Barton Court Grammar School
CLARION!
SUMMER EDITION 2018
Contents Page Contents Page 1
Notes from the Editors
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Year 12 Geography field trips
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Executive Head teacher's Report
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Language Ambassadors
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Spanish Exchange Summer Recipes
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48 Famous Artists You’ve Never Heard 49 Of
Maths Achievements
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Guide To BCGS 6th Form
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Top 12 Films You Must Watch
BCGS’ Gifted and Talented Celebration Evening
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Peer Mentoring
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New Music Releases
Stigmas Involved with Certain Music
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A Controversial Leader
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The Staff Drive Team
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School Production
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This Year in Thinking Schools
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Top 12 Books You Must Read
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The New BCGS Learner Profile
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Enrichment Day 5– European Festivals
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Year 5 Enrichment Evenings
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Summer Games
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Student Drive Team
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Korean Lessons
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World Languages Day
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Clarion Sports Report
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Forthcoming Events
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Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
37
Year 7 Sports
38
Sports Update
41
MFL Club
42
Under 15’s Rugby
43
Under 13’s Rugby
2017-2018
The Year 8 Newsletter Explained
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Note from the Editors Note from Mr Nelson Hello `Clarion!` Readers! The calls of this summer`s `Clarion!` absorb the ambient worlds through which we co-exist, urban and pastoral. The buzzing of curricular, extra- and supra-curricular interests, piqued curiosities, reviews and revelations vivify this summer`s ritual reflective moments: we pause to dwell upon and celebrate the passing of the first half of 2018. Reading through this summer edition of the school magazine, the diverse subjects and independent interests of the student and staff population suggests a thriving community of active individuals. Be amazed at the sporting endeavours and the international cultural explorations. Be entertained and intrigued, with discussions of latest trends and notable new releases and productions. Even try the recipes for tasty summer treats. Special thanks to our editors for this edition, Amy Chrysostomou and Hannah Robson, for their diligence and dependability. Also a reminder to all potential and active writers out there, `Clarion!` is looking for new writers with each and every edition. Step up and have your say. Enjoy!
Mr. Nelson Note from the editors — Amy Chrysostomou and Hannah Robson Hi ‘Clarion!’ readers! We hope you enjoy this edition of our school magazine. A lot of hard work went into making it, but it was a pleasure working on it. Thank you to everyone who contributed this year, to help make it as informative and interesting as it is. We hope you all have an amazing summer holidays, and good luck to those of you who will be receiving exam results!
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Headteacher’s Report Headteacher's Report I cannot quite believe we are reaching the end of the academic year and what an exciting year for Barton Court Grammar School it has been. 2018 has seen many highs and successes and I would like to take a moment with you to share some of them. January saw the opening of our eagerly anticipated new build next to the CCCU Sports Centre. This fantastic building now provides the School with a state-of-theart refectory which all students have enjoyed using over the last few months. In addition, all students have loved studying Biology in the three brand new science labs and Mathematic lessons have taken on new dimensions with students interacting with innovative learning walls in the new suite of Mathematics classrooms. The opening of the new build has completely transformed the Barton Court site; it has also allowed us to create two wonderful new spaces in the old building – a new music room where the old canteen once was and a brand new Sixth form Common Room. Our resources have been further enhanced by the opening of our ‘Wellbeing’ room in the old school house from June. The resources for this initiative have been provided by the HeadStart programme. We are the only Grammar School in the Canterbury District to be chosen for this initiative, which aims to support young people by developing their skills of resilience and perseverance as they take the steps into young adulthood. The Wellbeing room is a specialist room developed and led by our Deputy Senco, Ms Hewlett, which provides a space within school for students to relax and discuss any issues, including strategies to move forward. There are plans in place for the next academic year to provide lunchtime mindfulness sessions for students, and for our 50 trained peer mentors to be available for drop in sessions during break and lunch. We are very proud to be part of this initiative to ensure our students mental wellbeing is supported, to ensure they become successful young adults. The School and its students have excelled again at a variety of extra-curricular opportunities. For instance, students’ performances in the Spring Concert were outstanding – the show put everyone in the right frame of mind for Easter. Some of the individual performances were exceptional, especially those taking part in the Barton Court Young Musician of the Year competition. Students of History and Politics were treated to a visit from the MP for Canterbury in May. Rosie Duffield
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came into school to give an ‘Inspire Lecture’ regarding her career and to answer a range of questions from our well informed students regarding a range of topics such as Brexit and mental health. More recently we have seen a wonderful display of sporting prowess from our students on Sports Day – with several new school records being set in a range of disciplines . Huge congratulations go to Turing House for coming out at the end of a day of intense competition as overall Sport Day winners. This term we have also celebrated the successes of our students through Award Afternoons for Y7, 8, 9, 10 and 12 and just this week it was a real privilege for me to watch the first performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’. In 18 years of being in education this was easily one of the best school productions I have seen; the quality of acting, singing and musical accompaniment was exceptional – a huge well done to all students who took part and the Music, Drama, Art and Food Technology departments who all combined to such great effect. I would like to thank all staff for all their hard work, dedication and commitment this year. I would also like to thank all students for their hard work and for making Barton Court such a special place to teach and work and, lastly, thank you to parents/carers and Governors for their continual support of the School. I wish everyone all the best for the summer and in particular Y11 and Y13 students who will be hoping for success in their examination results in August. Mr I Macaulay Headteacher
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The Student Woman Drive in Black—Theatre Team Report Spanish Exchange Trip in November
Mrs Brown by Emily Allison
On March 2018, 30 students ranging from Year 8 to Year 11 travelled to Canterbury from Madrid, as part of a Spanish Exchange. This was the seventh time this successful partnership between Barton Court Grammar School and Institute Las Rozas took place. During the trip, each Spanish student stayed with an English student and their families which enabled them to live the British lifestyle and obviously practice their English. It was fantastic! As well as providing an amazing opportunity to spend time in Spain, the Spanish exchange offers the opportunity to spend time with your exchange in England. This involves a variety of activities facilitated by the school; this included a day in London and a day at Leeds castle in the snow! Both were a fun experience for us and the exchanges. As well as spending time in school with your exchange you also get the opportunity to spend time with them at home. This allows them to get to know you and British culture. You get to share
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everything with them from English food to your hobbies and interests. Overall students had a fantastic time. A lot of them were nervous to meet their exchanges again and it was clear that the Spaniards were also nervous to meet their families for the first time, but after the first day they all settled down and embraced the challenge of speaking Spanish/English whilst with their exchange families. The weather was a bit chilly but the Spanish students loved Leeds castle, which looked phenomenal covered in snow! It is wonderful experience to be able to share some of the experiences from your own life with an exchange who has little experience of English culture. Having an exchange partner come to England was a wonderful opportunity that was lots of fun and enriching for both of us involved.
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The Student Woman Drive in Black—Theatre Team Report Summer Recipes Trip in November
Mrs Brown by EmilyRobson Allison By Hannah
Baking is a great activity to do during the summer holidays! Here are some of our favourite recipes to make with friends.
