000 people have already!

Ben Clemson

Intermediate Maths Challenge

Fifty Year 10 students from The Burgate recently took part in the annual Intermediate MathsChallenge. There are approximately 250,000 entries from all around the country and the topforty percent of students are awarded a Bronze, Silver or Gold certificate. This year our stu-dents gained three Silver and eleven Bronze certificates with the top student Adam Youngfollowed by William Gurd in second place and Finn Anderson in third place. Congratulationsto all the students who took part in the Challenge this year.

Evan Bailey

Able Gifted and Talented Conference in Oxford

This term approximately fifty Year 10 Year Eleven and Lower Sixth students took part in theAble Gifted and Talented Conference at the magnificent and highly impressive Oxford TownHall. The five lectures were delivered by highly regarded academics from the top of their re-spective fields including Dr Andrew Pinsent a former particle physicist at CERN and ProfessorTom Greggs who was until recently was the youngest professor in the United Kingdom; bothspoke to students. The five lectures were on a range of philosophical scientific and moral is-sues with one of the highlights being an interactive lecture where the students took turnscontributing to different sides a debate on the existence of God. The students found the dayto be highly stimulating and have been given additional materials since the conference tofurther their reading journeys on the above topics.All in all a highly thought provoking andrewarding day for our Able, Gifted and Talented students.

Evan Bailey

Lottie Dennis comes Second in Articulation Awards

On Wednesday the 7th of March we attended the local heats for the Articulation award, whichwas hosted at Roche Court’s New art Centre, a sculpture garden and gallery home to works bymany artists including Anthony Gormley, Michael Craig-Martin, Laura Ford, and many more.

The ten competitors came from many nearby schools to take part in this competition topresent and teach the audience about an artists of their choice, someone who creates workthat is close and meaningful to them.

Of the ten competitors, current Sixth Form student Lottie Dennis won second place, througha moving presentation, “The Dance of Time”, about the differing ways in which the motions ofdance can be captured by photography and how these differing styles can lead to altering theaudience’s perception of time and movement.

Among the artists that were included in the presentation, there was Bill Wadman, who useslong exposures when photographing dancers in order to convey the flowing dynamism ofdance, who was compared with Lois Greenfield, who captures performers within motion, as ifpausing time for a moment.

Sally Firino

Lions Den: Burgate students raise over £2000 for local charities

The Burgate has won first and second prize in the Lions Den Public Speaking Competi-tion. Year 10 won the top award of £600 for their presentation on behalf of SalisburyHospice, whilst Year 7 were awarded £400 towards Books for Burgate, which willdirectly benefit the school.

Dr Riding, Burgate's Assistant Headteacher was thrilled by what she saw, "The stand-ard of the presentations was exceptional. That our young people are so passionateabout supporting others in need is truly inspiring."

The competition, hosted this year by the Burgate, features eight teams of youngpeople contesting a pot of £1600. The Ringwood and Fordingbridge Lions have gener-ously supported the endeavour for the last six years.

Judge Arthur Poulton, a retired bank manager was truly inspired, "It was a veryhumbling experience to hear about the involvement of so many scholars from ourlocal schools in the charity field."

Lions President Yorky Tuke has special praise for the Burgate winners, "There weretwo winning teams and they were outstanding. In the end Finn, Maisie, Louis, Louisand Rosie won it because of their amazing professionalism."

Altogether the Burgate Year 10 students have now raised 1000 pounds in a week todonate to the Hospice, after taking part in a Swimathon last Sunday.

Burgate's Year 7 team also doubled their money overnight with a promise fromHeadteacher David Pover to match the Lions' donation with a further £400 towardsthe Library.

Charities and causes which benefited last night included: Ringwood Foodbank, StarsAppeal, Salisbury Hospice, Ringwood Speakability, Grow your Own, Ringwood StudentVoice Hardship Fund, Books for Burgate and The Sarah Kingsley Fund.

Louise Troup

Sona Jose on Reverend Kate Wilson's visit to Philosophy and Ethics

On Monday 6th March, Reverend Kate Wilson visited our Philosophy and Ethics Lesson totalk to us about being a woman priest. This is part of our study on equality for our GCSE.Sona Jose tells us her reflection of the visit:

First of all I would like to say a huge thank you to Mrs Hutton and Vicar Kate (also knownas the Vic-Chick) for creating this wonderful opportunity for all of us. I am so glad I was ableto meet Kate and very grateful the fact that she explained her experiences to us.

