Bablake Diary

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Careers

Arts

Opinion

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2

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9

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14

LIONTH

E NEWS & VIEWS FROMBABLAKE SCHOOL

ISSUE 38AUTUMN 2005

We met at school at the unsocial time of 2am, lookingforward to a 12 hour plane journey to Lima, Peru’s capital,before flying internally to Cuzco, a small city in the south,originally the centre of the Inca Empire.

PERU05

AFTER A FEW days in Cuzco, we wereready to start the first of our twoplanned hikes. We came by coach tothe start of the Inca trail, where theUrubamba River empties into the valleyfrom the Machu Pichu national park,under a swaying rope and wood bridge.Here we met our porters – 36 men forthe 20 of us hikers.

During the second day we hikedthrough the Hullabamba village to an“off the beaten track” temple, guidedby Marcos-Antonio, a Peruvian boyfrom the village. The first pass, DeadWoman’s pass, was due to be reachedthe next day, but the steep ascentstarted here. It was here that several ofthe group had begun to suffer with theheat, altitude sickness and stomachbugs, Marcus being the first to be hit.

The next morning, Graham, ourgroup leader, declared that the worst ofthe sick would have to leave the trekand follow the trek back to the start.Walking down was the most empty,disheartening feeling, having waitedand trained for so long for this trek.The rest of the group began the

daunting task of climbing DeadWoman's Pass – at 4215m, the highestpoint on the trail.

Woken at 4am by the porters, whobore cups of coca tea, we climbed a lowpeak as the sun was rising. The SunGate, through which you can see thefirst views of Machu Pichu, provided ahuge sense of achievement whenreaching it later that morning. AtMachu Pichu, the group was reunited.The sick people had caught the train toMachu Pichu after staying in a hostel.After a tour around the Inca site, wetravelled back by train.

A few days rest in Huaraz left usready for the Alpamayo circuit, thesecond hike lasting 11 days. We travelledto the starting campsite where weswam in boiling natural springs beforethe hiking started the next day.

The next few days of the hike tookus past huge lakes, each one a differentshade of blue, grey or green. Wetrekked to the base camp of theAlpamayo Mountain where a glacier randown into a lake. Nester informed usthat it was here Touching the Void had

been filmed and he had in fact beenthe technical director. The fifthtrekking day led us over a high passPunta Union at 4750m beforedescending to our campsite.

The final pass we negotiated onthe penultimate day of the Alpamayocircuit was possibly the mostspectacular. After climbing a steep,dusty path, the next valley opened outin front of us, with snow capped peakscovering every gap in the skyline. Fromhere, we even saw an avalanche rumbledown from one of them. The finalcampsite was set in a flat valley with alarge glacier lake in. Naturally, we hadto go swimming, but it was probablythe coldest, most painful experience.The final day saw the sun rise andspread quickly up the valley. We spentthe day walking up to a glacier at5200m under the Pisco mountainspeak, the highest climbed all holiday.At the end of this trek, it was noted theonly people not to become ill on theholiday was “the so solid crew” Elliottand Lisa. K

Tuesday 15 NovemberAutumn Music Concert

Wednesday 23 NovemberEntry to Sixth Form evening

Monday – Saturday 21 – 26NovemberInternational Week

Saturday 26 NovemberInternational Evening of Music and Food

Tuesday– Saturday 6 – 10DecemberDrama Production Family Matters

Monday – Tuesday 12–13DecemberCarol Services

Thursday 15 December1st XV Rugby v KHVIII

Friday 16 DecemberEnd of Term

Wednesday 4 January 2006Entrance Examination

Thursday 5 January 2006Spring Term Begins

Bablakeaction

Bablake School2

CCF SUMMER CAMPPENALLY

On Saturday morning 34 cadets, comprising 21 boysand 13 girls, and three staff set off by coach,accompanied by a minibus of equipment, for the longdrive to Penally Training Camp, near Tenby, in SouthWales. After the long hot five hour journey we finallyarrived and, following some welcome refreshments,set about collecting bedding and moving into thebillet accommodation. Then followed a briefing whenthe camp layout and rules were explained and wewere introduced to the 8 Canadian cadets who werejoining our contingent for the week. They had beenspecially selected to tour CCF camps around England

were transported to Penbrey Country Park for theorienteering competition. Archery followed back atcamp, which seemed popular with the boys.

Tuesday was our ‘day off’, but no time for resting!Due to the continuing glorious weather, cadetsenjoyed a variety of activities

After an early rise on Wednesday morning, wewere transported to Templeton Airfield for the twoday exercise. This started with a series of militaryskills lessons from regular soldiers, includingpatrolling, section attacks, basha building, signalsand orders.

Once darkness had fallen, cadets set out onanother patrol. Maybe this time they were off guard,however, because it was their turn to be ambushedand captured. They were stripped of their weaponsand marched to a holding area on the far side of thetraining ground! Moments later, friendly forcesdisrupted the enemy, allowing the cadets to escape –and so began the long trek through enemy controlledterritory as they made their way back to base withoutbeing captured again.

Congratulations to Adam Hughes and his sectionwho were the first back undetected, closely followedby Gary Grewal and his section.

After an all too brief sleep, all cadets were readyto move again at 06.30 hours and patrolled to theenemy stronghold. With battle won, great cheers wereheard, cadets were then shipped back to camp for awell earned shower and rest

Cadets spent Friday in cooler activities; kayaking,rock climbing and abseiling. A BBQ had beenorganised for the evening followed by presentations.After a hearty meal washed down with gallons oforange squash, during which pictures were taken andcontact details exchanged with our Canadian friends,the cadets all sat in silence as the camp commandantannounced the prize winners. With 12 schools and wellover 200 cadets being present on the camp that week,we eagerly listened to the outcome. The best CCFaward for exercise ‘Unforgiven’ goes to BablakeSchool, for their enthusiasm, determination and bagsof energy. Even more to come; this was followed by‘the award for the ‘best cadet on camp’ goes to EmilyPayne from Bablake School’. The evening was spentpacking and preparing for the journey home, followedby a little relaxation in the NAFFI for the cadets and inthe Mess for the staff. K

While almost everyone else contemplated eight weeks of

holiday, we were busy packing for CCF summer camp.

for the summer, so it was an honour to have beenchosen to accompany them.

Our first day’s activity was on the gallery range –a new experience for all, taking turns by sections inshooting at targets 100 and 200m away and operatingthe targets in the butts.

Temperatures were rising and set to soar for therest of the week. Luckily for us Monday was an easyday in terms of physical activity. The morning beganwith an interactive lecture on how to become a goodleader, which led onto the cadets completing a seriesof command tasks. After a quick lunch, the cadets

James Przybek qualifies as a Royal Marines Commando

20 year old James Przybek who left Bablake School in 2001 has just become a Royal Marines Commando,successfully completing 32 weeks of the hardest initial training in the world and has been awarded hiscoveted Green Beret. A number of James’ family and friends enjoyed the Green Beret Presentation andpassing out parade at the Commando Training Centre, Royal Marines at Lympstone in Devon on Friday 22 July 2005.

The Green Beret has been the distinctive hallmark of Commando troops since World War 2, indicatingthat those who wear it have attended and passed a gruelling and physically demanding test of endurance,by displaying the Commando qualities of unselfishness, cheerfulness under adversity, courage,determination and high professional standards.

All at Bablake are delighted with James’s achievement and would like to offer congratulations to him. K

Ex-pupil becomes one of the country’s elite

The Lion | Autumn 2005 3

DoE GOLD & SILVEREXPEDITIONS

Towards the end of the summer holidays, 33 U6thand 28 L6th students travelled up the M6 to theYorkshire Dales. Some were looking forward to theweek’s expedition in ‘wild country’, others wereslightly apprehensive about the prospect of walking50 miles in four days carrying all their kit.