Magic lemon pudding Serves 4. Prep time: 10 mins. Cook time: 35 mins. You will need: For the cake batter: 125g self-raising flour 100g caster sugar 1 lemon (zest only, use the juice in the sauce!) 120ml milk (warmed) 2 tablespoons butter (melted and mixed with the milk) For the sauce: 50g caster sugar 250 boiling water 120ml lemon juice (2-3 lemons) To serve: vanilla ice-cream icing sugar for sprinkling Method: 1) Preheat the oven to 180°C or 160°C fan oven. 2) Mix together the flour, caster sugar and lemon zest in a medium bowl. 3) Warm the milk, melt the butter and mix them together in a small bowl. 4) Pour the milk/butter mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until combined. 5) Empty the batter into a baking dish (1 large ramekin or 4 small ones work well).
6) Mix the sauce ingredients together, then carefully pour over the batter in the baking dish(es). Bake for about 35 minutes or until the top is golden brown and
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the sauce is starting to bubble around the sides. 7)Take out of the oven, then leave for about 15 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken. 8) (Optional) Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with vanilla ice-cream.
Easy iced coffee Serves 1. Prep time: 5 mins plus cooling. You will need: 150ml strong black coffee, or decaffeinated 100ml milk (cold) Ice cubes Maple syrup/other additions, such as caramel or chocolate sauce etc. Method: 1) Boil water and made the instant coffee (you might need to ask your parents or carers to help you), and allow to go completely cold (put it in the fridge to speed this step up!) 2) Pour the cold coffee into a blender, along with the milk and about 3 handfuls of ice. Add the maple syrup or other additions (if you’re using them), then blend until smooth and foamy. 3) Pour into a tall glass and serve.
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Famous Artists You’ve Never Heard Of By Chantelle Bond
Photography is something we see and use all the time to express our emotions and to convey information and ideas. It is used in the media and news, as well as being displayed on social media platforms, such as Instagram, by amateur photographers. The place we see the most intricate and elaborate photos, often as a result of a well thought out photoshoot, is in magazines. These can often showcase the glamorous side of the person or landscape that has been photographed, however it is important to remember that these are not an accurate depiction of real life as they often enhance the natural beauty and gloss over the flaws. The artists that take these photos often shy away from the limelight or they are not given credit for their work publically, which means that they are not very well known within the public general knowledge. In order to gain these talented artists some recognition, here, Clarion readers, is a list of photos so you can put a photo to a name. Annie Leibovitz: American portrait photographer Leibovitz has created work that generates cultural conversation, sparking a lot of outrage and controversy, as well as admiration. She was the first woman to hold an exhibit at Washington’s National Portrait gallery with her work being used on numerous album covers and magazines.
Caitlyn Jenner Vanity Fair cover 2015 Cover to showcase her transformation from Bruce to Caitlyn
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John Lennon and Yoko Ono 1980 Promotional cover shoot for their album, shot on the day he died
Les MisĂŠrables promotional poster 2012 Commissioned by Vogue to photograph all of the cast for the Les MisĂŠrables movie
Miley Cyrus portrait Vanity Fair 2008 The photo sparked controversy, saying that Leibovitz manipulated a 15 year old girl in order to sell magazines
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Steve McCurry: American photographer, freelancer and journalist McCurry’s work pans conflicts, vanishing cultures, ancient traditions and contemporary culture, whilst always retaining the human element. He has photographed many assignments for National Geographic and has been a member of Magnum, which is an international photographic cooperative, co-founded by Henri Cartier-Bresson (another understated famous photographer), for many years. He is one of the most respected and successful photographers of our time.
Afghan Girl, Peshawar, Pakistan 1984 The young Afghan refugee with the piercing green eyes that appeared on the cover of National Geographic for 17 years
Red Boy, Bombay, India, 1996 Celebrating the holi festival, a boy’s face is covered in red powder for the Ganesh festival, the festival of colours
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Boy in Mid-flight, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, 2007 Boy running down a colourful alleyway
Kuchi Nomads at Prayer, Kandahar, Afghanistan, 1992 Afghan nomads praying against a backdrop of a stunning sunset
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Guide to BCGS 6th Form By Amy Chrysostomou
A lot of people reading this article may be considering joining our 6th form here at BCGS. Therefore, I thought it would be a good idea to create a guide of essential top tips for all potential 6th form students. This is a list of things I wish I had been told before I started my A-levels. 1) Before starting in September, ensure you have all the essential stationary, but especially folders! I have found that filing all your work from the beginning of the year to the end inside a large folder, one for each subject, allows you to stay organized, and is good for revision purposes. 2) After each of your lessons, take 10 minutes during a free period to read over your notes, making sure you understand all of it. A-levels are a big step up from GCSE, so doing this will make sure you aren’t falling behind. 3) Make time for free time. It’s easy for work to pile up, so ensure you
are allocating time to hang out with friends and watch a good Netflix show. Mental health can be so easily ignored, so take some time away from the desk. Take at least an hour a day for this. 4) Ensure you are revising throughout the year, rather than the night
before an exam, due to the large amount of content involved in each test. 5) Choose subjects that are not only going to be useful for your future,
but also something that you will enjoy. It’s all good and well if you
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pick all the subjects that your mum wants you to pick, but if you know you won’t find them interesting, then you may not be able to get the grades as easily as if you were doing something you love. 6) On the other hand, you must also make sure your subjects will look
good on your university application, if this is what you’re thinking of doing after school. If you want to do medicine at university, then make sure you research which subjects universities are looking for in A-levels. 7) Finally, have fun, and work hard! These are your last years at school,
and maybe in education in general, so make sure you use them wisely.
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Top 12 Films You Must Watch By Amy Chrysostomou & Hannah Robson
1. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope Release date: 27 December 1977 (United Kingdom) Director: George Lucas
2. Pulp Fiction Release date: 21 October 1994 (United Kingdom) Director: Quentin Tarantino
3. Gremlins Release date: 7 December 1984 (United Kingdom) Director: Joe Dante
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4. The Truman Show Release date: 9 October 1998 (United Kingdom) Director: Peter Weir
5. Stranger than Fiction Release date: 1 December 2006 (United Kingdom) Director: Marc Forster
6. Hacksaw Ridge Initial release: 16 October 2016 (Australia) Director: Mel Gibson
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7. Toy Story Release date: 22 March 1996 (United Kingdom) Director: John Lasseter
8. The Dark Knight Release date: 21 July 2008 (United Kingdom) Director: Christopher Nolan
9. Titanic Release date: 23 January 1998 (United Kingdom) Director: James Cameron
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10. Roman Holiday Release date: 19 July 2013 (United Kingdom) Director: William Wyler
11. Black Panther Release date: 12 February 2018 (United Kingdom) Director: Ryan Coogler
12. The Sound of Music Release date: 29 March 1965 (United Kingdom) Director: Robert Wise
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Peer Mentoring By Amy Chrysostomou
This year we were given the opportunity to be a part of the HeadStart Phase 3 project, in which we are provided with training to become a peer mentor within the school community. This involves training in friendship skills, listening, communication, anti-bullying, self-esteem and confidentiality, in order to become comfortable in being a person to talk to and give advice to younger years when they are in need of extra support. It includes three hour long sessions during the school day, as well as top up sessions next year to ensure we continue to understand the responsibility of being a peer mentor. So far we have discussed the importance of confidentiality between the mentor and mentee, but also explored when talking to a teacher about your conversation with your mentee would be appropriate. We have even looked into more psychological aspects, some of which is included in the AQA specification, for example, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, as well as the importance of non-verbal cues.