Kate came to meet us not only to talk about her experiences being a woman vicar but alsoto explain what she does to help people. She also contributed to my understanding abouthow female vicars and religious women were treated and how they are treated right now.

Kate’s talk has helped me to be more interested about learning human rights and equality.The part that I enjoyed the most was when Kate was explaining to us what reactions shehad got from people, and how she responded to those reactions.

One story that stuck to my head was the story of the man who lost his wife and didn’t likethe idea of Kate doing her funeral because she was a woman. This story really hit mebecause Kate was willing to help him even though he was not pleasant to her.

I think at the end of the day Kate taught me that it is important to be humble and kind toeveryone even the people who dislike you or your personality. To conclude I would like tosay a big thank you to Kate for spending her valuable time with us and teaching us.

Sona Jose

Amnesty Youth Conference at the Human Rights Action Centre

On 24 March Burgate students joined Amnesty students from across the country in anational Youth Conference at the Human Rights Action Centre in London. A bonus wasthe chance to see our very own Amnesty member George both start the conference fromthe stage and name-check the Burgate School as key defenders of human rights.

We had several inspiring lectures and chose two workshops. One, about being a refugeefleeing your home was very eye opening as most would assume you wouldn't needevidence that you are at a risk by staying in your country and it turns out that this is oneof the most important things to bring when leaving.

We enjoyed the MP workshop because we got to do role plays and we found out that ifyou can write to the MP of the constituency that you live in, they have to reply. Finally,we learnt that the best way to get your MPs attention is to get your school to all handwrite letters to them, showing that you have taken time to write this letter and that youcare very much.

Jessica Gibson & Chloe Barker

Amnesty Youth Conference Continued…

Meeting other students in the lectures and workshops and listening to the amazingstories of activists such as Amal Azzudin, herself a Somali child refugee, had a big impacton us. It reminded us that we are on the frontline of protecting human rights and that wedo have the power to make a difference.

Ned Carter-Owen, Richard Vinny & Alfie Berjaou

Our trip to the Amnesty youth conference was truly inspiring, reminding us that theprotection of human rights rests with us and the actions we take. No matter our age orwhere we come from, we can make a huge difference if we try hard enough. I hope thateven within Burgate, we can continue to inspire others to stand up for human rights.

Rebecca Wild

Experience the friendships, romances and adventures of a group of high school kids in the1950s. Welcome to the singing and dancing world of "Grease," the most successful moviemusical of all time. A wholesome exchange student and a leather-clad Danny have a summerromance, but will it cross clique lines?

..we have done singing, dancing and acting auditions last week which were fantastic fun andwhere our students once again blew us away with their energy, enthusiasm and creativity.

We now have an enormous cast lined up to entertain sell out audiences in January and areofficially EXCITED! Watch the webpage (hit the GREASE button on the homepage) for furthernews. This is going to be the biggest thing to hit Fordingbridge in a very long time!

Local business can be part of it by advertising and/or sponsoring, with weblinks available fromright now until the end of the show. Fill in the online enquiry form or emailgrease@burgate.hants.sch.uk for more information.

Matthew Cakebread

Amnesty Action Ribbons

Amnesty students from Y7 to U6 marked the plight of Nazannin Zaghari-Ratcliffe jailed in Iran.We tied our thoughts of what we would do if we had “one day of freedom” to look forward towith yellow ribbon to a tree. Like Nazannin, our students overwhelmingly want to spend timewith loved ones, family and friends, in the beautiful outdoors. We take our freedoms forgranted but this action reminds us we have much to be grateful for.

Luke Canning

ArtCare Exhibition at Salisbury Hospital

AS Level Photography and Art students from The Burgate School & Sixth Form have onceagain worked with ArtCare on a ‘live’ project.

Thanks to the support of the teaching staff, the students work on a project set by adepartment at the hospital and create fresh, new images.

This year the project is based on a theme from Maternity Services and explores birth andrelationships between parent and child, passing of time / growth and the nature ofbecoming an individual.