On reaching Kirkby Stephen, the L6th began arather short walk around Nine Standards Rigg, leadingthem to the youth hostel where they were staying forthe first night. The U6th on the other hand were busyfinalising the routes that they had carefully plannedmonths before their A2 exams had started. They wereto begin their assessed expedition the next day, soafter meeting their assessors, it was an early night forthem all.

The next day, staff said good luck to the fiveassessed groups as they all set out on their routes. Wewould see them again in the evening, so it was timeto turn our attention to the L6th. In their groups,carrying full packs and accompanied by a member ofstaff, they set off on their sunny 22km hike. All pupilsdid exceptionally well, as good team work andnavigational skills enabled them all to complete thetask. Tired pupils then set up camp whilst the staffwent to check on the assessed groups who were onthe other side of the valley. As the bus got nearer to

DoE AWARD SILVER ASSESSED EXPEDITION On a warm Saturday afternoon, 27 post exam fifthyears and four members of staff set off to Wales. Theassessed groups would walk 30 miles during thefollowing three days. At the campsite we were met bythe traditional Welsh drizzle, but BBQs were litanyway and the groups began to get nervous aboutthe navigation and hiking required of them in theimposing Welsh countryside.

The groups were dropped at their start pointsearly the next morning, and the weather lookedreasonably kind. As the groups arrived at thecheckpoint the teachers began to wonder thewhereabouts of one group of girls. Our worries wereconfirmed when we heard that the group was introuble due to an injury. We were impressed that twomembers of the group had positioned themselveshigh up on a hillside with a fluorescent survival bag toalert us to their position and the injured girl was thenquickly located and safely moved to the minibus. Wewere further impressed then by the girls who set offand completed the rest of the day’s walking, arrivingat the campsite well into the evening.

Day two was much less eventful, though it wasLiam’s birthday so he celebrated by tying balloons tohis rucksack and his group sang Happy Birthday tohim along the way. The dark clouds rushed across thesky, but there was only the odd shower. Some groupshad some navigation challenges, but eventuallyeveryone arrived at the campsite.

The final day was sunny and the groups all set offearly from the campsite. There were again somenavigational problems, mainly due to one group notactually having a map of where they were walking! Bythe miracle of mobile phone contact, a map wasdelivered to them and they continued on their way.One group almost had to give up due to blisters, butwith just a few miles to go, the injured soul hobbledto the end.

So, on reaching the minibus, emergency rationscould finally be devoured and many couldcongratulate themselves on completing a challengingfew days in Wales.

GOLD DoE EXPEDITION SUMMER Sun, showers, rain, wind, gales and sleet. You name it,we experienced it. One moment we were applying suntan lotion, and the next we were frantically searchingfor our waterproofs, hats and gloves. With weatherlike this, it just had to be another D of E expedition!

the groups, it was clear that it had just rained andrained and rained. One by one, the groups turned up,dripping wet and clutching soggy maps. Moraleimproved after setting up camp and pupils were soonmunching on biscuits and drinking hot chocolate.

Over the next two days, the weather picked upand L6th pupils completed their daily expeditionsaround James Herriot country with ease. They wereparticularly unimpressed with one campsite, whichhad no drinking water, toilets or showers, so in trueRay Mears style, had to ‘survive’ the night until MrHyde came to the rescue with plenty of bottled water.

Friday was soon upon us, which was the final dayof the expedition. The L6th walked from Malham toSettle, and were pleased to see the finish pointaround midday. It was then off to the local shops tobuy fish and chips before settling down in a pub towatch the cricket. All the U6th assessed groupsturned up by mid afternoon, very tired and weary, butpleased to learn that they had passed theirexpedition. After a short debrief from their assessors,it was time to begin the long journey back to school,all pleased with their achievement.

So what next? The current U6th are now planningtheir 50 mile route early next year, before embarkingon their assessed expedition in August. K

“Morale improvedafter setting up campand pupils were soonmunching on biscuitsand drinking hotchocolate.”

Bablakeevents

Bablake School4

The first major school event of the year was the ShellMini Olympics. Predictably, even before the first eventhad taken place, there was a great deal of deliberationover the weather. Thankfully, the rain stayed away andthe sixth annual Olympics went ahead as planned.This year, there were eight events which ranged fromthe obstacle course to the extremely popular andrather obscure event known as welly-wanging.

As usual, there was a fantastic turnout ofenthusiastic Shell formers, accompanied by theirenthusiastic parents who shouted encouragementwhilst their children were talking the challengingcourses set. The day proved to be a great success.

As they say, it’s the taking part that counts butit’s also the winning!

Huge congratulations to CROW House who werethe deserved winners as they took the crown for theboys and were joint with FAIRFAX house for the girls,thus winning the overall title.

Many thanks to the House staff and the sixthformers for the hard work that went into theorganisation of the event and also to the Parents’Association for providing refreshments. K

Jane Tse, House Captain, Crow House

INTER-HOUSE PUBLIC SPEAKING CONTESTAnyone who attended last year’s Inter-House PublicSpeaking contest and thought that the result wasclose – and after all only seventeen points out of apossible total of three hundred separated the fourhouses – should have come along to this year’s event.The school theatre was again the venue, and a largeaudience saw Bayley triumph by a single point overFairfax. Wheatley and Crow, however, both didthemselves enormous credit: they were within elevenpoints of the winners.

Bayley’s winning trio of Jamie Stefaniak, SareenaKainth and Sam Brown spoke on the subject ofObesity and how it threatens modern society. Jamie,the main speaker, skilfully addressed this serioussubject in a fairly light-hearted way, but one whichwas sensitive to its sufferers and engaged hisaudience. Puns at the expense of fast food outletsformed a recurring theme of his speech.

The main speakers of the other three teams alsobrought a great deal of rhetorical potential to the day:Kate Byrne spoke passionately against bull fighting;Jonathan Smith railed against the exploitation ofsweatshops; Hannah Sheard sensitively addressed themost emotive subject of the contest, euthanasia. TheChairpersons and proposers for each team ablysupported their colleagues.

Overall, these pupils, all of whom are in theSecond, Third and Fourth forms, proved that thefuture of Public Speaking and Debating at Bablake isin very safe hands. K

YOUNG LINGUIST COMPETITIONAt the beginning of the Summer holidays, four pupils– Saba Ghadimzadeh, Mubeen Iqbal, Jamie Stefaniakand Jennifer Bufton – represented the school at theYoung Linguist of the Year competition at NottinghamHigh School. All pupils performed very well and,although they didn’t win, were praised for the highlevel of their language skills. This year’s competitionwill take place shortly at Warwick School, so fourthand lower sixth-form pupils – work on yourlanguage skills! K

JUNIOR QUIZOn Wednesday 27 April, the Junior Quiz Team,comprising Sam Mason, Emily Sheard, Jonathan Smith(Captain), and Oliver Towlson, travelled to King’sSchool, Worcester to compete in the Regional Roundsof the nationwide Schools Challenge. In the firstrounds, we were drawn against King’s, Worcester andWrekin College. The first game, against King’s, startedwell, but the boys from Worcester fought backstrongly to win the game 480:370. Although we thenwent on to win the game against Wrekin College,Worcester also won against them, which meant that itwas King’s Worcester who went through to the semi-finals. The eventual winners of the Regional Final wereKing Edward’s High School.

