News@Com Winter 2006

DfES offer Comberton an unexpected opportunity

THIRD STATUS IN PIPELINE

COMBERTON is poised to become one of only nine schools in the country to have three specialisms

And it could be the only one nationally with five specialist statuses when Leading Edge and Training School are included, depending on the latest round of designations

The school was invited earlier this term to submit an interest in taking on a third specialism, alongside Sports and Languages college status

The Department for Education and Skills approached the school and asked if we would consider taking on a vocational specialism in addition to our current remits

This was an unexpected opportunity as the usual process is only to be allowed such possibilities when re-designating for the first specialism (a process that Comberton went through a year ago)

After some careful reflection, everyone at the school felt that this would be an excellent opportunity that should be seized It allows the development of a greater range of courses for our pupils at KS4 that have the equivalent of GCSE status and provides the school with additional funding

Ski trip stands the test of time

The paperwork has been submitted and we are due to receive final, official confirmation at any moment that we are able to take on our new specialism This new designation will start from April 2007

Principal Stephen Munday said: “This really is an excellent, and somewhat unexpected, opportunity for the school and for our pupils

“It shows that the DfES is clear that we are perfoming at the very high level

required to be able to take on such a further designation

HIGH IN THE ITALIAN ALPS: Comberton pupils have been going to the same resort since 1987 l Anniversary Special Page 7

“It really does offer an exciting further education possibility for our pupils

We want to try to provide as broad a range of courses as is sensibly possible for our pupils in order to allow everyone to achieve their very best This gives a real chance for us to broaden the possibility and choice beyond what we currently do That must be in the best interests of all our pupils ”

Building for the future

THE £1 million of building work around the college has now been completed

The hope and expectation was that this work would be done just over the summer In practice, it has continued well into the autumn, providing staff with a good management challenge given its fairly disruptive nature

The work has been fundamentally to improve the general infrastructure of the college It is interesting to reflect that the college opened for 240 students in 1960 There are now more than 1,300 students on our roll

In that time, the basic infrastructure has remained largely unchanged as more and more teaching spaces have been added This has become increasingly untenable

The latest work has been about creating new corridors and walkways, refurbishing all old toilets, creating new covered social spaces in various locations, replacing many old roofs, making the building more accessible to wheelchair users and rebuilding one of the original classrooms It has not added to the capacity of the school

Of course, the growth of the college remains a key theme

Given the ongoing growth in the population of the catchment area, it is a crucial part of our on-going thinking What we are determined to do is to try to ensure that the whole college community gains the fullest possible benefits of expansion (such as significantly enhanced facilities and staffing) without losing the traditional strengths of the village college (the strong positive ethos and the role in the local community)

Part of this is very much ensuring that we have not only the necessary building infrastructure but also the leadership and management infrastructure

We continue to adapt and develop this to be sure that we can function well with on-going growth Having so many staff who are so very capable of taking on leadership roles is a vital strength

Given the local population growth, there will have to be a further expansion phase at the college (as agreed to many years ago now)

Governors are already in earnest discussion with the county council about this next phase A more interesting and pertinent question might be what happens after that

Now is the time for some serious thinking about that One thing that I am very pleased to be able to reassure everybody about is that the governors of the college are fully mindful of the significant issues at stake

They do an excellent job of thinking proactively about what is likely to be needed in order to serve best the needs of the community in coming years

Whatever plans may transpire, we can be confident that the governors will be pushing strongly for plans that are in the best interests of all of us

Stephen Munday, Principal

Work under way on new Asperger Centre

The mobile classroom that will house the new Asperger Centre has arrived at Comberton

One teacher and three teaching assistants will be based there to support those pupils with high functioning Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Initially there will be three pupils, but eventually the centre will have the capacity for eight The teaching assistants will have the role as key worker for individual ASD pupils to support them at unstructured times when they are most vulnerable.

One of their main tasks will also be to work with the pupils to prepare weekly and daily timetables and run lunchtime clubs

IN PLACE: the shell of the new Asperger

All pupils attending the centre will be working on tailored timetables initially, but will be encouraged and supported to attend as many lessons as is appropriate for them.

The pupils will also have the opportunity to continue their class or other work in the

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

q Make a date Page 3

q Pupils make fine progress Page 3

q Aaron’s starring role Page 3

q Trio are second Page 4

q Fangtastic family fun Page 4

q Pupils race to cash in Page 5

q DoE expedition Page 5

q Great outdoors is a perfect classroom Pages 6 & 7

q Recycled art is Smart Page 8

q Outdoor inspiration Page 8

q Course offers life skills Page 8

mobile on a one-to-one basis with the staff in a way that suits their learning style

The centre will house its own ‘chill-out’ room and library, where the pupils can return to when they need a quiet place to work.

Other pupils and staff will be welcome in the centre and will be encouraged to join in with a range of activities on a regular basis.

We are hoping that the centre will also provide a weekly after-school parent group when parents and families can get together

At present the centre is being fully kitted out and we are hoping to have it all finalised by next April.

