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CRONTON NEWS

Spring 2015 Edition

THE CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR PERFORMING ARTS PRESENTS

USA study dream comes

true for Cronton studentDancing to Barcelona Premier League referee

Chris Foy visits Cronton

THE NEW BROADWAY MUSICALDRACULA

CRONTON NEWSwww.cronton.ac.uk

CRONTON NEWS www.cronton.ac.uk

11th May AS written exams begin

25th - 29th May May half term

6th July Last day of term for year 1 students

13th August AS and A2 results published

14th August Consultation Day for AS students progressing to A2

20th August GCSE results published

1st September First day of term for returning Year 2

WelcomeDear Parents/Guardians,

A very warm welcome to the latest edition of Cronton News. As is usual at Cronton, life has been very busy with a huge range of extra curricular activities taking place. We hope that you’ll enjoy reading about our trips abroad, sporting achievements, student success stories and the amazing range of events and guest speakers that have entertained, educated and inspired us.

In addition, we are very pleased to be celebrating 5 years since the launch of The Centre of Excellence for Performing Arts which will culminate in our production of Chess. Why not join us at Centre Stage, Kingsway 1st, 2nd, 3rd July?

We have been working hard to ensure that, together, with our efforts to deliver excellent results for our students, we are also supporting them to develop the skills that will help them mature morally and spiritually, whilst preparing them for the next stage of their journey after college.

With the summer term upon us, exams and the completion of assignment work is our main focus. We are of course continuing to support our students to reach their potential and we ask that you do not hesitate to contact us if you have any concerns at all.

Leeann Bellfield,Head of Cronton Sixth Form College

Five AS students have experienced an inspirational trip to the University of Cambridge as part of the 2015 Cambridge Student Union Shadowing Scheme.

Chloe Birmingham and Jodie Keiller previously from Wade Deacon, Laith Alshukri and Michael Cooke both previously from Halewood Academy and Victoria Houghton previously from Saints Peter and Paul Catholic College were all delighted to have been accepted on to the exclusive scheme which gives a small number of gifted students the opportunity to experience life at a prestigious university.

The successful students teamed up with a student at the University of Cambridge during their three day stay and accompanied them to lectures, supervisions and social events for a taste of what life is like at one of the top universities in the country.

Victoria said, “My favourite thing on the trip was going to the lectures, my mentor had a few subjects in her course so I got a taste of a variety of subjects, the most useful for me being the environmental science lecture and practical, it made me realise that would be the subject I want to do at university. I am planning to apply to Cambridge, I know if I work hard enough it could be possible.”

Laith said, “I really enjoyed experiencing what the lectures are really like: which was completely different to what I thought, I am

planning to apply to study at Cambridge.”

Dawn Venables, Head of A levels at Cronton Sixth Form said, “The students all had a fantastic time during their trip. It is important at Cronton that we are able to offer the Prestigious University Programme and these respected schemes to gifted students to provide them with a wide range of experiences and make sure they are prepared for the application process for Oxbridge and other Russell Group Universities.”

Gifted students try out life as

Cambridge undergraduates

diary dates


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Three talented science students who won the Armourers and Brasiers Sixth Form Materials competition travelled down to London to receive their prizes.

The students who were accompanied by Phil Taylor and Pam Dugdale from the College travelled to the prestigious Armourers’ Hall in London for

the awards ceremony. Juliet Porter won the Best Portfolio Prize of £500.

Catherine Arnold and Andrew Owen were runners up, each winning prizes of £250 and the College was presented with the school award of £1,000 to spend science equipment. The students were presented their

Students receive their science awards in prestigious London ceremony

A level student Emma Humphries is celebrating after being accepted onto the prestigious Sutton Trust US Programme 2015, which will see her on a residential at Yale University this summer.

The highly competitive programme is aimed at high achieving students and received over 3700 applicants, which were narrowed down to just 150 selected to take part in the residential at either Massachusetts Institute of Technology or Yale University.