I believe this is an amazing opportunity to be a part of, as not only does it encourage discussion between different years it also helps us to become more involved in the school community. In addition, it teaches some very useful skills to use in later life, from customer service in jobs, to those that are more psychology based. This is why, if you have the chance next year, I highly recommend taking part, as it is a great way to make the most out of the services the school offers. I look forward to continuing in my training, until I am ready to become a peer mentor.
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New Music Releases– Summer 2018 By Nicole Rumball and Eleanor Aylward
Jorja Smith- lost & found
Drake- Scorpion
Tom Grennan- Lighting Matches
Ariana Grande- Sweetener
Florence and the MachineHigh as Hope
The Carters- Everything is Love
The Kooks- let’s go sunshine
Panic! At The Disco- Pray for the Wicked
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A Controversial Leader By Hannah Robson
NOTE: Here is a personal opinion piece by one of our editors, that reflects her views, and, and by its very nature, acknowledges that the school is not directly endorsing this viewpoint. “When Mexico is sending its people, they’re not sending their best… They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.” This is a quote from US President Donald Trump. He was voted in for the Republican party and assumed office in January of 2017. He is a very controversial figure due to his activity on twitter and questionable and potentially racist beliefs, such as building a wall along the US/Mexico border which he “will make Mexico pay for”. Donald Trump is known for comments such as “laziness is a trait in the blacks” and “I’ve said if Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.” Some find it unbelievable that he was ever voted into the White House, let alone seen as a brilliant and successful leader. Due to freedom of speech in America, which “guarantees freedom of expression by prohibiting Congress from restricting the rights of individuals to speak freely”, meaning that it is a lot easier to say racist and offensive comments and get away with it. This therefore provides support for Donald Trump who believe that the “immigrants are stealing all their jobs” and so encourage him to build a wall that will “keep them out”. A recent event has caused an increase in controversy around the US President. His new immigration laws have created immigration camps, which many have likened to concentrations camps of the Holocaust.
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This policy separates children from their parents at the southern US border when the adults are arrested for crossing the border illegally, and so the children are held in the immigration camps whilst the adults are sent to jail. According to a Quinnipiac University national poll, 2 out of 3 voters oppose this separation. On June 28th, hundreds of thousands of marchers gathered in major cities and tiny towns across America. They were moved by accounts of children separated from their parents at the US-Mexico border, and so marched in protest at this. Trump has backed away from his “zero tolerance policy” which led officials to take more than 2,000 children from their parents, with most of them simply fleeing violence, war, persecution or economic collapse in their home countries. At the Boston rally, a Brazilian mother separated from her 10-year-old son spoke to the crowd: “We came to the United States seeking help, and we never imagined that this could happen. So I beg everyone, please release these children, give my son back to me.” Emotional stories such as these provided support for the end of Trump’s “zero tolerance policy”. Such an influential and important leader such as Donald Trump should unite a nation like America, not divide it. He should use his influence to change things for the better, rather than building a wall around his country and essentially is violating his community from the rest of the world and their problems. Trump has abused his position of power and expressed his offensive views to the rest his nation, and we should be wary of his intentions in case they go too far.
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Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Rehearsals are well under way for this year’s school production, ‘Joseph’, and we are all very excited to see the finished show when it is performed on the 10th-12th of July. Here are some sneak peeks into the rehearsals!
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Top 12 Books You Must Read By Amy Chrysostomou & Hannah Robson
The summer holidays are almost here, so we’ve compiled a reading list to help avoid the boredom that sometimes comes along with this long holiday.
The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde Originally published: 20 June 1890
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Originally published: 29 May 2003
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll Originally published: 26 November 1865
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The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien Originally published: 21 September 1937
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling Originally published: 8 July 1999
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Originally published: 11 July 1960
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The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Originally published:2005
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell Originally published: 8 June 1949
Animal Farm by George Orwell Originally published: 17 August 1945
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The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett Originally published: August 1911
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle Originally published: 14 October 1892
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins Originally published: 13 January 2015
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Enrichment Day 5– European Festivals BCGS is all about the education and experience of other cultures. Here is what the MFL department have been doing! The MFL department organised various sessions on European Festivals: French, German, Spanish, Italian and Albanian. We also had year 6 students from St Thomas’ Primary School coming to work with our year 7 and experience life at Barton Court. The enrichment day was really fun! Each country we learnt about had an activity based on foreign celebrations. I found this really great. We learnt about Italy, France, Spain and Albania. My personal favourite was the Italian celebration because we painted masks and I love the art we did. I had an amazing time and learnt a lot about countries and their festivals and celebrations. Imogen 7B During the enrichment day I had enjoyed all of the lessons as it was about festivals from different countries. The French festival was called le Poisson d’Avril and we created colourful fish then stuck them on the back of people. It was very funny. In Spanish, we did La Tomatina and we created posters on it with the use of a video for information. Then we did German and that was about Easter. We made Easter eggs that we coloured in. The last lesson that day was analysing the day where we summarised the day and chose our favourite session. Jessica McCully 7A Recently, my year group and I participated in many exciting activities based on languages festivities in our enrichment day. We did languages such as German, French, Spanish Italian and even Albanian. My personal favourite was probably the Spanish session, in which we learnt about the jolly festival of La Tomatina, which is a celebration that consists of people from across the world, coming together and united as one to complete an hour of tomato-throwing fun! I also enjoyed it most because I am most likely biased as I speak Spanish and have been learning for about 5 years. French was also pretty fun, as we learnt about the French equivalent of April’s fool (Poisson d’avril) where people stick fish on each other’s backs. Maddie Mclver 7G
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In the morning we had Spanish where we learnt about a festival called La Tomatina where lots of people come together and then trucks of tomatoes come through the streets and people all throw the tomatoes at each other. It was fun to watch, but it did look messy! I would not want to clean the streets after the event! Also we had French where we learnt about Poisson d’Avril which is a day like April’s Fool but they make fish and stick them on people’s backs. They also do pranks and tricks, which sometimes can be so mean! Later that day, we learnt about Albania and how to count up to 10 in the language. Learning about Albania’s culture was fun too! Overall, it was a great day and I am looking forward to doing it again as soon as possible!. Joe Hicks 7A
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Summer Games Here are some summer themed games to help test your knowledge and entertain you during the hot days! Summer quiz What is the name given to the longest day of the year? A: Summer Sunday B: Summer Solstice C: Summer Scorcher Which of these is NOT a summer fruit? A: Gooseberries B: Bananas C: Strawberries What does SPF stand for in sun cream – which you have to wear when it’s hot? A: Sun Protection Factor B: Sun Pouring Foam C: Strong Protection Factor Which of these is NOT a slang word for barbecue? A: BBQ B: Beebee C: Barbie 5. A 4. B 3. A 2. B 1. B ANSWERS
2006 had the hottest summer on record in the UK. True or false? A: True B: False
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Summer Themed Word Search
BEACH BEACHBALL FLIPFLOPS FLOWERS HOT
PICNIC SUN SUNCREAM SUNGLASSES
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Korean Lessons The MFL department has been very lucky to be able to have four South Korean teachers at Barton Court for two weeks. Our year 8 students have been taught some Korean and have learnt about Korean culture. It was great to see the students enjoying a game of Yutnori, learning how to use chopsticks properly, playing gongginori and being able to sing along to some K-Pop songs with the famous BTS band. It was definitely a successful experience for our students, but also for the teachers.
