013_-_4th_May_2012

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Issue 13 4th May 2012

Clifton High School

Pears House Charity Day

There may be flood warnings where you live. Alternatively you may have a hosepipe ban. You may even have both, but about 2.5 billion people in the world don’t have access to the water we take for granted. This is why Pears House chose to support Water Aid this year. Water Aid’s mission is to transform lives by improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in the world's poorest communities. Pat Spry from Water Aid came to speak to the school on Monday and told the average cost per person of supplying a safe water

supply to a village, combined with sanitation and hygiene education is only £15. We raised £324.77 last Friday for Water Aid. Thank you very much to everyone who donated and a special thanks to those baked and got sponged!

Debut for Bristol Amateur

Operatic Society

In March, Year 13 student, Sophie

Sturge, made her debut for the Bristol

Amateur Operatic Society, in 42nd

Street playing the role of Phyllis - a

ditsy blonde! Sophie was the youngest

member of the cast, performing with

people aged 19-70 years old. Sophie

had to learn to tap dance from scratch

in order to take on the role and

following six months of rehearsals

(plenty of blisters and bruises!) she and the rest of the

cast gave six memorable performances playing to full

houses in the Victoria Rooms. The show is full of big song

and dance numbers such as ‘We’re in the money’, ‘Lullaby

of Broadway’ and the title song, ‘42nd Street’. The humour

on the stage was often supplemented by raucous laughter

offstage as Sophie and the other leads had to tackle

nineteen costume changes. Alongside all the new lifelong

friendships formed, taking a lead in the show has ignited

a real love of performance and as she goes to Plymouth

University next year, Sophie will be looking to join

amateur operatic and musical theatre groups. Her

performance was recognised by a representative of the

National Operatic and Dramatic Association (NODA) who

attended the Saturday matinée to review the show. BAOS

is continually looking for new talent in their productions

and Sophie would recommend other pupils of CHS getting

involved in future.

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The Olympic Opens Pupils from Nursery to Year 6 gathered in a large semi-circle waiting with high expectations for the very first Olympic ceremony of C.H.S. As Mr Richards announced the entrance of the almighty Greek god, Zeus everybody was cheering as he entered in his crisp white robes.

When the audience had settled once more, Zeus made a speech. He said that the Olympic torch was not lit be mere matches but by the power of the sun. Mr Richards introduced some young gymnasts; the audience were stunned into an amazed silence as they performed their superb routines with cartwheels and backflips. The audience applauded with great gusto and wonder.

Each class paraded their flags starting with Nursery as Hong Kong and ending with 6T as South Korea. Brian, the flag bearer for 6T said, “Thank you Mrs Tabb for choosing my country and me to parade the flag.”

At the end of the ceremony was the torch relay with one representative from each class, ending with Georgia handing the torch to Zeus. Georgia said, “I felt great when everybody was cheering me on as I ran up the stage steps and handed the torch to Zeus. The Olympic ceremony ended with everyone singing a song altogether.

written by Laura Manley 6T

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Reading Week 2012

Our annual reading week was a huge success with children throughout Nursery to Juniors participating in a variety of events and activities linked to ‘adventurous reading’. Our two visiting authors, Joffre White and John Dougherty, made a lasting impression on our students with their entertaining and inspiring stories and songs.

Pictured above: Year 4 meet Joffre White Below: Students with John Dougherty

Pictured below: Students with John Dougherty

Auden Barnes from 3V and Scarlet Aylmer from 5P were presented with their very own Slick the dragon (of giant hot air balloon fame) cuddly toys after being chosen as the overall winners of the ‘My Adventure Story’ competition.

The standard was extremely high and left me in no doubt that we have some budding authors in our midst! Well done! Thank you to all of those who made the week such a wonderful experience for our students. Roll on next year….

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Flying Start Finals Clifton High School came third in the schools’ competition at the Flying Start Finals held just before the end of the spring term. The finals took place at the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton and the best glider teams of year 9 students were able to attend.