Linda Rose, Head of Asperger Centre

q Nothing beats a good book Page 9

q Pupils voice opinions Page 9

q Boxing clever Page 9

q Gearing up for adventure Page 10

q Fashion show fund-raiser Page 10

q Sport Pages 11 & 12

COVERING THE BASES: futuristic new walkways and social areas are surrounded by Comberton’s original buildings

Centre is on site at Comberton

Make a date for Principal’s Ball

Pupils make fine progress

THE school has had further analysis of its GCSE results from last summer provided by the DfES during this term

SUMPTUOUS

SPREAD: the buffet at last year’s Principal’s Ball

TICKETS for the second Comberton Principal’s Ball go

on sale early in the New Year

But now is the time to mark it up on that new 2007 calendar

The date for the grand fund-raising event is Saturday March 3, from 8 00-midnight, which takes place in the Performance Hall at Comberton Leisure

Tickets cost £25 and include a sumptuous buffet supper as well as entertainment from the superb’Breeze Band’, who were a big hit at last year’s inaugural event

All money raised from the event will go to the college’s computer appeal

New ICT equipment is needed to meet the requirements of both pupils and community users as Comberton strives

LEADING PART: for Aaron Cohen-Gold

to maintain its impressively high levels of achievement

Money to provide equipment such as new PCs comes from fund-raising events and attending the Principal’s Ball is a fantastic way to have a fun night out with friends, while supporting the college Tables can be organised for parties of up to 10 people just ask when booking your tickets at Cb3 reception from January 4

Principal Stephen Munday said: “This was a splendid occasion last year All those who attended were clear that they wished to repeat the experience and hoped that more people would be able to be involved this time “All the money raised will buy computers for pupil use at the school: a very important and worthwhile cause for us Please do come along if you are able to do so!”

Aaron lands a starring role

AArOn Cohen-Gold stars in a new film which will be shown at several prestigious film festivals next year.

The Year 10 pupil was recently chosen by Academy Films in London from 1,000 young actors, who attended several rounds of auditions, for the chance to play one of the two lead characters in a new film provisionally entitled `Josef’, written and directed by British film and TV director nick Gordon nick, who recently directed the latest set of commer-

cials for nike sportswear, and his producer Sally Campbell were so impressed with Aaron that they arranged to change the filming schedule and to fly him home from a family holiday in Spain to spend six days rehearsing and filming on location across London

Aaron was delighted to work with Michael Maloney, (from robin hood on BBC1), who plays his dad

The film is now being edited for showing at a number of International Film Festivals including Cannes, Venice and London in 2007

Aaron said: “It was a really great experience and very exciting Working with a stunt man during a car scene was the hardest bit to get right!”

Of the range of measures provided, it is the ones that indicate the level of progress by students that are really most interesting and important

These show not simply the final results achieved, but how much progress students make from where they start in Year 7 until their final GCSE qualification

Once more, this measure places the school clearly in the top 25 per cent of schools in the country

Not only are the final GCSE results of Comberton students outstanding: they also represent excellent progress made during the five-year experience with us

Many of the Year 11 leavers were reunited last month at a Presentation Evening to celebrate their exam successes

All pupils achieved at least five A*-G grades, with 85 per cent obtaining a minimum of five A*-C passes

After hearing from their former Head of Year Mick Abbott his final duty as a Head of Year after seeing four groups through to Year 11 in his 21 years at the school and Principal Stephen Munday, the pupils collected their exam certificates and enjoyed the chance to catch up with teachers and friends

UNFORGETTABLE MOMENT: Pupils receive their GCSE results in the summer

Trio are second in national final

UNDERSTANDING how wind turbines work and what lies at the centre of a black hole – those were just some of the questions young scientists from across the country tackled at the UKwide 2006 Finals of the Express Yourself in Science Competition, in Sheffield.

Students from 16 finalist secondary schools gave talks and poster presentations about their scientific experiments and investigations, which covered topics such as global warming, forensic science, faster than light travel and nuclear fusion

Sam Prime, Josh Eaton and Stuart Parker, from Year 9, reached the finals after winning the East

Pupils set challenge

DIRECTOR of Languages

Rachel Hawkes was one of the contributors to the staff fund-raiser for Children in Need but who were the others?

Pupils were asked to buy a CD of staff singing different lines of Perfect Day and were then challenged to name the various contributors

Anglian regional round at Comberton in July

Their winning research poster entitled “Evaluating how a wind turbine works” took nearly a year to complete The science research project involved the students having to design, build and test a range of model wind turbines They were also awarded their Science CREST award Bronze level in the summer AST Science Teacher Richard Waller who has coordinated the project said: “The Express Yourself Conference final was a fantastic way for schoolchildren to share their passion for science with peers and research scientists alike

“The finals were a real celebration of the ongoing creativity, enterprise and ingenuity of the UK’s talented current and future science base I am very proud that Josh, Sam and Stuart finished

SING IT LOUD: Rachel Hawkes has her contribution recorded

Bringing Christmas cheer

ChArITY prefects and Comberton staff will this week deliver Christmas cheer to families in the Cambridge area

More than 200 gifts have been donated by pupils, staff and members of the community to the annual ‘Presents under the Tree’ event

All the presents will be delivered to the Salvation Army local headquarters in Mill road, Cambridge, on Friday. They will then be distributed to families locally to help give them a happier Christmas

The charity prefects attending the Salvation Army are taken on a tour of the Citadel and given a flavour of the work of the Salvation Army locally and nationally

TURBINE TRIO: The Comberton pupils with teacher Richard Waller

overall runners-up at the UK Finals with their research poster ”

The CVC students also received special commendations from the judges for the excellence of their scientific work and their enthusiasm

Thanks must also go to the Comberton Researcher in Residence, PhD student Chris Hanscomb, from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Cambridge University who acted as the Science mentor for the project

Fangtastic family fun

ALLSINGING, ALLDANCING: Pupils

rehearse for Dracula Spectacula

The jokes are outrageously cheesy, the scary bits will have you quaking in your shoes and the performances from the all-singing, all-dancing cast from Years 8-11 promise to be fangtastic!

