Clifton High School Highlights
Clifton Highlights Issue 9
March 2015
Issue 9, March 2015
Spring has sprung... The Spring Term has arrived at Clifton High School and the whole school has enjoyed a multitude of academic, sporting and extra-curricular activities. Clifton High shone in the academic league tables, and not only this but so much went on beyond the classroom. We began the term in January with the Clifton High School Ski Team having just returned from a successful ski tour to Les Deux Alpes in France, where one of our Year 11s, Lia, gained a top twenty result in her race! We begin the new half term with our Senior netball and cricket teams returning from a fantastic sports tour to Barbados, where they not only won many of their matches but also had many enriching opportunities to take part in activities around the island including a Jeep safari and a boat trip. The younger children have also enjoyed varied educational visits, to Forest School, Tyntesfield House and Cadbury World to name but a few. Our Year 6 boys and girls also treated the Nursery and Junior School pupils to an allsinging, all-dancing performance of the musical Ye-Ha! which was also enjoyed by friends and family.
Inside this issue:
Academic Excellence
Sports Tours
Year 6 Play Ye-Ha!
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Charity Events
ECO-PHOTO Competition
Clifton High School Highlights
Issue 9
March 2015
Academic Excellence! Clifton High Shines in League Tables We are in the:Top 3 schools in Bristol for GCSE results Top 3 independent day schools in Bristol for A level results At the end of January the Department of Education released its performance figures for secondary schools in England for the 2013/2014 academic year and we are delighted with our performance. Clifton High School has been listed as the second best school in Bristol for GCSE results. 88% of our pupils achieve 5+ A*- C GCSEs including English and Mathematics. We are also listed as the second best independent day school in Bristol for A level results. We are delighted with these results which once again provide evidence that the Diamond Model of education really does work.
Sports Tours Les Deux Alpes The Clifton High School ski team began their training at Mendip Outdoor Centre a year ago, and this winter they had the chance to hone their skills further on the slopes at the Independent Schools Ski and Snowboard Championships in Les Deux Alpes, France. 180 competitors of a very high standard took part in the event and the chance to ski competitively enhanced their team spirit and increased their confidence in their skiing ability. Lia from Year 11 gained a particularly impressive top twenty result in her race.
Barbados Clifton High’s netball and cricket teams have enjoyed a fantastic sports tour to Barbados. Matches played included wins from our Senior netball and cricket teams, a draw from our Junior netball team and a lot of extremely close matches. The boys and girls also had a chance to explore the island between their fixtures and took part in a range of exciting activities including a jeep safari and a boat trip.
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Clifton High School Highlights
Issue 9
March 2015
New Pre-School Class Our Nursery Class is now full until September 2015 and a new Pre-School Class has been introduced to cater for our expanding Nursery School. We opened the doors of our new Pre-School Class in January and the boys and girls have been settling in well. The younger children continue to enjoy their Nursery Class, with the Pre-School Class proving very popular especially with those children who will be progressing into Reception this September. The indoor and outdoor facilities are excellent and the children are thoroughly enjoying the new space.
Reception Experience Sessions The staff and children in the Early Years Department have been busy this term welcoming prospective parents and children into the school. We have held four Reception Experience Sessions over the past months, many of which have been fully booked. The Reception Experience Sessions have been attended by children who may join the Reception Class in September including our own Pre -School boys and girls. All our visitors received the warmest of welcomes and have been encouraged to join in with a number of activities including planting bulbs to keep and grow at home. The children also enjoyed a music workshop with Mr Cleaver, undertook construction tasks and had the opportunity to meet the Reception teachers and teaching assistants. The Nursery School and Reception Open Morning will take place on Thursday 23rd April. Please contact Mrs Johnson, Admissions Registrar, on 0117 933 9087 or admissions@cliftonhigh.bristol.sch.uk if you would like to book a place.
...Year 1 Explore Forces Year 1 have thoroughly enjoyed learning about natural forces. They made kites in their lessons to explore the topic in a practical way. The children enjoyed flying their kites outside in their playground to see how the force of the wind acted on their creations. Learning by doing is both enjoyable and effective!
