Abbey Gate College Broadsheet Summer 2022

BROADSHEET

Summer 2022

Infant and Junior School News - P7

WW1 Battlefields Excursion - P27

Nature Watch - P17

Also in this issue:

ISI Inspection College Music STEM Olympiad Athletics Competitions Fond Farewells Young Writers

JUNIOR LAKE DISTRICT RESIDENTIAL! After a long hiatus caused by the pandemic, our Junior pupils FINALLY made it to the Lake District for their long awaited residential trip - this time a whole four days of action packed fun!

Of all the challenges that were to reveal themselves on a residential of this nature: abseiling from dizzying heights; scrambling down through treacherous torrents of water; navigating rampaging rapids sat in a ‘doughnut’; traversing the cavernous walls of Honister Mine, the flimsy umbilical cable the difference between safety and certain doom, who would have imaged that the most physically difficult and mentally challenging task would be their first... putting on the bed sheet (it even had elasticated corners!), the pillowcase and finally, and most hilariously, the duvet cover!

Oh, how they struggled without an App or YouTube video to guide them in the absence of parents. We would have helped them had we not been busy taking photographic evidence.

We arrived at lunchtime. By nightfall, the beds were made!

The last time the Infant and Junior school enjoyed a residential was in 2019!

As a result of COVID, our year 3, 4 and 5 children had never been away from school with their peers, and the difference those lost years made was so evident; the importance and value of residential visits throughout the juniors, plain to see.

This was initially illustrated by a lack of resilience, perseverance and confidence towards the unknown, as well as worried little minds at bedtime, but was soon replaced with youthful exuberance and a more carefree - less serious - take on the whole experience, allowing themselves to take risks in a controlled environment, with people who care for them and look out for them - not family, but friends, teachers and instructors outside of, and away from the enforced 'bubbles' of the COVID years.

With the new, post-pandemic, dawn came an unexpected change - Glaramara, our residential and activity provider for over 20 years, were unfortunately no longer providing for school groups...

NATURE WATCH We are very fortunate to have a school that not only has gardens rich in beautiful trees and flowers plus a cast of thousands of resident birds, squirrels and other wildlife, that is also surrounded by beautiful countryside.

As such, we have an active interest in the wildlife that visits our grounds and surrounds when we are not here to observe them, with wildlife cameras in operation.

It was a wonderful moment, when checking the recorded footage to see a lovely otter, bold as brass, caught on camera!

Pupils across the College share this enthusiasm for our school environs, and this also transfers outside the classroom.

Mrs Sanders recently ran a College wide ‘Nature Watch’ photography competition, with almost 200 entries from pupils from all age groups. Mrs Sanders said of the competition: ‘Thank you to everybody who took part in the ‘Nature Watch’ photography competition. It has been a wonderful competition to run, and a real pleasure to receive and look through all the entries which ranged from wonderful coastal shots through to simple but elegant grasses and bracken. Narrowing to a winner has been incredibly difficult!‘ The three finalists were: Xander Veal, (Year 9) Bradley Cliffe, (Year 8) Caelyn O’Keefe, (J6).

The overall winner was Xander’s stunningly beautiful depiction of a flower.

Calen, J6

Xander, Y9

Bradley, Y8

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