Together with dozens of zombies, wraiths and Glublick addicts, the all-star ensemble includes Mellissa Heeley as the naïve but glamorous heroine and Tim Coulson as the dashing hero will they fall in love and live happily ever after or does a darker fate await them both? Owen Robertson (Father O’Stake) assists in the battle against the evil forces of darkness: David Coplowe (Dracula), Rhiannon Evans (his faithful slave, Gertrude) and Charly Cole (his doting mother)

With a musical score including such Transylvanian classics as Positive Action Man, Super Rat, Rhesus Negative Rock and The Lubbly Glublick Song, and some stunning dances, this is one horror show you won’t want to hide behind your seat for Dracula Spectacula will run in the Performance Hall on the evenings of February 6-8 Look out for details on the school website Booking information to follow

DRACULA Spectacula, the next CVC musical, will be full of chills, thrills and laughs galore

PERSONAL Development Conference Days

provide pupils with an opportunity to explore important questions and issues in greater depth

Although we can say that everything we do in school facilitates and encourages pupils’ personal development, we feel it is important to give pupils the time to discuss matters that affect them as young people and to work with other members of the community, including, for example, health professionals, the police and local Members of Parliament

The photograph shows Year 8 pupils enjoying the mountain bike stunt show in September As one pupil said: “We thought his stunts were great, but we also learnt about ways to stay safe on the roads ” This presentation formed part of a wider study of rights and responsibilities, including their lives as members of a family, school and community

And no-one got lost for once!

During the same day, Year 9 pupils were introduced to an exciting new project, L8R, an interactive resource for Sex and Relationships education

Nurses from the Child and Family team gave pupils key information on keeping themselves safe, ‘SexYouality’ and led some interesting discussions on the issues of homophobia and sexuality

In November, pupils from Year 10 were given the opportunity to participate in our very own version of Question Time Pupils put questions to a panel of visitors, including Andrew Lansley MP, about the issues which affect young people

This is just a taster of some of the activities we have planned for the year

Our Personal Development prefects are currently leading a pupil review of the programme, helping

NOT JUST A STUNT: Pupils were treated to a show, but also learned about road safety

us to ensure that our Personal Development curriculum continues to be relevant, topical, lively and engaging

Rebecca Lewis, Personal Development Co-Ordinator

Pupils race to cash in Important issues are studied on PD Days

MOre than 20 per cent of the current Year 10 signed up for Duke of edinburgh this year, and one beautiful weekend in September we all travelled to the Chiltern hills to complete the bronze assessed expedition.

After setting up and eating dinner, we set off for a night hike up the mighty Coombe hill. Despite our head torches, we could only just make out Tony Blair’s weekend retreat, Chequers, in the distance, but the torches came in handy as we made our way down the tricky, steep hill on the other side

The next day the groups set off and, amazingly, for possibly the first time ever, no-one got horribly lost in the woods … at least as far as we know!

Ms Walker, Mr Bellis and Mr rigg charged round on their mountain bikes checking, but we were all in camp by 4.30.

Wendover Woods on Sunday proved challenging and threw more than one group off their planned route however, all the teams made it back in time for the bus, demonstrating good re-location techniques and on the spot route planning

All the pupils were a delight to take away and learned a lot about themselves, the outdoors, team work and leadership. hopefully they’ll all put those skills to the test by taking up the challenge of the Silver Award in the summer.

Lorna Bateson and Leigh Bellis

ENTERPRISING PUPILS: Some of the Year 10 students involved in the new enterprise competition

THIRTY dedicated Year 10 pupils demonstrated their entrepreneurial flair over the last couple of months as they have battled to create the most lucrative company in a new Enterprise Competition

Following an active PD day focused on enterprise and team work at the end of September, students were encouraged to enter a competition to demonstrate their team work, to develop their enterprise skills and to have fun oh, and the financial incentive of being able to keep 20 per cent of any profits they made!

Ulterior motives for pupils might have included raising funds for their year group and showing their strengths in the run-up to prefect selection

Stage one entailed forming a company and coming up with a tight business plan to present to the ferocious dragons at the panel

Each company presented their team, their idea, and

their financial and marketing plans, and were then grilled mercilessly by Mr Munday, Mrs Compton, Mrs Hall and Ms Bateson

All the members of the panel enjoyed it, but I’m sure it felt quite different from the competitors’ side!

The presentations were of a very high standard, ranging from custom design T-shirts to car washing, from cake sales to jewellery After some modifications, all the companies passed this initial stage and could go ahead with their plans

All companies were in profit after the first four weeks and for much of the past half-term there have been regular sales of novelty-shaped chocolates, charms and bath salts around school, and several orders were taken for T-shirts

One of the highlights has to be the table top sale last month organised by Xplosiv Seventy tables were sold in the Performance Hall to a range of vendors The Cambridge Evening News and Q103 also attended The four company members provided a refreshment stall and a steady stream of customers provided the vendors with income All who attended commented very favourably on the extremely good organisation and the final profit from that one event alone was about £450

The competition is now over, and the team that raised the most money will be awarded the champions’ shield and 20 per cent of their profits in Final Assembly at the end of the week All the other money raised goes towards the Year Fund

Lorna Bateson, Head of Student Leadership

Great outdoors is a

ON THE BEACH: Year 11 pupils doing fieldwork at Lulworth Cove

Fun and fieldwork

YEAR 11 geography students went to Swanage earlier this term and visited several sites of interest on the Isle of Purbeck

We studied the human and physical geography of the area and related our findings to our coursework, looking at the future of tourism on the Isle of Purbeck

We had a lot of independence on the trip, enabling us to explore Swanage and Lulworth while completing our fieldwork

The Isle of Purbeck has been designated as a World Heritage Site and is globally recognised for its outstanding natural beauty

During the trip we visited Corfe Castle, Swanage town and bay, Lulworth town and cove, and Durdle Door

We also went on a boat trip to see Old Harry’s Rocks

There was a good balance of work and fun, which allowed us to benefit educationally and socially and we had a great time!