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Clifton High School Highlights
Learning Experiences Year 1 Tyntesfield The theme for learning in Year 1 this term has been ‘Toys Past and Present’.
Issue 9
March 2015
Year 3-6 Athletics Congratulations to all our Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 girls who took part in the Sports Hall Athletics competition at Red Maid’s school. There was a huge level of energy, determination and enthusiasm shown by all competitors with particular congratulations going to Gabby, Greer, Tilly and Ines for all coming 1st in their individual events.
The boys and girls visited Tyntesfield Estate to explore toys of the past in a wonderful educational workshop. They saw the children’s room and the nursery, played with historic wooden toys and couldn’t believe that on Sundays children had to play quietly all day long! Year 1 also learnt that the servants’ children enjoyed playing marbles, OXO and hopscotch. Year 1 Toy Sale As a PSHCE project the children brought their unwanted toys from home to sell to the Reception Classes. Everyone had to work collaboratively to decide which toys should be the cheapest (20p) and which should be the most expensive (£1). The event was marketed by publicity posters drawn by the children and they learnt about coin values and giving change in a practical way. Year 1 raised a fantastic £57 with which they are going to adopt an endangered tiger from the World Wildlife Fund. Year 3 ’Big Cats’ Topic Year 3 have been studying Big Cats in their Topic lessons and Teeth in Science. Year 3 attended a workshop on Food, Fangs and Molars and a talk about lions at Bristol Zoo as part of these studies. The children examined skulls and had to look at their teeth to decide whether the animals were herbivores, carnivores or omnivores. They also looked at animals’ diets and, if they were brave enough, held some animals including a hissing cockroach!
Year 3-6 Cadbury World Years 3 to 6 enjoyed an exciting trip to Cadbury World as part of their Education Alive programme. The children listened to an educational talk - ‘From Bean to Bar,’ and also had a tour around Cadbury World. Year 4-8 Gymnastics Years 4-8 have been impressing Mrs Williams with their hard work perfecting their balancing skills in gymnastics. Here are some of their fantastic balances.
Year 5 Mathematics Challenge Year 5 took part in a mathematics challenge at Bristol Grammar School. The competition was split into two groups of roughly thirty teams each. Henry Wilkinson and Fergus McVeigh came in the top ten of their group (7th out of 30) and Megan Hornung and Tom Rayson came in the top twenty (14th out of 29). Congratulations to you all!
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Clifton High School Highlights Year 7-8 Netball The teams played Red Maid’s in what proved to be a very tough encounter. They learned a great deal from their experience. The Year 8 A team fought particularly admirably against an excellent squad and despite going a few goals down early in the match, they held their heads high and persevered, showing true potential and building their performance level in each successive quarter. They took the lead with just minutes to go. However, the final result, an excellent and well deserved draw, proved that both teams were equally well matched. Well done! Year 7-9 Author Visit Bristol-based author Tracy Alexander visited School to talk to Years 7-9 about her latest book Hacked and about careers in writing. Tracy successfully involved the pupils in exploring how to write a book; stimulating lots of questions and laughter, and inspired boys and girls to read and write more.
Issue 9
March 2015
Having toured and visited Barbados eight times in his career, David gave first hand advice to the boys about their Barbados tour! He advised on how to deal with the tropical conditions and the types of pitches to expect.
Being British The Junior School boys and girls have been learning about what it is to be British in their lessons. They were asked to think about the things which made them British and they created wonderful pieces of work in their learning logs documenting their ideas. Some of the children suggested our government was part of their ‘Britishness’, others suggested cultural diversity, some suggested language and some even suggested food—the full English breakfast!
Year 9 Flying Start The Flying Start challenge aims to teach pupils about basic engineering concepts and interest them in the aviation industry. Congratulations to the Year 9 team who have got through to the national finals, which will be held at Fleet Air Museum in Somerset, with their glider design! The team got through two rounds of heats to reach the final. Senior School Cricket David Graveney OBE came into school to pay a visit to the Senior boys cricketers. He is a leading figure in English Cricket, former chairman of the England test selectors, a first-class batsman and left arm spinner who represented Gloucestershire, Somerset and Durham.