Taking part in the project is part of the students’ overall syllabus for their qualification.Burgate have worked with Salisbury Hospital for more than 8 years. We are very gratefulto both the students and staff for all their time and effort in bringing the project to life.

Sally Firino

A Welcome Tragedy

This Saturday, I spent three-ish hours on a minibus to Bristol, negotiating the traffic for thefootball match that was on that day. Why, you ask? Why, to go and watch a performanceof Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello, the Moor of Venice. The weather was dreary at best, thetrip was slow and I cannot tell you how my legs ached when we finally arrived, but it wasmore than worth it.

The theatre - an old, converted tobacco factory going by the perhaps uninspired name ofThe Tobacco Factory Theatre - was a brick building, with metal steps that wound up into abar/cafe, from which we went into the theatre itself: seats surrounding a 3 x 5 metre spaceon all sides. I remember being rather confused when I first went in. Was this really wherethey were going to be performing? It was, and what a performance it was.

For over three hours, the company kept me spellbound with their moving and emotionaltelling of Othello’s story, a moving tale of a life and a love destroyed by paranoia, betrayaland racism. The performance made masterful use of lighting, movement and the rough,industrial atmosphere of the place - enhanced both by the modern costumes and a hiddensmoke generator that created a subtle veil of smoke throughout the whole performance -to bring the play to life. In particular, the performances of the scheming Iago and thetormented Othello were magnificent. By the end of the play I, and many others in theaudience, were in tears at the emotions of the characters - and that is no hyperbole.

The drama teacher at my old school always said that “The best measure of a performanceis whether it can make you laugh or cry. The things which will kill a play faster than anythingelse are the words I do not care about these people.” By both this measure and my own,this performance of Othello was one of the best I have seen - and as a student of literatureand one who enjoys both watching and acting in plays, I have seen quite a few.

And so, to the Tobacco Factory Players, I say this: Bravo.

Alex J. Fewings

Year 10 Students Visit Salisbury Playhouse

On Tuesday 21st February four year 10 technical theatre drama students visited SalisburyPlayhouse to take part in a technical theatre workshop. Students were given specialistinstruction and hands on experience in make-up, wardrobe, lighting, sound and stagemanagement and were then treated to a stage management run of the beginning of thecurrent production.

Rebecca Mutimer

Solidarity Around the World

This winter, the Burgate School and Sixth Form took part in the Amnesty Write for Rightscampaign supporting and fighting for the human rights of people all around the world. As aschool, we have come together to write 117 letters of solidarity, 53 letters of appeal toauthority, and so 170 letters in total to start change world-over.

To Cameroon we sent 50 letters of solidarity and 2 letters of appeal over the case ofFomusoh Ivo Feh and his friends, who face a military trial and the prospect of a 20-yearsentence of charges of an anti-terrorism law… All Fomusoh did was forward a satirical texton the difficulty of finding jobs.

Recently, in Iran, British-Iran charity worker, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, was separated fromher family and 2-year-old daughter in being jailed for plotting the ‘soft withdraw of theIslamic republic.’ Is that right when your only crime was to marry a Briton? Amnestybelieved she was given an unfair trial in which she was coerced into making a ‘confession.’Although unsure whether Nazanin will be allowed to receive them, we have sent 16 lettersof solidarity supporting our sister and her rights.

In Malawi, the genetic condition Albinism is treated with suspicion and hostility as sufferersface abduction, mutilation and killing; even after death, their bones might be superstitiouslyused in witchcraft rites. We sent 20 letters of solidarity to a little girl, Annie Alfred, whodreams one day of becoming a nurse, but faces these same risks and is unlikely to get closeto her dream- so strong is the stigma. 28 letters were sent to authority appealing for greaterprotection for people with Albinism and other disabilities.

To Canada, 13 letters have gone to help protect the heritage, culture and rights to health ofthe indigenous people of Peace River Valley from the building of a gigantic hydroelectricdam. In Azerbaijan, two students, Bayram Mammadov and Giyas Ibrahimov, have gonethrough inhumane beatings and torture and now face 12 years imprisonment on charges ofdrug possession for spraying political graffiti. Jahan Teterissa, Indonesia, is serving a 15-yearjail sentence 1000s of kilometres away from his family and friends for ‘rebellion’ in the formof raising a banned rainbow flag (a symbol of independence) in a peaceful protest. Againstsuch abuse of human rights, we will not sit back and watch… we fight!