Naomi Firman and Katie Garnham (11M)

Glimpse of the reality of history

ON a foggy October morning 80 Year 11 students gathered to embark on one of the most educating and enlightening trips the college has to offer: the Flanders Battlefield Tour.

The purpose of the trip, which included visits to sites in both Belgium and France, was to build on pupils’ classroom knowledge of the First World War, and to allow them to get a real feel for the events between 1914 and 1918

Over the course of the trip, the group visited the battlefields of the Somme Offensive, the tunnel and trench complexes of Vimy Ridge, along with various cemeteries and memorials Pupils laid a wreath at the Menin Gate, Ypres, to commemorate those from Comberton and the surrounding villages who did not return

However the trip was not entirely History based Pupils and teachers enjoyed a disco on the last night in which Mr Mannas had to be regularly reminded that he wasn’t John Travolta

And just as the group thought it was all over, there was the added fun of pushing a 14-tonne coach of the Eurotunnel train after an engine starter failure, while Miss Moore sat comfortably at the front

GROUP GATHERING: the Year 11 pupils on the history trip to Flanders

Humanities comes to life

LAST summer 30 pupils from Year 8 took part in Humanities Activities week

We spent 3 days and 2 nights at Downe Activity Centre in Kent The variety of activities included swimming, abseiling and climbing, crate stacking, grass sledging, archery, go karts, team building and orienteering

TEAM-BUILDING GAMES: during the Humanities trip for Activities Week

We also had the pleasure of cooking, washing up and setting the dinner table The shop must have made loads of money because we bought masses of ice-lollies; the weather was great! On the last two days we went into Cambridge to visit the Buddhist centre, where we learned about Buddhism and how to meditate We also went punting on the River Cam to look at the historical buildings and then we walked around Comberton learning about the history of the village Everyone really enjoyed themselves throughout the week so thanks to all the staff who came with us!

Jasmine Jones and Melissa Wood (9V)

All in all, it was a stimulating and enjoyable trip

Philip DymokeGranger (11M) and Robert Prince (11C)

Pupils rise to the challenges

The trip to Beaumanor hall, which we went on at the end of Year 7, was fun, exciting and educational

The food was tasty and the activities were brilliant.

There were many exciting day and night activities such as canoeing, archery, rock climbing, walking, orienteering, challenges, sports and crafts

rock climbing was fun but scary at the same time. There were three different levels – easy, medium and hard

Canoeing was really, really exciting – the blue canoe sank and we ambushed it

each daytime activity was three hours long and in the evening there was the chance to go in the cellars, take part in a murder-mystery or play sports. Sports were cool as there were many to choose from.

There was also a tuck shop, run by Mr Pollock with his three-year-old assistant, Fox

There were also plenty of funny incidents during the week, like the teacher who fell over Sam Spencer’s tent or the morning when Mrs Jones woke up drenched.

There was a hole in the roof of her cabin and the girls in Cabin Three thought she had been out for an early canoe and capsized. Well done to Mrs Owen for choosing the right bed!

Nadine Holloway (8C) and Vincent Menezes (8N)

perfect classroom

CVC’s 20-year love affair with Italy .

IAN RIGG, who was on the original trip and goes skiing with Comberton again in 2007, celebrates a 20-year link with the same resort

IN 1987

Barrie Protheroe, at one time a governor of CVC, and I drove across the Brenner Pass from Austria into Italy and turned up the second valley after the border.

Why the second one we never knew and I’ll not reveal left or right as we have protected the secret of our own private ski resort for the last 20 years

Time after time big-school ski companies and, lately, a conference of Outdoor Education organisers have tried to steal our secret, but we have held firm

Our aim was to make skiing affordable for everyone, to cut out the companies with offices and make the trip high quality at the lowest price We feel we achieved this in 1987 and we are still competitive in 2007 It is possible to be cheaper, but not to maintain the quality and the unique personal relationships we have with the Ahrntal Valley

On that day we were in a hire car and I was terrified of driving a left-hand drive on the right hand side of the road The address we had been given as suitable for a school group was hopeless and we were then passed on several times until we met David Stolzlechner, owner, with his brothers Eric and Raymond, of the Hotel Stegerhaus in St Johann in the Sud Tyrol, Northern Italy Ooops! Don’t look it up!

sumptuous rooms, two bars, two dining rooms, its own private disco, games room and sauna The smoking ban has made the bars much more pupil as and adult friendly and the staff welcome us as old friends

The ski resort has added a gondola and replaced all the drags with chairs In the last few years they have added a new lift K1 and the K2 lift up to 2,500m will be opening just for us to celebrate 20 years There are now six cafés but the essential feature which we love still remains everyone comes down to the same point throughout the day so all our party get to see each other all the time and communication is great!

