The College Mathematics Society is going extremely well, with talks from pupils, members of staff and external speakers. The highlight of the pupil presentations was a talk by Chuen Leik Low (L6, Xt) on artificial intelligence and the impact of technology on our lives. Special thanks must go to the outgoing president, Dmitrii Usynin (U6, NH), who did an excellent job of promoting the society and Mathematics in general; the way that he encouraged the younger members of College to become involved was particularly impressive. The relatively new Computer Programming Monday Activity was very successful, with pupils working on a variety of different problems. Those who were relatively new to programming were learning to program with Python. They used their new skills to write games such as Guess the Number, Hangman, and Battleships. The more advanced programmers took on their own challenges, including writing a simulation of the Monty Hall problem to present at Mathematics Society. Another group of five worked with a representative of the company Raytheon UK in building and programming a cube of LEDs so that patterns and letters could be displayed. Mr Jonathan Card left College for a position at Malvern College after an outstanding seven years of service. He is replaced by Dr Victoria Hawkins who is at the very start of what I am sure will be a very successful career in teaching.
Dr Brendan Enright
MFL Department The summer of 2016 marks an important point for Cheltonian linguists, not only due to the European Union referendum, but also as the end of another successful academic year in the Modern Languages Department.
Our Upper Sixth students have accepted offers at top Russell Group Universities to study a range of courses from Modern Languages and History at Durham University to Philosophy and French at the University of Bristol. Illustrating the breadth of interests of our linguists, other courses chosen by Cheltonians include: Hispanic Studies at the University of Kent; Linguistics at UCL; and French and Film at the University of Manchester. The academic year started with a number of Modern Languages Society meetings aimed at enriching pupils’ learning and extending the breadth of their cultural knowledge. Third Form pupils enjoyed the showing of the film Les Choristes and Sixth Form students were French, Spanish and German detectives hunting the murderer in the MFL Murder Mystery evening. In order to extend our pupils’ academic breadth, 10 Fifth Form and Lower Sixth Form students tested their language skills in the extremely demanding advanced rounds of the UK Linguistics Olympiad competition, in which pupils are required to get to grips with complex and unfamiliar languages by using their understanding of language structure. For instance, this year, pupils had to spot patterns and answer language questions in a range of languages such as Estonian, Kaqchikel, Somali, Nhanda and Nung! Commendably, two of our candidates achieved the bronze award, placing them in the top 20% nationally in this tough linguistic competition. Our Sixth Form students also attended lectures on A Level topics (‘Le multiculturalisme en France’, ‘La desigualdad en España; las mujeres y los jóvenes’, ‘Das Leben junger Leute in Deutschland’) at the University of Bristol.
a number of Prep School Taster Days, running sessions on beginners’ Spanish and Italian, and French poetry! At Easter, pupils studying German welcomed their exchange partners from Berlin, and, in the last week of the Summer Term, Third Form pupils visited Salamanca. In addition, two Lower Sixth pupils, Kiana McDonald (L6, W) and Polina Kulish (L6, Ch) were awarded Calvert Memorial Scholarships to undertake a research project in their country of study. Over the summer a number of pupils will be attending language schools or going on exchanges of their own. This year we said goodbye to Mr Duncan Byrne, Senior Master, French and German teacher, and great linguist, who left Cheltenham College to take up the Headship of Loughborough Grammar School. We also said goodbye to our fantastic Spanish Language Assistant, Miss Cristina Hernandez-Moscoso, who has moved on to new challenges. We look forward to the opportunities that the new academic year 2016‑17 will bring, and in particular to welcoming our new Head of French, Mr Ben Page, who joins us from Cranleigh School.
ACADEMIC
some fascinating areas such as game theory in military warfare, decision-making and the probability of getting into top universities. It was a wide-ranging and excellent talk that was enjoyed by all.
Mrs Ester Leach
Our pupils also enjoyed a fantastic ‘Languages in Journalism’ workshop with Chris Dennis, a sports broadcast journalist. The pupils had a chance to consider the advantages of being fluent in a modern foreign language when considering a career in journalism, and were able to practise some of the techniques used in reporting. In addition, our pupils attended our Languages in Careers Speed Dating evening. At this event, our pupils talked to professionals in a wide range of jobs and industries, all of whom had in common their use of a variety of languages at work. We have also played an active role in
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