Congratulations to the team for their enthusiasmand willingness to play, and we look forward to nextyear’s matches. K

INTERNATIONAL WEEK INVOLVES A WHOLE VARIETY OF EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES AT BABLAKE. SATURDAYWILL BE THE KEY OCCASION AS FAR AS PARENTS ARE CONCERNED WITH A VARIETY OF WORKSHOPS FOR

PEOPLE TO BOOK INTO. THESE RANGE FROM CHINESE, ITALIAN AND INDIAN COOKERY TOAROMATHERAPY, AFRICAN DRUMMING AND BATIK. IN THE EVENING WE WILL HOLD AN INTERNATIONAL

CONCERT, FOLLOWED BY FOOD FROM AROUND THE WORLD. IT IS USUALLY A BUSY BUT SUPERB DAY.

INTERNATIONAL WEEK

Monday 21 – Saturday 26 November

Shell Mini Olympics Other events

LEAVERSDestinations – top universities and most popularcourses now listed on our Careers website.Gappers – three students are taking advantage of gapschemes. Two were placed by Year in Industry – NaveenJaspal is working for Rolls Royce in Derby while SunaynaLakhanpal has been placed at National Grid. HollyGarrett was accepted for IBM’s highly competitive Pre University Employment programme.

VISITSIn September the Royal College of Surgeons arrangedtheir second WIST Surgical Workshop on Bablake soil.As hosts, we welcomed prospective medical studentsfrom other 6th Forms in the region, Bluecoat, Dixies,KHVIII, Kingsleigh and Rugby School. Students wereable to test their suturing skills and interrogate aconsultant surgeon.

Marine Rooke gave a clear idea of the life open tostudents on the seas and Melanie Powell led a WorkingLunch on the Year in Industry scheme.

U6THWork Experience: all our students received mostfulsome praise from employers for their application totheir placements. An account of Stretch, the Journalismproject can be read later in this newsletter.

L6THThis year group has returned flushed with excellentGCSE results and has been given a checklist of ways tostay ahead of the rest:

So how do students stay ahead? Be a leader, team-worker, decision-maker...

1. Look for Taster Sessions. Universities offer thesein the holidays. Is there a better way of showing auniversity you are keen on them? Check their websitesor email individual departments. One student who

attended Liverpool University’s Dentistry course wasrecently offered a place without an interview.

2. Open Days – be careful you don’t miss theseover the year. Most universities hold them in theAutumn and, in the Summer, Post AS exams. A fewdepartments (e.g. Art and Design) hold theirs in theSpring Term. Register for them in advance. There is noproblem visiting on ordinary days but ensure thedepartments know you have attended. Obviously don’tmiss too much school doing this but similarly it isdangerous to apply somewhere you have not visited.

3. Courses – a number of companies/ professionalbodies offer excellent insight courses for a range ofdegree disciplines. Just be wary of those that seemexpensive.

4. We have bought Degree Course Descriptions.This CD-ROM offers a brief summary of over 120 degreedisciplines and will be available on the network.

5. Work Experience – you spend the final week ofthe Summer Term on a placement. Mrs Scott arrangesthe majority of these and further details will followafter Half Term. You cannot have enough WorkExperience so start talking to people working in yourchosen field – an afternoon is often as valuable aslonger. The Careers Convention (Feb 2) will be helpful.

6. Network – don’t forget friends’ parents, formerstudents, Bablake Reunited etc.

7. Be Professional – you will have the chance tosubmit a CV and USP for analysis over the L6th. Attendthe Mock Interview Morning in the U6th. Make sureyou meet these challenges. It’s your choice!Professional behaviour does impress employers andadmissions tutors.

8. Research is vital – check Department websitesand online brochures carefully. How many A*s arewanted? Which hoops must be jumped through? Arescholarships/ bursaries available? Is a degree invaluable– some professions value field experience more?

9. Read Round your subjects – explore outsideyour courses. Know which broadsheets offer excellentweekly supplements on Law, the Media, IT, Education.Use email digests. Take up extension work – CREST,Olympiads, Engineering Education Schemes etc. GetTop Grades.

10. Throw yourself into Extracurricular Activity –Drama, Sport, D of E, CCF, Young Enterprise, Charity/Voluntary work, Student magazine, Student Council.

11. Brit Gaps – 9/10 month programmes Post A2soffered by the Year In Industry, KPMG, IBM,PricewaterhouseCoopers, Accenture etc not only bringyou cash but offer fantastic management training andjob opps that may never be offered to final yearundergraduates.

12. Look for Opportunities! Bursaries are availablefor top grades at a number of Universities.

Over the next few months the year group will submit aCV for assessment and work on Unique Selling Points.It will also begin to consider Options beyond AS/A2.and nominate its Work Experience placements.

5THSOptions beyond GCSE have been explained and a CV /Covering Letter challenge has been met.

Asda offered ‘interviews’ to over 50% ofparticipants in the challenge set over the summer.Laura Dean walked off with a copy of the new FranzFerdinand album and is to be congratulated forreceiving the highest score for this competition in the 5year history of our association with Asda challenge.Eileen Huddleston from Walsgrave’s Asda is thanked forher attention to over 70 application forms.

Sally Pike from Connexions started a programmeof individual interviews and a number of students havesat ‘Careers Brief’ – a programme that assesses AS/ A2sto suit students’ interests and abilities.

3RDSFollowing their work on career aspirations, examinationof gender stereotypes and research into the CareersDepartment website (www.2morrow-2day.com), nextterm students will receive guidance on choosing theirGCSE options.

2NDSThis year group will be encouraged to attend ourCareers Convention in February and can look forward tovisiting a refurnished Careers Library.

SHELLSThe Shell forms visit the Careers Department in thesummer term for an introduction session where theymeet the Careers staff, view our resources and areintroduced to our website.

BABLAKE’S CAREERS DEPARTMENT – NATIONAL FOCUSMr Woodward, Head of Careers, was asked by the GapYear Company to answer enquiries from studentsacross the UK who were awaiting GCSE and A Levelresults. He led 2 online chats on/ around the respectiveResults Days. Dr Charlotte Uhlenbroek, the BBC’szoologist and Tom Griffiths, founder of the Gap YearCompany were fellow participants in the series ofonline clinics. K

Please log onto www.2morrow-2day.com to discover what theBablake Careers Department has to offer. There is also a registerthere for any parents, former students or friends of Bablake whowish to help in any way. Our next event is a Careers Convention onThursday 2 February (6–9pm). It is open to 2nd Years and above.We are also seeking Work Experience placements for our L6thbetween the 3–7 July.

The Lion | Autumn 2005 5

careersnews

Bablakearts

Bablake School6

The Merchant of Venice

Summer 2005 saw the return of the Bablake MusicTour, this year to Budapest, Hungary. Blessed with40°c temperatures, the group enjoyed walks aroundLake Balaton, rides on the children’s railways, and avisit to the outdoor baths, as well as a tour of the city,before performing a concert each night.

Staying in the Hotel Eben, we were lucky to beclose to the transport system, which proved useful,on the rare occasions we didn’t have the use of ourtour guide (such as on our ‘shopping day’ in the citycentre). The food provided, and the authenticHungarian Goulash was definitely a success!

Heviz played host to the group’s first concert,and we found ourselves singing in what seemed likean outdoor greenhouse environment! Workingthrough the heat, the choir, led by Mrs Tatum and MrSutton, performed brilliantly, and included a LesMisérables medley by Schoenberg, in their repertoire,before the orchestra’s rendition of My Way. Singingthe solo Frauenliebe und Leben, Sarah Corrigan wowedthe large audience we had attracted, and the choir’sperformance of the Hungarian folk song See theGypsies by Kodaly was extremely popular.