The Ski School now has a modern building serving bar-coded ski hire (great to know who has lost what), heated storage lockers and its own après ski bar! The young men have got older, thinner on top and a little more round, but so have I Franz has bleached his hair to stay attractive, but along have come the daughters

Naomi, of the big smile, Sabine, Barbara and Siggy Everyone has been to English lessons and although we speak some German, their English just gets better and better

The resort nearby, the ‘Klausberg’, was simple in the extreme One chair, two drag lifts and two cafés but a really friendly Ski School which operated out of a garage and a hut! At the time the instructors were either young men or very old shepherds, but they loved their mountain and welcomed us to

HOME FROM HOME:

the Hotel Stegerhaus in Italy’s Sud Tyrol

their family as we were the first English group ever to find them Most girls fell in love with Franz, the snowboarder not Franz the manager! Since then the hotel has added a new block with

Over the years skiing has always been big at CVC For a few years we stopped when pressure of jobs became too much, but we couldn’t stay away for long Each year we have taken in excess of 100 pupils from Years 8 and 9 and now we take two groups away Next month we have the development trip, which is training the next generation of ski leaders, and the Foundation group in February, which is 130 people on three coaches

With new young staff joining our ski management team, snowboarding is finally taking off, with groups off to the Snow Dome at Milton Keynes, and snowboarders soon to rival the expertise of the skiers on the slopes

Where next? What will the next 20 years bring? Who knows? All we know is that we are lucky to have such a wonderful set of friends in Italy and a school that values skiing for everyone Perhaps we should encourage adults to come along or just adults on their own playing at being big kids – now there’s an idea!

Gaining an insight into coastal erosion

On Curriculum extension days, Year 8 went to Walton-on-the-naze in essex. It was a very exciting and educational trip!

First we went to the beach and had a look at some of the sea defences that they have there, and discussed them and their effects on the coastline

We could see that the cliffs where we stood were eroding much faster than the coastline further down the beach.

next we walked through the nature reserve area across to the other beach. On the way we went down a very muddy mudslide which was a lot of fun!! Once

we were all very muddy we went across to the field and had lunch, then continued to the swampy area Afterwards we started to head back down the beach and saw the ruins of some houses that had fallen off the cliff!

eventually we got back to where we began and some people bought some sweets from the shop at the tower and by then it was already time to come back home. We enjoyed the trip and all had a lot of fun!

Parisa Parmar and Holly Gale (8V)

A

CLOSER LOOK: Year 8 pupils survey beach material at Walton

A VIEW TO RETURN TO: looking down into the Ahrntal Valley

Recycled art is Smart

THE Applied Art and Design

Year 11 GCSE group exhibited pieces made for their mock exam in the foyer of the Smart Life Centre, Cambridge, last month

The work was a response to a recycling project that had to be site-specific They decided to work with the Smart Life Centre because the whole ethos of Sustainable Living is central to the environmental debate and goes hand in hand with ‘Recycling’

After a visit to a recycling design fair in London and to the Smart Life Centre itself, the students had six weeks to transform ordinary, throw-

away material into something that could eventually be marketed as another product

They discovered literally that “less is more” in the recycling world –that the simplest objects from wrappers and milk bottles to car parts and plastic bags could be re-used to create innovative and functional designs objects that are a far cry from the Blue Peter efforts that used to count for recycled art!

The exhibition was the first to be held in this brand new Centre for environmental sustainability the first link in what hopefully will become a productive partnership with Comberton

BELLA PASTA: fantastic food on Italian Day

PUPILS enjoyed a wide range of Italian foods at the third of Comberton’s themed food days

Following the success of the Chinese and Spanish days, catering staff expanded the range of Italian fare on offer for one day last month

Catering manager Debbie Rogers said: “Pasta is probably the most popular item on the menu anyway and this gave the pupils the chance to try different combinations as well as other traditional Italian dishes they

Course offers life skills

COPE Certificate of personal effectivenes is a twoyear course in which you create your own curriculum, choose the best work for your individual needs as well as creating great friendships in a friendly environment

It’s not only classroom-based We do a lot of computer work, trips and discussion, whatever suits your needs

After just a few sessions, I have found this course great and thoroughly enjoyable, making friends and learning at the same time

Italian is just the job

may not have come across before ” Staff and pupils actually have two themed days this half-term as the majority of the school were this week sitting down to Christmas lunch

Last year more than 800 lunches – either traditional fare, salad or a vegetarian option – were served and Ms Rogers is hoping to have topped that number this year After a successful pilot last year, Year 11 students were again served in the Performance Hall

Another catering exclusive for the oldest pupils started earlier this term with the introduction of a cashless catering buttery service in the Youth Centre at lunch times In addition to the items regularly available in the buttery, Year 11 can also purchase hot chocolate, which is only otherwise available to the rest of the school at the breakfast service Breakfasts are available every day from 7 45-8 20am in the buttery where hot and cold food is sold by cashless catering only

COPE-ING: Kashah

Our most recent challenge was arranging and doing a Christmas tea party This was a group challenge in which everyone took part in some way not only having a good time but learning vital organisational and other skills which will help in later life, in work or any desired profession It’s a great option to take for GCSE

Kennedy and Taonga

Banda

Kashah Kennedy (10O)

Outdoor inspiration

“IT’S the best art room in the country!” declared Mr Abbott as he stood on a cliff looking out to sea at Lulworth Cove

A group of GCSE artists spent a weekend in Dorset drawing at the World Heritage Site

The experience of drawing outdoors within the breathtaking environment gave us the opportunity to spend time representing the landscape; producing considered drawings, careful paintings, colourful sketches and interesting photographs demonstrating creative capabilities in spite of the lively nights, drawing until midnight and very early mornings

We did artwork everyday, sat on pebbled beaches, grassy hills or huge rocks, experimenting with different drawing techniques to expand our coursework projects

The trip was a great success, the weather stayed fine, which meant we were all hiking about clutching packed lunches and carrying boxes of equipment in search of the best vantage points from which to draw

Lucy Christian, Trainee Art Teacher

DURDLE DOOR: as drawn by Dean Bywater (11N)