Emma, from Widnes, currently studies A levels in History, French, English Literature, and Government and Politics, and is on course for A grades. The former Wade Deacon High School student applied for the programme as she has a desire to travel and is keen on the idea of studying abroad.

She commented, “I was shocked and very excited when I found out I had been accepted onto the programme. I am hoping to study in the USA, ideally studying English Literature. The experience will help me to choose my options and is a great way to enhance my

UCAS application when applying to university.”

“The trip will be primarily hosted at Yale University, with visits to other colleges planned. There will also be a ‘University Fair’ at Harvard which I am especially looking forward to.”

Dr Luke McMahon, History Lecturer at Cronton Sixth Form, said, “I am extremely

pleased for Emma, this is a fantastic opportunity which will give invaluable experience of university life in completely new surroundings.

“The programme will be an inspirational experience and will help Emma to make important decisions when deciding on universities to apply for in the future.”

awards by Mr Ken Brown, Head of Technical Capability & Training for Tata Steel Europe.

Pam Dugdale, Head of Physics at Cronton Sixth Form said, “It was a great day and fabulous recognition for these students who worked extremely hard on their projects. I am extremely proud of them.”

USA study dream comes truefor Cronton student



The Centre of Excellence for Performing ArtsCaptivates Audiences with Dracula: The Musical

Following on from the success of their previous production, Jane Eyre, The Centre of Excellence for Performing Arts at Cronton Sixth Form College once again wowed audiences with their exclusive rendition of Dracula: The Musical.

The sold out show was a brand new Broadway musical and had

never before been performed in the North West.

The talented Cronton performers were also joined by pupils from Wade Deacon High School who played instruments in the orchestra during the professional production at the college's Centre Stage theatre.

Matt Plant, Head of the Centre of Excellence in Performing Arts, said, “It was a musical like no other, offering up splendid Broadway ballads alongside quirky and traditional tunes that remind one of the distance between Stoker’s world and ours.

“I felt our brilliant students delivered an exceptional performance and we have hopefully done this new musical justice. As some of the first in the UK to try it out, we were extremely proud to present Dracula: The Musical.”



'Robot Wars' at Cronton Sixth Form

Inventive IT students have had the opportunity to put their knowledge and talents to the test, in a competitive ‘Robot Wars’ contest at the College.

Five teams were each tasked with designing their own unique warrior, and choosing an effective attack weapon and defence strategy. The completed machines then battled in a ‘last robot standing’ event to be crowned the ‘Cronton Robot Wars 2015 Champion’.

Student Rebbeca Cushnie, formerly of Saints Peter & Paul Catholic College, said “When designing our robot, we thought about what could be more defensive against others. We used loop coding and programming so the robot will strike when a target is detected.

“It’s a fun module and very practical.”

Student Joshua McQuillan, formerly of Saints Peter & Paul Catholic College, said “Our robot was built for speed. We added

arms either side of the robot for greater stability and to hopefully give us an advantage.

“It’s been a very good module and fun to make the robots. In the future I’m looking at a career in IT, such as coding and programming, hopefully I can work in some form of robotics as I find it very interesting.”

The Robot Wars battle was eventually won by the team of Bradley Scamp, Callen Ricardo, and Declan Smith. The winning robot used a vehicle design with a projectile weapon at the front.

Tomorrow's Doctors present medical research projects

Ambitious Medical Society students have impressed an audience including Simon Moran from the Multiple Sclerosis Society, College Management and their own family and friends during an evening of medical research presentations.

The students who are part of the Centre of Excellence in Science and Maths and the Prestigious Universities Programme at the College have been working in small groups throughout the year to research current topics including Alzheimer’s, Proton Beam Therapy and Ebola.

The students not only have the opportunity to develop team work, leadership and research skills but the talented science students also worked with Matt Plant, a performing arts tutor at the College to improve their presentation techniques, an important part of the whole project, which will also greatly enhance their future careers.

Jill Greenhalgh, Science Tutor at Cronton Sixth Form said “The presentation evening has been a wonderful success. The students have worked on these projects with great energy and commitment and have taken inspiration and tips for their presentations from the visiting speakers in life sciences, medical sciences and tissue engineering.”

