MVC News Spring 15

MVC NEWS

The News Magazine of Melbourn Village College, an Academy of the Comberton Academy Trust

See more ACT inside — Page 3

Animal Masks made by students for Noyes Fludde

Maths Masterclass proves little challenge This year seven of our most talented Year 8 Mathematicians attended a series of Saturday morning workshops run by the Royal Institute at Cambridge University. Topics covered by these sessions were very diverse such as encryption and the maths involved in music. Thanks must go to the students for giving up their time to attend and their parents for transporting them to and from the venues. Hopefully all the students enjoyed the experience and learned a great deal about the applications of mathematics in the real world.

In February we had a record 100 students sit the Intermediate Maths challenge. This is a very difficult assessment of

mathematical ability but once again Melbourn students achieved highly. Special mention must go to Reece Andrade, Jack Greenwood and Hannah Covington who all achieved best in year awards. To give you an idea of the kind of question asked, here is one from the paper ...

“A voucher code is made up of four characters. The first is a letter: V, X or P. The second and third are different digits. The fourth is the units digit of the sum of the second and third digits.

How many different voucher codes like this are there?”

Students have their Eyes on the Prize

All Melbourn Village College’s Year 9 students were able to gain an insight into further and higher education as they start to think about their options for GCSE exams when they spent half a day at Anglia Ruskin University’s Eyes on the Prize event, designed to encourage the 13 and 14-year-olds to think about their futures, to aim high and keep their ‘eyes on the prize’.

The 113 students listened to a presentation on career choices and the importance of making the right decisions as well as a tour of Anglia Ruskin’s Cambridge campus with student mentors, who talked to them about their experiences.

Finally students had the chance to meet and talk to representatives from ARU as well as all the Cambridge Sixth Form colleges and to ask questions about courses and career possibilities.

Melbourn Sports Centre News Page 6

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The chance to talk to sixth form staff does not usually arise until students are older when as Year 11s they choose their post-16 courses so this was an amazing insight for Melbourn’s students to help them get on their chosen career path with the right GCSE options.

Students returned to school full of new ideas about their future plans and enthusiastic to get on and work harder to help them compete in the ever-changing world of work.

Hannah Webb said: “I found out more about what I can do and where I can go in the future,” while Elizabeth Clark commented: “It was such a good day, I never knew there were so many colleges that offer the midwifery course.” Jacob Hanson added: “It was a great experience and will help me out later in life.”

Contents

Science Page 7 ICT Page 7 History Page 8 Uniform Story Page 8 SSCO Report Page 8 ACTion Art Page 8 CVC Roundup Pages 9 and 10 Answer: 270

Maths Masterclass Page 2 Eyes on the Prize Page 2 Noyes Fludde Page 3 International Award Page 4 Foreign Student visits Page 4 Dance Competition Page 4 Rugby Victory page 5 Singing Teacher and Sam Smith Page 5

Answer at the bottom of page

MVC News

Noyes Fludde

This unique production of Britten’s much loved version of Noah’s Flood was a major cross channel collaboration made up of partners from northern France and southeast of England. The show featured the 60 strong orchestra from Picardie and 110 children drawn from seven English & French schools who take the roles of sons, the son’s wives and of course most importantly the adorable animal chorus.

Leading the production are Mr & Mrs Noah played by Royal Opera House company members Anne Mason and Geoffrey Moses who are husband and wife in real life too. The voice of God is performed by an English actor based in Paris - Leslie Clack. Joining them on stage are young people from Southend YMCA playing the parts of the Gossips. The musical direction comes from Orchestre de Picardie’s Arie Van Beek and stage direction from Royal Opera House’s Amy Lane.

Melbourn Village College was the lead English school and many of the animal chorus come from its feeder primary schools and sister village colleges Cambourne and Comberton. Head of Music at Melbourn, Paul Belbin told us, “This was a stunning opportunity for our students to be a part of a professional production. We took a large The ‘Fludde” waves rehearse party of children to Amiens and Compiegne in January, where we performed two sell-out shows and we were delighted to be able to welcome the cast to Cambridgeshire. Britten devised the opera to be performed by communities in community settings and I am sure that he would have approved of such a diverse coming together to re-tell a great story with great tunes!”