Other letters went to Egypt, Peru, China and Turkey to support human rights defenders andthose unfairly imprisoned for their beliefs. To have such injustices in our world today isappalling!! One letter may seem like nothing, but each letter creates pressure and hope; amountain of this and you have change. Please join us in our next campaign with AmnestyInternational as we continue to join others in the fight for the rights worldwide.

Angela Williamson

Communist Party Cake

After two years of grappling with a range of sociological theories including Marxism, U6Sociologists marked the year they all turned 18 with a Marxist themed cake - how manyMarxist thinkers can you identify?

Julie Carter-Owen

Classics On Your Doorstep at Hulse Hall

At the beginning of March parents and staff at The Burgate were invited to an operaticmedley evening at Hulse Hall, Breamore.

Our very own Jess Gibson played as part of the ensemble. Proceeds from the evening wentto Cress, a charity that we have supported in the past, which builds schools in Africa andsupplies materials.

Linda Williamson

Le Château de la Baudonnière - April 2017

As we go to print, a group of intrepid Burgate students from years 10, 12 and 13 arecurrently enjoying a multi-activity, fully immersive French experience in Normandy.

So far they have done surveys in a French market, checked out the historic UNESCOheritage site of Mont St Michel, played aéroballe, faced their fears on the climbing wall,and run the gauntlet of the extremely muddy assault course, all of which they have doneentirely in French! It has been tremendous to see our students growing in confidence,giving it a go in the language, and having fun with it.

We are now at the stage where they are having conversations with each other in Frencheven when nobody is asking them to. The French staff here have been very impressed withhow our students have responded, and we are really proud of them and how they haverisen to the challenge. Félicitations!

We can't stop, as we are now off to a local creperie for dinner. Bon appétit, tout le monde,et à plus tard!

Christine Leahy

Le Château de la

Baudonnière - April 2017

National Accreditation for Travel Plan

We are very pleased to announce that The Burgate School and Sixth Form has been awardedthe Bronze Award for its School Travel Plan. Mrs Storey and year 9 students, CharlottePackham and Chloe Barker, have been working on a National Schools Award Scheme thatrecognises schools that demonstrate excellence in supporting cycling, walking and otherforms of sustainable travel. The scheme encourages schools to increase levels of sustainabil-ity to improve health and wellbeing of students.

The school has worked alongside HCC School Travel Plan Advisors, Ellie Bolton and KirstieGreen, to achieve the Bronze Award. Consultation with students and consideration of localissues around safety and congestion have been part of the action plan that has helped tosecure this award and we are now well on our way to achieving our Silver Award!

Mayor Malcolm Connolly attended the school to present the award

Gaynor Storey

Shave the Day: A Hair Raising Fund Razor

We all know it can be difficult to raise money and get sponsorship for good causes whenthere are so many people doing wonderful and challenging things, but a fourteen year oldboy from the small village of Whitsbury near Foringbridge in the New Forest has managed tonot only raise money, but has managed a hair-raising amount!

Mason Eady, a pupil at The Burgate School and Sixth Form Centre, decided to shave his headto raise money for Cancer Research, in memory of his Grandad “Pops”, who died someseventeen year ago and who Mason never met.

“Something that started as a small idea, just grew and grew”, comments Mason’s mumJanine, “we were really apprehensive when Mason said he wanted to do this, but thesupport has been absolutely fantastic and we are extremely proud of him”.

Donations came in at a great rate from really generous friends and family, and when Retrobarbers in Fordingbridge said they would happily ‘do the deed’ and shave Mason’s head,things started to gain momentum.

"Malcolm Carter, owner of Retro barbers, really pulled out all the stops", says Mason’s dadChris, “he asked Murray Walker, the legendary Formula One commentator, to start theshave and Malcolm further lent his support by shaving his own head too”.

At 2pm on Saturday 12th February, surrounded by a large number of supporters, Mason tookto the barbers chair and Murray Walker started the shave off. “It didn’t take very long, oncethings started” said Mason, when asked for his comments - now sporting a bald head.

“I honestly did not think I would raise this much money, I’m really pleased and so grateful toeveryone”. Mason’s current total stands at just over £1,800!