During the evening the students also had the chance to celebrate their successful fundraising for, Multiple Sclerosis, their chosen charity. Simon Moran from the Multiple Sclerosis Society was delighted to accept a cheque for £1,366 from the students who had raised the money from a series of events during the past year. He said, “This was a fantastic sum of money raised.”

Students and projects: • Sophie Shaw, Sarah Hockenhull,

Jade Griffith Williams – Ebola

• Aine Surveilite, Michael Cooke,

Victoria Houghton – Pancreatities

• Jordan Heatley, Rebekah Hanrey, Anastasia Rybina, Jordan

Pearsall – Toxoplasmosis

• Matthew Bannerman, James

Greer – Proton Beam Therapy

• Amy Milne, Niamh McArdle –

Alzheimers

• Kendra Coquico, Amy Littler, Loveena George – Verrucous

Carcinoma

• Megan Williams, Connor Simpson, Sophie Cameron, Megan Bryan – Motor Neurone

Disease

• Nicola Glancey, Alsion Fillingham, Luke Baker, Gareth Maher – Epilepsy

The event is part of the ‘Controlling Systems’ module on the Level 3 BTEC IT Practitioners course. The module involves students designing and implementing a robot control system, including user requirements, proposed design sketches, inputs, processes and outputs, and a programming flow chart for the proposed system.


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Business Timebank Merseylink talk

Students quiz HaltonMP Derek Twigg

Premier League referee Chris Foy inspires sports students

English students recently had the opportunity to quiz Helen Parker, who edits and contributes to the national schools and colleges Wellbeing magazines. Helen, who is a professional journalist, gave advice to students on how to target audiences and how to focus on the important facts when reporting events.

ENGLISH workshop with writer& editor Helen Parker

She gave students the fantastic opportunity to contribute to the Wellbeing magazine and suggest the type of articles they would like to see in the magazine.

Helen’s workshop provided a useful and interesting insight into how professional journalists approach their work.

A level Business and A level Economics students enjoyed an inspiring talk by Hugh O'Connor, General Manager of Merseylink, and Alex Kornman, Vice Principal of Macquarie Bank. The talks were held in the College conservatory area and were part of a series of masterclasses with Merseylink.

Premier League referee Chris Foy recently visited the college to talk about the roles and responsibilities of football referees, the achievements in his own career so far, and the characteristics needed to succeed in sport and education.

Ben Barton, Head of the Centre of Sporting Excellence at Cronton Sixth Form said, “It was a great opportunity for students to listen to such an experienced, high profile and well respected sports professional talk about the characteristics needed to succeed

Health and Social Care students and A level Sociology students had the opportunity to discuss important social matters during a visit from Halton MP, Derek Twigg.

The talk is designed to help students prepare for university, where critical thinking in a social context is a pre-requisite for academic study.

Karen Cunliffe, health and social care tutor, said “Derek is a regular visitor to the college who enjoys engaging with young people regarding social issues. Derek was

very impressed with the political knowledge and understanding of our students, and their general

conduct in the debates. It is great to see young minds inspired and wanting to engage in politics.”

GUEST SPEAKERS

in any vocation. Our students were really motivated by what Chris said.”

Students at Cronton have been motivated and inspired by many guest speakers and workshops this term.


CRONTON NEWS www.cronton.ac.uk

The College's Athletics team competed at the North West Indoor Athletics competition and came 2nd overall. The girls team placed 1st in their competition.

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SPORTS SUCCESS

After the girls Rugby team had won a Rugby festival in Newcastle, Sammi Simpson, Hannah Curran, Tara Jones, Nicole Boardman, Wendy Johnson, and Zoe Ormsby were selected to represent the North West in the AOC finals which took place at the University of Bath. The girls came 5th in the tough competition.

The girls Football team have won both the LCFA league and cup to complete the Double.

Congratulations to the boys Rugby team who reached the finals of the North West Regional Cup. The team had a team talk from Widnes Vikings player Paddy Flynn before travelling to the final.