Multi award winning Musical Director Arie Van Beek has performed with some of the best orchestras in Europe and has always wanted to be involved in a production of Noyes Fludde. Through the ACT project he was able to realise his vision, conducting the highly respected Orchestre de Picaride. The orchestra mainly perform in northern France and they have a strong commitment to encouraging young musicians. For this production, they reflected Britten’s instructions to include the community where possible by inviting an extra 40 young French musicians playing alongside the professionals.

Stage Director Amy Lane (Royal Opera House) has enormous experience of working in the West End and at many of Europe’s leading opera companies. She certainly had her work cut out ensuring that the large cast were in the right places at the right time. The production had a strong visual look with props designed by the University of the Creative Arts in Canterbury and animal head dresses designed by Royal Opera House in Thurrock. In addition Amy has drafted in the skills of lighting designer Tine Bech to help to create special effects using LED lights and movement which contribute to the very atmospheric performance.

The production came about through an EU funded project called ACT – A Common Territory which celebrates the shared culture of northern France and south east England through a creative partnership between cultural organisations, colleges and schools on both sides of the channel. This production is just one of many cultural exchanges which the project has enabled.

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I n t e r n a t i o n a l Aw a r d Melbourn Village College has been recognised for its international work.

The college has been awarded the British Council’s Intermediate International Award.

The award, which runs until 2018, recognises the school’s work to bring the world into the classroom by forging lasting relationships with schools overseas and introducing global themes to pupils.

A global outlook is a key feature of the curriculum in all Comberton Academy Trust schools, of which Melbourn is a part.

Melbourn has excellent international partnerships, is the only school in ACT, an innovative cross-border cultural heritage and educational exchange programm between twelve arts and education partners from France and England and backed by the European Regional Development Fund, and is set to develop further links with Spain and France.

To obtain the award, Melbourn focussed on seven activity areas, which included a German exchange project where students explored their respective home towns, a WW1 project which culminated in a Year 8/9

trip to the Battlefields to mark the centenary of the outbreak of war and a variety of arts and music-based workshops and performances.

Melbourn’s Head of Languages Ben Hutchinson said: “I am thrilled that all of our international work has been recognised through the International Intermediate Award.

“Achieving this award is due to the work of staff and students across the college and we are looking forward to building further partnerships abroad now. “ In an increasingly interconnected world, our students need to learn be able to engage in communication with people from a wide range of different cultures and traditions. We believe that our work as an ACT partner has allowed us to achieve this goal.”

Rachel Hawkes, Associate Deputy Principal with responsibility for languages and international education across the Trust, said: “This award is an excellent achievement. To be successful, schools have to show not only that the international dimension is part of the whole school ethos, but also that there has been a significant impact on learners as a result. I am

in this way.”

Fostering an international dimension is at the heart of the British Council’s work with schools to help young

people live and work as global citizens in a shrinking

world and this award recognises schools which fulfil a number of specific criteria.

This view is supported by evidence from an ICM

survey of UK business leaders carried out for a report by the British Council and Think Global, a charity that works to educate and engage people about global issues.

The report, The Global Skills Gap: preparing young people for the global economy, reveals that when

recruiting new staff employers rate knowledge and

awareness of the wider world as more important than a candidate's degree classification or A-level results.

Students of Spanish at Melbourn Village College were given a boost thanks to a group of native speakers.

Twenty Peruvians students spent the day at the college, not only chatting (in Spanish) to Year 8 and Year 11 pupils, but also giving them a taste of the South American culture.

The group, who are on an exchange programme with Comberton Village College, one of Melbourn’s partners in the Comberton Academy Trust, played traditional Peruvian music using a special drum guitars and panpipes, sang songs in Spanish as well as demonstrating some well-known dances.

They then sat down to chat to the English students and help them with their Spanish speaking.

Assistant Principal Regina Lawrence, who also teaches Spanish, said: “We were delighted to host a visit from some Peruvian students, who went into lessons to help our students with their Spanish speaking and treated us to a traditional Peruvian dance and music performance. It was fantastic to see our students being able to use their language in a real context and they were very welcoming to the visitors.”

The students also appreciated the opportunity with Joie Cabreza commenting: “They were really friendly and their English was really good.”

Lara Davison said: “Their dance performance was really cool and entertaining. They played their musical instruments really well,” while Shauna Edwards added: “They got on well with the MVC students.”

The Peruvians, who have spent three weeks in Cambridgeshire, have also visited Cambourne Village College, London, Ely and Cambridge as part of their programme and have stayed with English host students from Comberton.

