News@Cam July 2019

www.cambournevc.org

The Magazine of Cambourne Village College https://www.facebook.com/CambourneVC

ISSUE 18, SUMMER 2019 @Cambournevc

NEWS CAM

Year 11 bow out — Page 3

‘Legend’ moves on!

CAMBOURNE VILLAGE COLLEGE

Many parents and pupils of CamVC will be sad to hear that Sean Sumner, Deputy Principal at the College since our opening in 2013, is taking up a full-time position working for The Cam Academy Trust from September 2019.

He will be Director of Trust IT Strategy, and will no longer be based at the College.

The good news is that we will continue to see Sean as a regular visitor to the College, as he works closely with all staff on our implementation of the exciting new iPad initiative, among other IT developments.

The College owes a great deal to Sean. As the only Deputy Head Teacher when CamVC first opened, Sean established and implemented many of the features that continue to be strengths of the College today.

His rigorous approach to behaviour management was quickly understood, but many staff members, pupils and PEDALLING TO PASTURES NEW: Sean Sumner is going to work full-time for The parents have also benefitted from the friendly advice and Cam Academy Trust guidance he has shared across the years.

Sean has led the Trust in its adoption of forward-looking IT, on DofE expeditions. and his expertise in this field was behind the excellent IT facilities we have always Over the past year, Sean has already spent several days a week already working enjoyed at CamVC as well as, more recently, in the strong networks which enable for the Trust, and Miss Philippa Boyns has been appointed as Pastoral Deputy to staff across the Trust to share resources for the benefit of all our pupils. continue Sean’s enthusiasm for cycling is widely known, and is another area of expertise in his footsteps here. and enthusiasm he has shared with many pupils; he will have lost count of the We are sad to lose one of Cam VC’s ‘legends’ — but very happy that we will number of running repairs to pupils’ bikes that he’s carried out since we opened continue to benefit from his expertise and to see him regularly in school.

— or of the number of overnight camps that he has supervised at Beaumanor or Claire Coates, Principal

Amazing art goes on show

On 9th June we proudly opened up our second GCSE Art and Photography exhibition for visitors.

Work by 85 Year 11 pupils was on show, all of which was highly personal and ranging in theme, content and processes.

Ollie and Patrick from Year 9 kindly played piano for the entire evening, an impressive two-hour marathon — thank you boys!

The turnout and support was amazing!

Many staff members, parents and some ex-pupils attended the event.

Mark Yeates, Head of Art

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

q Year 11 say Goodbye — 3 q Girls out to Bridge Gap — 4 q AI is Shaping Law — 4 q New Garden taking Root — 5 q Spotlight on History — 6-7 q Talks Continue to Inspire — 8 q Bringing Bard’s Work to Life — 8 2

q Spanish Trip was Great — 9 q Second Leg just as Fun — 9 q Learning Across the Miles — 9 q CamVC’s Ambassador — 9 q Matilda is a real hit! — 9 q Trust News — 10 q Sport — 11-12

INCREDIBLE WORK: On show at the Year 11 Art and Photography exhibition.

CAMBOURNE VILLAGE COLLEGE

Year 11 say goodbye

UNMISSABLE EVENING: Year 11 turned out in force for their prom at the Quy Mill Hotel, where they walked down a red carpet into the event.

On Friday 21 June, Yr 11 bade their last farewells to Cambourne Village College.

Exams and coursework were finally over, the prospect of their longest-ever summer holiday stretched ahead, and Year 11 assembled in the Orange Wing for the last time.

Hoodies and yearbooks distributed, many parents arrived for the most formal part of the day, the ‘Leavers Assembly’.

Nostalgia reigned as the head prefects gave an excellent summary of the years passed together at CamVC, and Dr Kueh put in a surprise appearance alongside the other staff members who have been Heads of Year for this cohort, Miss Boyns, Mrs Durrant and Mr Knightley.

With video appearances from Miss Cameron and Mr Jenner, and from past pupils, this was a ‘bitter-sweet’ occasion, with sadness at leaving old friends alongside excitement at the Post-16 phase ahead, and pride at the many awards given.

The informal part of the day followed, with the much anticipated ‘Leavers Video’ featuring all the year group and most of the staff, and ‘silly’ awards for the cohort’s ‘characters’, followed by a barbeque lunch and bouncy castle.

Judging by the resplendence of the outfits at the Quy Mill Hotel later, most of the afternoon was spent in dressing for the great occasion of the day, the Leavers’ Prom. With Year 11 unrecognisably glamorous, the beautiful grounds were enjoyed, supper eaten, photos taken and the dance floor thronged as even the teachers joined in strutting their stuff.

Thanks to the Yearbook and Prom Prefect teams, to Mr Knightley and Mrs Loveridge for the huge amount of work that went into creating such a memorable day — and farewell, Year 11.

We look forward to seeing you in August to celebrate your GCSE results, and to hearing all your news in the future as you take your many wonderful talents out into the world beyond CamVC. We will miss you.

Claire Coates, Principal

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CAMBOURNE VILLAGE COLLEGE

Girls out to bridge gap PLANNING AND PRESENTING: The Cambourne students at the apprentice-style bridge-building challenge.

Ahead of International Women’s Day, six Year 9 students went to the AMEY recycling centre in Milton Keynes for an all-girls Apprentice-style challenge to encourage more girls to take up STEM subjects.

The day was introduced by a short talk where our design brief was first introduced to us: to plan, design and make a scale model of a new bridge in Eastham to replace the one which had fallen down.