Sports scholar Matthew Wigelsworth travelled to the

University of Bath for the AOC finals. Matthew not only placed

7th out of 80 runners but also picked up a bronze medal as

part of the North West team.

Students involved in the Centre of Sporting Excellence at the College have yet again had an extremely successful term.

Cronton Host Halton School GamesFor the third year in a row, Cronton Sixth Form College were host to the annual Halton School Games, with more than 1000 pupils from local schools taking part in the two day sporting extravaganza.

The event was arranged by Halton School Games Organiser, Karen Drake, with the support of Cronton Sixth Form students and tutors. The games are held each year as a legacy to the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Liverpool FC mascot ‘Mighty Red’, Everton mascot ‘Changy the Elephant’, characters from the movie Frozen, and ‘Jigstar’, the Merseyside School Games mascot, welcomed pupils to Cronton before taking part in a Zumba warm up session in the sports hall.

Various games and activities were set up on the playing fields using child friendly equipment. Events included fencing, rugby, tennis, archery, golf, hockey, football, obstacle

courses and problem solving activities. Sports students and PE staff from Cronton College were on hand throughout the day to assist with running the event.

Halton Mayor, Councillor Shaun Osborne launched the event with a speech, before sending the children off for a full day of exciting activities.


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Former A Level students returned to the college in December to receive awards honouring their fantastic achievements during their time at the College.

College Principal, Mary Murphy, welcomed attending guests who included friends and family of the students, the Mayor of Halton, Councillor Shaun Osborne and Rachel Williams, Professor of Bio-Engineering at Liverpool University.

Professor Williams greeted the winners and presented over thirty special awards to those students who had gone above and beyond achieving great things during their time at College.

Once the awards had been handed out, Professor Williams delivered a talk to the audience,

Full List of WinnersPERFORMING ARTS & MEDIA

Performing Arts - Sophie RobinsonFilm & Media - Charlotte GraceCentre of Excellence - Jessica Thickitt

SCIENCE & MATHS

Biology - Fatima LugtuChemistry - Sam EllisPhysics - Daniel MossMaths - Kieran O’ConnorFurther Maths - Jack AustinJohn Collins Science Award - Rebecca LawsMond Achievement Award - Gudith AlionyeMond Achievement Award - Kate Snape

providing inspirational career advice for the students; with many now at universities across the country.

Philip Taylor, Head of Cronton Sixth Form said, “It was fantastic to welcome back so many of our talented former students, who have now gone on to study at universities across the country. The class of 2014 produced a cohort of students eager to perform their best in the exams during the summer. The results of a 99.2% pass rate at A level and 80% high grades were outstanding. I would like to wish all of the students the best of luck in the future”

Former Students Honoured at Awards Evening

ENGLISH & MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGESEnglish Language - Charlotte GraceEnglish Literature - Hope WhewellEnglish Language/Literature - Daniel Sinnott DaviesModern Foreign Languages - Carys Rice

CREATIVE ARTS

Textiles - Llinos PetersFine Art - Amy JohnsonGraphics - Amelia ChestersPhotography - Natalie HiltonContibution to College Activities - Sam Sheridan

SPORTPE - Helena Cliffe

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGYICT - Elizabeth Gregory

HUMANITIESGeography - Remi SmithHistory - Bethany ManningLaw - Olivia KilgallonPsychology - Emily StockdaleSociology - Rachel Ley

BUSINESSBusiness - Bethany ManningEconomics - Jack MarshallGovernment & Politics - Mathew Devany

OVERALL ACHIEVEMENTRemi Smith

STUDENT OF THE YEARJack Austin

www.cronton.ac.uk CRONTON NEWS

www.cronton.ac.uk

Catwalk success for Cronton fashion

students at Clothes Show Live, BIRMINGHAMPerformance students VISIT

Moulin Rouge in Paris

For the third year running the Cronton School of Art fashion students have amazed audiences with their fantastic creations as professionals modelled their designs on the catwalk at this year’s ‘Clothes Show Live’.