Spanish Students visit

Yesterday, we were delighted to welcome a group of Spanish students from the school our year 8 students will be visiting in May, when 55 students are going to Cantabria in Spain. They all had a wonderful time getting to know each other, talking in Spanish and English. Our students were complimented on how welcoming and friendly they were – and how good their Spanish is, especially after only 6 month’s study of the language!

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therefore delighted that Melbourn has been recognised

Energised...

On Saturday 7th February, Melbourn Dance Company and PADCo took part in 'Energise' a Youth Dance England U.Dance event, that saw various dance groups from across the county come together to share their work at Swavesey Village College. Both performance groups did incredibly well, with the organisers commenting on how confident and comfortable they looked whilst on stage. This was the third year running for Melbourn's participating groups, and we look forward to it again next year.

MVC News

On a Winning Streak...

The year 9 boys can add to their rugby victory earlier this year as they won the District Basketball competition hosted by Long Road College. The team had to qualify for the finals and this was done with a depleted team due to injury and illness. Parkiside and Linton were the opponents in the qualifying stage and nervy but ultimately winning performances saw MVC through to the finals. Chesterton lie in wait in the semi-final and the game began with both teams giving up possession cheaply and missing easy opportunities to score.

Eventually both teams settled down and started their scoring but each time MVC stole the ball back and mounted a quick counter attack points were added and this proved to be the difference, MVC were through to the final. St Bedes and Cottenham would have both been encouraged by the poor standard of the first semi final. St Bedes were the winners and so two old basketball rivals were thrown together again. A stern but encouraging team talk seemed to do the trick as MVC were quickly into scoring and raced into an 8 point lead only for St Bedes to claw it back with some good long shooting. Crisper, more accurate passing though was enough for MVC to really show what they were capable of and the points kept coming mainly through Alex Little and Fin Livingstone and very soon St Bedes' game was up.

Congratulations to the boys, some of whom were scouted for the Cambridgeshire County team.

Singing Teacher and the Grammys!

Tucked away in a small, functional room overlooking a school playing field, Joanna Price has her feet firmly back on the ground – or more accurately on the piano pedals.

Taking a break between lessons and sitting on a piano stool in one of Melbourn Village College’s music practice rooms, she was smiling broadly as she admitted the previous 24 hours had been something of a whirlwind.

Every Tuesday she is Ms Price, the peripatetic voice coach who has been working one day a week at Melbourn since 2002, helping countless students pursue their singing ambitions.

Many probably do not even know that she has another, very different, life.

There she is Joanna Eden, recording artist and the woman credited with teaching multi-Grammy award winning Sam Smith to sing.

And his recent success has thrown her firmly into the spotlight. With Sam, who grew up in nearby Gt Chishill, and his family, in Los Angeles, Joanna was much in demand on radio, TV and in the papers for her thoughts after her former pupils picked up an incredible four Grammys, including the prestigious prizes for song and record of the year and best new artist.

But it has also given her a chance to highlight her latest recording.

She is extremely proud to have been given the green light to put out the first song Sam wrote, ‘Hold on Tight’.

Her version is now available on iTunes and Joanna and her management team are hoping, after a mention on Chris Evans’ breakfast show, that it will make the Radio 2 playlist.

“I’d been nagging Sam to write songs, but it wasn’t until he was about 17 that he started,” said the 42-year-old Saffron Waldenbased musician. “But when he did he wrote beautiful songs. Whenever I saw him I used to say, what about ‘Hold on Tight’ and he said ‘why don’t you do it?’ so now I have. It’s all been very exciting. We would love it to make the Radio 2 playlist. It’s very much their style; a bit jazzy, a bit Norah Jones, and it’s the biggest station in Europe.”

Joanna was performing at a gig when Sam’s parents saw her and asked if she would teach their then nine-year-old son.

“I was mainly performing in those days,” she said. “I was just starting out as a teacher and Sam became the first to have private lessons. I knew straight away he had a great voice with fantastic style, pitch and control. I’m very proud of what he has achieved and have shed a few tears at his success.”

Smith, who continued to have lessons with Joanna until he was 18 – just four years ago – and only a couple before he first rose to fame.

Joanna, who also teaches one day a week at Anglia Ruskin University, is hoping another of her former students could enjoy similar success to Sam. She is predicting a big future for Ellie Dixon, who left Melbourn Village College last summer and is now studying at Hills Road Sixth Form College.

“She’s got it all and I’ve told her that,” said Joanna. “Everywhere there’s a stand-out performer and she was the one at Melbourn.

