18.03.16 - Issue 114

Week Beginning 21.03.16 is a Week 2

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Thursday 17 March - Tuesday 22 March

PE Practical Exam Days

Friday 25 March Bank Holiday

Monday 28 March -

Friday 8 April Easter Holiday

TO RECEIVE THE NEWSLETTER BY EMAIL, PLEASE EMAIL ENQUIRIES@EDUC.SOMERSET.GOV.UK

(Joint) 1st Place in South West Maths Feast Challenge

On Friday 11 March four Year 10 students attended the South West Maths Feast at the Met Office in Exeter. They took part in a Maths Challenge against thirteen other teams from the South West in four rounds of maths quiz questions, including general maths questions, complex numbers and shape questions. The students Rebecca Dascombe, Addy Gorman, Ben Forster and Guy Howes (pictured) came away with a certificate for teamwork and the honour of being Joint Champions. Congratulations to the four students but unfortunately there is no national final for them to attend this year. Glen Beaver - Teacher of Maths

West Somerset College hosts West Somerset Council

On Monday the College hosted a visit from a group of Councillors from West Somerset Council. They were invited for a tour of the College and the Skills & Enterprise Centre following meetings between Paul Gibbs, Acting Head of Vocational Studies and Colleen Blake, Employment and Skills Officer for West Somerset Council.

The tour was conducted by Jane Aplin, Principal, and took in a range of classes in the main College and the opportunity for the Councillors to ask questions about the future provision, followed by a walk around the facilities in the Skills & Enterprise Centre and further questions to Paul Gibbs and Jane Aplin. The group then had a light lunch in the College’s Combe Restaurant, prepared by student Lucy Watters under the guidance of Hospitality teacher David Pollard.

The visit ended with a Q&A session and offers of support from West Somerset Council, as the College moves forward, in supporting and developing training and education for young people and adults in the West Somerset area.

Photo from left to right: Mr Paul Gibbs, Cllr Karen Mills, Cllr Ivor Jones, Cllr Andrew Hadley, Cllr Brenda Maitland-Walker, Cllr Mandy Chilcott, Cllr Martin Dewdney, Mrs Jane Aplin, Cllr Peter Murphy, Ms Colleen Blake, Cllr Ian Aldridge and Cllr Rosemary Woods.

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Cradle to Grave by Keziah Pledger

On the Friday 11 March the Year 9 students took part in a Tomorrow’s Engineers Workshop and presentation. To begin the day the students were introduced to physicist Becky Holmes who demonstrated how engineering contributes to your life from before you are born until after you die.

She began by using examples, such as the pregnancy test, and explained how engineering itself has evolved enough to make instruments that were once complicated much simpler to use. She then proceeded to explain the use of ultrasound in medical engineering which revolutionised the way we view the human body today. It is also able to determine the gender and wellbeing of an unborn child.

Becky continued by pouring water into one of several cups then rearranged the cups so the Year 9s were unable to see which had the water. To test the Year 9’s faith and knowledge she turned each cup upside down above a students head but none appeared to contain the water which baffled the students until a student stated the water could have been solidified. Becky began to explain sodium polyacrylate; a substance that can absorb 100 times it’s own mass and is commonly used in nappies. This once again showed how much engineering has played a part in everyone’s life.

After discussing the pros and cons of nappies, we were also shown that we reduce forces when we catch a water-filled balloon, how seat belts act the same way and how blue light has the most energy and can be used to treat a baby with jaundice.

We then moved on to discussing death and Becky asked the Year 9s how she could die. This was followed by some very interesting ideas - one student suggested a gas chamber and another stated that she could be run over by a bus driven by their Dad. She showed the Year 9s the affect of liquid nitrogen on balloons, flowers and an egg whilst explaining how similar it can be to different parts of the human body.

From the idea of death, Becky moved onto the idea of cryogenically freezing so that an injured body could be preserved for years until technology was advanced enough to cure her. Forgetting the £10,000 that would be required in order to be cryogenically frozen she asked the big question - Would you like to live forever by cryogenically freezing?