Outstanding garments created by up and coming designers from the A level Textiles and BTEC Extended Diploma in Fashion courses at Cronton Sixth Form were selected to have their designs exhibited in Cronton’s own section of the Graduate Catwalk show in association with Company Magazine.

The College is amongst a few selected universities and colleges

to have their own exhibition stand and an opportunity for the students to have their work on the main catwalk in front of the 126,000 visitors to the event.

Maxine Mealey, Head of Creative Arts at Cronton Sixth Form said, “Everyone worked extremely hard to make this event a fantastic success yet again. It was wonderful to receive fabulous comments about the high standard of the students work and this is testament to the hard work, flair and commitment of the fashion and textiles students at the college.”

Performance students have had a rare and impressive opportunity during a trip to Paris as part of the five year anniversary celebrations of the Centre of Excellence in Performing Arts.

The students were invited to tour the back stage area of the world famous Moulin Rouge show. They also met with the Communications Director Jean-Luc Péhau-Ricau, who took them on a tour of the auditorium.

During the trip the students stayed in the district of Belleville, the home of world famous singer, Edith Piaf and also visited Paris landmarks including the including Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower.

Theatre Studies student Tabitha Wise said, “I can't believe that we were able to see this. This has been amazing.”

Matt Plant, Artistic Director of the Centre of Excellence in Performing Arts at Cronton said, “The trip to Paris was part of the five year celebrations to commemorate the creation of the college's Centre of Excellence for Performing Arts, culminating in a very special performance of the musical masterpiece Chess in July, which includes the 1980s smash hit song, I Know Him So Well.”

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Dancing to Barcelona

Caitlin Sutcliffe, a dance student on the popular Professional Dance Programme at Cronton Sixth Form has impressed a prestigious Spanish dance school and has been offered a place at the Institute of the Arts, Barcelona.

Caitlin auditioned for the Spanish dance school via a video audition were she completed a ballet, jazz and contemporary class and performed a solo dance piece with the help from Ben Stevens, programme leader for the Professional Dance Programme at the College who filmed the audition.

Caitlin is now following her dream of training to become a professional dancer and after completing her degree in dance she plans to relocate to London to begin her career as a dancer.

Ben Stevens said, “We are immensely proud to see Caitlin gain a place at the prestigious Institute of the Arts, Barcelona. It is a true testament to her hard work and dedication.

“I have had the great pleasure of working with Caitlin over the past two years and am looking forward to working with her on her final Professional Dance Programme dance production, where she will be playing the role of Madison in the production of 'Coven', taking place in The Brindley Theatre in June.”

Talented art student winsCourt Artist Competition

Cronton A level student Lucy Short is celebrating after winning the regional Court Artist Competition.

Lucy, previously from The Heath School entered the court artist category of the Annual National Bar Mock Trial Competition. The competition offers a unique opportunity for art students to take part in court reporting and produce courtroom sketches.

For the competition, Lucy had to produce pictures depicting the

events at the national student Bar Mock Trial Competition. During the trial she observed the in-trial proceedings, taking notes and sketches on the surroundings and the appearance of the various participants. The final piece was then produced outside of court based on these notes, sketches and memory.

Lucy’s work was initially shortlisted by the Citizenship Foundation and then judged by a professional court artist. She has

now been invited to the National Final in Edinburgh to receive her prize.


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Cronton students visit The University of Oxford

Students travelled to the University of Oxford for a Prestigious University Programme residential trip offering the gifted students an opportunity to look around Pembrook College as well as a visit to the Natural History Museum and tour of the famous city.

On day two the students enjoyed a question and answer session with a current first year student at the university and experienced a lecture by Professor Peter Claus on Victorian Social History.

Professor Claus also took the opportunity to speak to the students about the admissions and interview process at university, before the science students went to the science labs to attend a chemistry practical and the humanities students toured the world famous Ashmolean Museum.

All of the students had a fantastic time and the experience provided the students with a fantastic insight into life as an undergraduate at this prestigious university.

The Centre of Excellence in Science and Maths set up Solarscope stations at College to give the students the opportunity to view the solar eclipse.