This competition is organized and sponsored by numerous aeroengineering companies and Airbus provided all the mentors for our teams. Thank you!

The day included some engineering exercises including the “Egg Drop Challenge” and the “Bridge Building Challenge” (which the teachers also took part in!) There was a quiz, which encouraged the students to take a good look around the museum including inspecting Concorde and taking part in an aircraft carrier simulation.

The fly-off was held under Concorde’s belly and the best Clifton High glider performed admirably with Sebastian Serrudo-Gossner launching it.

Although no individual team prizes were won, Clifton High School won £100 for coming 3rd overall. This depended on every Clifton High team present on the day – a true team effort! Well done all.

Year 1 Trip to St. Fagans

We were fortunate to have a dry day for our Year 1 trip to explore the old homes and buildings from around Wales. The children time travelled between the Celts in their roundhouses to the more modern 1980s miner’s cottages. We especially enjoyed the miller demonstrating the complicated machinery involved in producing flour from grain. We even had a lesson sitting at desks in a Victorian school. The teachers were a little strict though!

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Olympic Fun in Key Stage 1 Key Stage 1 children were thrilled to start their new term with a visit from champion pole vaulter Lucy Bryan. Lucy is a sixth form student at Clifton High School and she kindly brought along a selection of her medals, along with her Team Great Britain kit. We watched video links of Lucy in action and then Year 2 children asked Lucy a range of

questions. She was quizzed about her training regime, how she started in the sport and her aspirations for the future, along with lots of other issues. As a literacy exercise we then wrote a list of facts we had learnt from our sixth from pupil. In the photos Class 2L proudly hold flags of a number countries who are participating in the Summer 2012 Olympics. We can also see (above) Sophie and Thomas wearing Lucy’s Team GB kit .

Vienna Trip

Vienna, home to Sigmund Freud, United Nations and for 5 days in the Easter break a group of Clifton High School students. Wide-awake and raring to go, the group left Bristol at 4.30am. Arriving in Vienna at the hotel around 12 hours later we had a marvellous guided tour around the centre of Vienna and got to see some of the wonders that Vienna had to offer along with stories of their heritage.

Over the next few days we took visits to the Spanish Riding School, Schönbrunn Palace, the Leopold Museum, Belvedere Palace and, of course, the main shopping streets. On the last day everybody got to flaunt their cooking talents in a strudel cookery class and then taste their efforts – we were all rather impressed with ourselves. Mr Goldsmith and Miss Schiller would like to thank the group for such an enjoyable experience.

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Despite this disappointment, both teams enjoyed the experience due to the fabulous creative and supportive atmosphere at the event, where friendly rivalry and banter combined with problem solving and laughter. One robot (furry, with a lion head and called Aslan!) managed

to completely engulf another robot causing much hilarity. Support was in evidence by text messages and phone calls from family members at home who were watching the finals streamed live over the internet.

Thank you especially to Steve Haywood, our main Bristol University mentor, as well as all the other blue-shirt Student Robotics organizers. Next year we will win!

Student Robotics Finals During the Easter holiday two teams of year 11 students took part in the Student Robotics Finals at Southampton University. The teams were:

Team name: Blue Screen of Death Robot name: Fenton Team members: Sarah Thursby-Pelham Savannah Leith Danielle Chandler Hannah Tomaselli Emma Wills Holly O’Grady Saskia Dedman Team name: <unknown_error> Robot name: Kenneth Team members: Tom Freire Camacho Joseph Kossmann Katie Gardner Gemma Penhorwood Misha Newnham Matt Bray Natasha Stones Our teams were the youngest students taking part this year and both robots successfully collected the tokens which scored points in the finals. The scores after the league stage were very close indeed but unfortunately both teams failed to make it through to the next stage. This was due in part to bad luck as some robots, that could not even move, managed to get through because other robots pushed tokens into their home zone. We were robbed!

