HEDINGHAM SCHOOL & SIXTH FORM NEWSLETTER - JULY 2015HEDLIGHTS

YEAR 11 PROM

HEDINGHAM’S FIRST EVER TRIP TOICELAND

HEDINGHAM CELEBRATES IN STYLE AT THE ESSEX GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB

PICTURES CENTRE SPREAD

I AM DELIGHTED to report that we have had a very eventful and successful year. Hedingham is a good school with outstanding students who are given opportunities to thrive. Our high standards and expectations ensure that we remain popular in the community. Good practice continues to be established and embedded; empowerment remains high on the agenda for staff and students. Our school is a vibrant, happy community.

I would like to thank all members of staff and Governors for their continued commitment and hard work. The members of the Senior Leadership Team have been excellent and I thank them for their support and expertise in driving school improvement.

A number of teaching staff are leaving us this year as follows:

Emma Gambling joined Hedingham in September 2009 and became Leader of Maths in September 2011. She is a very committed, supportive and highly respected member of the Maths Learning Area.

Fearghal Crawford joined Hedingham in July 2012. He is an effective and very supportive teacher of Maths.

Kate Feldman joined Hedingham as an NQT in July 2014. She has been an effective and positive teacher of Art.

Rebecca Bond joined Hedingham in July 2013. She is a very supportive and enthusiastic member of the Humanities Learning Area

Anne Goddard also joined Hedingham in July 2013. She is a supportive member of the

Languages Learning Area.Deborah Wiegand joined

Hedingham in September 2011. She is a very dedicated and very good teacher of the Science Learning Area

I would like to thank all the staff who are leaving for their commitment to the students of Hedingham School. I wish them well in their new ventures or positions.

As usual, these pages contain information and pictures of activities which have been happening in school this term, but I would like to mention a few highlights as follows:

The Year 13 Summer Ball and the Year 11 Prom, both held on 25 June, were great occasions as can be seen from the photographs in this edition of Hedlights. Our young people really ‘scrub up’ well and they thoroughly enjoy themselves at these events.

The Sixth Form Enterprise Challenge was, as always, very vibrant and productive. The students were conscientious, busy and industrious. They enjoyed the visits to their various businesses. They all looked very professional and their exhibitions and presentations were of a very high standard. It is very rewarding to see our students working on a project that encourages the use of a large number of skills. The programme is intense and brings out the best in those taking part. Congratulations to Sue Trim and her team for all their hard work in providing a superb experience once again for our students. A great success.

The Dance Show on Wednesday 9

July was exceptional. We have some very talented dancers in the school who work hard to bring us shows like this one; they performed so well. I know that everyone who attended just enjoyed every minute. A very special evening. Many thanks to Nicola Cook and Kara Challis.

The Summer Concert held on 15 July was superb. It was a lovely evening of drama and musical performances with a large number of talented students entertaining us. Thank you to Anne Beaumont and Richard Cull

I am proud to be the Headteacher of Hedingham School. Our students are great ambassadors for their school. There is always a calm, purposeful and constructive atmosphere in the school which visitors comment upon. We have a very strong community ethos which is demonstrated in a number of positive ways.

Finally, I would just like to remind you that the AS and A Level results are out on Thursday 13 August 2015 and the GCSE results are out on Thursday 20 August 2015 and we are now looking forward to celebrating our students’ achievements.

I wish everyone a very safe, healthy and enjoyable summer vacation. The start of the new academic year is Monday 7 September 2015.

John Panayi, Headteacher

Head’s Lines

Best Uniform Winners for the second half of the Easter Term and first

half of Summer term are:

Poppy O’Sullivan • Joe Beavis • Issac Osborn

Lewis Ilett • Archie Gault • Charlotte Hilliard • Ollie Boyle

Macey Brewer • Rebecca Stone • Emily Orbell

Mia Tamburrini • James Rulton • Poppy Oldham

Curtis Chance • Mia-Carra Gibbs • Victoria Love

Wesley Anson • Bailey Fountain

Hedingham SchoolPrint Department

Highly competitive prices for all your print requirementsDesign work undertaken

Photocopying and printing - colour and mono

Booklets • Tickets • Flyers • PostersInvitations • Business cards • Laminating

Printing on canvas & outdoor vinyl banners

Fast, friendly and professional serviceAll profits used for the benefit of our students

For further information and quotes please contact:01787 460470 ext 251 • reprographics@hedingham.essex.sch.uk

CONGRATULATIONS to the Summer term Jack Petchey Award Winners:

Adam Rogers (April) - Adam was nominated for assisting the PE Department at the Girls Rugby Club, helping younger and older students, every Wednesday after school.

Iskadar Hafdom (May) - Iskadar was nominated for supporting another younger student, newly arrived at Hedingham with reduced English, as this, for each of them, was not their first language.

Isla Mckenzie (June) - Isla was nominated for helping out children with disabilities during the holidays.