Students were able to use the Solarscope, a device that makes it safe to look at the sun during a solar eclipse.

The Solarscope aligns the sun with a lens tube that resembles a torch, and the solar light filters into a chamber where it bounces off a lens, creating a spherical image on a white screen. The device is also great for studying sunspots revealing details that cannot be safely viewed with the naked eye.

sTUDENTS VIEW THE SOLAR ECLIPSE


CRONTON NEWS www.cronton.ac.uk22 23

Past and Present Performing Arts students celebrate five years of excellence

A host of past and present students from Cronton Sixth Form were brought together for the Five Year Celebrations of the Centre of Excellence for Performing Arts.

The past students and sold out audience, which included the Mayor of Halton, had travelled from across the country to help the College celebrate the past five years of professional shows and concerts.

The evening began with a champagne reception and an opportunity for past students to catch up. This was followed by a compilation movie, which included footage of all of the trips, including New York and Paris.

It also included previous unseen rehearsal footage which featured many of the returning students and then finished with a showcase of the forthcoming musical production, Chess, which

will take place in the Centre Stage Theatre, Kingsway on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd July.

Matt Plant, Artistic Director of the Centre of Excellence said, “It was exactly the right event to start our celebrations and end the Spring Term. So many wonderful students from across the five years came together to share the event and remember shows that created wonderful opportunities and memories for us all.”

Jane Eyre Phantom of the Opera

Sweeney ToddLes Miserables

My Fair Lady

Gala New York trip

The event, which was held in the new conservatory venue at Cronton, chronicled previous productions, including Jane Eyre, Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera and most recently Dracula.


www.cronton.ac.uk

STUDENTS AND STAFF raise £600 for Comic Relief!

On Friday 13th March, staff and students took part in exciting events and activities to raise money for Comic Relief: Red Nose Day.

Money raising events included a cake sale, a raffle to win concert tickets, wet sponge throwing competition, a rowing machine speed challenge, a book sale, ‘Mario Kart’ racing, a student football match, and a nail bar.

Almost £600 was raised on the day.

Joe Clements, Enrichment officer said, “We have had a great day at College with a fantastic amount of money raised for a brilliant cause. A huge thanks to all the students and College staff who took part in today’s activities and made donations.”

tASTY TREATS FOR STUDENTS CELEBRATING PANCAKE DAy

To celebrate Shrove Tuesday, Cronton students were treated with delicious pancakes, served in the foyer. Organised by the College Chaplaincy, students were also reminded of the story behind Lent and why we eat pancakes on the day.

Level 3 Year 2 Extended Diploma Art students promoted their work and demonstrated their skills within their Campus at Cronton by hosting a lunchtime art exhibition. This was directly linked to a delivered unit and enhanced the students employability skills.

Art students showcasetheir talents

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Cronton are Football League Champions!The men’s football team at Cronton Sixth Form College are celebrating winning the English Colleges Football Association North West league title, for the second time in three years.

The team won the league in their final fixture, winning 2 – 0 against West Cheshire College. The result secured 49 league points in total, which meaning they beat City of Liverpool College by two points to first place.

The team have enjoyed a fantastic season, winning sixteen of the eighteen games played.

Iain Douglas, Head Coach, said “The team have played some outstanding football this year, demonstrating high levels of

skill execution and applying tactical strategies in the game situation. During the season, as the team developed, they played consistently to a high level and found a way to win when in difficult circumstances.

“The team demonstrated high levels of motivation and a team

cohesion which enabled them to win the league title, as the head coach I would like to thank the boys for their dedication and motivation during this campaign, and fully endorse the accolades given to them.”

New state of the artlaboratories at cronton

Due to the increased popularity of science subjects, plans are underway for an expansion of the science laboratories at Cronton.

‘The Mond Centre’, which is home to the Centre of Excellence in Science and Maths is currently being extended to include two brand new labs, fully equipped with state of the art equipment and apparatus.

The extension of the science facilities will help students take full advantage of the new A level science curriculum, which from September 2015 has an increased focus on practical experiments.

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