An architect from AMEY took us through the different types of bridges and their pros and cons; things we needed to consider in terms of design constraints and the different people with varying areas of expertise who could help us.

Guiding us through the day were: a project manager (which our group was lucky enough to be paired with), an environmental specialist, two architects and a finance expert, whose roles we would have to fulfil as we designed our bridge.

We began brainstorming ideas in individual rooms with our teachers and the expert we had been paired with. Our priority was deciding the type of bridge we wanted to design and why that bridge was most suited to the task — eventually our group decided on the beam and slab bridge.

It was the simplest of the designs because we thought that a really complicated and architecturally challenging bridge would not fit in with the surrounding rural area, would not be financially worth it, and it could cause many further problems

AI is shaping law

A group of Year 10s trialled a new workshop on artificial intelligence and the law. The session was created by Young Citizens to give students the opportunity to consider technological advancement over the last 50 years, and how this has made it necessary for the law to constantly evolve to deal with the new capabilities of AI. Students began by discussing how technology has changed and then brainstorming the different products and services that have developed as a result of this, many of which are examples of artificial intelligence.

They then debated the benefits and challenges of AI before going on to explore some recent legal cases. The scenarios included the news story that Facebook data from people who took part in a personality quiz was sold to Cambridge Analytica, who used this information without permission to help political campaigns, including the Brexit referendum campaign.

Students reflected on the ethics of each situation before learning about the laws surrounding these cases – including how they have caused the law to change. Finally, students considered the challenges of using the law to monitor the use of AI and started to think about additional ways of regulating technology.

Overall, it was a really interesting session, giving students a greater understanding of laws about the use of technology, and the opportunity to reflect on the benefits and challenges of the legal system.

CamVC was very lucky to be asked to pilot the workshop, and we look forward to running more Young Citizens events in the future.

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when the build was under way.

We then spent the rest of the morning collating a rough design of our bridge, an estimate of a budget and the environmental, financial and health and safety benefits of our design which we would then pitch to the professional architect.

After lunch, each group received collective feedback from the architect in response to our initial pitches in front of the other schools which we took on board to try and improve our design.

For the rest of the afternoon, we worked on perfecting the design of our bridge, our individual speeches where we explained how the bridge met the needs of our design brief and also the final pitch, which we would present to all the schools.

During our pitch, we all made sure that we spoke surely and confidently — selling our design by justifying every design feature and how it met the specifications of the village, the environment, the financial requirements and the judges who were representatives from the local council and AMEY. Despite doing the best we could in our speech, we unfortunately didn’t secure first place. However, we absolutely loved the experience and thoroughly enjoyed being able to encounter all various aspects of the design world: from actually designing to project managing and pitching.

It stands us in good stead going into GCSE DT and engineering next year and we are very much looking forward to it, even more now we have had this opportunity.

Natty (9R)

Tea unites groups

TEA AND TALK: For young and old.

This term saw the return of the Cambourne Village College intergenerational afternoon tea.

In May, the students hosted the senior citizens of the Cambourne community in an event organised by the school council.

The guests were welcomed to a 50s themed set-up and the school jazz band played a range of classic pieces that got toes tapping. Some piano performances transported our guests back in time. Smiles, tears and joy spread throughout the hall.

As well as this, the food was made by the students. Cakes, flapjacks, pizzas and brownies were just some of the items on offer.

The students not only organised the event, but also presented and attended to the guests. Conversations were rife, ranging from the 50s to common hobbies between the young and old.

Overall, this was an excellent opportunity for two distinct parts of society to get to know each other; something, that isn’t often possible.

New garden taking root

CAMBOURNE VILLAGE COLLEGE

With the current building extensions at Cambourne Village College, our current polytunnel has been required to change location.

Simultaneously, we were challenged by the South Cambridgeshire Police Constabulary to use an unused parcel of land within the grounds to create a sensory garden for the school and its community.

We were also given some funding by Cambridge Water to encourage us all to be more environmentally conscious and increase biodiversity within Cambourne.

Both opportunities have enabled the whole school to be involved in creating a new sensory garden for everyone.

Our project aim is to not only to create a place which can unite the community of Cambourne Village College, but also to provide a sanctuary and learning space where pupils can feel safe and enjoy the beauty of the natural world.

“We went to the polytunnel and picked some nasturtiums and strawberries. We offered Mr Sumner a strawberry — he said he was going to ‘dunk it in his tea’! This made us all laugh. We also gave some of the members of school support staff a chance to try the nasturtiums. The flowers tasted very peppery.” Jorja, Year 8

We would like to create a space where we can increase biodiversity and apply permacultural practices where possible. We would like to grow produce for different departments of the school (dye for paints for DT and Art; produce for chef in the school canteen so he can use the fresh and organic ingredients for our snacks and lunch; herbs and ingredients for cooking and to be used by students and staff; food for the bearded dragon in our science department and many more).

The sensory garden project is a great opportunity for the school to come together as one and mix with different year groups and make new friends. It has also given us opportunities to look at garden design and horticulture and at the beauty of nature, as we are often too busy. It will be brilliant to see our collaborative design and ideas come to fruition and is such an exciting prospect in the coming year.”

Emma, Year 7

Fresh and local produce

Design: We held our second

design meeting on Monday 24th June. Ideas were bouncing around the ICT room. It was great to see enthusiasm of the pupils.