She assists helpers in a Holiday Camp for severely disabled children, thereby giving their parents a rest for a short time. She has been doing this for some time now.

Iskadar Hafdom

Adam Rogers

Isla Mckenzie

Jack Petchey Awards

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IT IS OVER A YEAR now since Year 8 student, Arran Tosh, tragically died from a brain tumour, but although he is no longer physically with us, Arran is very definitely not forgotten. During the year, Hedingham School students and their families have been very busy raising money for the charity ‘The Smile of Arran’ which has been set up in his memory.

Students have been very imaginative in the ways they have chosen to raise funds for the charity. Charlie Coy, aged 13, had the idea of designing and selling special wrist bands with Arran’s name on them in green and white – the colour of Arran’s favourite football team, Glasgow Celtic. Thirteen year old Gemma Morgan and her mum, Nina, have made Scottie dog stuffed toys, again in green and white, which have been sold at events. Jack and Grace Timms, from Great Yeldham, designed and sold a CD of songs that Arran recorded with his band Stopclocks. A group of Year 9 girls decided to run a very muddy 5km Race for Life and donated half of the money they raised to Cancer Research, a charity close to Arran’s heart, and the rest to The

Smile of Arran. Cerys Wrigley-Moss conducted a sponsored silence whilst Tom Gentry, Jack Cushney and Toby Halls rode a sponsored 30 mile cycle route to help raise money. Madison Sharp aged 14 and Toby Quinn who is 13, had their heads shaved in Arran’s memory and managed to raise a huge of money in this ingenious way. Ben Gentry, aged 18, taught Arran to play the guitar and has organised a number of fund raising concerts in his memory.

Arran’s mum, Mrs Alison Tosh, came in to school recently to receive a cheque for £2611, raised by students, from Head teacher, Mr John Panayi. Many of the students who had been part of different fund raising efforts came to see Mrs Tosh and give her a hug which she says is of great comfort to her. Mrs Tosh said, ‘The Smile of Arran’ trust has been set up in memory of our angel Arran to help support others in need, especially children affected by brain tumors.’ The charity is going from strength to strength and has raised over £40,000 so far to help children which is a truly amazing achievement and demonstrates the inspiration that Arran has provided for others.

Still Smiling for Arran

HEDINGHAM SCHOOL students had some interesting new class mates this week when Zoolab visited the school for the day, bringing with them an array of interesting animals including snakes, spiders, tree frogs and rats!Students had the opportunity to meet Colin the Corn snake, who

had beautiful orange markings and was very happy to be handled. George the tree frog was a great hit – Chris from Zoolab who ran the day, got him out of his box and just stuck him on the wall next to the white board! While he explained to the students about the life of a tree frog, George wandered up and down the wall using his little sticky feet to explore his new environment. Rosie the Chilean tarantula wasn’t quite as well liked by everyone in the room. She was the size of Chris’ hand and very hairy and some students (and staff!) found her leg waving antics

a bit too much and had to leave the lesson whilst she was out of her box (although Chris did assure

everyone that that no one has ever died from a tarantula bite.) Jake Markham, aged 11 from Sible Hedingham, said his favourite animals were the snake and hedgehog but his least favourite was the spider: ‘When Chris said he was going to bring out a tarantula I shouted and ran out of the room with my hand over my eyes!’

Pickles, the South African Pygmy hedgehog, proved very popular despite the fact that Chris explained she was very smelly to keep at home. She let children stroke her prickles and everyone agreed she was very cute and really adorable. Princess Katie, a huge white rat, was very interested in everything that was going on in the classroom and seemed to really enjoy the human contact as she was passed from student to student.

Students also had the opportunity to look at a 15 foot snake skin, a variety of huge beetles and some Giant African Land snails.

All the students in Year 7 took part in the day, as well as a lot of Year 10 students. The event was designed to stimulate interest in Science and the animal world and also to help students to understand the classification of different groups of vertebrate and invertebrate animals. Eleven year old Lara Fisher from Sible Hedingham, commented ‘I loved Colin the snake and it was really interesting to learn about his habitat and what he eats. The day was great fun and helped me to conquer my fear of snakes and spiders.’

Snakes, Spiders & Science!

ON THURSDAY 2nd and Friday 3rd July, Year 7 students visited Colchester Football Stadium and Colchester Castle as part of their Year 7 Humanities work.

At the stadium they experienced a guided tour and learnt about why the stadium had moved site. This is part of their fieldwork study looking at the development of urban areas and how this site is becoming environmentally and community friendly!

After a spot of lunch in Castle Park, students went to the depths of

the castle and saw the Roman vaulted foundations and then up the biggest spiral staircase in England right to the top to see the 200 hundred year old tree that was planted in one of the corners during the closing of the site as a goal.