Best foot forward

DURING Curriculum Extension days Year 8 were taught to salsa dance by Miss McClelland and Miss Walker

First we were taught very tiring solo dances After forming a large circle we were taught the basic steps with a partner and then we changed partner and were taught the butterfly

Jewels in the crown

Then we were shown how to do the basic steps while positioning our hands differently

Next we were taught to spin outwards with another partner, then we were taught to spin inwards

I am sure everyone found it very tiring and good fun

Samuel Hosking (8I)

COMBERTON students have been learning to make their own jewellery using everyday objects

The class is held every Thursday (3 00–4 30pm) in the Art Block with a new tutor, Karen Reade

A new course will start Thursday January 11 and anyone interested should enrol at the Community Education office

Pupils voice opinions

AS a warm-up for the main Rotary Club team event students in Years 7 and 8 were invited to audition their public speaking talents in a competition held in school last month Students were asked to prepare a short individual presentation expressing views on topics ranging from Reality TV, to Nuclear Power or the importance of Fathers’ Day Competitors were judged on their research, quality of ideas and, of course, the standard of their delivery

In a very high standard of competition Polly Ray emerged victorious in the Year 7 competition, with Guy Nicholls claiming the Year 8 crown

At the time of going to press Guy is preparing to lead the Year 8 team into the first round of the Rotary Competition, hoping to continue an excellent record for CVC in the event More news of this in the next edition

SPEAKING OUT: Pupils in Years 7 and 8 held a public speaking competition to practise for the Rotary Club event

Boxing clever to help less fortunate

FOLLOWInG the success of last year’s Operation Christmas Child by Year 7 at Comberton, this year’s scheme was expanded.

Pupils from Years 7, 8 and 9 collected toys, toiletries and sweets to fill more than 50 shoe boxes, which were covered with Christmas wrapping paper, to send to children aged 2-14 in countries suffering war, poverty, famine and natural dis-

aster

Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, which brings seasonal gifts to youngsters while sharing the Christian message.

Last year more than a million boxes were distributed to children in eastern europe and Africa

THE

CILIP

Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals are the UK’s oldest and most prestigious children’s book awards and this year are celebrating 70 years

In recent years groups of pupils from various schools have been “shadowing” the judging process, as a way of encouraging young people to read for pleasure, and earlier this year some Year 8 pupils from CVC took up the challenge

They read a shortlist of five books, answered some difficult questions and then voted on their favourite

This culminated in a day of fun activities at St Neots Community College, where, in the morning, teams from several different schools participated in a quiz, which was designed to show off their knowledge of the books

They also gave a presentation on their own particular favourite and the reasons for their choice

When the vote was taken, it was unanimously in favour of ‘Tamor’, written by Mal Peet

Two students from each school were picked to participate in an art activity based around the books shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway award This accolade is for books with the best illustrations, often aimed at younger children

Using these books as our inspiration, we had the morning to create a piece based around the images they contained and implied They were truly beautiful, and there was certainly no shortage of ideas flying around the room during our initial brainstorming session.

After a couple of hours, everybody had produced work of an exceptionally high standard

Whether collage, scrapbooking or watercolour, each person’s finished piece was unique, and it was interesting to see how we had all been given exactly the same task, yet approached it in such a range of different ways

Students get to grips with CVC Nothing beats a good book

TWenTY PGCe trainees from the Faculty of education, Cambridge University, have been at Comberton this term

They were at CVC on Wednesdays and Thursdays as part of their induction into the school and teacher training before starting a one-month block placement last month.

This format gave them some sustained continuity in their contact with classes and should have provided some excellent teaching experience so that they can move on with confidence to their second placement next term in new schools

Mary Martin, Deputy Principal

In the afternoon we took our work back to the library to show to those who had been looking at the Carnegie books It was well received, and we found it useful and thought-provoking to look at and discuss our own pieces, and to discover what other members of the group had been doing during the morning

All in all it was a fantastic day, and if ever I was given the opportunity to go to a similar event in the future, my name would be on the list almost before we had been told about it!

Jodie Baker (now 9E) and Barbara Pointon, Librarian

GROUP GATHERING: The PGCE students enjoy a Training Day lunch

Exclusive ballgown collection raises cash for cancer charity

The Teenage Cancer Trust received £500 after a fantastic Fashion Show organised by Year 11 pupils and parents.

The Year 11 fund was also boosted by more than £100 after the show, in which 12 specially-created ballgowns were modelled by pupils They were created by Indian-born fashion designer, nazneen Lawyer, who studied fashion in Bangalore and new Delhi.

She started her career with ensemble, a high fashion boutique in new Delhi, owned by International Designer, Tarun Tahiliani She then moved to his design studio as one of his assistant designers where she specialised in Couture, but was also involved in designing ‘Prêt a Porter’ collections

The 12 exquisite ball gowns were modelled by Poppy Brear, Parvie Churchman, haalah Jumaily, Katie Pearson, Becky Seymour and Sara Thomson.