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Clarion Sports Reports By Mr Hellyar Sports is also a big part of the BCGS community. Here, Mr Hellyar has sent in some of the latest achievements. Congratulations to everyone who took part in these games!
Year 7 Basketball This year the basketball players won several matches in a tightly contested district league. Each match that was played enabled the boys to develop their individual and team skills, where the need to switch from attack to defence quickly and efficiently proved to be crucial. In the latter matches and tournaments, the boys showed much enthusiasm and a desire to make a difference when they had the ball, maintaining possession and not allowing many turnovers. The next season, when some of them will increase in height and athletic ability will enable them to develop tactics and team plays effectively. This will allow the boys to build on the successes from this year and learn from where they were struggling to cope with individual players or team skills that were difficult to overcome. Year 7 Softball This year, despite losing all of the matches, the skill development and team play has come on leaps and bounds. This was a new sport for all of the players this year and being able to compete whilst batting and fielding has taken dedication, patience and understanding of the complex tactics and skills that will help them be successful next year. I have been extremely impressed by the positive attitude that was shown and in each game, there were episodes of outstanding play. Moving forward, I hope that the numbers remain high next year and that with further practice in all of the individual and team skills, that a successful series of matches will be possible in Year 8. Thank you for an enjoyable season.
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Year 8 Football In the second phase of the season, the team enjoyed a successful run in the district cup, with an extra time win against The Abbey School. This showed a real team effort, where resilience and patience were required to progress to the semi-final. In the next match, a narrow defeat against SLBS ended the cup run, but all of the boys were very proud of what they achieved and it ensured that the season did end on a somewhat positive note. Well done in the cup this year and take this success into next year. Year 9 Rugby The rugby season was to some degree blighted by the snow, poor weather and opposition being unable to field a team. The district tournament proved that there are some talented players in the team, exhibiting a subtle combination of power, pace and skill on the pitch. I was very impressed to see how the players gelled quickly and were supportive of each other when on possession, retaining the ball. But, more importantly, the tenacity that they showed when in defence was commendable. The tackles were well timed, effective and at times, fully committed. Next year, there will be the further development in rugby, culminating in some county wide festivals and the possibility of taking part in the National U15 cup.
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Duke of Edinburgh’s Award By Mr Hellyar
This year we have had in excess of 65 students take part in their Bronze level of the Award. Students have been working on their individual sections, focussing on volunteering, skills, physical and also building up their map work, navigation and camp craft skills. The expeditions have been highly rewarding and the students have conducted themselves in an exemplary manner. The practice expeditions were based around Blean Woods to the north pf Canterbury for one group and between Chilham and Westwell fort the other group. So far we have had a very successful assessed expedition where all students passed with flying colours. The Assessors were full of praise and have requested that they be allowed to come back next year as they were so impressed with Barton Court students. The remaining assessed expedition is currently in the planning stages and will be conducted in mid-October near Cranbrook, where we will be using The Swattenden Centre as our starting base camp. I am looking forward to seeing all of the students once again, pass all elements of this section and I hope that this will be the final piece in the puzzle for them to complete the Bronze Award. We are expecting to have nearly 50 students complete the Bronze level by the end of October. This year we have seen staff volunteers rise from just me to a whole team. This has certainly helped with the planning and organisation of each and every expedition. In particular I would like to thank Miss Mitch who has stepped up and has been available throughout the year to support both myself and the students, where her expertise has been invaluable. I hope that the numbers of staff getting involved will increase further next year as we build larger numbers into Silver.
Things are looking very bright for the D of E Award at Barton Court, as we now have our own operating licence and have already got over 50 students signed up to start their Bronze level, with more to recruit in October.
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Year 7 Sports By Mr Lintott Here are some more of the BCGS sports successes , from Mr Lintott. See page 34 for even more celebrations of sporting successes. Well done everyone! Rugby-Year 7 Boys The year 7 boys played 5 fixtures against local schools in February 2018. Before we started these fixtures, we played in the local district tournament at Canterbury Rugby Club. Each game played was highly competitive with some great skills show and a good team ethic. From our 5 matches, we finished with a record of 4 wins and only one loss. This meant that we were the winners of the tournament overall! .The boys played games against the Abbey School, Canterbury Academy, Sittingbourne Community College and Archbishops. The boys had an impressive record of 5 wins from 5 games, the games were well contested on the whole and the games were played in good spirit. The two stand out games were against Archbishops and Canterbury Academy, where we gave an excellent team performances. In the Archbishops games we went past the 50 point mark for scoring and in the Canterbury Academy game we won a tighter affair and got some revenge for our defeat against them in the tournament earlier in the year. It was also nice to see that the team were really starting to gel together and this bodes well for the future. Year 7 will have gained a lot of confidence from this success and their performances have shown that we can do well in competitions next year. Year 7 Boys Football Following the district league competition earlier in the year, where we competed against the local schools. The boys represented the school in the District Knockout Cup. In the round 1 , we were drawn against Spires, we won convincingly , 5-0. It was even more encouraging that we played some super football and shared the goals around several players in the team. This very encouraging performance in the first season of the knockout competition gave the team a very positive approach to our quarter final game v Canterbury Academy. We started the game brightly, but unfortunately conceded against the run of play via set piece. Canterbury were lifted by this and soon went 2-0 up. This did not phase the team and we managed to pull back into the game, by scoring a well worked team goal. The second half proved to be a tight affair, but Canterbury’s ability to be clinical in front of goa, proved the difference between the sides. Canterbury eventually won the game 4-2, but again ,some encouraging signs for next year, especially as Canterbury eventually got to the final of the competition. I am looking forward to seeing how the boys perform for the school next year and building on the success that the team have had in the knockout cup. Watch this space!
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Sports Update By Mrs Nuttall
Here is even more sports news from Mrs Nuttall. The district cross country championships in December are always a very competitive and hard fought event with a 32 strong team representing the school. This year saw six students go on to represent Canterbury at the County championships in January.