“I think is is really fun to be a

Research: A group of students enjoyed a trip to RHS Garden Hyde Hall in Chelmsford. Names were put into a hat and the lucky ones had a tour of the garden, looking at design features, different garden areas and plants.

They also enjoyed activities with RHS representative, Alison Findlay.

“The Hyde Hall trip was very inspiring and beneficial for the CVC Sensory Garden team. We learned the names of all of the flowers and got to grips with the different types of things we could put in our garden to appeal to our sense of smell, sight, hearing and touch.

“To appeal to our sight, we found we could use colours to

Growing fruit, vegetables and herbs within the school grounds means that we have had the wonderful opportunity to share some of the freshest and lowest carbon produce possible with David Colledge, our catering manager who works for Pabulum, the school’s catering provider.

“We picked broad beans to give to the school chef and he cooked a stir fry with them for lunch that day. We thought it would be a good idea for us to share our fresh ingredients with him to share with the whole school.” Skye, Year 8 Needless to say, the stir fry was delicious! part of creating the sensory garden, even if we're only contributing a few pictures as an idea at this stage. I also really enjoyed going out and seeing where the garden would be.” Asha, Year 8

contrast against the green, such as pretty pinks, vibrant reds, alluring blues and flawless whites.

“Next our smell; we found there were many different smells all over the garden. The smells we enjoyed the most were the mints and lavenders.

“For our hearing; we may use windchimes and many tall trees with leaves to create a relaxing atmosphere.

“Then for touch, there were many fuzzy and fluffy leaves we can touch and enjoy.

“The garden trip was very beneficial and we all feel very confident that we will successfully create a relaxing, chilled area for our fellow pupils and teachers alike.” Erin, Year 9

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Brilliant Berlin!

CAMBOURNE VILLAGE COLLEGE

Forty-two Year 10 students spent four days in the German capital exploring the city’s rich history, art and culture.

Students visited the famous Berlin Wall — a visible reminder of the Cold War, and also travelled up the TV Tower to get a bird’s eye view of the city.

In the evenings they visited the Reichstag (Germany's Parliament) and our photography students captured the city's beautiful sites.

Belinda (10O) said: “The Berlin trip was out of this world. We got the chance to see art that belonged outside museums, architecture on which history had left its marks and so much more.

“Berlin is an exciting city with big art pieces on the sides of buildings and street art on every corner. Even the street lamps and walls are full of stickers and posters, each screaming its own message out loud, demanding to be heard.

“The city’s thoughts are spread upon the buildings and roadside.

It’s like walking into the very centre of people’s minds.

“You can never see these in a museum, nor notice the cracks and marks. It’s here and alive, before our eyes.

“If there is another chance, I would definitely go again. Two words — worth it!”

HISTORY AND ART: Berlin gave students an amazing experience.

First chance to access primary sources

Students in Years 9 and 10 took part in an investigative workshop hosted by Joe Stanley (associate lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University) about the Peterloo Massacre.

Next month marks the 200th anniversary of the Massacre which saw at least 11 people killed and 400 were injured when a troop of sabre-wielding cavalrymen charged into a huge workers' protest in Manchester in 1819.

Students loved reading primary sources and being some of the first people in the country to explore these documents.

Joe also discussed what it is like studying History at a higher level and our students were amazed at his research!

One Year 9 student said: “We learnt about the reasons behind the labouring class’ anger.

Joe brought in primary sources, which was very exciting as he informed us they were unseen to the public.

“Joe had obviously done his research as he was very enthusiastic and knew what he was talking about. I am amazed on how privileged and lucky we are to get this experience.”

Simon (9R)

Investigating life in Anglo-Saxon England

EYES DOWN: Students study the Peterloo Massacre.

History students were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to attend a Norman Workshop organised by Royal Holloway University.

Dr Claire Kennan led an engaging university-style lecture about what life was like for Anglo-Saxons, the succession crisis, the Battle of Hastings and how England was affected by the Norman invasion. She gave us an in-depth seminar to add to our existing knowledge of the GCSE course that proved useful for our exams.

For the second half of the workshop we — in groups — investigated different primary sources that Claire provided and had to interpret what they were.

This work was very similar to what Claire usually gives her university students and despite the difficulty of it, we all persevered and enjoyed the challenge.

Then, each group discussed their ideas on the accuracy of the sources, which led on nicely to Claire’s advice on tackling exam questions.

We really appreciated the opportunity to learn about the Normans in more detail than we needed for the exam as the general knowledge strengthened our basic understanding of Norman life. Claire was amazing at keeping us engaged and informing us simultaneously. We are incredibly thankful for her enthusiasm in teaching us and hope to have more experiences like this.

In the afternoon Year 7 also had the opportunity to engage with the universitystyle workshop!

Iria (10C)

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READY: Students wait for The Six Triple Eight to start.

Students at premiere

Year 8 and Year 10 students at the premiere of the film The Six Triple Eight on behalf of The American Battle Monuments Commission — Cambridge American Cemetery and the American Embassy .

In February 1945, the US Army sent 855 black women from the Women’s Army Corps (WACs) to Birmingham to clear the severe backlog of mail in the European Theatre of Operations. The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, also known as the Six Triple Eight, was the only all-black female battalion to serve in Europe during WWII. Confronted with racism and sexism from their own leadership and troops, they served with honour and distinction completing their mission in six months. By war’s end, the 6888th had cleared over 17 million pieces of mail, ensuring the troops stayed in touch with their loved ones back home. The last of the women returned home in March 1946.