Aosta Valley Ski Trip

Forty main school pupils and five staff set out on the Saturday after Christmas on a 16 hourjourney to reach the beautiful ski region of the Aosta Valley in Italy.

All pupils threw themselves into the skiing, the beginner groups in particular makingfantastic progress as they made their way off the beginner slopes on the second day andstarted discovering the rest of the mountain range.

We also had some spectacular skiing from the experienced ski groups, and one of our Y11students have been nominated by the Interski instructors for an instructor Scholarshipprogramme, a first for Burgate (Well done Lydia).

Snow conditions were good, although on Tuesday temperatures of ‐20˚c tested everyone,and made anyone with hand warmers very popular! We also had some big wipe-outs! SomeSpectacular… Charlie, Jess and Mr Padfield to name a few!

Evening times where busy - bowling (Louis’ master class was not to be missed), pizza night,Christmas market and quiz night kept us busy all after a 3 course meal at the hotel.

I would like to thank the fantastic Burgate pupils. They were a credit to the school in theirattitude and behaviour and it really was a pleasure to spend the week with them, watchingthem develop new skills, experience different cultures and make new friends.

I would also like to thank Mr Carey, Mrs Ross and Mr Davis for all their hard work on thetrip.

Clare Padfield

Aosta Valley Ski

Burgate’s Primary Elite Sports Academy – The Stars of 2017

The Primary Elite Sports Academy has again been in full swing this term with sessions hav-ing already taken place across a range of different sports.

Participants are nominated from around the Burgate Cluster of Primary Schools on the basisof them being either ‘Able’ or ‘Talented’ in PE. Children are then invited to attend after-school coaching sessions on a Monday to form their very own Elite Sports Academy.

Each session has been led by one of our very own specialist ‘in-house’ experts as we are for-tunate to have some County, National and International level sports performers within ourSixth Form here at Burgate.

The group have already completed specialist coaching workshops in Handball, Basketball,Cricket, Football and Gymnastics. The children have all seemed to enjoy the experience andit has been a fantastic opportunity for our up and coming Year 6’s from around the Clusterto all get together at this stage and share their love of sport!

Faye Bowring

Back Row: Harry Jones, Bobby Spiers, Harry Northway, Greg Evans, Archie GrayFront Row: Ted Wright, Louis Croal. Marcus Timms . James Constable, Jack Wildman, Tay-

lor Kinsey

U16 Boys 7s Rugby

The team put together a good showing at the U16 County 7s Tournament, unfortunatelythough they fell one spot short of last year, going out to Ringwood in the Semi Final of thePlate competition.

The day had started well with strong victories over Bedales School and Fareham Academy butthree losses, first to King Edward VI in the Group stage and then Salesians in the Cup QuarterFinal and then Ringwood in the Plate Semi Final saw our day finish early without anysilverware.

Disappointingly, our performance against Ringwood was our poorest of the day, due tofatigue and a few injuries. This does not detract from a positive day overall and the fact thatRingwood were clinical when they needed to be. Special mentions need to go to Greg Evans,Jack Wildman and Bobby Spiers for some standout performances throughout the day.

U16 Boys Hockey

The U16 Boys Hockey team completed the League and Tournament double without conced-ing a goal all season.

During the league season they won all 4 games with convincing displays from all players. Theresults were as follows; 3-0 Ringwood, 4-0 Testwood, 5-0 Noadswood and finishing with ahard fought display against Priestlands winning 1-0. A special mention to Fin Black for scoring9 goals in 3 games, scoring all 5 against Noadswood).

The Tournament was a much closer affair due to the shortened games, with 1 win (againstTestwood) and 2 draws (against Noadswood and Priestlands) we had to rely on goal differ-ence to beat Noadswood to the trophy.

Players for 2016 – 17 Season: Alex Ratcliffe, Sam Green, James Wade, Fin Black, Alex Tritsch-ler, Greg Evans, Angus Spalding, Scott Davies, Harry Northway, Louis Thomas, Adam Harding,James Constable, Sam Boggust, Adam Alilou.