‘I loved the football stadium as it was cool to see and going into the boxes was cool’. (Shannon Bray)‘Colchester was really cool. We went to the top of the castle and saw all of Colchester Park. It was amazing!’ (Tilly Turp)

Year 7Trip to Colchester

HEDINGHAM SCHOOL welcomed in local businesses, sixth forms, colleges and training providers to help support young people and show them what is on offer when they reach school leaving age.

Supporting at this year’s fair were:Hedingham Sixth Form Barrett Heating London Metropolitan PoliceEasi-Hair AcademyWest Suffolk CollegeSplinters Catering Maycast-NokeDelphi of SudburyBraintree District CouncilColchester Institute/the College at Braintree

There was also an independent Careers Advisor in attendance for students who required a bit more individual help and guidance.

Some of the student’s quotes

about the day are below:Owen Curry 9SD ‘It was interesting to look around and speak to business people. The policeman told us what grades you needed and how to get into the Police Force.’Sam Davey 9SD, ‘I enjoyed talking to the businesses and finding out about different types of jobs and how they progressed in their career. I could understand the different grades/subjects I might need to get to do certain jobs. I found the information useful and how you need to behave in different types of jobs.’Abigail Duncan 9AGO, ‘The most interesting business was the catering company because I did not know how many positions there were in the catering industry. I also learnt a lot about the sixth forms/colleges. They gave me booklets and leaflets

about extended education and the variety of options after GCSE.’Fleur Gardner 9MD, ‘The careers fair was interesting and I learned quite a bit about the different businesses and colleges in this area. I got a lot of information.’

Year 9 Careers Fair

FOURTEEN YEAR OLD Cerys Wrigley Moss from Gestingthorpe has had a very exciting couple of weeks as she is a member of the choir chosen to record the song ‘Hail Richard 111’ which is the official song that will be used for King Richard’s reburial in Leicester. The song will also be played at the exhibition in Leicester and on educational videos linked to the story of the last Plantagenet King. The song was written in honour of Richard III by Kathleen Shanks who also wrote the children’s anthem for the London 2012 Olympics. The reburial of

King Richard this week in Leicester Cathedral, five centuries after his death, has drawn a great deal of interest from around the world since his skeletal remains were found under a car park in Leicester in 2012.

Cerys was filmed last week by ITV news singing the song and she was also selected to be interviewed by ITV and apparently looked very smart in her school uniform! The BBC is also interested in filming the choir in action so Cerys has that to look forward to. Cerys commented, ‘Singing for a King has been an amazing opportunity and it was great to be part of something so important. I have a real interest in History and plan to take the subject for GCSE so it was fascinating to learn more about King Richard by being involved in this project.’

Singing for a King

Sun, Sea & Snails– Le Touquet 2015

ON FRIDAY 17TH APRIL, 43 students and four teachers made their way to Le Touquet in the North of France. The journey lasted 6 hours, but we spent one hour and a half exploring the ferry and its shop! Once we finally arrived at the hotel, we checked in to our rooms and we went down to dinner. We had “steak frites” and “éclairs au chocolat”, délicieux! After dinner, we went on a long walk around the town and we talked, laughed and looked at some of the very pretty houses. On Saturday, after

a yummy breakfast, we walked to the market. Once there, we spent two hours exploring the market, and buying many souvenirs and gifts. We bought selfie sticks, sunglasses, bandanas… We also discovered what France had to offer, including the many smelly cheeses. We also bought our lunch on the market – some people decided to buy baguettes and cheese, others bought pizzas but some people bought a whole chicken! We walked to the beach and had lunch there. We spent about an hour on the

beach where we decided to bury Josh and Stan in the sand and some people did cartwheels, which was pretty cool! After that we went to the chocolate factory. We had an interesting tour about how they make the various chocolates and we sampled some of them, before buying our own! The two-day visit to Le Touquet was a great chance to test out our language skills on the French people and try some of the delicious food! Thank you to all the staff, we all had a very good time!

YEAR 7 STUDENTS at Hedingham School abandoned normal lessons for part of this week and headed for the reservoir at Hanningfield to hunt for invertebrates in a variety of ecological settings. The sun was very hot but luckily the woodland areas provided some shade for the students to work in. They had a lot of fun pond dipping and identifying a wide range

of different water loving creatures including juvenile newts or efts. Rachel Alexander, aged 12 from High Garrett, commented, ‘It was really cool to find a great crested newt with my first swipe with a net. As it was a female I called her Naomi!’

Then it was off to the woodland area where students had the opportunity to ‘tree beat’ and search the canopies for

invertebrates which like living amongst the leaves. There were shrieks as earwigs and harvestmen landed on students’ heads as the invertebrates were shaken from their resting places! Finally, students dug into deep leaf litter to explore what invertebrates preferred to live nearer the ground and compared this to what they could find in long grass and nettles on the meadow land.

High jinks at Hanningfield!