Writers pique curiosity

CAMBOURNE VILLAGE COLLEGE

Seventy Year 7s recently spent the day being inspired by an exciting line-up of top history writers including Tony Bradman on Anglo-Saxon Britain, Caroline Lawrence on Roman London and Christopher Lloyd on the history of Absolutely Everything!

The day started with Tony Bradman discussing his latest book and giving Year 7 top tips to writing historical fiction.

In between events students were able to purchase books and meet the authors and lots of Year 7s now have signed copies of books!

Next up was Christopher Lloyd, who inspired the room with his 'Story-telling coat' and made us think about how we can shape the future.

After lunch we met Caroline Lawrence who discussed her Time Travel Diaries series as well as her latest novel — no one will forget what the special toilet stick was used for during the Roman era!

Insight into studying at uni

INSPIRING DAY: for Year 7 students at Wimpole Hall’s History Festival.

Katrina from the University of Cambridge visited us to discuss studying History at a higher level.

She took us through the journey into getting a History degree, and the different levels of education.

The session gave us an insight into the History degree and the different branches you can study.

In addition, the session showed us how different university education is compared to GCSE level, and the different approaches to learning throughout your education.

The session helped us understand the level of detail in which you can study a topic question of your interest as well as the jobs available to someone with a History degree such as law, civil service, archaeology, and teaching.

Katrina also showed us the range of skills you can develop while studying any humanity, and the ways you can apply these in other areas. For example, by studying foreign history you can further your skills in that language as well as in reading.

We all really enjoyed hearing about History at university and how we can use a History degree.

Chloe and Rachel (Year 10)

‘Inspired’ by Black Death!

HISTORY IN THEIR HANDS: Students get hands-on with historical artefacts.

All Year 7 students and the Year 10 GCSE Historians had the opportunity to hear from Sarah-Jane from the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge.

The students were inspired about their local history by discussing how to use sources in history, including local skeletons that may have had the Black Death!

Students had the chance to hold a whole range of artefacts including a Medieval Blood Letting Bowl, a Glass Orb used for protection against witches and some Medieval spoons!

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Talks continue to inspire CAMBOURNE VILLAGE COLLEGE

The summer term has featured another diverse programme of talks for Aspiration Fridays.

Cambourne’s ‘Aspiration Fridays’ is an initiative which aims to inspire students by introducing them to a range of ideas that there isn’t time to explore in detail in the curriculum.

Following successful talks on the Classics, Oceanography, Engineering and Geology last term, outside speakers have again this term delivered bimonthly lunchtime talks to students from Years 7 to 11 on different and diverse topics.

If any students have any suggestions for a talk that they would like to hear, or if any parents know of someone who could deliver a presentation, then please do speak to Miss Clash in the English Department.

We kicked off with a talk on Old English from Dr Rachel Burns, who gave us some backstory to the Anglo-Saxon period before introducing us to Old English literature.

We looked at an example of an Old English text, ‘The Wanderer’, and the students enjoyed having a go at translating some Anglo-Saxon.

Rachel ended the talk by explaining how the Anglo-Saxons created their books, writing on parchment or vellum (sheep or goat skin), and the students enjoyed looking at the samples she brought in for us to handle.

Our next talk was a fascinating discussion about Midwifery, delivered by our safeugarding assistant Jane Miller. She described the changes in midwifery over the years, tracking how more men are being encouraged to train as midwives in the 21st century.

She told us what the training involves, and we were all fascinated (and a bit

BACK IN TIME: Rachel Burns talks about ‘Old English’.

horrified) to learn that midwives practise on robotic dolls which make the same noises and movements — and emit the same fluids! — as a woman in childbirth.

Finally, she stressed that midwifery is a particularly difficult job as you simultaneously have to care for the baby as well as the mother.

We then had a completely different talk on Entrepreneurship from Chris Coleridge from the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.

Chris gave a passionate talk describing his own career before encouraging students to reflect on what makes a good entrepreneur: we considered the importance of innovation, flexibility, hard work, patience, persistence, and positivity.

Lastly, we talked about the importance of having a dynamic team, reflecting diversity in terms of gender, race, religion and political opinion. Companies with such boards can bring a range of outlooks to the table, allowing their businesses to fully reflect the needs of the market, as well as adding different strengths to the table.

The next talk was about architecture. Jack Boyns from Archangel Ltd. Jack explained to the students what architecture involves, describing it as the design of a space.

Jack then described how you become an architect, describing the different stages of an architecture degree, before telling us about his own journey. He showed us designs he had created over the course of his degree, including a building inspired by a Dyson vacuum cleaner and a venue for the Eurovision Song Contest! We learnt that architects spend a lot of time drawing plans as well as creating models, both 3D ones, built by using materials, and computerised versions.

Students loved trying out the Google Cardboard headset which architects sometimes use to allow clients to ‘walk through’ the planned new spaces before they are built, and they left the session with fresh ambitions to draw and create models of their favourite buildings, as well as their own designs.

After half-term, we had an inspirational talk from Edward Gildea about the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race — a 40,000 nautical mile race challenging participants to endure the worst the natural world could throw at them to enjoy the most spectacular sights on the planet. We loved looking at Edward’s photos of his boat sailing into New York at sunrise, whilst his stories about the pollution he saw as he travelled was particularly sobering.

Finally, students have ended the term with a talk on Zoology from Andrew from the Museum of Zoology, who kindly shared his research on managing the microclimates of butterflies in Cambridgeshire to cope with the impact of humans on the environment. Students were shocked to learn how climate change is affecting the wildlife right on our doorstep — and challenged to consider how scientists are trying to fight back against the damage we have already done to our world.