I’m hoping there are more to come.”

Melbourn Principal Simon Holmes is urging parents and prospective parents not to let the furore surrounding the latest schools’ performance data mask his college’s achievements in 2014.

The tables, published last Thursday, have undergone significant and controversial changes as they now rely on ‘first entry’ data rather than ‘best entry’ as in the past.

This change was introduced midway through the students’ courses and Melbourn, in line with many schools, continued to enter students for exams early if they felt it was in the students’ best interests, regardless of the effect upon the college’s position in the tables.

Mr Holmes said “More than 75% of Melbourn’s 2014 leavers achieved five or more A*-C grades (including English and Maths). These are the college’s best ever results and to have the efforts of students and staff belittled by this controversy is simply unfair.”

The school was also in the top 10% of schools nationally for progress made by students, with Maths, Science and English results all being very strong.

He added: “Schools such as ours will continue to provide the best possible education for all of our students, despite changing government initiatives which make it increasingly difficult for parents to find out accurate information about their children’s progress.”

Mr Holmes feels that the latest controversy may have one positive outcome: “I think that more parents will visit schools as part of their decision-making and that can only be a good thing. You can learn an awful lot about the ethos and atmosphere of a school by visiting during a normal school day. We always encourage parents to visit us.”

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MVC News

Mars, Science and MVC

A Mars Rover landed at Melbourn Village College.

Accompanied by two of its engineers, Abbie and Cat, the Rover visit was designed to give Key Stage 3 students an insight into space exploration of the future.

The visiting Mars Rover was called Bridget, and was the prototype for the one being sent to Mars in 2018.

Bridget looked really glamorous in her coat of real gold! While Abbie talked through the design for the rover and how she came to work in the space industry, Cat drove the rover around the school hall using a play station controller!

Students had the opportunity to ask questions afterwards and wanted to know how much it had cost (£1.6 million) and how long it had taken to develop (months). Many also wanted to have a go at driving it!

The students enjoyed the experience and some students were surprised that a career in the space industry was a possibility.

“It’s not every day you get a Mars Rover into school!” said Science Teacher Tracey Mayhead.

It was the perfect appetiser for Melbourn’s Year 7, 8 and 9 students ahead of their science week next week when the focus will be on competitions and investigations which are not usually part of the curriculum.

Year 7 will look at the science of fizzing, Year 8 at energy and Year 9 at chemically-powered boats.

Year 8 are also having a visit from a group called Mad Science as part of British Science Week which runs from March 13-22 and students will be entering a national competition based on science and discoveries linked to their local area.

It also ties in with the annual Cambridge Science Festival (9-22 March), which offers hundreds of activities and talks free of charge across the city. More information at http://www.sciencefestival.cam.ac.uk/events

will be entering a national competition based on science and discoveries linked to their local area.

All Year 7 and 8 students will also be completing the big science week quiz provided by the British Science Week Team.

The event ties in with the annual Cambridge Science Festival (9-22 March), which offers hundreds of activities and talks free of charge across the city. More information at http://www.sciencefestival.cam.ac.uk/events

Science Week

Students in Years 7, 8 and 9 at Melbourn Village College have been extending their science learning this week.

Having had their appetites for science whetted by the visit of a Mars Rover protoype a couple of weeks ago, there has been great excitement for this week’s Science week, where the curriculum has been extended and the focus has been on competitions and investigations.

Year 7 have been looking at the science of fizzing, making their own honeycomb and looking at why carbon dioxide is formed. Year 8 at energy and will attempt to cook an egg using the least fuel possible, and Year 9 at boats fuelled from citric acid, bicarbonate of soda and water. Year 8 have also had a visit from a group called Mad Science and students

Never too young...

More than 100 youngsters from six of Melbourn Village College’s feeder primary school enjoyed a fantastic hands-on science day at the senior school.

No problem!

ICT Students have been involved in an exciting competition run by Go4Set. The competition, with

support from local business Frontier Silicon, challenges our students to design an electronic solution to solve a real world problem. They have come up with a way to get rid of credit cards and key fobs and replace it with a Co-inciding with National Science Week and the universal solution called UiD. Cambridge Science Festival, the Year 4 pupils James Richardson, teacher mentor for the team said “It is were welcomed by a group of talented Year 8 and an excellent opportunity for our best and brightest to 10 Melbourn students for one of three sessions explore electronics and design a real world solution. during the day and took part in eight experiments.