Dan Brown

Cluster School Sport - Spring 2017

During the past half term, Burgate has playedhost to both the Cluster Hockey Coaching Work-shop and the Cluster Netball Festival. The Hock-ey event took place on the Burgate All WeatherPitch, proving to be a huge success with around70 participants from Years 4-6. Children spentthe afternoon being led through a variety ofHockey based activities by the fantastic BurgateSports Leaders who then gave participants theopportunity to put their newly learnt skills intopractice with the ‘friendly’ matches that fol-lowed. The lovely, positive atmosphere that daywas apparent for all to see. Children had lots offun and appeared to learn some new skills alongthe way. There was a great display of sports-manship throughout the event, especially whenso many children were asked to play in mixed-school teams. It really was a ‘team event’ inevery sense of the word.

Two weeks later, the Cluster Sport extravagan-

za continued on Tuesday 21st March with theYoung Ambassadors Spring Training Day at Bur-gate. All nominated Young Sports Ambassadorsfrom around the cluster of Primary Schoolswere invited to attend an Olympic LegacyWorkshop with a view to raising and promotingthe Olympic & Paralympic values within theirschools. Our Year 10 GCSE PE students led arange of Olympic presentations during themorning, focusing especially the newly formed‘Refugee Team’ from Rio 2016. This set a fantas-tic tone for the rest of the day as children thentook part in a dance workshop, before compil-ing an inter-class Olympic style competition totake back into their respective schools. It cer-tainly was an action packed day!

Just this week, Burgate then played host to theCluster ‘Hi-Fives’ Netball Festival. Six Netballteams from around our Cluster of PrimarySchools took part in the annual competition.

The event began with a Coaching Master-class, led byour very own Year 9 and 10 specialist Netball Leaders,who as always did themselves and our school proud.Each team of children then rotated through each of thedifferent activities, which focused on a different keyskill required in the game.

With the coaching complete, it was then time for theteams to put their newly learnt skills into practice,whilst parents and staff eagerly looked on cheering andsupporting their teams. The tournament was arrangedin a round-robin style competition where each teamplayed in 10 minute matches against all other teams inthe competition. Each school fought valliantly through-out their matches but Western Downland A emergedvictorious following a clean sweep of victories, takinghome the trophy for this year.We saw a huge array of talent during the afternoon andthe event would not have been possible without thefantastic Burgate Sports Leaders, who took on eithercoaching or officiating roles throughout the afternoon.It has been an absolute pleasure to watch the childrenhaving so much fun throughout the past few weeks.

Years 5 & 6 Cluster Netball Festival Results:Winners – Western Downland ‘A’Runners Up – Breamore* * * * *Fair Play Award – Fordingbridge A Team

Faye Bowring

Hampshire Cross Country Championships

Congratulations to the four Burgate students who represented the New Forest Districtteam at the Hampshire Schools Cross Country championships on Saturday 21st January.

Southampton sports centre is a perfect venue for cross country and provides a challeng-ing course which produced some fast and competitive races. The frozen conditions sawthe early runners working hard on a solid ground while those running later in the day hadto contend with changeable conditions underfoot. But whilst the temperatures werelow, it was bright and sunny with no wind at all and ideal conditions in that respect.

Sam Green and Niamh Coogan, both ran in the U17 age group and acquitted themselvesextremely well in their respective races. Sam finished in 53rd place while Niamh went alittle better coming in in 49th position.

Dan Hilton finished a hugely impressive 13th place in the U15 age group. He was selectedto attend an inter-counties race; where the Hampshire team will be selected to go to theEnglish Schools Finals in Norwich. This achievement is all the more impressive when weconsider that Dan is only a year 8 and was running against a field of year 9 students.

Greg Herring made it a fantastic hatrick of victories adding the U15 Hampshire title tothe U13 and U14 titles he has won over the previous two years. He controlled the racefrom the gun to the tape and had given himself a commanding lead by the time he madethe final ascent towards the finish line. He has been selected for the inter counties eventwhere we are sure he will be selected for the Hampshire team traveling to the Englishschools finals later in the year.

Well done to all runners and we will keep you informed of any further developments forour cross country runners.

U16 Boys Rugby

The U16 Rugby team were crowned U16 Hampshire Bowl Champions on Thursday 9February after a successful start to the rugby season. Unfortunately we lost our firstmatch in the Hampshire Plate to a strong Test Valley side, but went on to put instrong performances against Fareham Academy (19-17) and Springfield School (52-0) tosecure a final spot against Bohunt School, who we have previously beaten in HampshireTennis and Cricket competitions.