Head Boy and Head Girl Announced Congratulations to Thomas James and Martha Loach who have been announced as Head Boy and Head Girl for the coming year. The Deputies in Dr Neill’s new team will be Catherine Allin, Joshua Bishop, Nadia Clutterbuck and Eliza Raffle. Well done to you all!
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Clifton High School Highlights
Issue 9
March 2015
...House Charity Week Winkworth and Wollaston’s House Charity Week saw a variety of activities take place, raising £432 in total for the House charities and winning the pupils points for their Houses. Following House Charity Week the current House points totals stand at:-
Charity Tuck Sale and Walk...
House Points Wollaston
3095
Percival and Winkworth
2578
Pears
2436
Events included charity bingo, a coin race, a cake sale and the annual House Pancake Race. The pancake race took place in the Main Hall as sadly the English wet weather got in the way of racing outdoors as usual!
Pupils, parents and staff together have raised over £5000 for Penny Brohn Cancer Care via a tuck sale and a sponsored walk in aid of the charity, which is based in Pill just outside of Bristol. Many congratulations to Sam in Year 4, who had the amazing idea to organise the tuck sale with his friends. The tuck sale helped as an extra contribution to the funds raised from the parents and teachers’ twelve mile sponsored walk from Bristol to Pill. The children’s tuck sale took place both during break time and after school and raised an impressive £323.23 for this worthy cause.
Winners of the Junior House Pancake Race Winkworth Winners of the Senior House Pancake Race Wollaston Winners of the House Coin Race Wollaston
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Clifton High School Highlights
Issue 9
March 2015
Ye-Ha! for Year 6 Just before the February half term break, Year 6 impressed both an audience of Nursery School to Year 5 pupils and staff, and an audience of friends and family, with their performance of the musical Ye-Ha!. The humorous story of ‘Splodge City’ was enjoyed by all. Their sense of enthusiasm and excitement was palpable during the evening performance, permeating the Main Hall whereafter the pupils and their families went home relieved, delighted and euphoric in equal measure. The boys and girls have written about their experiences, and their accounts are on display outside the Year 6 classrooms; please take a look. Year 6 worked extremely hard and would like to thank all involved with Ye-Ha! – staff, parents, relatives and each other, for making this cooperative venture such a success.
ECO-PHOTO Competition A photography competition is taking place for all budding (and practising!) wildlife photographers in the Clifton High School community. The competition is being run by Clifton High’s Lead Specialist on Photography and the Environment, Mr Walmsley, and there are a variety of prizes on offer! To download a pdf of the full competition details including age groups, subject categories, submission details, rules and prizes visit the Clifton High School website and search ‘Eco Photo’. Eco issues are important to us at Clifton High and we currently hold the Silver Eco Schools award. Our pupil-driven Eco Committee is currently working very hard to implement an improved recycling scheme across the school so we can gain the prestigious Green Flag award - the highest accolade that the Eco Schools scheme offers. We are proud of our environmental activity and hope you will be eager to get involved with this new opportunity.
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Clifton High School Highlights
Issue 9
Welcome to New Parents! The Parent’s Association organised a Coffee Morning to welcome new parents to the Clifton High School community and it was a great success. New families had the opportunity to meet existing parents from across the school, and found out more about our school from the parent community. Their next event will be a quiz night.
March 2015
Don’t forget…. Friday 6th March PA Quiz Night Tuesday 10th—Monday 16th March Book Week Tuesday 10th March Futures and Skills Evening Friday 13th March Red Nose Day Monday 16th March Clifton Residents Parking Scheme Introduced Tuesday 17th March Spring Concert Thursday 19th—Sunday 22nd March Food and Nutrition/German Visit to Vienna Friday 20th March Nursery Experience Session End of Season Rugby Awards Evening Monday 23rd March School Discos Tuesday 24th March Term Ends Year 11 Prom
Contact us: Tel: 0117 973 0201 Email: enquiries@cliftonhigh.bristol.sch.uk To report an absence: absence@cliftonhigh.bristol.sch.uk
www.cliftonhigh.bristol.sch.uk 8
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