Engineers of Tomorrow by Nyah Davis

Engineers of tomorrow is an educational programme which teaches children how much they can really achieve if they put their minds to it.

On Friday 11 March this year, pupils from Year 9 took part in a workshop which taught the importance of engineers in our lives today and throughout history. They learned how a job could make such a difference to the world and the people around them.

Being an engineer means being a practical problem solver, they find problems in the world and find innovative solutions to fix them. As an example the students were introduced to two robots, one of which had a plough mechanism and the other a forklift mechanism. They were then given remote controls and instructions about how to move and control the robots. By doing this they learnt how to fix a problem on their own. They each had a go at controlling a robot and, if one technique didn’t work, they could go back and improve the way they worked on movements. A game was then set up where the students had to fling toys out of a ring using just the robots. By the end of the game they were asked which robot was the best at performing the job it was given. All the student’s agreed that the plough robot didn’t do as good of a job as the forklift robot because it was wide and top heavy.

Once the students were seated again they took part in a quiz which was supposed to ’break the stereotype’ on what a job as an engineer really was. Many students believed that engineers were the people who worked on cars but quickly learnt that this was not so and that, in fact, there where many different types of engineers including musical, medical and scientific. By the end of the quiz they proceeded to think of their own way to adapt different things. For example, a shirt that changed colour as your temperature raised. These ideas were presented to the rest of the year and they voted on the one they though was the best thought out, the most useful, the best presented and the most reasonable selling price.

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Duke of Edinburgh Bronze - Remember the Training Day this Saturday (19 March). Meet at the Shed at 9.30am-9.45am. Please make sure you have re-turned your medical and consent forms. Caroline Young - Duke of Edinburgh Coordinator

HE Convention - Wednesday 13 April

A trip has been organised for Year 12 students to Westpoint, just outside of Exeter, as part of the first steps in their research for university applications in 2017. The trip costs £6 and is in College hours. Letters are available in the Study Area, from tutors and from myself. Normal lessons will run for Year 12 students not going on the trip. Please see me if you have any questions. Kim Gover - UCAS Co-ordinator

Geography The Year 12 Geographers are currently carrying out coastal investigations at Dawlish Warren in preparation for their fieldwork exam in May. Today they have decided to look at how coastal processes affect sediment size. This involves measuring wave frequency so thank goodness it's relatively warm and wellies abound. Caroline Young - Teacher of Geography

Ofsted Inspection

Dear Parents/Carers

The College was recently visited by a HMI Inspection Team and from the initial feedback given it went very well. As soon as we have the report we will share it with you.

Jane Aplin - Principal

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College Football Academy Continue Push for League Title The West Somerset College Football Academy have been enjoying a good run in 2016 winning six from six games including four away wins. This leaves Mr Jeffs and his squad in a very good position to win the AOC Cat3 Division with just two games remaining. “The squad have had an unbelievable winter programme. We had players out on the pitch doing green keeping to make sure we could fit games in before deadline day despite the poor weather. To make it even tougher all our away games had been scheduled together, with two long journeys to Weymouth and Kingston.” The away fixture against Weymouth looked to be a real table turner for the squad. The team went 1-0 down early in the first half but managed to equalise before half time. West Somerset dominated possession against a strong Weymouth side and just managed to sneak a second ten minutes from the end when Harry David ran onto a low cross and from 8 yards out, smashed the ball into the roof of the net creating one of the highlights of the season. Going 2-0 down vs PETROC at home, the squad looked in disarray, however they continued to show full commitment and character with some of the players taking control and responsibility for the situation, such as Sam Pound (sponsored by EXMOOR LANDSCAPING) who scored twice and was followed by Charley Clausen with a hat-trick. Not only did the team bring the game back, they kept the foot on the pedal and finished the game 6-2. Kingston away was another long trip to play a side who were tough opponents in the home fixture and top of the league early in the season. The game had a cup final feeling to it and all of the players were aggressive and forceful in their approach. The Academy struggled in the first half on a tough pitch with strong wind and although 1-0 down looked in control and were creating chances. 1-0 turned to 2-0 just before half time and West Somerset found themselves losing at half time for the fourth time this season. The players had to be patient second half knowing that a loss here would probably cost them the title. West Somerset hit the post, missed two chances from inside ten yards and it looked to be one of those days where we just couldn’t score. The introduction of Sam Bruford had an immediate impact and kept the Kingston back four pinned to the edge of their own box. Following a corner which dropped in the six yard box, the players realised they had stopped - they were watching the ball go by and expecting someone else to score without taking responsibility as individuals. It was a vital chance missed. They didn’t make the same mistake twice and when the next corner was put in a dangerous spot, almost all of the West Somerset attacking players ran at the cross and managed to scramble it over the line. Just fifteen minutes left and the players had an injection of confidence following the goal. Winger Elliott Scott (sponsored by K+C BUILDING CONTRACTORS) was having a huge impact in the second half and enjoyed leaving defenders in his tracks. He slid a ball through to Sam Bruford who made light work of the finish and got West Somerset back to 2-2. Kingston had crumbled, they were arguing with each other, committing needless fouls and putting pressure on themselves and this gave West Somerset the chance to punish them for losing concentration. Sam Bruford had another chance just inside 18 yards and a clean, quick strike hit the back of the net sending the Academy players into passion fuelled celebration. As the time ran down the players seemed relentless on completing the job and this came in