The girls football teams continued to show the strong form they hit in term 1 as March saw some strong victories for the under 14 girls team against QE , Canterbury Academy and Abbey. The girls finished the season unbeaten. This is a fantastic achievement as we fielded a very young team throughout the season. Well done to Morgan Wicks for a fanastic season in goal, which was rewarded with county trials at the end of the season.
The girls teams competed well in district basketball fixtures at under 14 and under 16 level. The stand out player of the season was hot shot Ella Woodin who scored lay ups for fun. It is not surprise she has gone on to represent the district team. Ella was supported ably by a mixture of year 9 and 10 students as the under 16 team went unbeaten in winning the under 16 district tournament.
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The girls netball season came to an end with the annual district tournaments in March for year 7, 8 and 9 teams at QE in Faversham. We were able to field strong teams in all year groups and finished in the top half for all competitions. The year 9 team showed most promise, with some energetic and committed performances throughout the team leading to a top 3 finish. The summer terms are dominated by athletics, rounders and softball. For the first time this year the school competed under the Barton Blaze identity in the local softball league. This is an exciting opportunity for students as we look to develop our boys teams in softball. The girls have had continued success in rounders, with strong performances in the local league and an excellent 2nd place in the year 10 girls district tournament. This was eclipsed however by the year 9 team who managed to go one better and get revenge on SLGS for a narrow defeat in last years tournament. The girls went unbeaten in the tournament, beating SLGS 7.5 to 3.5 in the final with a comprehensive fielding and batting display. Well done to the girls for a fantastic season.
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The athletics season always brings outstanding performances and this year has been no different. Strong performances all season were followed up with a fantastic 2nd place overall in the District Athletics Championships. 3 students were also crowned district champions in their events. Year 7 also showed they have potential for the future with an impressive second place for the boys at the Super 8’s competition. Leading the way in athletics we have had 3 outstanding athletes who represented Canterbury District at the Kent Athletics Championships in June, with one students clocking 11.36 on his way to 3rd place in Kent in the 100m.
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MFL Club By Gracie Murray
This year at the beginning of Term 3, Mr Wilcock introduced a new club called the Modern Foreign Language Club. It takes place every Wednesday lunchtime in Room 34. We have found out about many fun yet educational things, such as Korean, Gaelic, and how many fashionistas go over the top with different styles all over the world. We have also done fun presentations and shared our own knowledge of other cultures. I did a presentation with Ewan Gubb all about birthday traditions in Germany, and another group presented their love of K Pop to the group. Over the past few terms, we have gained many members. Lately we have been designing and making outfits out of leftover plastic bags, sequins and pipe cleaners. The club has given use the opportunity to learn and teach others about cultures from all over the world, and to learn some different languages too! What I would like to see more of are songs, as well as multilingual cats, as they are enjoyable and can make everyone laugh! Next year, why don’t YOU join MFL CLUB!
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Under 15s rugby – Kent cup By Mr White After their success in the shield competition as under 14s Barton Court were seeded for the Cup competition a year later as under 15s. This placed Barton Court in the established schools category and meant they would be playing against the top rugby schools from Kent. Barton Court were given a tough group with last season’s 7-a-side Cup runners up Ravenswood, 15-a-side trophy winners Skinners, independent and boarding schools Colfe’s and Cranbrook, and St Olave’s, a school who have recently made it to the final of the National Cup.
In a group where every game was competitive and anyone seemed capable of beating anyone, Barton Court got off to an excellent start by beating Colfe’s 26-12. Following this, Barton Court were on the wrong end of some very close matches against Skinners, Cranbrook and St Olave’s, requiring a win in their last match to stand any chance of progressing to the quarter finals. Barton Court saved their best performance until last, winning 22-15 against Ravenswood with two excellent second half tries, meaning they finished third in their group overall. Barton Court were then compared to Langley Park and Simon Langton as the 3rd placed teams from each group, with the top two of these given quarter final places. Unfortunately, although Barton Court scored 11 tries compared to Langley Park’s 9, Langley Park took the final quarter final spot with an average try per game ratio of 2.25 compared to Barton Court’s 2.2. The boys performed exceptionally well throughout the day and should be very proud of their efforts. Other members of staff and coaches were very complimentary of the boys performances throughout the day, particularly as this is only the second year Barton Court have been involved in such established competitions. The success of this squad was celebrated with 4 of the squad successfully being selected for the Kent under 16s squad for next season.
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Under 13s rugby – Kent cup and district league
By Mr White
With the Year 10s narrowly missing out on a quarter final spot, it was the Year 8s turn who travelled to Sir Joseph Williamson’s Mathematics School for the under 13 Kent Sevens. To be more in keeping with the spirit of age grade rugby, as intended by the RFU, teams were split into 5 groups of 6 teams for this event with all matches being group games and no quarter finals or semi -finals. Barton Court had a very good day, winning all 5 of their group games to finish the day unbeaten and topped their group. The boys defended extremely well in all games and showed excellent attacking flair to score a number of tries across the tournament. It was also very pleasing to see the team develop in their understanding of the Sevens game match by match. The team took this form into the district league where they won the Canterbury 10s tournament and had an unbeaten season in the 15 a side league. This included a comprehensive 22 try to nil match against Archbishops. The success of this team was celebrated with 4 of the squad nominated for Kent trials. Hopefully, the team will continue to develop into Year 9 where they will be competing in the Kent Cup and in a comprehensive fixture list against schools from across Kent.
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Year 12 Geography Field Trips By Ryan Keeler
As part of the A-level Geography curriculum, students are required to carry out coursework which involves 4 compulsory field trips, 3 of which are done as a class, the other being independent. The places we have visited this year was Canterbury high-street, Wye village and Herne Bay. The purpose of these field trips is to gain practical skills involved in data collection in field work that we can apply to the rest of the course and use to write our coursework. Data collection is an important part of the coursework as it collects a primary source of information that can be linked directly to the topic that we are investigating as our chosen subject. This data can back up our ideas and support our arguments within the investigation into the topic we have chosen. The first day was Canterbury, where we investigated the relationship between environmental quality and distance from the central business district (CBD), looked at the pattern of land use and examined variations in footfall throughout the CBD. We walked along a transect from one end of the town to the other, stopping at regular intervals to take footfall surveys, monitor noise levels and assess the retail quality, using a predetermined rank of different shop types. We took environmental quality surveys along 4 different transects off of the main high-street to see the effect of distance from the central business district on the quality of the area. This can be done by scoring the different factors of the area on a scale from 1-10; the higher the score, the better the environmental quality. We also used methods to investigate the pattern of land use in Canterbury, such as the RICE POTS model, which allowed us to compare how the land is used in varying parts of the high-street and how this changes the further away from the centre it is. In this way, we could examine how the dynamic of a city works and the way in which the city varies in different areas. It was also useful to do this in an area that we are familiar with so that we can understand it better and apply it to a broader setting.