Before the term ends, we will hear about History of Art — a subject controversially dropped by AQA at A-level in recent years. It will be interesting to hear Cara Turner’s defence of her subject!

I am so grateful to everyone who has helped to host this first year of aspirational talks — so many students across the school have benefitted from your passion.

Laura Clash

Bringing the Bard’s work to life

PERFORMING SHAKESPEARE: Cambourne’s students at the national finals.

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WALKING THROUGH: With the architects’ special box.

Two girls in 8A, Lydia and Alice, went to Dartmouth House, the headquarters of the English Speaking Union (ESU) in Mayfair in London, to take part in the National Final of 'Performing Shakespeare'.

Having won the regional heat, they performed, in front of an audience of 120, their duologue from 'A Midsummer Night's Dream, as Helena and Hermia. Their carefully-choreographed 'cat-fight' was performed brilliantly, with physical comedy and real feeling.

Although they weren't the eventual winners, it was a fantastic achievement to reach the

finals, and the brilliant day included workshops run by professional actors.

The judging panel included these actors, as well as the Chair of Judges Baroness McIntosh, who was been Exec Director of the National Theatre, and also Carol Rutter, a distinguished Shakespeare scholar.

Teachers Lauren Fearn and Laura Clash helped them prepare for the competition, which started in school with auditions open to all in KS3. Three performers were chosen to go to the regional heats, and Lydia and Alice won this to go through to Nationals.

CAMBOURNE VILLAGE COLLEGE

Second leg just as fun

At the end of March, it was our turn to host the German exchange after the wonderful hospitality they showed us in December. When the German exchange partners came to Cambourne we didn’t see them much during the day as they were out on visits to London and Cambridge.

However, we practised for the concert together. It was fun and everyone from Comberton came over. In the evenings we played games, baked and played our instruments. At the weekend we went into Cambridge, swimming or did things with our families. It was really good to see our German exchange partners again after the Christmas visit and we will enjoy staying in touch. The whole German exchange was a lot of fun.

Ann (8U) and Joel (8R)

Spanish trip was great!

OUT AND ABOUT: Students enjoy the theme park in Zaragoza.

In May, 30 students from Cambourne Village College’s Year 7 went on a trip to a city called Zaragoza in the north of Spain.

We visited a school called Colegio Rosa Molas and improved our Spanish by trying to have conversations with the students there. Another way we improved our Spanish speaking was by having to order food and ask for shopping at shops and restaurants.

We visited the amazing Zaragoza Cathedral, and took pictures of a great view of it, over the river going through the city.

Travelling through the more mountainous regions of Spain, we explored the

Bringing lives together

At the end of May 7C continued their cultural exchange activities with a school in Delhi.

We teamed up with the school in Delhi last October and the first interactions involved the children writing letters to one another, introducing their school lives and hobbies.

In Art lessons the children in both countries researched and painted two famous UK and Indian landmarks which they shared with one another.

In Music the Cambourne children prepared, presented and filmed the class playing in a samba band.

The children in Delhi sent our children a video of them singing their school anthem and prayer.

In RPE just before half term, the children shared a lesson across the miles using Skype. They spent the lesson talking to each other about school, hobbies, films, sports etc.

They enjoyed ineracting with peers abroad and learned a great deal.

The Cambourne students were great ambassadors for the school, the community, and their country. The cultural exchange project with Delhi is set to continue..

INDIA CALLING: A Skype call to a school in Delhi.

Matilda is a real hit!

In early June, 70 Year 7s and Year 10s set off to see ‘Matilda: The Musical’ in London at the Cambridge Theatre. We had a picnic in a park near the West End and students were delighted to spot a famous YouTuber also enjoying the sunny evening with us, before we walked to the theatre.

‘Matilda’ was amazing: an incredible show celebrating the power of children’s imagination with spectacular music, choreography, singing and acting. The best moment had to be when Miss Trunchbull sent the whole school into lockdown in retaliation to their rebellion: all the Year 7s jumped at the sound and sight of laser beams shooting across the auditorium!

It was a brilliant show and such a pleasure to hear everyone talking about the performance and singing the songs on the way home. I hope the trip has encouraged pupils to return to Roald Dahl — or pick him up if they haven’t read any of his witty, weird and heart-warming novels before.

Laura Clash

monastery (Monasterio de Piedra), and its outstanding waterfalls around the site.

The next day, the sun was blazing, so we went to cool down at a swimming pool.

Later, we went to a street in Zaragoza and ate the delicious Churros de chocolate. It went down an absolute treat.

The next jam-packed day we went to a theme park, enjoying the rush of rollercoasters. Then, that evening we watched the thrilling football match, involving Real Zaragoza, an amazing team, and got a VIP tour of the stadium.

We would all recommend this trip because it was fun, improved our Spanish speaking and was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

William and Dylan (7B)

CamVC’s ‘ambassador’ OUTSTANDING: A waterfall at the Monasterio de Piedra.

I took part in the UK Parliament Teacher Ambassador Programme, a course which gave teachers training in how to help students become more politically aware.

This term, I have been going into assemblies to tell students about my experiences which included tours of the House of Commons and House of Lords.

I also had the opportunity to meet and question a variety of people who work there, including John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, Chris Elmore, a Labour Party MP, and Jyoti Chandola, Clerk for the Women and Equalities Committee.