THE HISTORY department took 43 Year 11 students to London at Easter as part of their revision. They were operated on at the

Surgery Museum and scared out of their wits at the London Dungeons. We wish them the best of luck with their results and for the future.

Pain and Punishment

Ben Gentry

FIFTY HEDINGHAM School students and five accompanying teachers had a particularly exciting Easter holiday as they took part in the school’s first ever trip to see the wonders of Iceland (not the supermarket….!) The students spent 4 action packed days exploring natural geothermal spas, spectacular waterfalls, glaciers, geysers, hot springs, boiling mud pools and extinct volcanic craters.

As soon as the group landed in Reykjavik, they headed straight off to the famous Blue Lagoon which is set in a spectacular black lava landscape. The water is drawn from a depth of 2000m and is rich in natural minerals and blue-green algae. As the temperature of the water is between 30 and 400C and the air temperature was

below zero, it was a great place to begin the trip! As 15 year old Lily Lee from Sible Hedingham commented, ‘There were so many extraordinary sights to see in Iceland and the Blue Lagoon was really beautiful and so warm!’

Iceland is not blessed with many sunny days a year, but the trip was lucky enough to have 2 glorious days of bright blue skies and they also had a snowfall of over two feet in depth whilst in Iceland which gave endless opportunities for building snowmen and having snow ball fights! Visiting the Solheimajokull glacier in such snowy conditions meant that the crampons and ice axes the students were issued with came in very useful for the long icy walk in a wonderland

of ice ridges and crevasses. Brendan Masheder, also from Sible Hedingham, was hugely impressed by the landscape and said, ‘Everything you see is natural in Iceland and it was so nice to visit things that weren’t built or man-made in any way.’ Ellie Pike from Great Yeldham, who had her 16th birthday while on the trip, commented “I can’t imagine a more special way to celebrate my birthday than being on a glacier with all my friends”.

During the trip, students had the opportunity to visit one of Iceland’s most impressive waterfalls which has a thundering curtain of water 60 metres high. They walked on the black lava sand beaches (in the snow!) and viewed remarkable basalt

sea stacks and massive natural rock arches. They were also able to find out more about the impact of the recent volcanic eruption of Eyjafjallajokull in 2010 by looking at dramatic photos of the event at the visitor centre.

The trip ended with a walk amongst boiling mud pools and hot springs and a drive through a lava desert before it was time to head home. Fourteen year old Nisha Chahal from Great Yeldham summed up the group experience when she said, ‘Iceland is beautiful and the people there are so happy and friendly it makes you really happy too! The sights were astonishing and I loved Iceland so much that I didn’t want to come back to England!’

Impressive Iceland

THE YEAR 11 pupils arrived in every mode of transport, from tanks to tandems and buses to buggies, to the Essex Golf and Country Club on Thursday 25 June.

They could finally let their hair down and enjoy a night to remember after their hard work leading up to their GCSE exams.

More than 200 turned up to the prom, with relatives and friends going along to watch them arrive.

A firework display finished the evening.

YEAR 11PROM 2015

All Year 8 students from Hedingham School were invited to spend a day at the University of Essex recently to help them understand more about what a university education can offer young people. Nearly 200 students aged 12 and 13 attended the day and gained a great insight into the subjects that can be studied at degree level, what student accommodation is like and the benefits of having a degree when you enter the world of work.

Students spent time looking at university prospectuses from around Britain to get an idea of the huge range of subjects that can be studied. As 13 year old Abbie Portch from Sible Hedingham commented, ‘I would love to be able to study Biochemistry, Biomedical Sciences or medicine at university. I think this trip to Essex has helped me to get an idea of where I need to go to study these subjects.’

Students also looked at all the opportunities for clubs and social activities and were interested to see that most universities have a Harry Potter club and a Frisbee club! When looking at the accommodation students were amazed to find out that

many students have an ensuite shower room when they go to university and others thought the idea of 14 people sharing a flat together sounded great fun!

A tour of the university helped students to understand the concept of a campus university and they could see how everything you could possibly need was all based on the one site. Whilst exploring the sports facilities, students were lucky enough to see the under- 20 Great Britain basketball team in training. The Year 8 students marvelled at the height of the players and the ease with which they could score ‘baskets’ from a distance.

Students had first- hand

experience of what an university education could lead to because during the day they met Veronica Anspach who is a former student of Hedingham School and is now Events Supervisor at the University of Essex, having previously gained a degree in Communications from Anglia Ruskin University. They also met Goushi Raviendran, also an ex- student of Hedingham School, who is now working as an interior architect on the planning of new buildings on the university site.

Everyone felt the day was a very worthwhile experience and as Francesca Mowatt from Halstead said, ‘I have learnt today about how and what I should look for in my future plans for university and what Art and Design courses I would need to take for my dream job as a cartoon animator.’