The 100-plus people who attended were treated to dance and live music presented by Slavan Andjelic, Parvie Churchman, Tom Clare,

MODEL: Sara Thomson shows off one of the exclusive ballgowns

Charly Cole, David Coplowe, Becca

Davenport, Mariella

D’escrivan, Beth hardy, Jess hitchcock, ellen

nightingale, Isabelle Phelan, Lucy Phelan, Jess Pinto, ellie rider, Becca rochford and Sara Thomson, with masterful vocals from Mesie Augustine. Carl Spence-Jones provided technical support with sound and lighting. The delicious Ploughman’s was prepared and served by Christian Clarkson and Alison Lasenby If you are interested in any of the exclusive ball gowns nazneen can be contacted via email: nazneen k@lycos.com or via mobile phone: 07810040238

The evening owes its success to the support received from CVC pupils, the staff of Cb3 and Comberton Leisure, Costcutters, Alex Williams of The Duke of Wellington, Bourn and the Teenage Cancer Trust

Invaluable support came from eleanor Cole, Sarah Dickinson, Catherine huntingdon, Sarah Phelan, ella Lyons, Lynne Phillips, richard Seymour and Alison Wareham.

l In October, Comberton hosted a cake and coffee sale in aid of Macmillan nurses

The sale - part of the nationwide ‘World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’ event was highly successful, raising £192.20.

Many pupils in Year 8 contributed to this event by bringing cakes in All the money will be put to good use

Due to the success of this particular cake sale, CVC are considering hosting more charity events for Macmillan nurses.

Alex Stephenson 8O

l A further cake sale hosted by 9C last month raised £100 for Cancer relief

Pupils gear up for adventure

THE Year 8 Adventure Club are into bikes this year

So far we’ve only practiced riding skills at school but soon we have plans to venture afar, culminating in a few days in Derbyshire

The whole aim is to develop a team spirit where everyone supports each other so that expeditions finish with everyone still in a group and still happy. It’s not easy when as a starter not everyone has a bike or rides a bike At least Nikul, Luthais and Scott had been on bikes last year in Thetford as part of the Year 7 Adventure Club Part of the skills expected is to be prepared Even when we have borrowed several bikes some people have limited experience and there was a lot of work to be done teaching scooting, mounting, use of gears and braking without skidding George liked to be fast but control was ‘new’ Laura managed to brake and smile at the same time!

We moved on to braking and pedalling at the same time so that it is possible to negotiate tight corners or ride slowly as part of a group Bethany does a lot of motorbike riding and she quickly understood this skill as it is the same It may be me, but many of the group seemed to have learnt to stop by putting their feet down and in tricky situations the bike then runs into the back of your legs painful! Before we can risk short passages on road and traffic as well as muddy tracks we will have to master these skills

When it was time to tackle the school field after creating a ‘single track’ around the astro we had some races around the rugby posts Bethany won, beating me by half a wheel but ‘Musty’ was close behind There was no compulsion to race, which is just as well as George seemed to crash every few seconds taking out anyone who was near him Still, Chris and Luthais found they could crash standing still!

It was a lovely sunny day and Sara and Emma found that they became too

ON YOUR BIKE: Cycling is the focus activity for the Year 8 Adventure Club

hot so we tried riding in the woods I didn’t think it was possible to get lost so close to home!

All was very positive Team work is building and we are eager to tackle a bigger expedition next March in preparation for Epping Forest and Derbyshire

The Year 7 Adventure Club have done some team-building activities this term as a preparation for their overnight expeditions to Harlton and Thetford later in the year Once they have mastered the art of living in a tent and cooking over an open fire they will be able to cope with any challenge

Ian Rigg, Adventure Club co-ordinator

TOM Symmons has won a place in the English Squash Academy.

The Year 8 pupil was selected for the prestigious England regional coaching programme led by ex-World No 1 Cassie Thomas after reaching the final of the under-13 event at the Academy Championships at Hemingford Grey He finished as runner-up in the competition, which attracted youngsters from across East Anglia

The other Comberton success was the under-17 plate final which was an allComberton event with Nils Downes beating Rory Symmons 3-1

There was also a strong showing from Comberton's juniors at the Cambridgeshire Closed championships a couple of weeks earlier where Tom became the first Comberton champion since 2001 with victory in the under-13 event The next day Year 11 pupil Euan Macnamee won the under-19 plate

Tom, Nils, Rory and Euan, along with Andy Hall and reserve James Davenport, continue to progress in the National Schools under-19 championship After a 5-0 win over Davenant Sports College, they showed strength in depth to beat William de Ferrers School, Essex, 3-2 in the second round, despite defeat for Comberton’s top two, Nils and Rory

SUCCESS: Comberton players and their recent trophies

Lucy tipped for glory Academy calling

FORMER Comberton pupil Lucy

Dowsett has been tipped for Olympic glory in 2012

The teenager from Haslingfield, who left CVC last summer, has been earmarked for glory by double Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes

She picked out Lucy as one of the country’s best middle-distance running talents and is now personally involved in her training She hopes to guide her to a medal at the 2012 Games in London after recruiting her to join her mentoring scheme ‘On Camp with Kelly’

Lucy, 16, will spend the next year working with Dame Kelly and coach Margo Jennings, who is based in America She will also receive extensive funding from Norwich Union Dame Kelly said: “She is the youngest athlete in the scheme, but I have real belief that she can be the best ”

Lucy, who runs for Cambridge & Coleridge and won English Schools medals while at Comberton, has been plagued by injury

But Dame Kelly said: “She has shown a lot of promise and has a big future ahead of her She really seems to have a natural talent and ability I hope to get her on three to four week-long training camps because they are really educating and I think 2007 could be a breakthrough season ”

Lucy, who runs 800m and 1,500m the distances over which Dame Kelly was crowned Olympic champion at the last Games is delighted with the chance “I’d definitely love to compete in the Olympics,” she said “It’s always good to have ambition and I’ll be 22 in 2012, so it’s a good age

“It’s been brilliant working with Kelly Holmes She’s such a genuine person –really willing to help you and give you advice ”

Cup agony

COMBerTOn’S Year 7 football team went to Diss high School, norfolk, for the second round of the national Schools Cup.

