The News Magazine of Comberton Village College
ISSUE 20, SPRING 2009
SUCCESS STORY! YEAR 7 pupil Beth Cadwalladr is now a published author.
The 12-year-old from Hardwick won a competition organised to coincide with World Book Day earlier this term. Her story — The Cry of the Wolf — was one of just 11 chosen from the nearly 3,000 entries from 500 schools to the 2009 Evans Schools Short Story Competition to go in an anthology of secondary school pupils’ work. And to add even more prestige, Beth’s story was chosen for the title of the anthology — The Cry of the Wolf and other short stories — and is the first one in the book. A separate book from Primary School winners has also been published. Beth and others in Mr Shelley’s English group entered the competition after being given the first line of a story — different schools were given different openings — to work from. Theirs came from adventure writer Bear Grylls and Beth came up with a tale in which a boy is torn between his allegiances to man and to nature. She was presented with her own copy of the book and a certificate during an English lesson and the school has been given 100 copies as well. “I was absolutely amazed when I heard I had won,” said Beth. “I used to write a lot of stories when I was younger, but haven’t done many since I was in about Year 4.”
Green light for sixth form
Mr Shelley said: “Beth’s story is a real treat! She’s used the opening sentence in a really clever way, the writing is rich WAY WITH WORDS: The award is handed and original.” over during an English lesson. The competition was judged by Stewart Ross, one of Britain’s most versatile authors for young people. He said: “I find it difficult to believe what I have been reading. Many of these stories, by 7 to 15 year olds, are vastly better than adult equivalents. Anyone wanting to know what the young are thinking nowadays, how their minds are working, is urged to read these terrific collections — and stand amazed at their skill, inventiveness, vitality, sensitivity, wit and painful honesty.” The Cry of the Wolf and other short stories went on sale around the country for £3.99 on March 5. All profits from the sale of the anthology will be donated to World Book Day. Another Comberton pupil was also a hit on paper. Fiona Carter, in Year 9, reached the finals of the Doodle4Google competition. Full story — Page 3
COMBERTON’S new sixth form will open in 2011. At a recent meeting of Cambridgeshire County Council, the development of an exciting new £7.5m state-of-the-art sixth form was given the go-ahead. This ambitious and generously-funded project will mean teaching spaces built to the highest specifications, with specialist facilities and library/study areas equipped with the very latest in ICT provision. Social spaces will include a café, refectory and student common room. Work has already started on planning and we will shortly
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be looking for budding architects and planners in Year 9 to advise on all aspects of the plans. Following extensive research, a curriculum for the new sixth form has been approved by governors which matches the needs and aspirations of Comberton pupils. At the heart of the curriculum is the new ‘English Baccalaureate’ which has traditional A-levels at its core with the added advantage of accreditation for additional elements such as Duke of Edinburgh, critical thinking and an extended research project. Turn to Page 2