In my assemblies, I’ve taken students on a virtual tour of the Houses of Parliament, describing the history of the different buildings that make up the Palace of Westminster. I’ve explained what the House of Commons and House of Lords look like, and I’ve tried to demystify some of the confusion about how Parliament operates.

I’ve used this to launch half-termly assemblies giving students a current affairs update, taking them through the top news stories of the month.

My aim is to explain what the stories are about, and why students should care about them. This half-term, I’ve tried to explain what is going on currently with Brexit, as well as giving students a brief overview of the different candidates for the Conservative Party Leadership Race.

I’ve also asked students to consider the continuing need for Pride Month in 2019, with reference to the homophobic bus attack on two gay women in late May. I’ve really enjoyed speaking to different year groups about current affairs.

I hope my assemblies have clarified some of the news stories swirling around our students this summer, as well as giving them the opportunity to reflect on their own opinion about events.

I look forward to continuing this next academic year.

Laura Clash

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THE CAM ACADEMY TRUST NEWS

School officially opens

CEREMONIES: Ribbon-cutting, plaque unveiling and tree planting all helped mark Gamlingay Village Primary’s official opening.

Gamlingay Village Primary has been officially opened, marking the end of lengthy transition to Cambridgeshire’s two-phase education system.

Lord Lansley, Deputy Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire, and Heidi Allen, who replaced him as South Cambs MP, shared the honours at the school, which was extended and extensively refurbished following the closure of Gamlingay Village College (middle school).

Staff and pupils moved from the First School site in January and then the whole school community spent Midsummer’s Day celebrating at their new home.

New Zealand Paralympian Tim Prendergast and champion inline rollerblader Jenna Downing spent the morning inspiring the children with a series of talks and practical workshops designed to promote self-belief, teamwork, healthy eating and doing your best.

Following this Lord Lansley unveiled a plaque, Mrs Allen and a group of children representing each year group cut a ribbon and the same pupils then helped Miss

Changing roles

From September, Stephen Munday will step down from the post of Executive Principal of Comberton Village College and focus entirely on a Trust-wide role of Chief Executive.

His remit will be to continue to support all our schools in pursuit of excellence for all, including enabling all staff to develop positively, and helping guide the future development of our Trust.

Secondary Heads, along with certain other Trust staff, will continue to report to him. Primary Heads report to our Primary Executive Leader, Chris Jukes.

Given this development, Comberton Village College conducted a full recruitment process for the post of Principal at Comberton Village College. The current Head of School, Peter Law, was appointed to the post of Principal at Comberton from September.

Sean Sumner will take on the full-time, permanent role of Trust Director of IT Strategy. Mr Sumner has been part-seconded into this role from his role of Deputy Principal at Cambourne Village College.

However, from September, the post becomes both full-time and permanent. This will give further capacity to Mr Sumner to help us to press ahead with the significant IT developments that we are keen to see across all of our schools. This includes the sort of developments in the use of personal devices.

Mr Munday said: “We anticipate these sorts of developments happening in further schools across the Trust as they are already now happening at Cambourne Village Colllege.

“Sean Sumner will guide this strategy and development as well as ensuing that effective staff training is in place across our schools so that all our staff feel capable and confident of making good use of of IT to support the learning of all pupils.”

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Downing plant an oak tree at the front of the site.

The two winners of the school’s recent public speaking competition talked about ‘our school’ before the choir sang for the invited guests from the local community, builders Coulson, architect David Turner (Pick Everard) and other Trust schools.

To round off the day, Friends of Gamlingay Village Primary put on a fund-raising fete and high tea.

Stephen Munday, CEO of The Trust, said: “This event celebrated the really great developments that have taken place in Gamlingay school arrangements that mean that the community is well served both now and for the future.

“There is a strong and sustainable Primary School in great premises available to all primary-aged pupils locally and there is a secure progression for young people through to secondary school at Comberton Village College.

“This has all been possible due to the hard work of many people over a long period of time, notably the staff of the school and the local governing body. We owe them all a debt of gratitude. The school is now extremely well placed to press ahead and achieve great things for its pupils and its community.”

LEARNING TOOL: Staff and Year 8 students at Cambourne are enjoying having iPads for teaching and learning.

Delight at iPad roll-out

When you’re walking down the corridor at Cambourne Village College and a member of staff stops you and says “I’m loving my iPad. It’s revolutionised my teaching”, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to assume the Trust’s initiative is going well.

The unsolicited nature of this exchange was unusual, but when staff were asked to share some success stories for a presentation to Year 6 parents, rather than the usual couple of responses to such a request, we were sent many comments that expressed the same sentiment. What is quite extraordinary is that teachers are already talking about doing things that would have been impossible before or enhancing the learning experience of preexisting tasks.

And this isn’t just the view of teachers. One Year 8 pupil wrote: “Using the iPads is nice because you can do lots of things you can’t do in a normal classroom.”

However, it would be a mistake to assume the device itself has miraculously revolutionised

teaching. It has been well over a year from the Trust embarking on introducing a 1:1 device initiative, initially for every Year 8 pupil at Cambourne to have access to an iPad for learning throughout the school day, and with more than 90% of them signing up to a scheme that allows them to take it home as well.

Cambourne was the first school to take part in a pilot scheme. We learnt a lot and felt absolutely convinced the initiative should happen. Further pilots at Comberton and Melbourn provided further learning opportunities and examples of the transformative impact 1:1 devices can have on learning.

We also visited other schools with a 1:1 scheme and spent time at Apple in London.