45 The second day was in Wye, in which we examined the challenges faced in rural communities, looked for evidence of community engagement and studied the land-use and the influence of pressures to develop the village. One method of investigation we used was a questionnaire, asking a few local businesses about their experiences with trading in Wye. This gave us an indication of the struggles people can face with living in rural environments but also the benefits to local businesses at different times of the year. The RICEPOTS model was used again to look at how the land is used in the village, allowing us to compare this rural setting to the urban city of Canterbury, which we studied before. To gain an understanding of the level of engagement within Wye, we looked at notice boards and adverts in shop windows to see what events were happening in the village. We found a lot of different events by many organisations targeting varying groups of people, which indicates that there is a strong community feel in Wye and that there are a lot of centripetal forces present. The final activity we did was re-photography, in which we had to locate old photos of certain areas and take a new photograph of it to see how it has changed and if the use of that area has developed over time.
The final day was in Herne Bay and was a look into physical geography. The aim was to look at how different methods of coastal management, namely groynes, affect coastal processes. We did this by examining sediment sizes and shapes along different parts of the beach, drawing a field sketch to show the visual impacts and creating a beach profile. We walked along a transect from one end of the beach to the other, stopping at 5 different sites to measure each factor, gaining quantitative and qualitative data. One of the methods we used to create the beach profile was measuring the gradient of the beach using a transect from the foreshore to the backshore of the littoral cell. This allowed us to examine the impact of groynes on the beach gradient and morphology. By carrying out this practical field world, we were able to get a first-hand look into the impacts of coastal management and the pros and cons that are visible as a consequence of them being put in place. It allowed us to see the real impact that human intervention has on the natural world, especially in a context of something such as erosion that is of rising concern due to global warming.
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Language Ambassadors 2017-2018
By Mr Luret
This summer the MFL Language Ambassadors have been busy planning and preparing language sessions to deliver to local primary school students. Last year our students went to St Peter’s Methodist Primary School and it was a huge success. The primary pupils all joined in and it was really fun! Due to popular demand, St Peter’s has asked that we go back again this year. We have also been asked to visit St Thomas’ Catholic Primary School. With support from Miss Croft, we have been planning and delivering our own sessions in French, Spanish and German. We were all nervous initially last year, but the lessons went well and we cannot wait to teach at more primary events this year. Our sessions are engaging with lots of games and fun activities. We teach the basics such as greetings, colours, animals, and the alphabet. What’s next? Next autumn, Miss Croft will be offering a Language Leadership Award to students who particularly enjoy languages, or would like to gain experience teaching other students. The programme will help students to develop leadership skills, grow in confidence and enhance future careers. See Miss Croft in room 30 from September for more information.
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Maths Achievements Mr Tsafaras
We also have some achievements in maths that we would like to celebrate. After Roseanna Temple’s outstanding performance in the British Mathematical Olympiad as well as the Girls British Mathematical Olympiad, and Sinclair Perry’s top results in the Intermediate Maths Challenge and the Maths Kangaroo, it was the younger students’ turn. Pupils at Barton Court achieved 4 gold, 14 silver and 22 bronze medals in this year’s UKMT Junior Maths Challenge. Over 260,000 pupils from across the UK sat the Junior Maths Challenge with roughly the top 6% receiving a gold certificate, the next 13% silver and the next 21% bronze. Both Ismail Ibrahim and Thomas Nolan from Year 8, achieved the top scores in the school and a gold medal. Lachie McCarthy and William Richard also achieved a gold medal. Particularly successful was the participation of the Year 7 students, such as Madeleine McIver and Esme Woolrich-Burt, who achieved a Bronze medal and a higher score than most Year 8 students. Congratulations to all the students who took part and achieved those excellent and very promising results.
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The Year 8 Newsletter Explained
By Alfred Kirchin
This year, some of the younger years decided to get involved with The Clarion. Alfred Kirchin has created a Year 8 Newsletter to help convey the latest news within BCGS and around the world: The year 8 newsletter is a sub-division of the main body of the clarion and was fun to write and, hopefully will be fun to read. Myself and my wonderful team want to help make sure that the classes can stay up to date with all the latest news and help make people aware of some of the best headlines that are in today’s world of sport and fashion. I would really like to thank my sports correspondent who put together some magnificent articles to engage the class. I can’t thank them enough for helping me make my project possible and for putting in the time and energy to keep the students up to date. Our plans for the future are to try and expand into other years to help others stay well informed with regular news updates. One of my favourite articles was the question and answer with teachers, as the people that we interviewed gave us some very informative answers. Q+A with Miss Wharton
Q+A with Miss Barnett
What was life like at Primary School?
What was life like at Primary School?
Primary school was a fun experience for me and less stressful than secondary. This inspired me to become a teacher.
I loved all of primary school, I learnt to swim and we had a special club for fun
How would you have made your primary school better? I would have more circle time and rewards. I would also have different teachers for different subjects. What do you like about Barton Court? The staff are always friendly and cooperative and the students are always funny.
How would you have made your primary school better? A big comfort reading corner. What do you like about Barton Court? I love how polite the staff and pupils are, the friendly atmosphere and the enthusiasm for learning.
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BCGS’ Gifted and Talented Celebration Evening
By Miss Moody
On the 5th of July, A Gifted and Talented evening was held in which students presented their projects that they had been working on based on a subject they enjoy and celebrated each others, and Ms Moody has written us an article about this special evening. The recent Gifted and Talented evening was a great success. Not only due to the fantastic support for our talented students, but the students themselves with their extremely impressive achievements and projects. We began the evening with the awards from the ‘Talented’ subject teachers where Mrs Nutall (Sports), Mr Turner (Art), Miss Wilde (Drama) and Ms Fenn (Music) presented their prizes to the very deserving students in their subject area. These students have shown so much potential, diligence, and perseverance in a wide range of fields. I’ll be the first to say that the number of talented students in our school is simply mind-blowing and I would love to congratulate them on their amazing achievements. After receiving their rewards, we made our way to the new atrium where extra exhibits and live performances were available to see – even a sneak peek at the recent musical production ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’! On show, there were many stunning art projects, music and dance films, sporting celebrities and impromptu drama performances, which certainly took me by surprise! Another core part of the evening were our students’ fantastic renaissance projects. To us here at Barton Court, the renaissance project is a re-birth, a flourishing of mind and spirit, an intellectual pursuit. The students chose a line of inquiry of their own interest and over the past few months, have been researching, thinking and creatively collating their findings to display
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at the Gifted and Talented evening. The variety of projects was simply amazing to see- ranging from research into the psychological impact of social media on young people, to the moral dilemmas explored within Marvel films. Some students even created accompanying films for the Renaissance Projects, which were viewed after a maths room was transformed into the Barton Court Cinema! The renaissance project was an opportunity for not only intellectual, but personal growth, and a chance to develop an eclectic collection of skills from self-motivated learning to thinking imaginatively, not to mention the role it may play in helping to shape our student’s future aspirations both academically and in life beyond! This year we were extremely proud of all of the students who have not only worked to the absolute best of their ability all year, but who also made the effort to prepare for, perform at and help host the evening in which over a hundred and twenty parents attended. It was extraordinary to see what is normally a Maths Atrium, transformed into a theatre and gallery filled with laughter, joy and a truly genuine celebration of learning, in all its many shapes and forms. Barton Court truly has some gifted and talented students.