Our next concert took place in St Imre Church,where Chloe Whittle’s Flute Sonata by Poulenc and herduet of the Rondo by Mozart, played with DavidCheetham on the oboe, were greatly received. Thechoir sang a variety of pieces, such as Goodall’sversion of Psalm 23, and Liszt’s O Salutaris Hostia, andthe orchestra provided a relaxing atmosphere withtheir version of Bach’s Prelude and Fugue.

The third and final concert of the tour,maintained the church programme of the previousevening, including a violin duet of the Arrival of theQueen of Sheba, by Simone Willis and Laura Dean.Having visited Kodaly’s home in Budapest, we weredelighted to perform See the Gypsies as an encore, andthis provided a high on which to end the string ofperformances.

We said goodbye to Budapest in style, with arelaxing evening boat trip on the river which separatesBuda and Pest. With a 3am flight, we left the city verytired, but having thoroughly enjoyed our time inHungary, and looking forward to next year’s tour. K

2005 Music Tour to Budapest

Art department summer exhibitionThe Summer Term is always a very busy time in the Art Department with the 5th Year leavers and the Upper Sixthtaking external examinations. As always the results were excellent with some A and AS students gaining fullmarks in some units – a fantastic achievement.

At the end of the exam courses, exhibitions of the students’ work were held in the school hall, which weregreatly enjoyed by the pupils, staff parents and visitors. The work displayed showed a wide variety of approaches to many initial ideas, the students showing excellent skills in drawing, painting, graphics, textilesand 3D work. All the pupils are to be congratulated on the outstanding work and the effort they put in to achievesuch high standards.

Visits to galleries and other places of interest form a vital part of the ArtCurriculum and give students an insight into Art History and Arts and Craftsfrom other cultures. During the year we have visited the British Museum and theVictoria and Albert Museum, the Haywood Gallery and the Tate Modern and thePitt Rivers Museum.

This term the 4th Years are to visit Kew Gardens to look at the work of DaleChihuly and at half term the Sixth Form went to New York on an intensive ArtStudy Course.

The department continues to support many other aspects of life at Bablakeand encourages pupils to take an interest in all areas of art and craft in thiscountry and around the world. K

Towards the end of last term we were invitedto be one of 400 schools across the countryto become involved in the BBC’s One Night ofShakespeare project. The scripts were thoseused in BBC2’s Animated Shakespeareprogrammes and we were presented withTom Stoppard’s version of the script of TheMerchant of Venice. There was only afortnight given to complete the project,which was to culminate in a performance atthe Playbox Theatre in Warwick on Sunday 3 July. A young and very enthusiastic castlearnt their lines quickly (mostly), attendedintensive rehearsal sessions, createdimaginative options for the variouslocations, and created a very successful andslick final performance. There was a friendlyand energetic atmosphere within the group,and it was good to be involved in anotherhigh profile project which led to aperformance in a professional theatre.

This term the play was performed atBablake on the 8 and 9 of November and canbe seen again on Open Evening. K

The Lion | Autumn 2005 7

having astretch...Once again our L6th Journalists lived in a Pressroomin school for a week. We travelled to ETC inHarrogate, the leading student magazine and werevisited by the Evening Telegraph. The second issue ofour student magazine has drawn great praise fromstaff, parents and professionals in the Media alike. Itwas a pleasure to work with such an excellent team.

The following comments explain its impact!

“Hard copy arrived this morning and looks splendid –you must be delighted with the result! Congratulationson the magazine, it’s a credit to the team. Great colourand design, and obviously some very good writing – andspecial mention to the creator of the Lego photo story,which I think is just ace, a great idea! We’re all reallyimpressed with the finished product and will be liberallypoaching from it in the future of course. Ahem.”Russ @ ETC

“I just wanted to say how very, very impressed I am! Thisis miles better than a 6th form magazine has anybusiness being, and I think some of the design putsother magazine design rather in the shade... it’ll getread, for a start, which is more than ever happened tothe one I was involved in back in my distant schooldays... All the best, and do pass on my genuinecongratulations to your talented team”Evan (Editor of ETC)

“Wow! This is excellent. It has real attitude andpersonality. I was impressed by the design last year so Iknew what exciting things to expect but with this issuethe content is what really dazzles. Creative headlines,

katewalsh

photography and ideas, well-paced interviews andstrong writing. Well done to everyone – please pass onmy congratulations. All the students must have workedso hard and believed in it – because it shows. It alsofeels really well rooted in Bablake life – with so manymagazines you have no idea where they come from andthat’s really important. I only wish you were doing thiswhilst I was there, rather than teaching me servus /serve/ servum... I’m sure there are press awards you couldenter this for. WELL DONE!”Fiona Sibley (Design Week)

“Wow, that magazine is impressive. Better than so muchof the media.”Keri Wills (Press Officer, Warwick Arts Centre) K

The team meet up at the offices of ETC in Harrogate

Ingredients:

O Kate Walsh to headline – has released her album Clocktower Park on Kitchenware Records, home to The Editors.

O Supporting: Ten o’Clock Scholars, Emily Jackson (former student) and Handcrafted (Ross Harrison, Rosie Tressler, Paul Wye, Chris Walters and Melissa Walton, Bablake 5th Formers).

O Tickets: £8 from Mr MGA Woodward (mgaw@bablake.coventry.sch.uk)

O All profits go to the Jordan Accardi Appeal

O Awareness also being raised for Amnesty’s Protect the Human campaign.

O Buy now to avoid disappointment.

Cooking Time

O Wednesday 30th November

O 7–10pm

Outcome

O Musically invigorated and vigorously entertained audience

O Hoping to raise £1000+ for Jordan Accardi

The event will be reviewed by Stewart Kingscottfrom BBC Cov and Warks. K

Kate Walshheadlines gig forthe JordanAccardi Appeal

Bablakearts

Bablake School8

Once again this year our Textiles GCSE students

produced excellent results, all achieving top

grades. Garments produced include items suitable

for a magazine spread based on the 1960’s to the

1980’s, products for sale in an Art Gallery and

costumes for a local theatre production. These are

some examples of their work. Victorian ball gown byCharlotte Kaye

GCSE textiles exhibition

Medieval ball gown byFiona Brown

Waistcoat and purse byJennifer Elen

New Romantic jacket byDanielle Payne

Wow Factor fromthe 1960’s byLavanya Puri

O Bablake’s 19th continuous year at the fringe

O 24 plays performed in Edinburgh during this period

O This year Nicholas Nickleby

O Group in three flats

O One for 14

O One for 5

O One for 4

O All ate in big flat

O Flats near city centre and only a few yards from each other

O Self catering meals

O Edible by and large

O Outstanding washing up

O Early nights all week

O Typical day – leafleting, performing, other shows

O Most saw 10–12 shows including

O Opera in Concert at Usher Hall

O DFP + Ravi didn’t go (Opera Haters)

O They saw middle aged comedian

O Had lots of visitors – staff, former pupils, former staff

O Group performed on stage in High Street

O All in all quite a good week. K

EDINBURGHFRINGE2005

YOUR SHOUTTARA KATTI

Bablakeopinion

Before ‘Live 8’ the Coventry Evening Telegraphinterviewed a few Bablake pupils seeking teenageviews on whether Bob Geldof’s plans would make adifference to long standing third world poverty

After the concert Stretch interviewed these pupilsagain, to find out if they thought ‘Live 8’ had made adifference and what they thought world leaders coulddo to help make poverty history.

Faith HannonI didn’t think Live 8 would make a difference, but now I think it has. There were so many peopleinvolved in it and it wasn’t just all about the music: I think the clips of film they played were effective.Cancelling debt will help, but the world leaders needto be more constructive. It’s not just charity the poorcountries need.