These were: The team have been loaned example DAB radios to see • Fire extinguishers – students made how electronic products are designed and work. models of carbon dioxide fire extinguishers using The team of six Year 8 students will be presenting their baking powder and hydrochloric acid. They then solution in Luton competing with other schools across the used the gas to put out a candle. area. We wish them the best of luck!

• Spinning Tardis – students made model tardis’ and used the power of water to help them to spin.

• Indicators _ students used Universal indicators to investigate whether a number of household liquids were acids or alkalis.

• Static Electricity: students used balloons to create static electricity. They then used this to make foil hover, pick up semolina and move a coke can.

• Hearing tests – students looked at how sound waves travelled to our ears using a model ear and then a signal generator to create a range of sound frequencies.

• Flame tests – students burnt some chemicals and observed what colours the flames turned • Spinners – students coloured a pair of pictures such as a bird and a cage. When they were stuck together and spun they looked like they were one picture.

• Extracting Iron – students used the chemicals in a match to get iron from iron oxide. They then tested the iron with a match.

Melbourn science teacher Cat Rich said, “It was a fantastic day for all concerned. The Year 4 students tried lots of experiments that they would normally be able to do at school and Melbourn students worked exceptionally well, teaching the Year 4s” An unnamed Year 4 student said: “ I liked the day a lot and hope that I can come again. My favourite part was when the flames burnt green!”

Fred Close, a Year 8 student, added: “I enjoyed the day, working with the Year 4 students.”

MVC News

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The Long War

weapon at the time. The English were then pushed back by the French.

England amazingly managed to capture almost all of France, however when Henry V died, the French started to win again, under the command of a woman called Joan of Arc, who re-captured Orleans and Reims. Joan of Arc was an enormously heroic figure for the French fighters.

Why the long war was important by Emily Grove Yr 7

In 1337, war broke out because the English king Edward III claimed to be the king of France as well as England, even though he was only eighteen. To the French, this was an outrage because it was such a long time since William of Normandy had taken over from France. At first, England won quite a number of significant battles and managed to capture Calais, Brittany and Aquitaine. English forces also captured the French king, a major success.

In 1377, King Edward III died and both sides were struggling to end the war. England’s new king, Henry V, won the famous victory at Agincourt in 1415. Part of his success was down to the use of cannons which was quite exciting because cannons were a very new

In 1431, the English eventually captured Joan of Arc and burned her alive! Even so, the French still continued to win the war. In 1453, England’s new king, Henry VI (son of Henry V) who suffered from mental illness and let his wife, Margaret of Anjou, rule for him, finally gave up his claim to rule France, this was a substantial set-back. Henry and Margaret lost all of England’s land in France, except for the port of Calais.

So, over all, after the war had dragged on for one hundred and sixteen years English kings had lost their many achievements in battle and a great amount of gold and men had been lost in the attempt to rule our nearest neighbour.

Out with the old....

New and secondhand uniform from Melbourn Village College is set for a new life at a school in Bosnia.

The college adopted a new uniform of navy jumper, white shirt and navy and gold tie in September and the previous royal blue sweatshirt and white polo shirts is now being phased out.

However, staff and students were keen to see it put to good use and the entire stock of brand new sweatshirts and polo shirts as well as all the contents of the secondhand uniform shop is being donated to a school in the Eastern European country which was decimated by war in the 1990s and is still rebuilding lives and communities.

Around five boxes of uniform is expected to head East with the help of local suppliers, Schoolyard, of Jarman Way, Royston, who are helping co-ordinate the export effort.

Melbourn Principal Simon Holmes said: “I’m absolutely delighted that we have been able to put this uniform to good use. Helping others is a key part of being part of a global international community.”

This war was unusual because of its length, it managed to go on for over a century and which is why we studied the ups and downs of that epic clash between once great enemies. Luckily things are more peaceful between France and England than they were in the fourteenth century.

Sport Leaders Report

This term, the sports leaders have been helping out at after school clubs at Melbourn Primary school.

They have given up their time to work alongside coaches in tag rugby, football (girls & boys) and netball.

Many thanks to all those who have helped out and also new sports leaders who have contributed to the leadership academy and developed their communicating skills.

The sports leaders have umpired, refereed and scored the local high 5 netball tournaments for both the A and B teams from local primary schools. They go on to play in the district finals taking place soon at Impington and Comberton Village Colleges.. They have also organised and run the Year 3 and 4 indoor 5 aside football tournaments at MVC sports hall.