One of Cambourne's mission statements reads: "We foster imagination, adaptability, resilience and ambition." We believe that 1:1 devices can be used to foster all of these, most of all imagination. We want our pupils' imaginations to run wild. We want them to re-imagine how they respond to our teaching and teach us how best to help them to learn.

Leigh Bellis, Cambourne Head of IT

For job vacancies across the Trust, visit the CAT website at www.catrust.co.uk

Sporting in Scotland

CAMBOURNE VILLAGE COLLEGE

Forty-one pupils from Years 7, 8 & 9 travelled to Edinburgh on Cambourne’s sports tour!

Our accommodation was located in the heart of Edinburgh on Princes Street, with amazing views of the castle and just a short walk from the infamous Royal Mile.

The next morning we drove to Woodmill High School in Dunfermline, where we took part in our first organised fixtures of the week.

We fielded three boys football teams, one girls football team, and one netball team.

The boys and girls football teams performed exceptionally well, despite competing against some strong and skilful opponents. The netballers played amazingly well, but lost 23-25, in what was an incredibly close fought contest.

In the afternoon we travelled to the banks of the Firth of Forth to take part in some fun water sport activities! Once wetsuits, lifejackets and helmets were fitted, the pupils were split into three groups, each VARIETY: On the sports tour doing a different activity — paddle boarding, sailing, and kayaking. The time to Scotlan. on the water was spent learning how to do each activity, intertwined with some fun games involving all pupils ending up in the water!

Our second full day in (sunny) Scotland began with fixtures against Inverkeithing High School. The netballers won both of their games 25-6 and 14-6, while the girls football team put in a fantastic performance but unfortunately lost 3-2. There were mixed results in the boys’ football games, but all of them played exceptionally well despite their opponents being older.

Friday afternoon was spent visiting Edinburgh Zoo, home to Tian Tian and Yang

Winning start!

Guang — the only giant pandas in the UK! The students were given a short educational tour by zoo keepers before being allowed to explore and learn about all the different animals.

Miss Curtis set the challenge of who could take the best animal selfie — with Will W and Dylan R winning with their shots with a giant panda and lemur, respectively.

The evening was filled with watching England vs Argentina in the Women’s World Cup and the students being given the opportunity to have some (needed) down time.

The final full day began at the top of the Royal Mile, at the entrance to the historical Edinburgh Castle. Students were given a few hours to explore the gift shops and cafes that the Royal Mile has to offer — however most ended up in Subway or Costa!

The afternoon was spent doing the most Scottish activity of the week — a mini Highland Games! The group was split into four teams, who all competed against each other in tossing the caber, haggis hurdling, welly wanging, hammer throw,

the weighted toss and tug of war.

‘The Scottish Ballers’, led by Mr Savill, came out victorious after exceptional performances in the welly wanging and hammer throw! The day was perfectly topped off with a meal at Harry Ramsden’s — offering beautiful views of the Forth Bridge.

The whole week was such a great success and all the pupils represented the school exceptionally well. We are now in the early stages of planning our next sports tour — hopefully somewhere in Europe!

On Monday 17th June CamVC had our first ever cricket match for the school in a thrilling encounter with Longsands Academy.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, CamVC scored FIRST: Match for a Cambourne cricket team.

114 in their 20 overs. Captain Elliot James played a vital part as in his four Jack Ranganathan top scored, retiring on 51 overs he only conceded five runs - he also not out. Alex James' innings in the middle took a very important wicket too! Ollie overs of 19 was a crucial contribution.

Humphreys took three wickets towards the In reply, Longsands got off to a flier, but after end leaving Longsands needing 10 runs off their star batsman had to retire, CamVC the last over. They finished on 110 for 7 as squeezed their opponents and dried up the Ranganathan held his nerve bowling the last runs. over to secure a four-run victory!

Students receive half colours

l From Page 11 The students who achieved their half colours are: Kirsty Abbott, Renee Derby, Tate Jeffrie, Eve Ryan, Sam White, Ben Grain, Rebecca Parr, Dan Barton, Stella Dickinson, Joe Jones, Elizabeth Simpson, Matt Williamson, Joe Tarpey, Olivia Segal, Tyler Bennett, Ethan Dowe, Cuba Kamanu, Posy Smith, Julia Wyspianska, Harry Hanwell, Alex Sherwood, Katie Clarkson, Maja Drazkowia, Clark MacFarlane, Hayden Stafford, Douwe Arts, Brandon Isaacson, Bailey Smith, Rebecca Clay, Scarlett Firth, Archie Maylin, Rose Stevenson, Evelyn Catterall, Lizy MacFarlane, Erin Williams, Charlotte Colchester, Mia Herbert, Lucas Paffett, Daryl Taylor, Georgia Chamberlain, Alexandra Maranto, Constantinos Chiotis, Max Cooke, Leo Holmes, Nicole Peresson, Max Taylor, Calla Crome, Tom Mitchell, Lucy Cornwell, Elliot James, Ethan Poole, Gabriel Tremeer, Joel Fox, Aaron Peck, Alfred Cousins, Isabella James, Oliver Rana-Beadle, Alex Tullett, Bayramhan Garajayev, James Roach, Duncan Crespin, Madison Jeffrey, Amelia Roberts, Will White, Harry Downes and Iria Rodriguez.

New leaders start club

Cambridgeshire cricket ran a five-week girls cricket leadership course at Cam VC. We had 20 girls in Year 9 take part in the course, developing their skills as leaders and learning the rules of cricket before they designed and ran their own girls cricket club with the help of the coaches from Cambridgeshire cricket.