Ira KleineMost people just went to the concert for the music, soI’m not sure if it made a difference. I’ve heard thatsome debt but not all got cancelled. I think it wouldbe more useful for the world leaders to make

arrangements with leaders to look after theircountries. They could put pressure on the Africanleaders to use more money for housing, water andimmunisations rather than big palaces.

Nisha PanchalPeople went to Live 8 to see the artists, like Madonnaand U2, but there were minutes of silence whenpeople thought about what was happening in Africa. Ithink it would be better to send world leaders toAfrica to experience it for themselves, instead ofwasting money on things they don’t really need.

Tom BrownI think Live 8 raised awareness of the povertysituation. It showed what people from all over theworld can do when they come together too. The G8leaders should cut debt and fund help/relief for thepoorer countries. K

...the clips were effective ...put pressure on leaders

...send world leaders to Africa...G8 leaders should cut debt

“ “The Lion | Autumn 2005 9

BABLAKE INVADES FRANCE & BELGIUM

After a long, but not so hot summer, staff and pupils from

the fifth form were desperate to return to Bablake.

Bablake School10

Bablaketravel

Munichexchange

DisneylandParisAfter a considerable build-up period and seeminglyendless GCSE examinations, a group of 34 fifth formpupils and four staff set off for Paris immediatelyafter the end of the summer term. A smoothovernight ferry crossing and the comfort of Ken’sCoach saw us arrive during the rush hour in Paris for abrief tour of the city. Much enjoyment was alsogained from us arriving the day after London hadsuccessfully bid for the 2012 Olympics as we watchedworkmen hastily dismantling posters and signsadvertising the unsuccessful Paris bid. Following aboat trip along the Seine, one group went up the EiffelTower in heavy rain and winds while another ventureddown town to attempt some shopping. An eveningmeal at the hotel and an energetic game of footballended the day ready for taking on Mickey Mouse andfriends next day.

Two days of adventures round the theme parkand studios followed with all the rides and sceneryexperienced, pictures taken with Disney charactersand souvenirs purchased. The highlight for many(apart from Mr Rhodes’ dreadlocks and hat) was thefilmed stunt show where several Bablake studentswere selected from an audience of thousands toappear in the making of a movie. The rollercoastersproved attractive too, with some students beingfortunate to share a car with Mickey and Minniemouse with a picture to prove it! For most of the timethe weather was kind but a torrential storm as wewere leaving the park saw flash flooding and a groupof soaked students and staff. After the fun andenjoyment came the long tedious trip back but it stillcouldn’t diminish the good time had by all. K

AT 5.30 AM on Sunday 4 September we assembledinside the School gates and waited expectantly. Wewere not confused about when the new term wouldcommence; we had forsaken the final few days of thesummer to experience some additional learning.

The aim of our three day excursion was tofamiliarise ourselves with the conditions of life on thewestern front during World War One. Our guide, MikeSalt, would help to recreate the scene, entertaining uswith tales of heroism but also bringing home to usthe harsh realities of war. Some of the staff had madethe trip before, but old and new alike were eager toget underway.

Having arrived in Calais we quickly over-ran themeagre resistance offered by the local authorities andcontinued our progress towards the Allied lines.

Over the next three days we explored trenchesand tunnels, the last remnants of a system offortifications that stretched from the North Sea toSwitzerland. We examined artefacts, visited museumsand cemeteries.

This was the fifth year that the battlefields triphas been offered to our GCSE students and once againthey upheld the character of our School.

With our invasion of mainland Europe a success,avoiding casualties and loss of life, we were able toreturn to school in time for new term.

Bablake’s invasion partyField Marshall M. Salt, General J. Grantham, Sergeant-Major P. Goodyer, Captain C. Imber, Captain K. Baker,Captain A. Chowne, Captain C. FriebePrivates: Laura Dean, Lauren Newbury, MelissaWalton, Kirsty Mabbet, Eleanor Donaldson, JenniferGardner, Rhys Horton, William Chamberlain, AlexJones, Daniel Booth, Deniz Kog, Paul Wye, JamesHancox, Andrew Hextall, Oliver Millerchip, Barat Joshi,April Sellors, Mark Hardy, Bradley Bosher, Tom Dubock,Hannah Sheard, Matthew Hall, Sarah Reynolds,Christopher Walters, Craig Lawlor, Steven Robilliard,Rebecca Stuart, Simone Willis, Jack Mohammed, MarkLam, Christopher Popplewell, Christopher Cooke,Natalie Jones, Henry Swanson, Alex Owens,Phillip Hefford, Paul Hollingsworth, Oliver Lowson,Serjia Hadjitofi, James Stefaniak, Dominic Watson,Lauren Shorrocks, Kyle Green, Sam Brown, ThomasBend, Alex Parvis, Liam Meade, Kate Brankowski,Laura Lawrence, Matthew Fellows, Sean Mulhern. K

On 2 July this year two Lower 6th German students joined a party of 19 from Coventry and Warwickshireschools to travel to Munich for two weeks work experience. As in previous years this was a memorable time.It was agreed that Munich is a great place to improve your German! The city offers plenty for the culturallyaware and plenty for those who prefer discos and pop festivals! Working in a kindergarten or after schoolclub turned out to be much more rewarding than anticipated and lots of little friends were made.

The return visit took place the first two weeks in September. The German students were invited to aQuiz night (in English!) a guided tour round Stratford one evening and as they were in the Midlands, anIndian meal in a restaurant. Staff are very grateful to the schools both in Munich and this area for hostingthe students and also to the parents who make it all possible. K

The Lion | Autumn 2005 11

SHELL FRENCH TRIP

All sensible people are in bed but six members of staffand 42 Shell pupils and their bleary eyed parents areassembling in the turning circle for the annual ShellFrench Trip to the Nord Pas de Calais.

Thankfully, everybody was early and we were ableto leave on time. There were no problems on the tripdown to the Channel tunnel apart from someonefeeling sick. We stopped en-route at a service stationfor essential supplies (Cappuccino, hot chocolate,muffins etc.) and for the use of the “facilities”.Despite being tired the Shells didn’t get much sleep.

There were no delays at the Channel Tunnel andon arriving in France we headed for the militarycemetery at Etaples where we found the grave of aformer Bablake pupil who was killed in WW1. After aminute’s silence we laid a wreath at the cenotaph andheaded for a local café for breakfast. After breakfastwe went for a walk around the market where we had achance to practise our French.

Then off to Aqualud water park in Le Touquet forlots of splashy fun. Highlights included the Rapids,the Black Hole and Twister. This year we were verylucky that the outside was open as well and we wereable to use the monster water slides.

After lunch it was a quick trip to the BowlingAlley where we had a smashing time knocking thepins over. When we were finished there was a littletime for the arcade games, air hockey and tablefootball before sitting down for a cordon bleu meal.

The chocolate pudding was fantabulous!Off to the boarding school, quick exploration and

then bed, perchance to dream. Breakfast bright andearly and then off to Boulogne to visit Nausicaa SeaLife Centre. This was enjoyed by all but especiallyrecommended are the sea lions and the touch tanks.We had a picnic on the ramparts of the old town ofBoulogne, a quick walk up and down the main street(super sweet shop at one end, ice cream at the other!)and then off to the chocolate factory. After aninformative visit and tasting followed by the chanceto but some chocolate (allegedly for presents butmost didn’t last long enough to get home...) we wentback to the boarding school via the hypermarket formore essentials (coke, sweets, biscuits, cakes etc.)where we had a Hawaiian themed barbecue.