Miles Arnold put Comberton ahead, Diss levelled before Tom Blair and Miles made it 3-1. Diss then scored three quick goals to lead 4-3 at half-time

Despite some brilliant goalkeeping from Matt Woodward, Diss scored a further three

Will Collett and James Biswell made some great tackles in the centre of defence and Comberton then scored a late consolation goal from a great move finished by Sam Wood.

Comberton: Matt Woodward, Will Collett, James Biswell, Charlie Wood, Sam Wood, hugh Gordon, Connor edmonds, Joel Saul, Miles Arnold, Charlie Wetton-Smith, Joe Dickens, Ben Whitbread, Paul hardy, Tom Blair

Girls in final battle

COMBERTON’s under-14 team saved their best hockey of the season for their Cambridge and District tournament

After weeks of matches and dedicated training , they adjusted to the 11-a-side game as they beat Sawston, Soham and the Perse to finish top of their group, before a hard-fought battle with Linton was won with a single goal to earn a place in the final Comberton faced a very strong Bottisham team, who made our solid defence work exceptionally hard and the 4-0 defeat did not do justice to the efforts of the Comberton team A big congratulations to all of the pupils involved

Comberton: Abbey Cotton, Kayleigh Prince, Emma Wishart, Michelle Janssen, Loren Grass, Lauren Jones, Jay Phillips, Beth Purser, Heather Blair, Georgia Walden, Melissa Wood, Anna Carter, Holly Jukes, Laura Edwards, Anya Hall, Rachel Lambert, Lucy Slatter, Charlotte Bidwell, Grace Hothersall, Lily Jones

FINALISTS: The Comberton girls who reached the District final

LUCY DOWSETT

Duo train with the elite

TWO Comberton judo players were given a taste of life at the top of their sport when they attended at a special training camp.

Year 11 pupils Natasha Collins and Ellis Parry went to the English Institute of Sport in Bath for the camp, where they trained with members of the British team, one of the British team coaches and the Team Bath residential Japanese coaches The players worked hard on their technique and fitness and had the chance to fight top British players

Both players have returned from the camp with greater confidence in their abilities as judo players and are hoping to go again in February Natasha was only able to attend thanks to Panther Taxis, who paid the training fees and accommodation costs

The chance to train with the sport’s elite helped make up for Comberton’s disappointing show at the national championships, where both teenagers, along with the club’s other competitor, Barton pupil James Prince, were all eliminated by narrow margins in the first round

Ellis’ twin Luke missed out altogether after sustaining serious knee and leg injuries in the build-up to the event

The club continues to go from strength to strength and 25 new Year 7 players started attending training on Wednesday afternoon (3-4 30pm) following their introduction to the sport during the Curriculum Extension days just before halfterm Another beginners’ course will run in January and two new Level 2 coaches Vanessa Turney and Jason Fox have joined the club

Top athlete joins partnership

A WORLD champion has joined the South Cambs School Sports Partnership, which includes Comberton and all its feeder primary schools

Femi Akinsanya, currently the World Masters (35-40 years) indoor triple jump champion, is the partnership’s new full-time athletics coach

Mr Akinsanya, 36, is already a Level 3 athletics coach although this is his first full-time job in the sport after years of combining top-level competition and coaching with a job for sympathetic employers National Cash Registers

Although he is now eligible for Masters’ competition, Mr Akinsanya is still ranked in the top 10 in Britain nationally

He is looking forward to getting the chance to pass on his love of athletics to youngsters in South Cambridgeshire in a job funded by the partnership schools, the Cambridgeshire Athletics Association and Sport England

“I had a coach, Aston Moore, who really broke things

TOP TIPS:

down and made it simple,” said Mr Akinsanya “I started to really understand things and people in Peterborough, where I live, asked me to coach them

Then I started running regional camps

“I am looking forward to starting at the beginning and watching children progressing from schools to clubs

“I want to raise the awareness of athletics because I believe it’s fundamental to all sports as well as life in general

“The sorts of things you learn are selfmotivation, group work, mental toughness and dealing with unexpected situations as well as the sporting side of it ” South Cambs Partnership Development manager Sally Banfield said: “The partnership is extremely lucky to have found such an outstanding coach as Femi Not only is it super having an international athlete as part of the team, but his enthusiasm and love of athletics will hopefully inspire many more students into the sport ” l Lucy tipped for glory Page 11

NEW TENNIS COACH: Simon Nathan

New coach signs

SIMON Nathan is Comberton’s new tennis coach

The licensed Lawn Tennis Association development coach from Milton Keynes will work not only for the college but for the village tennis club

Like the other Comberton coaches, he will work with pupils at CVC and at the feeder primary schools

In his role as club coach, he is running the junior coaching programme, which resumed last month

Also a qualified driving instructor, Mr Nathan has coached at various clubs nearer his home as well as being racquets manager at a major health club and tennis coach at a large hotel chain group

FA goes back to its roots with conference at Comberton

COMBerTOn Leisure last month staged a Football Association conference as a part of the national governing body’s attempt to get back to its roots.

‘Getting into Football’ is the FA’s campaign aimed at promoting their football develop-

ment initiatives to all children and parents

The day-long event at Comberton was one of a series of conferences as the FA listen to thoughts and views on the game from grass roots clubs around the country.

Guest speakers were Sir Trevor Brooking, the FA’s Director of Football Development, and former Wimbledon player robbie earle, now a leading television pundit.

representatives from clubs in the east region were invited to share their views on how the game should be developed.

for Comberton’s Natasha Collins from Japanese coach Norito Katabuchi during a special training camp in Bath

FEMI AKINSANYA