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Stigmas Involved with Certain Music
By Shea Boyle
Shea Boyle is one of our highest achievers in the music department here at Barton Court. He decided to write an article informing us of some of the stigmas involved with certain music genres. The music industry is currently the largest it’s ever been. New artists are born every day and thousands of songs are released every day, so it goes without saying that a large variety of genres and styles of music are explored. However, not all of these genres are received and perceived in the same way: a lot of music nowadays has a stigma attached to it. I’m going to explain stigmas involved with 6 different genres of music and why these genres each have their own reasons to be appreciated.
1. Hip-Hop In recent years, Hip-Hop or Rap music has begun dominating the charts in western countries. Although the general perception of Rap music has improved as its popularity has risen, there is still a negative view regarding it, stemming from its origins. Hip-Hop originated in New York in the 1970s: it developed from African-American and Caribbean youth cultures. The youth would use music as an outlet for their disadvantaged situations, often including a political or social message in their words. Over time, a stigma developed around Hip-Hop due to its political nature and often aggressive sound. However, I believe that it is exactly these features that make Hip-Hop so engaging. Although this genre has recently developed a more boastful and drama-fuelled side, the core of Hip-Hop music includes some of the most emotionally-driven lyrics and strong messages found in music. These strong lyrics, combined with a catchy and ingenious accompanying beat, are a recipe for a genre of music well worth checking out.
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2. K-Pop A dominant genre in the East, K-Pop is a genre with a rising popularity in the West. However, because K-Pop is predominantly sung in Korean, it is met with a xenophobic attitude by many in the West. The heavy focus on visual/ appearance and dance choreography is often seen as feminine or cringe-worthy by many; however, these aspects are some of the most charming features of BTS - arguably the most popular K-Pop group of K-Pop. If people were not too quick to recent times dismiss this genre, learning about its immersive and expansive culture could be illuminating for many. 3. ‘Classical’ Classical as a genre refers to music specifically from the Classical period. However, the term ‘Classical’ is often used to refer to music that sounds like it is from a bygone era (for example someone could call a piece of music from the Romantic period ‘Classical’). ‘Classical’ music is often dismissed as outdated, boring and samey. Although this may seem the case, some of the most complex and encapsulating pieces of music are ‘Classical’ works. Beautiful melodies and ingenious harmonic movement found in such pieces create powerful impressions that can completely mesmerize a listener. 4. Punk Punk or Punk-rock music, along with a whole range of related genres (such as: Emo, Screamo, Hardcore, Alternative rock, etc…), is seen as an aggressive and sad genre that is only listened to by social rejects and teens that are ‘going through a phase’. This stigma prevents many from exploring a new world of music that contains some of the most powerful lyrics and exciting instrumentals. Artists of this genre tend to be those that are least afraid to address controversial topics, most commonly mental health. This is a genre in which people can find topics that they can relate to and lyrics that can provide them with comfort.
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5. Electronic /EDM Perhaps the genre most affected by the stigma involved with it, Electronic music is a vast genre that has the potential to become the future of music. The use of exciting new technology by highly skilled producers results in a world of inspiring, exciting and immersive music that ranges from something you dance to in a club to something that strikes you deep into your soul. Negative ideas of Electronic music include people thinking that it is just incoherent machine noise (which can only result from either ignorance or just personal preference of different timbres) and, more popularly, people thinking that it requires no skill since there is a lack of ‘real’ instruments. This could not be more wrong, since professional EDM producers need to have mastered an incredibly large skillset (from sound design to mixing to mastering to equalisation to… you get the idea). Although there is no physical aspect to it, proficient use and skill with a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation [music software]) requires a great level of skill that is at least on par with playing an instrument, if not much higher. 6. Pop Even though this genre gets its name from its success: Popular Music – it still receives heavy scrutiny by many, and there is a stigma involved with it where elitists and people who believe they are interesting for disliking something that is popular think that Pop music is just uninspired, generic trash. Artists of the Pop genre (or, in many cases, their producers) are masters of finding winning formulas for songs that entertain the masses. They are highly skilled at creating songs that are enjoyable for the majority, something that artists of other genres have clearly struggled to do (evident in the lack of success of those genres relative to Pop). Things become generic because they follow a winning formula, which is often true for Pop music, so they may seem uninspired when in fact they can be the exact opposite. So go on, ditch your biases and prejudices and take a plunge into the unknown. A whole world of possibilities awaits. If you don’t like the new sounds, that’s fine. Just don’t blindly dismiss them – or be prejudiced towards them.
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The Staff Drive Team By Mr Duran
Mr Duran is a part of The Staff Drive Team and has written an article about the work they do as a team, as well as giving the opportunity for others to sign up, if they wish to join! Our staff drive team members have a whole-school commitment to help the school and its wider community develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes, values and practices needed to carry on providing learning opportunities to learning community. Barton Court recognises that effective leadership depends on the principles of collegiality. All teachers have opportunities to be leaders and further develop this as part of our Staff drive team. Teachers lead learning for, and with, all learners with whom they engage. They also work with, and support the development of, colleagues and other partners. This year, we have been very successful delivering continues development training, working towards the new challenges that represents maintaining and further developing our Advanced Thinking School status as well as organising primary visits, training to parents and supporting practitioners across the trust. We welcomed several new team members; Miss Wharton in charge of Philosophy for children, Miss Moody providing extra learning opportunities to our gifted and talented students, Mr Wilcock a very enthusiastic MFL teacher and we will like to welcome more practitioners next academic year. There is no recipe with a list of ingredients and simple steps, no detailed blueprint for schools to follow for success. However, with the help of Barton Court teachers we can develop and implement new strategies to carry on providing amazing learning opportunities to our school. If you have the skills, interest and willingness to be part of our Staff Drive team, please do not hesitate in contact us, we are always excited to welcome new members.
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This Year in Thinking Schools By George Lynch
The past year has been an eventful year for BCGS and the Student Drive Team. In this article, George Lynch is going to briefly update you on what the Drive Team has been doing over the past academic year. The main achievement to be noted is the accreditation of the ‘Advanced Thinking School’ status. This status could not have been done by ourselves; cooperation and enthusiasm from teachers and students was needed in order to achieve the status. However, this was not the Drive Team’s immediate goal. We knew the status existed, however we were more focused on tailoring the learning environment and the ways in which students learn at Barton Court to the student’s desires. To be accredited with this status along the way was a definite bonus, showing that the work the Student Drive Team was putting into the school was not going to waste. As a Drive Team we are fully aware that students joining our school in year 7 may not be aware of the tools we use to learn. Due to this, the Drive Team organised primary school visits to two primary schools in order to expose younger students to the tools we use so that if they do decide to attend Barton Court for their secondary education, they have experienced the tools briefly before meaning they are not completely foreign. We offered two workshops this year and will be looking at expanding the idea for next year; with the aim being to visit more primary schools which will create the opportunity for more students to work with primary school students.