Bed, breakfast, pack, tidy. Then tidy up again(properly this time!) and off to Bagatelle Theme Park.Loads of wonderful rides (Pirate Ship, Log Flume, 3DCinema etc.). Luckily it was a nice day but not toopacked and we were able to go on most rides within afew minutes.

Alas all good things come to an end and it wastime to leave and return to England via the ChannelTunnel. We arrived back at Bablake late on Sundaynight happy, excited, exhausted and, for the staff,relieved that yet another Shell Trip had returnedsuccessfully and safely. All we have to do now is startplanning the next one. K

Friday 1 July 2005, just after midnight...

We were both deeply affected by thebarracks at Birkenau. We reflected on thecomfort of our own beds and decided wewould construct a Birkenau style bed andplace it in the front of the Bablake Foyer. Wethen made ‘teardrops’ from coloured paperand asked people to write their feelings andthoughts on them. These teardrops werethen scattered onto the bed symbolising theincredible amount of tears shed on the ‘socalled beds’ at Birkenau.

We also made and sold commemorativeribbons and the money we made from thesesales paid for a memorial plaque which wasput on a bench overlooking the schoolgrounds in the hope that our visit would beremembered by future students at Bablake.

To commemorate Holocaust MemorialDay, we held assemblies at Bablake and werealso invited to give a presentation at anotherlocal school, Pattison College. Members ofthe community were also invited intoBablake and viewed our displays. Onegentleman was so impressed that he invitedus to go to BBC WM on Sunday 30 January fora live interview. On Monday 31 January anarticle appeared in our local newspaperdetailing our thoughts.

On Holocaust Memorial Day we had theprivilege of taking part in a memorial serviceheld at Beth Shalom with survivor BobRosner whom we were also honoured to havelunch with. Previously to the memorialservice we had invited Prince Harry to joinus; unfortunately he was not able to attendon this occasion.

We thank Bhavna and Lisa for theircommitment over the past year and againcongratulate them on becoming theHolocaust Educational Trust Ambassadors for2005 and look forward to following theforthcoming year and the activities they takepart in.K

Updates onreflection

Bablake School12

Bablaketravel

Five and a half hours after leaving school, twelve thirdyear pupils, Mr Swales, Mr West and Miss Jamesunfolded themselves from the mini-bus at the OnceBrewed Youth Hostel, half a mile from Hadrian’s Wall,ready to settle in and have dinner. Later that evening,we drove to Milecastle 42 where we understood justhow cold a Roman auxiliary would have been whilepatrolling his section of the Wall, and admired theunspoilt view of the stars, complete with a visibleMilky Way.

We returned to Milecastle 42 the followingmorning, before walking a three mile stretch of theWall to Housesteads. There we marvelled at theRoman ingenuity and forethought in the architectureof their granaries, which kept the water out; and theirlatrines, which kept the water flowing continuously.

After lunch in Hexham, we continued our tour,stopping at Corbridge Roman town, where pupilsfollowed the audio guide. We then visited themuseum and had tea at Chesters Roman Fort, beforewe wandered around the fort and its baths, with theniches from the changing room still in goodcondition.

Finally, before dinner at the Twice Brewed Inn anda quiz, we stopped at the temple of Mithras, which isthe best preserved example in Britain, and gives agood impression of the mystery religion practised byRoman military offices.

On Sunday, we walked another section of theWall, via Greatchesters Fort situated in a farmer’s

field, passing turrets and milecastles along the way,before driving on to Birdoswald. There, Jefficus theRoman soldier told us about his life serving in thearmy in Britain, and demonstrated his weapons withwhich he and his comrades fought the Celts. Pupilshad the opportunity to try on auxiliary and legionaryarmour and could appreciate just how terrifyinglyefficient the Roman army was in their tactics in war.

The pupils obviously thoroughly enjoyed theirvisit, and are to be commended on their excellentattitude and inquiring nature, which was proved bythe books about Hadrian’s Wall that were bought andthe intelligent questions and observations that weremade throughout the weekend. K

CLASSICSDEPARTMENTVISIT TOHADRIAN’SWALLSeptember 23–25 2005

CLASSICS TRIP TO ROMAN BATHAll pupils from the 4th form who study Latin and Classical Civilisation travelled to Bath to explore the sitearound the still active hot spring. In the classroom session, Latin students were quizzed on the grammar andprecise translation of the Roman name – Aquae Sulis, and students of Classical Civilisation showed off theirknowledge of the gods that were worshipped there. After the talk on ancient Bath, pupils had the chance tohandle artefacts which visitors to Aquae Sulis would have used almost 2000 years ago. Scrapers and oilbottles were examined, and some brave pupils tried to imagine and re-enact the experience of pouring on theoil, rubbing it into the skin and scraping it off with the blunt metal strigil.

After lunch, with free street entertainment, we took the audio tour around the museum, which is builtaround the ancient baths and temple complex. There is still much to see, including a gilt bronze head ofMinerva, an altar where sacrifices would have been performed, as well as the sacred spring itself, with theinnumerable curses written to the goddess and thrown into the water to ask for vengeance for some crime. K

The Lion | Autumn 2005 13

When we arrived we were met by glorious sunshine,and also a short trek up a “hill”. After a talk on the“do’s and dont’s” of the field centre we spent thenight lying on a cliff – it was clear this was going tobe a tough week!

7:30am, wake up time. Everybody was bleary eyedafter hardly any sleep thanks to a certain group ofboys playing Punjabi MC at 2am in the morning.Breakfast was followed by a lecture on Rocky ShoreEcology and then some hands-on experience samplingand measuring limpets (to Mr. Bramley’s delight). Inthe afternoon the group went to a different beach andperformed an exhaustive survey of the invertebrateanimals and algae found on a sheltered shore.

After another early start on Wednesday, wewalked to the nearest salt marsh where we were toldwe had to cross the “Deep and Treacherous Gulley”!Congratulations should go to Caroline who has addedher name to a long line of victims sucked into themud of the ‘DATG’. That afternoon we started workresearching the theory behind our respectivecoursework investigations.

GEOLOGY A-LEVEL RETURN TO BABLAKE

This term sat the re-establishment of Geology asa full-blown subject within the 6th Form atBablake. Even before the new term had startedthe students were whisked away for anintroductory field trip, which started withgraphic-logging in the Forest of Dean. Next it wasunderground at Hopewell Colliery before finallyreaching the beach at Portishead where a varietyof geological structures could plainly be seen.

UPPER SIXTH BIOLOGYFIELD COURSE

Charity news

Thursday – coursework day – the day everyonewas dreading! We continued working in the lab orlibrary until 2pm when the tide was out, in order to dothe practical aspect of the coursework. There was arange of experiments including: investigating theeffects of exposure on growth of bladderwrack;investigating the effects of exposure on themorphology of limpet shell and investigating thedifference in ratio of apertures to heights betweendogwhelks from rough and sheltered shores. Afterworking until 10 o’clock (or eleven for some people),the biologists took a well deserved rest. Since we hadmanaged to stay dry all day, it was time for us to getwet – a water fight broke out.

Friday – home time! Some coursework analysiswas done during the morning and in the afternoonthe group departed from Dale Fort. Not much sleepwas had on the returning journey for fear of the“marker pen”! Finally, we reached Bablake at 6pm.

An enjoyable time was had by all and it hasproved an invaluable experience for our A2coursework. K

After a long summer break,

on the Monday before

school commenced the

Upper Sixth biologists

departed on a four hour

coach trip to Dale Fort in

Pembrokeshire, Wales.

Last year is going to be a hard act to followand we are not even going to try! At the endof the summer term we had actually raised£25,000 – an amazing amount partly due tothe Tsunami disaster and fund raising forJordan Accardi. We were overwhelmed by thekindness and generosity shown by pupils,parents and staff.