THIS YEAR’S Sixth Form Summer Ball, which was attended by over ninety 6th formers, saw a fantastic variety of classy suits and stunning dresses as well as an interesting

choice of footwear for one attendant! The dashing guests, coupled with the enchanting aesthetic of The Fennes, made for a spectacular evening that was thoroughly enjoyed

by all those who attended. The two-course dinner, followed by stirring speeches and dubious dancing all made for a delightful and memorable evening.

Looking to the Future!

Sixth Form Summer Ball Sensation

WE DEPARTED from Stansted Airport at 8:20pm, on Friday 19 June, arriving at Stuttgart at 10:45 local time. After a short coach journey from the airport we found ourselves greeted by the friendly faces of our German exchange partners and their families who welcomed us with open arms and took us to our new homes for the week.

We spent the weekend with our families exploring the beautiful area of the Schwäbische Alb whilst doing activities such as swimming in the open air swimming pool and visiting amazing places including the Ulm Münster (the highest cathedral in the world with 768 steps to the top) and Schloss Lichtenstein a beautiful castle perching on the edge of the

Swabian alps.On Monday we were greeted by the

Mayor of Pfullingen at Pfullingen Realschule, where we were to spend the remainder of the day experiencing German school. The school ended at quarter to one and we spent the rest of the afternoon with our partners.

On Tuesday, we went to the Rittersport factory where we got to make our own chocolate as well as buying a good deal in the shop within. We spent the afternoon in the city of Stuttgart giving us an opportunity to go shopping.

On Wednesday, we had a variety of lessons with our partners as well as two lessons designed just for the English students. We had Music in which we learned a waltz

on the glockenspiel and Chemistry in which we witnessed numerous experiments including the use of helium on various people, including Mr Ballard, and magnesium being burnt in oxygen. We once again spent the afternoon with our families.

On Thursday, we had the opportunity to go to the theme park Europapark and experience the thrilling rides including Silverstar and Blue Fire.

Friday was the day on which we had to return home. We had our final day at German school before a tearful farewell from our partners. We arrived back in England at 8:00 to reunite with our families.By Saskia Dare and Francesca Swystun

Feiern inPfullingen(Partying in Pfullingen)

I WOULD LIKE to thank everyone who supported the Humanities Department VE Day Anniversary cake sale. Whether you baked or bought, our huge thanks! Room 42 had a lovely vintage atmosphere and many also took part in the ‘Kiss for Victory’. £192 was raised for the British Legion.

VE Day

YEAR 13 BIOLOGY GROUP, who have just taken their final exams, have worked very hard for the last 2 years and have shown tremendous enthusiasm for the subject. Teachers and students therefore decided that a farewell trip was in order! So, on the hottest day of the year the group set off to Cambridge to experience a bit of university student life by going punting – an activity that no-one except Mr Sanders had ever tried before… Mr Sanders leapt onto the back of a punt and moved off gracefully whilst the less experienced Ryan Rainer tried valiantly to get the punt going in the right direction! Eventually, when we hadn’t moved very far from the punting station, Ross Catton took over and showed quite a talent for using the pole. Apart from nearly hitting a couple of people on the head with the pole and dripping water on everyone,

we started to move up the river under beautiful bridges and willow trees with lovely views of the famous Cambridge colleges on the banks. Meanwhile Jakob Beck and Joe Nourse decided it was far too hot and took to the water, swimming along the River Cam between punts of surprised Japanese tourists! Ryan decided to join them and jumped in fully clothed to find he could still stand up in the river as it wasn’t very deep!

Brooke Bekir had a go at ‘poling’, proving that girls can be very accomplished at controlling punts! Joe Ling, Joe Nourse and Jakob also tried their hand at wielding the very long punt pole and were quite successful at not blocking the river for other boats! The rest of the group made the most of the sunshine and just enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

Following a quick change of clothes for some of the damper members of the party, we headed off to The Eagle pub which is famous for being the place where James Watson and Francis Crick, scientists working at the Cambridge Cavendish Lab, announced in 1953 that they had ‘discovered the secret of life’ by working out the structure of DNA – a truly momentous event in the world of Science. This event is commemorated by a blue plaque placed on the wall by the door so we had to take a group photo there to mark the importance for A level Biology students. After a very pleasant meal, we all headed home. The next day that everyone will be together again will be Thursday August 13 when the A Level results come out. We wish all the students success and luck for the future!

Punting & DNA Pub

Design and TechnologyAS/A2 Exhibition2015

THE EXHIBITION took place on 14th May with 26 A Level candidates exhibiting their design and practical coursework. The students’ work was extremely diverse and innovative, covering a wide range of design areas including furniture, jewellery, architecture, phone applications, sports equipment, fashion, audio and electronic design. All students incorporated computer aided design and manufacturing techniques using ‘Techsoft’ CAD software and laser cut CAM techniques.

The event was well attended by students, parents and staff, and the A Level students were very pleased to showcase their design and practical skills to a wide audience.