ACTion Art

Next term we look forward to welcoming new Year 9 sports leaders to help run a number of sporting activities including the swimming gala and mini Olympics.

Well done to everyone who has helped out in any way this term.

Fiona Humphrey SSCO

"During one of Art Teacher Nick Juett’s “hands on” classes with our local primary schools some of the children took the opportunity to stamp themselves with ActionArt-MVC stamp and his Williams Art Gallery stamp - both with QR (data matrix) scan codes ready for scanning and linking to websites!... learning how to ink and stamp a reverse image another learning skill on top of the art achieved so far this year.

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MVC News

Round-up of the latest news from the South Cambs SSP Introduction Body

Author

PLANNING AND LEARNING: Leaders of all ages take their roles very seriously.

The leaders of the future The South Cambs SSP Leadership Academy has 130 young leaders in it this year, with 33 from Comberton Village College, 15 from Melbourn and the others made up from Swavesey, Cottenham and Impington Village Colleges.

The year 10 leaders have been working really hard on their leadership skills this term. At half term we ran rugby and dodgeball leadership courses, both of which saw nearly 20 leaders attending. We also recently hosted a Safeguarding for Young Volunteers Course, something they themselves had requested; this shows how seriously they are taking their role as leaders.

As well as attending courses they have been busy volunteering at different events, including a Year 3/4 Key Steps Gymnastics competition, our very first Primary Adapted Sports event, a Rugby tournament and a Quick Sticks Hockey competition.

Several also volunteered to marshal at the Wimpole Hall night run and the Cambridge Half Marathon.

Since January we have been busy delivering Play Leaders training across the Partnership.

The Year 5/6 children who have taken part in the training have all been extremely enthusiastic,keen to learn and have shown some great leadership qualities.

The young leaders have come up with lots of different activities to deliver during the lunchtime break, from the usual team sports and playground games to a dance class.

The children have also come up with great ways to advertise their Play Leaders’ programme with one group planning to do a sketch in their whole school assembly.

They all understand the importance of being organised, planning the sessions, knowing the games and getting their equipment sorted before the start of the session. Lunchtimes at these schools are certainly set to be a lot more fun and active for the younger children from now on.

It is fantastic to see so many young people volunteering their time and inspiring the younger children they lead.

WINNERS: Coton’s gymnastics team.

Debut delight for Coton’s gymnasts

An impressive range of skills were on display at Comberton Village College recently as youngsters battled it out at the Partnerships Key Steps Gymnastics Competition.

Teams of Year 3 and 4 gymnasts took part in the event which resulted in a very close finish.

The mood was quietly focused whilst the children demonstrated their skills on the vault and floor in front of the judges and on looking spectators. At stake was the chance to represent South Cambs SSP at the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough School Games Spring Festival, with the top two schools qualifying to take on the best schools from across the county.

After a welcome and warm- up led by coaches from High Flyers Gymnastics Club, which is based at Comberton, the competition started.

The mixed teams of six children from Barton, Bassingbourn, Coton, Dry Drayton, Gamlingay,

MVC News

Harston & Newton, Haslingfield, Hatton Park, Linton Heights, & Thriplow schools all had to perform a vault and then either a floor or body management routine with each performance judged and given a score out of 10. Each child’s individual score in both disciplines was then combined to give an overall team score out of a maximum of 120.

Fewer than 10 points separated the top eight teams with pupils from Coton, who were competing in the competition for the first time, coming out on top.

The teams below them couldn’t be separated on points though, which meant last year’s winners Haslingfield and Gamlingay First School finished as joint runners up. All three went forward to the School Games finals.

The top three individuals, who also won medals, were Starr Harrison (Bassingbourn) and her twin Lily, who sandwiched runner-up Lucia Clarke (Haslingfield).

The tightest margin It was an action packed and competitive afternoon at Swavesey Village College as 18 teams battled it out at the Partnership tag rugby event.

The competition for Year 5/6 teams was a qualification round for the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Sainsbury’s School Games Spring Finals with the top team going through to represent South Cambs at this prestigious event.

The competition was played in a round robin format with teams playing the other schools in their pool before qualifying through to either Division 1, 2, 3 or 4 based on their results in the first section of the competition.

The teams making a strong start and winning through to the top division included newcomers Caldecote Primary, reigning champions Elsworth as well as Over, Swavesey B and Fenstanton & Hilton.

