King Edward VI Camp Hill Boys N e w s l e t t e r
A message from the headmaster Mike Roden
Contents - Aerospace Challenge 2009 - Battlefields Trip 2009 - Bavaria - Careers - Chess - Kenilworth Castle - Prestatyn - House Reports - Sports Summary - ...and much more!
As another incredibly busy and successful year at Camp Hill draws to a close I am writing to wish all members of the Camp Hill community a happy and restful summer holiday. I have immensely enjoyed my first year as Headmaster and I feel proud to lead what is a remarkable educational institution. In the last end of term newsletter for the year which accompanies this letter, it is clear that, in spite of the break in school routine imposed by external and internal examinations, it has still been an action-packed summer term. The term began with the OFSTED Inspection but the school quickly returned to its normal pattern and once again the boys have taken full advantage of the many extra-curricular opportunities on offer. The school hosted the annual athletics fixture in Solihull and it was amazing to see nearly three-quarters of the teaching staff there officiating the many events. Trips have taken place at half-term to the World War One Battlefields in Northern France and Belgium, Year Sevens have visited St Malo, there has been the Bavaria home stay, the work experience trip to Frankfurt, the trip and presentation to the German Engineers Forum (also in Frankfurt) and, in the penultimate week of term, Mrs Balkham will be leading a large party on the ‘full’ day trip to Boulogne. In addition a number of boys are looking forward to the visit to the Czech Republic at the end of July. This is on top of the Senior Music Concert, the Summer Soiree and, of course, the staff CHAOS production. I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the boys to thank the teaching and support staff at Camp Hill who do so much to make this a vibrant and interesting place to be. When I interviewed the Upper Sixth in May, just before they went on exam leave, they were fullsome in their praise for the school. They talked passionately about the significant contribution it has made to their lives over the last seven years. I would like to wish all of the boys who have sat GCSE, AS and A Level papers this summer every success. I’m sure they will be rewarded for their efforts in August. In the West Midlands Athletics Championships Camp Hill Boys athletes performed extremely well. Our congratulations go to Umar Ahmed (Y7 – 1st in Discus and 2nd in Javelin), Nick Wilson (Y9 – 1st in the Hurdles) and Rajan Bhambra (Y11 – 2nd in the Discus). In cricket the U15 XI reached the semi-final stage of the Birmingham Cup Competition. Asim Shoaib (Y10) and Mustafa Chaudhry (Y7) have been selected to represent Warwickshire. In the recent House competition Adersh Saravanaa took five wickets in five balls for Howard against Seymour ! I am delighted to report that following the success of Joht Chandon being awarded a prestigious Arkwright Scholarship in 2008, Philip Williams (Y11) has achieved the same feat for 2009 (winners must study Mathematics and preferably Design Technology in the Sixth Form). As I reported last term the Junior Team Mathematics Challenge squad won the Regional Final and thus qualified for the National Finals. They came a very creditable 18th out of seventy schools. Thanks to all their teachers for their work in preparing them for the events and especially to Mr Bruten for his expertise and time in providing this wonderful opportunity for them to compete with the very brightest students in the country.
M
n e d o .R
Aerospace Challenge 2009 I am delighted to report that we have a team entry short listed for the 2009 Schools Aerospace Challenge. King Edward’s V1 Camp Hill School for Boys was joint winner in 2008 of this prestigious industry and MoD sponsored competition which is promoted to raise awareness of career opportunities in UK Aerospace Engineering. This year’s entrants have to offer a design concept to overcome the challenging problem of air dropping humanitarian supplies from 3000m to an accuracy of 20m.
To support our initial thinking in response to this problem, I arranged a visit for the whole group to the British Army air re supply unit at RAF Lynham on 3 March, where the boys were given a technical briefing on the current and future parachute delivery systems by army specialists and an RAF C130 pilot. My sincere thanks go to Major Le Mesurier of 47 Air Dispatch Squadron R.L.C. for his interest and support in our little enterprise. Well, something clearly worked for the “Condors” team; Mehul Rana, Guy Morton and Ben Hunt, who, on the basis of their entry, may now be considered for the August residential course at Cranfield University. Well done guys. CJ
Battlefields Trip I am delighted to report that we have a team entry short listed for the 2009 Schools Aerospace Challenge. King Edward’s V1 Camp Hill School for Boys was joint winner in 2008 of this prestigious industry and MoD sponsored competition which is promoted to raise awareness of career opportunities in UK Aerospace Engineering. This year’s entrants have to offer a design concept to overcome the challenging problem of air dropping humanitarian supplies from 3000m to an accuracy of 20m. To support our initial thinking in response to this problem, I arranged a visit for the whole group to the British Army air re supply unit at RAF Lynham on 3 March, where the boys were given a technical briefing on the current and future parachute delivery systems by army specialists and an RAF C130 pilot. My sincere thanks go to Major Le Mesurier of 47 Air Dispatch Squadron R.L.C. for his interest and support in our little enterprise. Well, something clearly worked for the “Condors” team; Mehul Rana, Guy Morton and Ben Hunt, who, on the basis of their entry, may now be considered for the August residential course at Cranfield University. Well done guys. CJ
Prestatyn Trip
June. It was time for Year 8 to venture to North Wales again! With the rest of the school settling down to a week of exams, 89 Year 8 pupils and accompanying staff began the annual pilgrimage to Prestatyn for four days of outdoor pursuits at Plas Y Brenin, castle visits, Geography and Biology fieldwork and evenings of football, cricket, swimming, snooker. As usual, the boys were fine ambassadors for Camp Hill, attracting praise for their behaviour and attitude wherever they went, even on Thursday when hectic daytime schedules and late nights had begun to take effect! Prestatyn 2009 was the year of the ‘flying visit’. Mr Phipps accompanied the party on the first two days, but an evening’s football with the boys on Monday did for him and he returned to school to rest his aching limbs. Much to the bemusement of a group of Year 8’s returning from the early morning breakfast on Tuesday morning, Mr Roden appeared having made a very early start from Birmingham to join us ‘on holiday.’ Mrs Morris braved Network Rail to arrive on Wednesday evening and remained for the rest of the week, but the briefest stay was Mr Rogers who arrived after school on Tuesday, delivered various exam papers and then left in a flash. Mr Nash, Mr Duncan, Mr Jackson, Mr May, Mr Caves, Mr Watkins and Dr White stayed the whole week and as always, I am sure that the boys will join me in thanking them for giving up their time during the week. Without their annual commitment a trip
Kenilworth Castle
On 17 June all Year 7 students took part in a visit to Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire. We were unlucky to select the only rainy day in mid-June but it did not prevent us from being able to discover the ways in which castles could be attacked and defended, how people used to live in castles and how they developed over time. Highlights of the visit included a strenuous hike around the outside of the curtain wall under the careful guidance of English Heritage staff and using a large model of the area to show how Kenilworth Castle developed over the course of the Middle Ages. The visit has provided a focus for project work in the classroom allowing students to use their hands-on experience to inform their presentations.