This term we started off by givingsupport to Mrs Billings, a member of ourModern Languages department, whose sonMatthew was very ill last year withmeningitis. Mrs Billings and a hardy team offit young ladies took part in a sponsored runto raise money for Meningitis Research andwe were able to give two weeks’ charitycollection of £500 towards her target of £2,000.

During September we always celebrateHarvest. The Shells, 2nd and 3rd year madeup beautiful harvest baskets and deliveredthem to our elderly neighbours togetherwith flowers and homemade cards. The 4th5th and 6th forms and staff gave theirharvest gifts to Murray Lodge, Norton Houseand the Bridge drop-in centre. These areestablishments that provide services forpeople living on the fringes of society,people who do not have what we all take forgranted – food, shelter and clothing.

At the end of September Mrs Surgeyorganised the staff to hold a coffee morningin aid of Macmillan Nurses. This was wellsupported with many delicious home-madecakes on sale and raised £150.

As well as thinking about our immediateneighbours, we wanted to continue oursupport to Making Poverty History. We havedecided to help Farm Africa, an organisationthat gives help to some of the poorestpeople in sub-Saharan Africa. Subsistencefarmers are given a goat that provides themeans to escape poverty and transform thelives of many people. A goat costs £27 andeach class has been asked to buy as manygoats as possible by organising fund raisingevents as well as the weekly collection. Wewill continue to support Farm Africa all termand hope to have a herd of goats byChristmas!

Finally, we are still collecting oldspectacles, used ink cartridges, mobilephones and foreign currency for “Help theAged”. Also, adult clothing that can be takento the drop-in centre for the homeless inCoventry. Please send them into school. Thank you for your continuing support. K

Pam Goodwin and Alyson Heath

HOCKEY & NETBALL TOUR TO SOUTH AFRICA 2005During the summer holidays, 35 senior & U16 netball & hockey players and 5 staffwent to South Africa on tour. They were based in Cape Town for the first half of thetour at the Protea President Hotel. It was an excellent hotel and having theAustralian rugby team staying there at the same time was a bonus!

We had an unforgettable ferry crossing to Robben Island. The crossing was sorough that there were no more trips for the rest of the day once we had returned tothe mainland. In the afternoon it poured down with rain but thankfully matchesagainst Paarl Girls’ School were able to go ahead. The visit to Langa Township was amoving experience and there was a tremendous friendly atmosphere at thematches against the township sides. On the day of the excursion around the CapePeninsula the sun shone and we saw some spectacular views, especially from ontop of Table Mountain. After a busy day of sightseeing we finished off our time inCape Town at the Africa Café. We had a fantastic meal of several different Africandishes and enjoyed the singing and dancing afterwards.

Stellenbosch was our next destination. Mountain biking through the winelandsproved to be rather adventurous and some girls lost control of their bike on thedownhill descent. Knysna was the next stop. It is very picturesque and the girlsfound it to be a good place to do some shopping. Matches were played againstKnysna High and Oakhill School. Oakhill were very hospitable and put on a brie(barbeque). The chef at the hotel in Knysna was also very friendly and provided twoexcellent evening meals and birthday cakes for Clare Reynolds’ 18th and JessicaThompson’s 16th.

From Knysna we travelled to Port Elizabeth, but on the way we stopped off atan Ostrich farm. Some of the girls got to stand on ostrich eggs and some of themgot to ride the ostriches. In Port Elizabeth we played Theodor Herzl School athockey. All our opposition were very friendly and welcoming. From here we had aday excursion to the Addo elephant park. It was an amazing day and very excitingto get so close to the elephants in their natural environment.

All too soon our time in South Africa came to an end – well, it very nearly gotextended due to South African Airways being on strike – and we were on our wayhome. The tour had been very successful; the girls had won 11 matches, drew 1 andlost 2. The girls were very appreciative of being able to go and experience the culturaland sporting differences that South Africa has to offer. They were a pleasure to takeon tour and hopefully have some unforgettable memories to treasure.

SUMMER TERMFollowing the success of the Inter and Junior teams winning the Coventry SchoolChampionships, the U14 team came 3rd with Danielle Smith winning the individualshot competition. The U13’s first event was a track and relays competition. Bablakewon 5 out of the 6 events to become the overall winners. The Shells were anenthusiastic group and their hard work paid dividends because they won the U13Coventry School championships. Alice O’Connor won the discus competition andPhillipa Collison won the hurdles and the high jump.

Lijana Kaziow and Siobhan Robinson are to be congratulated on being selectedfor the West Midlands athletics team.

Congratulations also go to the rounders teams, U15, U14, U13 and U12. Bablaketook a clean sweep and won all four Coventry Schools rounders tournaments.

Bablake also enjoyed success in the Coventry School Tennis Championships.Melissa Parvis won the U15 singles and Rebecca Devall came runner up. RebeccaWells reached the final of the U13 singles competition. The U15 ‘A’ pair, LaurenShorrocks and Laura Dean finished runners up in the doubles championships. In theU15 ‘B’ and both the U14 ‘A’ and ‘B’ competitions, Bablake took the trophies.Congratulations go to Elizabeth Collison and Isabelle Moran, Ira Kleine and JoanneSimons as well as Rebecca Devall and Orlaith Norton. Roseanne Elkington andBethany Sargent were zone winners in U12 novices’ tennis tournament.

AUTUMN TERM The summer training and selection for the U16 Midlands team have been takingplace. Holly Payne is to be congratulated on being selected for this squad and wewish her good luck in the tournament held at Millfield during half term where theMidlands team play the other four regional teams in the country.

No sooner were we back at school from the summer holidays then the U14Millfield weekend and the Loughborough Festival of Sport were upon us. The U14shad an enjoyable weekend and gained a lot from the matches. On Saturday the ‘A’and ‘B’ netball teams lost narrowly, then on Sunday the hockey team put on astrong performance to win 5-1. At the Loughborough festival the U12 netballperformed well for their first fixture in the senior school finishing 3rd out of 14

Bablake School14

BablakesportCongratulations

The Shell and Second year Mathematicians, who achieved Gold(11), Silver (28) and Bronze (40) certificates in the national Junior

Maths Challenge competition. The pupils who achieved Goldawards are ranked in the top 4% in the country.

James Lambert, Sam Brown and Emily Payne on being selected totake part in the Maths Kangaroo (the second round of the

intermediate Maths Challenge) competition. James and Sam were awarded certificates of merit, which at this level is an

outstanding achievement.

Jamie Stefaniak on gaining a silver Crest award for his work on“Natural Indicators” and gaining second place in the regional final

at Birmingham University.

Paul Best on being chosen to play for the Midlands U14 Cricketteam as well as the Warwickshire U14 and U15 teams. Paul has been

selected to join the England U15 winter training squad of playersand will be part of the team going on tour to South Africa overChristmas. Paul also scored two centuries this season for the

School U15 cricket team.

Philip Walker on being selected to join the British sailing team fora Competition in San Francisco at the end of June.

Paul Lam on his continuing Chess success and being a member ofthe winning England team in the Glorney Cup tournament.

Lauren Deeth-Kelt on being awarded a County Music ServiceScholarship Award.

Marie Low on being selected as a member of the Andantinorecorder group in the Coventry Performing Arts Service.

Holly Payne on being chosen to represent the Midlands Schoolgirls(U16) in Hockey.

Matthew Bingley on being chosen to represent the EnglishSchools’ Division 6 swimming team at the

National Championships.

The U15 Cricket team on winning the delayed District U14 trophybeating Coundon Court by 6 wickets.