As expected the second round of matches were much closer with some really competitive play and close score lines creating an exciting but tense atmosphere for the on looking spectators. In the end and after 70 matches the title was decided by the closest of margins with both Fenstanton & Hilton and Elsworth finishing on equal points and having scored the same number of tries.

It was then referred back to the score in their match but even this was a tight 1-1 draw so it had to go to the number of tries conceded throughout the competition and with one less score against them it was Fenstanton & Hilton who were crowned winners.

Claire McDonnell, Partnership Manager, said: “It was an exciting afternoon of competition and congratulations must go to all of the players and schools that took part. It was nice to see schools like Bar Hill and Caldecote taking part for the first time; hopefully it will encourage them to get involved in other events as well.”

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Pair shine at new event Round-up of the latest news from the South Cambs SSP

The first Primary Adapted Multi Sport PLUS Competition attracted pupils from across the South Cambs School Sports Partnership.

The morning was full of activity and excitement with children competing in pairs as they rotated around four different sports: Polybat, Boccia, Table Cricket and New Age Kurling.

For many this was their first experience of representing their school and taking part in competitive sport so the event was very much about the children having an enjoyable experience PIONEERS: The and trying out some new sports, with an element of competition added in.

The points from each activity were added together to give each pair a total and determine the winners.

More than 30 children aged 8-11 took part in the event which was hosted by Impington Village College as the Project Ability lead school for the county.

The competition was opened by Double Paralympian and medallist Fran Williamson, who was also on hand to encourage the children and hand out the winners’

first participants in a new competition with (right) the inaugural winners from Meridian. medals.

She said: “It was great to see so many children taking part in this event for the first time and some of them were really quite competitive as well.”

The different sports were led and overseen by sports leaders from Cottenham VC, Granta School, North Cambridge Academy, Netherhall School and Impington after they had spent a day last term learning these inclusive sports and looking at how they could be adapted for children with different disabilities such

as reduced physical mobility, visual/hearing impairment and wheelchair users.

After all the activities had taken place, the points were added up and the finishing positions announced with not much separating the top pairs.

Congratulations to Joshua Trueman-Heath (Year 4) and Harry Houghton-Walker (Year 5) from Meridian Primary School, Comberton, who won the competition, and a huge well done to everyone who took part!

All fired up . . .

ALL GO: Action from the Year 5 and 6 hockey event.

Youngsters from Meridian Primary School made their intentions very clear ahead of the finals of the High Five netball competition after Easter.

They won both the A and B team events at the first round of matches held at Comberton Village College.

They have set out their stall after both teams finished unbeaten, although all the teams go through to the finals; which section they play in depending on where they finished in one of the area rounds also held at Melbourn, Impington, Linton and Swavesey.

In the Melbourn round, teams from all eight feeder primaries contested the A and/or B team competitions.

The B-team finals take place on April 23 at Impington, the A-team Plate finals are at Comberton on Monday April 27 with the A-team Shield finals on April 30 at Impington. A record 53 teams entered this year.

It was an action-packed afternoon of hockey as 32 teams descended on Comberton Village College to take part in the Partnership’s annual Year 5/6 Quicksticks Hockey Competition.

With 16 teams in both the A and B/C team competitions, the first round matches were played in a round robin format with four pools of four teams in both events. Schools then qualified into one of four divisions in Round Two, depending on their first round results.

In the A-team competition it was the squads from Harston & Newton, Steeple Morden, Great Abington and Histon & Impington who won their first round pools to qualify for Division One. In the second round the standard of play was high and matches were fiercely contested but with three wins out of three it was Histon & Impington Juniors who came out on top to lift the trophy that they last won in 2012.

Runners-up were Steeple Morden who couldn’t quite retain the title they held for the last two years.

Harston & Newton & Great Abington finished third and fourth respectively and all four will now represent South Cambs SSP at the County School Games Summer Finals in June.

Claire McDonnell, South Cambs SSP Partnership Development Manager said “It was great to see so many children enjoying the game of hockey; it was certainly an action-packed afternoon with some really competitive matches.

“We must thank all the leaders from Comberton Village College who helped us to run the event on the day; umpiring the 96 matches, organising the results table and helping to coach some of the teams.

They did a great job and we couldn’t have run the competition without them!”

COMPETITIVE: Action from the first round of the High Five tournament.

New champions are crowned

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MVC News