What load of Wallys! Children in Key Stages 1 and Foundation were unable to believe their eyes at our Recent Book Day. Every time they turned a corner, a new Wally was to be seen. Look closely and you will identify members of our staff team.

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U8/U9/U11 Football Festivals at Clifton College

The Under 8 and Under 9 boys took part in football coaching festivals at Clifton College, led by qualified FA football coaches. The Under 11 boys took part in a round robin tournament v Clifton College, Henleaze A and B teams and St Johns primary school. The boys’ team which was predominantly made up from Under 10 boys performed superbly well in sizzling hot conditions. This

concluded the boys’ football season and found this experience extremely valuable which will set them up nicely for

next season. The highlight of the afternoon came in the form of a superb team goal finished off by Ben Badham against Henleaze School who prior to the match against us had not conceded a single goal all afternoon. Well done boys!

The Under 8 and Under 9 boys took part in slightly different tournaments as theirs was led by the Tesco FA football coaches who provided coaching for the first hour, followed by organised matches in the second hour. The Under 8 boys thoroughly enjoyed their afternoon, competing against both A and B teams from Clifton College in the second part of the afternoon.

The Under 9’s really finished off the football season for Clifton High in positive passion. The boys played in matches against Clifton College A and B teams, Torwood House School and Henleaze School. The boys worked extremely hard and produced some fine performances. The boys managed to win against both Clifton College teams and Torwood House School but narrowly lost to a strong Henleaze team. Well done to all of the boys involved.

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World Taekwondo Championships Success Black belt Emma Wills in year 11 participated in the PUMA black belt world open championships in Swindon on 31 March and won a silver medal in the category of cadet (age 15 to 17) first degree patterns. There were representatives of 7 countries at the championships but only UK countries in Emma's category. A fantastic achievement Emma, we are very proud of you. Well done!

Avon Doubles Championships On Sunday 29th April Bethan Evans Brain and Briony Wills in year 8 retained their Avon Doubles Championship at under 14 level. In atrocious conditions, the tournament was played indoors and the Clifton High pairing did not drop a set all day. On the way to the final they beat King Edwards, Bath, Colstons Collegiate, Badminton and in the final Royal High, Bath. Congratulations, girls!

Welcome to Clifton High! Miss Liz Poustie will be the cover teacher in Mrs Tabb’s absence. Miss Poustie is an experienced KS2 teacher who has taught in schools in Weston-Sper-Mare, Bristol, New Zealand and South Korea. She has coordinated Numeracy and Geography and is a highly qualified hockey, netball and swimming coach. We wish her a very happy and fulfilling time at Clifton High.

Mrs Fiona Chandler is the new teacher in the Learning Support Department. She has many years teaching experience and has worked as the SENCO at Rose Hill Westonbirt School in Gloucestershire for fourteen years and most recently as the SENCO at Notting Hill Preparatory School. Mrs Chandler has a Masters in the Psychology of Education and is also experienced in the teaching of

English as a foreign language. We are delighted to have her as one of the Learning Support team.

Best Wishes

Our very best wishes to Mrs Helen Tabb who goes on maternity leave next week; we look forward to meeting the new addition to the Tabb family in the near future.

Success for Year 7 and 8 Boys’ Tennis Team v QEH

The boys played in The Year 7 and 8 AGEON league’s first Tennis fixture of the season. Our team consisted of three year 7’s and one year 8. Nic Falconer, Ted Powell, Freddie Raffle and Captain, Oli Valentine.

The boys played one singles match each, winning 3 out of 4 matches. They the played two doubles matches which Clifton High won both. The second AGEON match of the season was postponed last week due to poor conditions, however the boys hope to continue their winning start to the league with matches against Chew Valley, St Bedes, Castle and St Gregory’s School from Bath this term. Well done to all of the boys involved.

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Arabian nights Ball - Update!