The students’ work had been assessed the previous day by the exam board external moderator and he was extremely impressed with the diversity of project themes and the quality of design and practical skills demonstrated. All of the candidates’ work was to a high standard and in particular at A2 level Oliver Rowe’s architectural design and scale model for the conversion of a second world war Nissen building achieved a truly outstanding mark of 95%.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all students for their sustained effort over the A Level course and wish them every success in their forthcoming exams and further education/employment. In addition, I would like to thank all the parents and staff for attending the event and supporting our students in their achievements.

James GambleLeader of Design and Technology

ON MONDAY 30th March, 28 students from Years 9 and 10, along with three teachers, left England for what we hoped would be a sunny Strasbourg. We spent the day travelling to our hotel in a small village near Strasbourg. We arrived rather late, checked into our rooms and had some dinner, which was delicious. After dinner, we had some free time to see our friends and then we slept in beds that were so comfortable!

We started by visiting the European Parliament in the morning. After an hour, we went to the city centre where we quickly realised the wind was incredibly gusty, so gusty that we saw toddlers getting knocked over. We went into the cathedral where we admired the astronomical clock. After that we went on a treasure hunt through the city, recording information. Next we were supposed to be climbing to the top of the cathedral but it was closed due to the wind. Instead the teachers bought us either a “crêpe” or a “gaufre”. We then went on a boat tour, learning about the history of the city.

On the coach to Freiburg, we were all told we could only use “German euro” coins while in Germany. This was nonsense of course because it was April Fool’s Day but we only

realised after checking to see how many German euros we actually had! We started the day by visiting the cathedral and spent the morning looking around the Freiburg market where we ate traditional German Bratwurst and visited the Gummy Bear Shop. In the afternoon, we went to the Black Forest where we went to the top in a cable car. The view was a beautiful sight but it was so cold it was snowing. As anyone would, we all threw snowballs at Miss Malaval.

On Thursday, we went to EuropaPark, a theme park which has sections for almost every country in Europe. It is also home to some of the tallest rollercoasters in Europe, such as Silver Star. The group went on rides like Wodan and Blue Fire. Despite the rain, most of us decided to go on a big water ride. We were the only ones there so we went on

it twice in a row. It was a long but absolutely fantastic day. However in the evening, after dinner, we had to write 200 words in either French or German. It wasn’t as much fun as going on Silver Star.

On the 3rd of April, the trip was over and we made our 14-hour journey back to England.

We all had a great time and we got to speak a lot of French and German. Thank you to Mr Ballard, Mr Illingworth and Miss Malaval for organising the trip and for looking after us.By Jordan Smith

Cake, Wind and Cable Cars

AN EXCITING NEW music club has started up at Hedingham School using beautiful Chinese drums that have been locked away in a commercial storage unit in Colchester for over 20 years. They were recently discovered and used in a community project with the local Chinese community in Colchester and now Hedingham School is the first school that has been allowed to use them. The drumming club has generated interest throughout the school, from Year 7 to the Sixth Form, and even some staff members have dropped in to have a go!

The drums are large and barrel- shaped with 2 heads made of animal skin and are played with 2 sticks. They have a special stand to support them and are great fun to play because you can really hit them hard. Gary Leach, the peripatetic drumming teacher at Hedingham, is leading the school group and he also led the Colchester community project so he is very experienced in the art of Chinese drumming. Ella Odedina is 13 years old and comes from Braintree and she is a very enthusiastic member of the new club. She commented, ‘I really like music but at first playing the drums felt a bit weird but now I know the basic techniques I feel much more confident and I really love it!’

Drumming up Enthusiasm!

Music Industry TasterIT WAS AN absolute pleasure to have ‘Industry Music in Education’ running a Music Industry Taster day for Hedingham School and Sixth Form. The school was in rock ‘n roll meltdown as exciting, high adrenaline music performance, songwriting and industry sessions were given to a large numbers of Year 9’s and Sixth Form music students. As part of the workshop a local rock band called ‘Renegade Twelve’ took to the stage to give various musical demonstrations. Students were highly responsive to the song writing and industry careers workshops and they thoroughly impressed the workshop leaders and attending artists with their enthusiasm and skills.

We hope the organisation will return next year for the current Year 8’s!

THIS TERM STUDENTS studying BTEC Level 3 Music in Year 13 completed a special subject investigation into an area of their choice. It was a really good opportunity to research and further understand an area that they may have wanted to explore in the past but perhaps never quite had the chance to. Through the development of essay techniques that they have had to use as part of the investigation process, it has now meant that students going on to study Music at university will be even better prepared for dissertation writing. Ben Gentry, a year 13 BTEC Music student, has received offers from the University of West London and the University of Derby to study Audio Engineering this September. He wrote a well examined investigation into what circumstances would best suit an analogue or digital mixing desk. He researched this by carrying out primary source research, such as using different mixing desk set-ups in various school events. His findings were interesting and here is a snippet:

‘… for the analogue console the best situation for it would be a band rehearsal, say 4-5 piece band. In that situation, there would be probably 2-3 microphones, 2 guitars, bass guitar, and a drum kit which will probably be acoustic. In total, that is about 5/6 inputs, which the analogue console can handle without a problem, setting up would take 20 minutes and after that, a quick rehearsal can be had, and then can be packed away again quickly.