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If you have any questions or if you would like an application form, please see Miss Roe in S10.

extra time by putting a fourth past Kingston. Academy Manager Steve Jeffs - “What a game! The winning goal was another incredible moment from this season, the squad have a never say die attitude, they don’t know the meaning of quitting. To go behind time after time and this not lead to arguments and negative discussions is testament to what this group have been like all season. We have all made mistakes, including myself with formations and tactics, we have all had moments to be proud of that have helped the team be victorious. No matter how any of us has performed the response has always been the same, we have a job to do, easy or hard, the job needs to be completed.” West Somerset now have two fixtures remaining against Strode and Bridgwater and need at least 4 points from these games to claim the title. “I am very proud of this squad of players and they already know that. We had some big hurdles the past few weeks and they have dealt with that, however we can’t be complacent so we will work hard up until the final whistle of the final game. It could be a big moment for the College and to have some success at a very difficult time would be fantastic. I urge any members of the community and parents to come and watch the team play Bridgwater at WSC on Wednesday 13 April. It’s the final game of the season, it is a 2pm kick off and hopefully you will see the team win the league.”.

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Youth Dance Platform College students from all year groups took part in The Youth Dance Platform ‘Spring Forward’ on Monday 14 March at the Tacchi Morris Arts Centre in Taunton. It was hosted by Take Art, a platform that celebrates Youth Dance and Drama in Somerset. The students who attend The Dance Centre in Minehead performed three dance pieces with the LA Festival Group under the direction of Dance Leader Lorraine Ahern. Congratulations to Anna Ross, Lucy Curtis, Natasha Cross, Megan Hodges and Lauren Gunter.

New kids on the block! Showcase of young talent at The Regal Theatre in Minehead this Easter Brand new group Fusion Young Performers are staging their first show this Easter. The Magic of the Musicals takes place at the Regal Theatre on Thursday 31 March, Friday 1 and Saturday 2 April at 7.30pm. There is some incredible talent and energy amongst the 47 performers who are all aged between 10 and 24. Choreography is by Lorraine Ahern and musical direction by Sarah-Jane Cross who were both part of the production team responsible for bringing the successful production of Les Miserables to the Regal stage in the summer of 2014. In fact the cast features many of the soloists from this production who will be performing songs and dances from many different shows such as Annie, Wicked, Hairspray, Les Miserables, Guys and Dolls, Sister Act, Into the Woods, Matilda and more. The group, set up by Lorraine and Sarah-Jane, aims to develop theatre, dance and music for young people across the region up to the age of 24. For more information about Fusion Young Performers please contact: Sarah-Jane Cross 01984 641674 sarahjanecross005@gmail.com or Lorraine Ahern 07989 542911 ladancers2@aol.com