Tickets for this year's ball are going fast and the VIP area has now sold out. To take advantage of our Early Bird offer of £50 a ticket (£45 for students) please

make sure you send your completed form and payment by Friday 23rd May 2-12. Your ticket includes:

A free welcome cocktail and canapés Three course meal

Entertainment and disco Plus an additional cocktail offer from 7.15pm to 8.15pm and our very own Groovy Booth with photo competitions and prizes

There will also be a raffle on the night

Experience an Aladdin’s cave of delights at this year’s Arabian Nights Ball.

You will be surrounded by the sights and sounds of an Arabian summer night whilst dining on a sumptuous

meal with exotic dancing.

Artwork designed by Helen Milne Year 12

Clifton High School

Would like to invite parents and friends of the school to

The Spring Serenade Concert

Featuring school ensembles

and solos by Year 13 leavers.

9th May 2012

Main School Hall

7.30pm

Spend one night under the stars on a family camp night in a safe, local campsite off

Beggar Bush Lane

(parents must accompany, weather dependant)

To register an interest please email

[email protected] or [email protected]

Or speak to Jane or Asha for more details.

Campfest Saturday 26th May 2012

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School Contact Details Tel: 0117 973 0201

For general communication: [email protected] To report an absence: [email protected]

Family and Friend Swimming Saturdays 3-5pm

We have conducted a review with Sport Education on how their service has been received by families and friends. The key finding is that there are currently not enough regular users to

make this viable financially. We have agreed with Mr Allen to extend the review until December 2012 in the hope that this can be addressed. Consequently books of tickets for the new period will be available from the Finance Office from 21st May. Current tickets are valid until the end of June.

Sports Team Photos The sports team photos were taken last term and the proofs have now been given to the teams. If you wish to order please return them directly to Fraser Portraits.

New Mini bus Have you spotted the new Ford Mini bus which is kept at Coombe Dingle?

As you can see the bus carries our striking colours – surely the smartest in Bristol - and the saint logo of St Brendan’s Old Boys rugby club. The mini bus is very comfortable, is equipped with a roof rack and a quality audio system for all those sing along! It seemed really sensible to share the running costs of the mini bus with our friends at St Brendan’s who only use the mini bus at weekends in the season. This project promotes the school and the rugby club who are also based at Coombe Dingle. The Ford will dramatically reduce costs of minibus hire and will soon be a regular feature on school trips and the Coombe Dingle run. School his working hard to involve the hockey, football and cricket clubs at our Coombe Dingle facility in the interests of the children and parents. As an example many of our old boys play their rugby with the Saints as do an increasing number of children who thoroughly enjoy playing rugby on Sunday mornings. We have parents playing on Saturdays too. All good news for the school rugby teams in the forthcoming seasons. If you are a parent involved with hockey, tennis or

football or other sports at Coombe Dingle then please

contact Mr Cowper who will be very interested to see

how school can work together for the benefit of all.

Clifton High Bees The Bees are not enjoying this weather and were very grumpy when Mr Booth our bee keeper and Mr Cowper (his apprentice!) carried out the spring clean of the hives during the holidays. Grumpy is bad! Mr Booth got stung, but Mr Cowper did not (which is good). Despite the grumpy bees, we managed to clean off all the wax and propolis (bee glue) and replace the old and deformed frames. The queen is looking happy and still has her tipex marking from last year in one of the hives which is looking very healthy. The other hive is not looking good at all and we had to give the bees an emergency feed of sugar and water from the staff common room. We are very excited about the imminent arrival of two more hives and lots of specialist equipment so children can get involved in the project. We are also discussing how we can record and possibly even film the hives with a parent who works for the BBC. Mr Cowper is often on the roof talking to “his” bees to get them to work harder as he and Mr James are determined to beat last years total of 30lbs of honey. We are planting lots of bee friendly plants too. Beekeeping is all done in imperial measures and Mr

Cowper will give a prize to the first person from

Foundation to KS2 who can tell him what

30 lbs is in kilograms!

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

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