The digital mixing console has a completely different situation; this time the situation is going to be an orchestra. This situation will have about 15 microphones on stands around the orchestra and 3 hanging choir microphones. The mixing console will be networked into the stage box so that it can be put at the back of the hall. Setting up takes around 30 minutes, so it takes longer than the analogue console but there are lots more inputs to patch in and name on the faders.’

Audio Engineering

THE ESSEX BOOK AWARD is a school club where the members have to read a set of books in a set amount of time and vote for their favourite. At the end a winner is chosen and the group goes to meet the author.

Every year the books just get better and the line up this year was brilliant. Every book wascompletely different and the storylines were new and exciting, from teenage troubles to very real-life

crises and problems.My personal favourites were ‘I Predict

a Riot’ by Catherine Bruton and ‘Never Ending’ by Martyn Bedford. I could relate to them both very much and they were very moving reads.

Then, after reading all the books, we got to go and meet the authors. This time there were two there and we also got to see videos of the authors who couldn’t make it. I love hearing from

the authors because it really shows you how the books are meant to be interpreted and helps you appreciate them a bit more. It also shows you what the authors are really like and that’s great. The overall winner of the Essex Book Award was She is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick which was a very good book and a deserving winner.

By Naomi Hixon Year 9

The Essex Book Award 2015

ALAN GIBBONS has been writing children’s books for twenty three years. He is the winner of the Blue Peter Book Award 2000 ‘The book I couldn’t put down’ for his best-selling book Shadow of the Minotaur. He was a judge of the 2001 Awards.He has also been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal in 2001 and 2003 and twice for the Booktrust Teenage Prize. He has won the Blue Peter Book Award ‘The Book I Couldn’t Put Down’, the Catalyst Award, the Leicester Book of

the Year, the Leicester Short Novel of the year, the Angus Book of the Year, the RED Award (twice), the Stockport Book Award, the Birmingham Chills Award, the Salford KS4 Award, the Hackney Short Novel Award and the Salford Librarians’ Special Award. His books have been published in Japanese, German, Italian, French, Thai, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Swedish and other languages.

Alan was a teacher for 16 years, working with KS1, KS2 and KS3. He has made numerous visits to schools and libraries, colleges and education conferences in the UK and overseas, speaking at the AISA and ECIS conferences in Nairobi and Istanbul. He is a popular speaker at the Edinburgh Festival, the London Book

Fair, the Northern Children’s Book Festival, the Hay-on-Wye Festival, the Cheltenham Festival and many others.

Our Years 7, 8 and 9 were lucky enough to have a workshop with Alan where he taught them a series of skills to improve their creative writing. Ultimately, this will help them improve their English and achieve higher grades.

The students were extremely excited to meet a real author! This will inspire a love of English and perhaps encourage some to become writers as well.

‘It was really exciting to meet a real writer and have him sign my book.’ Jewel LeWinton Year 7.

I was excited I was picked to see him.’ Elliot Hawkins.

Alan Gibbons Visit

SPORT

YEAR 7 STUDENTS at Hedingham School had a very exciting PE lesson this week when, instead of playing rounder’s on the school field, they lined the road outside the school to cheer on the elite women cyclists of the world as they took part in the Tour of Britain. The students, armed with their yellow tour flags, got into place shortly after 10.00am and got more and more excited as dozens of police motorcyclists, with blue lights flashing, came roaring through to block the roads ahead. As the outriders tooted their horns and blasted their sirens, the children shouted louder and louder! Then came

some of the tour cars, and then finally the cyclists, flying past in a matter of seconds dressed in myriads of colours of Lycra. Some of the students waved their flags so hard that the ends flew off! Twelve year old Megan Foord from Halstead said, ‘It was overwhelming to see them all come through together and I so enjoyed being part of it all.’

Following the cyclists came the team cars with thousands of pounds worth of cycles loaded onto the roofs in case any rider needed new wheels during the138 km race which continued on to Sudbury and then down to the finish on Clacton seafront. The race, Stage 2 of

the 5 stage event, started in Braintree town centre at 10.00am. Taking part were 93 riders in 12 of the top 13 teams in the world with 11 current national road champions racing, including decorated Paraolympian, Dame Sarah Storey. Sadly, Britain’s Lizzie Armitstead, who is Commonwealth Champion and yesterday’s winner, had pulled out of the race due to a crash that occurred seconds after she won the first stage of the tour in Aldeburgh yesterday.