The girls have done a fantastic job and now run their girls cricket club on Thursday afternoons from 3-4pm. It is just one of the leadership opportunities available to students and there will be others starting in September.

Just three days after CamVC's first cricket match, came the first girls' competitive cricket!

Isabella James captained an inexperienced side in Chance2Shine's district competition. Isabella was the leading run scorer for the side, having to retire in four out of the five matches (and only getting out once). The team worked hard against some very good opposition and held their heads high in difficult matches.

FIRST: Competitive cricket for Cambourne girls.

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Sports stars recognised

CAMBOURNE VILLAGE COLLEGE

CamVC hosted their first Sports Awards Evening at the DoubleTree Hilton Hotel.

It was a roaring success with students and parents dressed up in their finery.

The evening started with an opening address from Head of PE Hannah Curtis summarising the fantastic sporting year that we have just had.

It was swiftly followed by the first selection of awards including PE department Merit Award, Dancer of the Year, Unsung Hero, Sporting Excellence Award and the Commitment Award.

Our newly-crowned Year 7 Sports Activators came up to collect their new T-Shirts celebrating their attitude, commitment and leadership in PE lessons and Clubs.

Throughout the evening we were very lucky to have hockey’s Olympic Gold Medallist Helen Richardson-Walsh with us. She talked so eloquently about being yourself, believing in yourself, learning from failure and being stronger than you think you are.

This was followed by the second part of the evening and the final awards including Sports Leader of the Year, KS3 Woman, KS3 Man, KS4 Woman and KS4 Man. We also gave out our newly formed Full and Half Colours to students who have shown commitment to clubs and teams over the many years.

The evening culminated in the biggest award which was Team of the Year handed out by Helen.

The night was drawn to a close by a speech from Principal Claire Coates, sharing her own passion and enthusiasm for sport as well as congratulating all the prize winners.

Thank you to everyone who attended and made the evening so special.

Unsung Hero: Alex Selmes

GOLDEN MOMENT: Helen Richardson-Walsh with her Olympic gold medal.

Team of the Year: Year 8 Rugby

The Team of the Year Award winners worked hard throughout the year to produce some fantastic results in both fixtures and tournaments.

The winning team members have shown an impeccable attitude towards their chosen sport and have continuously worked hard in the name of the team.

The Unsung Hero Award is awarded to a person who the PE department believes has made a substantive yet unrecognised contribution to sport at school. The winner has continually worked hard in PE and/or extra-curricular clubs and has shown a commitment to improving their performance in sport, possibly having to overcome adversity to do so.

PE Dept Merit: Calla Crome

The PE Department Merit Award recognises and celebrates the hard work and dedication of an individual who has gone above and beyond to help others in both extracurricular clubs and PE lessons. They have gone the extra mile to encourage other students to get involved in sport.

Dancer: Rachel McCormack

This award recognises the achievements of an outstanding dancer. The winner of this award has continuously trained and performed in dance, both in school and externally. They are both a talented and positive role model, and are eager to lead and support other dancers during lessons.

Commitment: Grace Mitchell

The Commitment Award recognises an individual’s commitment to extra-curricular sports clubs. The winner has attended more extra-curricular clubs this year than any other pupil in the school.

Leader of the Year: Izzy King

WINNERS: Students with their sports awards.

KS3 Sports Woman of the Year: Isabella James KS3 Sports Man of the Year: Jason Kissi KS4 Sports Woman of the Year: Lizy MacFarlane KS4 Sports Man of the Year Award: Ben Miller

This award recognises the hard work, dedication, and commitment of an individual in PE. The winners regularly attend extra-curricular clubs, compete in fixtures, and have represented the school with honesty, integrity and passion, while upholding values of good sportsmanship and fair play. They are an inspiration and positive role model to both their team-mates and peers.

Full Sports Colours

recognise and reward those students who: n regularly attend extra-curricular clubs across a number of sports n represented the school at fixtures for a minimum of three years Elena Davies, Ben Miller, Miles Mpofu, Leon Rowell, Shivek Sharma, Ellie Thompson, Heather Williamson, Zara Wray

Half Colours

recognise and reward those students who: n regularly attend extra-curricular clubs across a number of sports n represented the school at fixtures for a minimum of two years We are delighted that an amazing 67 students achieve their half colours and they are all named on Page 11.

Sporting

Celebrates the school’s outstanding sporting individuals who compete for their county or country outside of school.

Celebrates the hard work of our inspirational Sports Leaders. It is awarded to a Sports Leader who has worked tirelessly throughout the year to assist the PE department with the organising and running of extra-curricular clubs, fixtures, and sports festivals.

The winner has made an incredible contribution to providing sport to fellow students.

GCSE pupil: Neha Kibria

This is awarded to a pupil who is constantly trying to better themselves in GCSE PE. They have worked hard in every theory lesson and have applied this theory well during practical lessons. They have made every effort to obtain the best grade they can in the subject.

BTEC pupil: Drew McKenzie

This is awarded to the pupil who has worked hard to achieve the highest marks in the BTEC course so far. They have worked hard in every theory lesson and have Excellence: Deshawn Lascelles applied this theory well during The winner competes in their chosen commitment and dedication to be able to practical lessons. They have made sport at an elite level on a regular basis, perform at this level. Deshawn trains as every effort to obtain the best grade that they can in the subject. and have shown extremely high levels of a high-ranking national triple-jumper.

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