The Boys’ U13 Athletics team and the Girls’ Intermediate (4th and5th years), Junior (3rd year) and Shell (U12) Athletics teams on all

winning their respective Coventry Championships.

The Boys’ U13 Tennis team on winning the Coventry Schools’ Team Championship.

The U15B and U14 A and B Girls’ double tennis teams on winningtheir respective Coventry Schools’ doubles Championships.

The U12 Tennis team on winning their group in the Coventry U12Novices tournament and to Roseanne Elkington and Bethany

Sargent on winning their zone final.

Melissa Parvis on winning the U15 singles tennis competition

All four Rounders teams (U12, U13, U14 and U15) on winning theirrespective Coventry Schools’ Rounders leagues. A clean sweep!

The U15 girls Hockey team on winning the LoughboroughInvitational Hockey Tournament.

The Senior Netball squad on winning the U19 Coventry Netballtournament, scoring 117 goals and conceding 12 in their five

matches. The team now go on to represent Coventry in the WestMidlands Competition later this term.

The Headmaster is always pleased to hear from parents and pupilsabout individual successes and achievements outside of school.

Information can be given to him at any time.

CONGRATULATIONS GO TO:

CONTINUING SUCCESS FOR PAUL BESTAs a result of some outstanding performances for both Warwickshire and theMidlands, Paul was selected for the England U15 development squad, based at theNational Cricket Academy at Loughborough. He recently learnt that he has beenselected as part of a fifteen strong squad to tour South Africa in December and willbe included in the National side in a series of matches in the summer.We offer our warmest congratulations and wish him the very best of luck in hisassociation with the National side.

ENGLISH SCHOOLS ATHLETICS SUCCESSBoth the boys’ junior and intermediate teams have enjoyed fantastic results in theEnglish Schools Athletics Competition this season. The junior team comprisingboth shells and 2nd years finished second in the Coventry Area Round and qualifiedfor the Midlands ‘B’ final to be held at Saffron Lane, Leicester.

The intermediate team of 3rd and 4th years did even better, winning theCoventry Area round with a fantastic team performance to qualify for the Midlands‘A’ final to be held at Tipton. K

The Lion | Autumn 2005 15

teams on goal difference. Two Bablake teams took part in the U13 netballcompetition. The ‘B’ team did very well to finish 5th out of 15 teams and the ‘A’team came runners up to Nottingham High on goal difference. In the hockeytournament Bablake comfortably won their section, scoring 24 goals, a close semi-final against Loughborough High with a 2-1 win took Bablake through to the finalwhere they beat King Edward’s High School 4-0.

On Wednesday 5 October Bablake hosted the U19 Coventry Schools Netballtournament. The Bablake team put on an excellent display of netball, scoring 117goals and conceding only 12, to win the competition and now look forward to theWarwickshire Schools tournament next month.

County hockey players 2005/6 seasonU17 Jade Payne, Holly Payne, Lisa BirdU15 Lauren Boon, Samantha Brindley, Amy Harwood, Lucy Horn, Lijana Kaziow,Jodie Neale, Abigail Rewhorn, Charlotte WeaverU14 Rachel Hollinrake, Rebecca Sewell, Roya Ziaie

Netball county players 2005/6 seasonU18 Hannah Davies, Stacie McDermott, Jenna Thompson, Jessica ThompsonU16 Lauren Carpenter, Lara Jackson, Meisha Nicely, Roxana ZiaieU14 Rachel Blakemore, Amy Harwood, Rachel Hollinrake, Georgia Horn, EmilyJackson, Ella Morrell, Alice O’Connor, Shannon Thompson, Uma Venkata Raman,Roya Ziaie

BOYS’ TENNISU13 Squad Philip Catherall, Conor Jones, Christopher Reynolds, Christopher Haidarand Oliver White.

U15 Squad Alex Parvis, Lewis Jackson, Mathew Hall and Sam Willacy.

There were differing fortunes for the two Bablake sides during the Coventry roundsof the Nestlé Schools Tennis Championships. The U18’s won all four qualifyingmatches in order to play Finham in the Coventry Finals. Some determined andresolute tennis resulted in a 5–1 victory, with the team qualifying to representCoventry in the West Midlands round of the competition.

In the final, Philip Catherall, who had been outstanding in previous rounds,lost his only match of the competition. There should also be a mention for OliverWhite who came in to replace Conor Jones, who was not available to play. Heacquitted himself very well and with the match producing many long rallies he kepthis concentration to win 6–4. Chris Haidar playing at No 4 and Chris Reynolds at No3 remained unbeaten throughout the competition.

In the West Midlands round the school team was drawn against King Edwards,Cheltenham, who proved to be strong. Phillip Catherall was the school’s onlywinner with a 6–2 victory over their number one.

The U15’s did not perform quite as well, although they came against some verystrong opponents with national ranking points. They recorded victories againstCardinal Wiseman and Stoke Park but defeats against Bluecoat and Finhamprevented them reaching the final stages of the competition.

U15 tennis team

Paul Best in action

Some heavyweight support in South Africa

At the time of writing, a hectic term is nearly half over, a huge amount ofwork has been done in and out of the classroom, and still more endeavourand achievement are promised for November and December. I have beenpleased to see around school a great sense of commitment to the wholeof the very broad range of activity that comprises a Bablake education.

Many thanks for making sure that so many of our students will beavailable for our Open Sessions on Friday evening and Saturday morning(11/12 November). Our students are the best possible advert for the schoolas we seek to recruit their successors (on whom the future health of theschool depends), and the Shell formers – full of their six-week-old firstimpressions of the school – are its most valuable advocates. Even onshowpiece occasions such as Open Sessions, visitors readily appreciate thehallmark of Bablake School: its belief that happy, confident boys and girlswho enjoy being at school, who respect, admire and, above all, like theirteachers and who find the whole educational experience broad,empowering and exciting will learn best – and thus achieve the best exam results.

There is a unique atmosphere about Bablake, and I know that parentsappreciate and value it. So please tell your friends who are looking forsecondary schools (or sixth form places) for their children that they cannotafford not to look at Bablake. Schools are not all the same, even if theirexam results are similar. You know how special a place Bablake is: butethos and warm inter-personal relationships are the hardest (though themost vital) aspects of education to communicate through advertisementsand publications. Word of mouth and first-hand experience of the realthing are the only ways – and parents can help us. K

Stuart NuttallHeadmaster

Two long serving and much valued members of staff, Mr W I Appleby(Head of English) and Mr R L Warmington (Director of Sport), will bothretire at the end of this academic year. Their replacements will beannounced in the next newsletter. In the meantime, we extend our sincerethanks to both of them for all the excellent work, dedication and superbteaching they have produced in the many years they have been at Bablake– 22 for Mr Appleby and 21 for Mr Warmington – and wish them everyhappiness for a long and enjoyable retirement. They will be sorely missedand very difficult teachers and colleagues to replace. K

August saw us celebrate, once again, excellent GCSE and A level resultswith the very high pass rates of previous years at both GCSE and A levelnot only being sustained but also improved upon. With the exception oftwo or three of the leavers, all of last year’s Upper Sixth year group whoapplied to go to University this month were offered places at either theirfirst or second choice university and are now enjoying their first fewweeks of Higher Education. We have made a number of successful appealsagainst some of the results we did not feel reflected the true attainmentof our pupils at both GCSE and A level in several subjects. At the time ofwriting 15 pupils have had their grades changed and we are still waitingthe outcome of more appeals. A full analysis of both the GCSE and A levelresults is attached to this newsletter. K

Bablake School16

STAFF NEWS

ACADEMIC NEWS

HEADMASTER’S NOTES

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