Unfortunately they were unable to raise a side for the final giving us a finalwinning walkover, obviously the boys were very disappointed but also happy to receivesome silverware. Their season continues with New Forest fixtures and they are currently2 wins from 3 (wins over Noadswood and Hounsdown and a loss to Ringwood), withmatches against Applemore and Priestlands left to play.

Dan Brown

2017 Cluster Cross-Country Festival

The last few weeks have been back-to-back with Cluster School Sports Festivals at Burgate.Just before half term, we saw our local Primary Schools from both the Burgate cluster and theDownton cluster, coming together for the Years 3,4,5 and 6 Cross-Country Competition.

With almost 250 runners involved in the event, it was certainly our biggest and most phenom-enal turnout to date and the races that followed certainly did not disappoint. Runners com-peted against each other in age groups, racing across the Burgate sports field, with the sunshining on. The atmosphere on the start line was electric and the youngsters involved showedpure grit in completing our most challenging courses ever.

As well as awarding prizes for sporting excellence, we recognised the Olympic and ParalympicValues for individuals who showed particular courage and determination throughout the race.In the first race, 131 children contested the Year 3 and 4 course within teams of 8. After a val-iant effort, Hale Primary managed to dominate the score-sheet and achieve great success infive of the top six finishing positions on the podium.

Within the second an equally nail-biting race, Alderbury, Downton and Breamore all managedto feature on the podium of individual runners for Years 5 and 6. However, no-one was able tostop Hale from securing yet another team victory with a very convincing overall score.

Year 3 & 4 Cluster Cross-Country Results:

1st Place Runner (Girls) – Emmy Cox (Hale Primary)2nd Place Runner (Girls) – Lula Rees (Hale Primary)

3rd Place Runner (Girls) – Imogen Jenkins (Morgansvale & Woodfalls Primary)1st Place Runner (Boys) – Charlie Coles (Hale Primary)2nd Place Runner (Boys) – Sam Wells (Hale Primary)

3rd Place Runner (Boys) – Ruben Williams (Hale Primary)Team Gold – Hale Primary (20 points)

Team Silver – Alderbury & West Grimstead Primary (104 points)Team Bronze – Western Downland Primary (119 points)

Year 5 & 6 Cluster Cross-Country Results:

1st Place Runner (Girls) – Bella Rees (Hale Primary)2nd Place Runner (Girls) – Chloe Ashton (Hale Primary)

3rd Place Runner (Girls) – Erica Pettit (Downton Primary)1st Place Runner (Boys) – Max Spiller (Alderbury & West Grimstead Primary)

2nd Place Runner (Boys) – Sam Murray (Hale Primary)3rd Place Runner (Boys) – Lewis Seward (Breamore Primary)

Team Gold – Hale Primary (41 points)Team Silver – Downton Primary (104 points)

Team Bronze – Alderbury & West Grimstead Primary (113 points)

Faye Bowring

2017 Cluster

Cross-Country Festival

Burgate Host the U13 New Forest Hockey Tournament

2016-17 has been a good season for the Burgate hockey teams. The turn out of girls to ourTuesday after school training sessions has been particularly impressive. Consequently, wedecided to enter two teams (a year 8 and year 7 team) in the U13 New Forest tournament.

The girls played some beautiful hockey. The year 7 team finished in a very credible 4th place,which shows a great deal of promise for next season. The year 8 team, finished as runners upto Ballard school....which in the words of Mrs Newson-Smith...makes them 'the best U13state school team in the New Forest!'

Congratulations to all of the girls who represented our school, we are immensely proud ofyou!

Gemma Newson-Smith

Josh Armes in Pirelli British Masters Motorcross Championship

Year 8 student Josh Armes has been selected for the Pirelli British Masters MotorcrossChampionship round to be held at Culham Park on 22nd and 23rd of April. Josh who ridesfor Fraser Husqvarna UK is coached by ex British Champion Rikki Priest. Josh is also compet-ing in the AMCA 85cc Youth National Motocross Championship which is being run through-out the Summer Holidays at various venues around the UK. Josh is a member of bothRingwood Motocross Club and Mid Wiltshire Motocross Club and rides a Big Wheel 85ccHusqvarna Machine.

Karen Riding