Next, there have been two main ‘reflective’ projects carried out by (and in partnership) with the Student Drive Team this past academic year. The first is that the team moved onto Phase 2 of the learning journal. In brief, the learning journal is a way for students to reflect on lessons, and see what
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tools are and aren’t being used. Starting another phase allows us to see how and what tools are currently being used within Barton Court. As a team we then take this data and plan any necessary steps in order to alter how tools may be used throughout the school (for example). The result of this second phase was that students felt they were spoilt for choice in terms of what tools they had to use and were often unsure on what tool to use for a specific task; since there were multiple which the student could use for that one application. Next year the Drive Teams will be focusing on how we use the Hats and Maps to help with our learning. The second main ‘reflective’ project was done in partnership with the Student Drive Team; this project being cognitive research. As a Drive Team, we are working with a Cambridge University PhD student who is investigating the effect that thinking tools actually have on students learning. Members of the Drive Team were interviewed in order to aid the research, and a catch up interview is to be scheduled for the next academic year. Finally, the main active project the Drive Team has is the new BCGS learner profile. In summary, the Drive Team are developing a new ‘learner profile’ that’s is student centred. For more information on the development of the profile, see the development article that is present in this same issue of Clarion. The Drive Team are excited for what the next year holds, with the prospect of a phase 3 of the learning journal and developments in our partnered cognitive research, now supported by a wave of enthusiastic year 7/8 students who have recently joined the team.
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The New BCGS Learner Profile By George Lynch
As stated in the “This Year in Thinking Schools” article, the Drive Team have finished the year with the development of the new BCGS Learner Profile. In this article, I will be guiding you through the development of the profile.
Stage 1: The first stage was, as a team, to draft up some initial ideas. As shown below, we drafted numerous ideas in the initial meeting. The first idea was to turn our profile into an iceberg. This was to convey the message to BCGS students that achievement academically takes extra effort outside of schools ours. Moreover, this principle of extra hours to achieve is transferable to every extra/super activity along with life in general. However, in terms of an image that can be pasted onto school documents, we felt this design would seem out of place. The second idea was to re-design the existing Barton Court tree. The aim of the design was to portray the idea of a ‘growing learner’, with either the roots or apples containing the attributes a growing learner would want to obtain. Although, we were concerned with the available space there would be for the attributes to be displayed in.
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Next, the idea of a rain cloud raining key attributes of a learner was conceptualised. Generally, rain clouds are related to gloomy or dull weather and sad/dark moods so as a team we discarded the idea. The following idea was to implement a ladder of success as the BCGS Learner Profile. As shown to the left, the intention of the ladder was clear, however the way in which attributes would be formatted wasn’t. As a result, the idea was succeeded with the following, and chosen idea. The final, and chosen, idea was to implement the Barton Court door logo into the design. The basis of the design was to implement the key attributes a flexible learner would (desirably) have into the bricks surrounding the Barton Court door. On the door itself the four key attributes we considered were needed to be a flexible learner were each inserted to a pane of the door. Due to the room for development that this design gave the drive team, along with the fact we feel it portrays a clear message in terms of what the key attributes for a flexible learner are, we chose this idea and moved onto stage 2. Stage 2/3 With the basic design chosen, the team focussed on evaluating the design in more depth; mainly in terms of aesthetic and approachability. We needed to design a profile that was easy to insert into PowerPoint presentations and displays that still portrayed the desired message we had in mind. As shown by the scan of a development sheet, on paper we considered both the positives and negatives of the initial design along with alterations we wanted to make. The result of the initial in depth evaluation revealed that the team wanted the BCGS door to have success written across it, the attributes to be restricted to the bricks surrounding the door, and the school moto to be present above the door. After this initial evaluation, the process of re-designing and re-evaluating continued until it got to its current stage of making a few alterations until we have reached our final design. Stage 4 Sadly, the BCGS Learner Profile will not be released this academic year. The scheduled reveal is September 2018; the start of the next academic year. Finally, special thanks goes out to all the staff and students who have helped the drive team develop the profile. Most notably, Georgie Veni and Daisy Purcell who helped design the final profile itself.
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Year 5 Enrichment Evenings Over the course of the year our staff and students have been running subject sessions with primary school students. These sessions are incredibly popular and cover almost every subject we offer at Barton Court. Below are a sample of some of the sessions we have run this year: Music ’Y5 students enjoyed an enrichment session ran by the music department, exploring ‘shortage’ instruments such as the trumpet, trombone and oboe, demonstrating their (excellent) vocal skills and creating a whole group performance of the popular piece ’Tequila’. Ms Fenn English To commemorate 100 years since the end of World War One, students compared a patriotic poem, "The Soldier" by Rupert Brooke from 1914, with an anti-war poem, "The Hero" by Siegfried Sassoon from 1918. They started with discussing images from the War, a bit of history, and were shown a short film of a Barton Court trip to the Somme and they then used double bubble maps to compare the poems. Mr Hodgkins and Miss Moody
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P.E In the PE Enrichment afternoon students got to experience a secondary school Physical Education lesson through the sport of handball. Students completed activities focusing on specific skills, demonstrated their creative ability to outwit opponents, and developed their teamwork and co-operation skills before applying these to conditioned games. Mr White Mathematics Every year the maths department is excited to welcome Year 5 students from our local primary schools. During this session the students will solve codes using symbols, apply frequency analysis to break a code and de-crypt a message using a substitution cipher. A session not to be missed. Mr Duran
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Student Drive Team By George Lynch
The Student Drive Team at Barton Court have been working very hard this year, as we say good bye and thank you to students that are leaving the school, I would like to thank Jack Wellard, Melanie Hoare, Ella Williams and Juliette Adams. Jack and Melanie have been drive team members since we first started our journey to becoming a Thinking School back in 2012. So a huge thank you from me and all the staff you have supported over the years with your work in the Drive Team. If you would like to find out more about what the Drive Team do, or would be interested in joining us in September, please speak to one of the team or myself. Or you can email me at nharvey@bartoncourt.org As some students leave us, new ones join. So it is my great pleasure to introduce you to our new Student Drive team. Our new Student Drive Team:
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World Languages Day By Mr Wilcock
On Tuesday 26th June, eighteen year 8 students went to the University of Kent for World Languages Day. The day was to celebrate the exemplary efforts of students in French and Spanish throughout this academic year. The day began with an exciting Spanish lecture about the science behind water in different states. This was followed by an amazing range of varied language and cultural workshops featuring French and Spanish, as well as African drumming, La Rueda dancing and Russian. All of the Barton Court students took part in the sessions with enthusiasm and clearly had a fantastic time. At lunch time students had the opportunity to attend the World Fayre, and they picked up some free gifts, as long as they asked for items in a foreign language! One student commented that ‘we had a really fun time, and the sessions helped us to enjoy languages in a different way!” Prize winners are soon to be confirmed by University of Kent, and I have already been told there are likely to be many… We cannot wait to go back next year!
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Forthcoming Events
10th July Sports Day
10-12th July School Production 16th July The Start Of Enrichment Week 20th July The End Of Enrichment Week 20th July
The Last Day Of The Summer Term