After all the excitement, the students went back to their lessons and peace descended once again on Castle Hedingham. Tia Wilkin, who is 12 years old and lives in Castle Hedingham, commented, ’It was really exciting to see the Tour and I have nearly lost my voce from shouting so much!!’

Cycle Tour Yellow Fever

The’ Jump Rope’ event raises money for the British Heart Foundation and is also an opportunity for young people to use skipping to enhance their health through being active whilst having fun at the same time! All Year 7 students at Hedingham School took part in a ‘jump off’ during their PE lessons on Monday June 22 when they were actively involved in skipping individually, in

pairs and in groups and even racing against the staff! The sun was shining and there was music playing with the theme of jumping to inspire students to skip as many times as possible in the time available. Spike Ashworth, aged 12 from Sible Hedingham, said, ‘It was really fun because we did loads of different skipping games together and didn’t just skip on our own.’

Students have been doing lots of skipping activities in lessons prior to the event to help prepare them. Hopefully on the day students had lots of fun whilst raising money for the British Heart Foundation. Last year the same event raised £700 and we hope that this year the Year 7 students will raise even more! Twelve year old Molly Raven from Halstead commented, ‘I have raised £41 so far for the British Heart Foundation by skipping and I was very happy to do this because my great granddad died of a heart problem and I wanted to help the charity.’

Skipping to Health!

SEVENTEEN YEAR OLD Ivan Fellows from Sible Hedingham recently represented England playing for the England Deaf Rugby Union (EDRU) side, a charity which allows deaf rugby players the chance to play for their country. Ivan, who has been playing rugby since he was nine years old, plays in the second row where he can use his height to good advantage. To qualify to play for the team a player has to have 50 db loss of hearing over both ears. Ivan has 180db loss of hearing in his ears but copes so well that some people don’t even realise that he is deaf!

Ivan, who is currently a member of Hedingham School Sixth Form, commented, ‘It gave me a huge sense of pride being able to put on the jersey with the England rose on it and represent not only my country, but Deaf Rugby too. To be amongst other deaf players playing at such a high calibre of rugby definitely helped me to raise my game and reach my full potential as a player.’

The game that Ivan played in was against St Neot’s Rugby Club, a team that have been unbeaten all season, and ended in a 29 – 29 draw. The EDRU have a number of other exciting games lined up for the Deaf Rugby Team to play, including a tour of Italy, a game against the Welsh deaf team and a game against India before this Autumn’s greatly anticipated Rugby World Cup competition. Ivan, who also plays for the Halstead Templars, is thoroughly looking forward to all of these challenges!

Ivan is a Jolly Good Fellow

EMMA TURTLE, aged 14 from Sible Hedingham, represented Hedingham School at the NSEA (National Schools Equestrian Association) One Day Event held on Sunday at Poplar Park near Woodbridge in Suffolk.

Twenty four schools took part with Emma, and her horse Owen Maxwell, participating in the 90cm class which is made up of 3 separate disciplines. Emma performed very well, gaining a double clear in the show jumping with

no faults or refusals and a clear round in the timed cross country course which included 17 jumps where you have to travel at 400metres a minute to be successful! Emma topped this off with a high score in the dressage element of the competition which was run to strict British Equestrian rules. Emma achieved a fourth place overall which was very commendable as there were 74 competitors in her class from schools all over the country.

Emma commented, ‘This year I have started to compete in British Eventing 90 events and I have taken part in two BE90s so far this season. The NSEA One Day Event was my third event of the season and my pony, Owen, was super. It was a very well organised event and a fantastic cross country course!’ The school are very proud of her efforts and wish her success in forthcoming events this year.

Emma’s Equestrian Success

ON SUNDAY 22nd February, Abigail and Emily Hubbard, both of whom have black belt 1st Dan in Tang Soo Do martial arts, competed in the British Tang Soo Do championships.

Emily Hubbard, aged 14, competed against Britain’s best in the competition as part of the Halstead club, Yong Gi Do, and won a gold medal in the under-14 Forms (a sequence of movements). She had to compete in a nerve wracking tie breaker for first place and won with her outstanding form. “It was great fun to be a part of another huge competition like this one. I met loads of new friends from all over the country!” she said.

Abigail Hubbard, Emily’s older sister, who is 15, competed in another category and won a bronze medal in 15 and over

Dan grade Fighting. She competed against people of her own age and older and commented, “Our club had an amazing turnout and the groups were excellent!’

Emily and Abigail live in Gosfield and both train with the Yong Gi Do Karate club at Halstead Leisure Centre on a Monday night and also at other local venues. The club sent around 25 members to the Championships and between them they won 23 medals; seven golds, six silvers and 10 bronze medals, including Emily’s gold and Abigail’s bronze medals.

Martial Artssuccess forGosfield Girls