Cowley's Spring Newsletter

Tel: 01744 678 030 cowleyinternationalcollege.com

cowley newsletter

#4

SPRING 2015

11-16 activities

Cake sale, face painting and competitions. £120 raised!

Sixth Form activities

Face painting, dress-up, darts competition and stand-up comedy. £195 raised!

! e n o y r e v e e n o d Well COWLEY STUDENTS TAKE PART IN THE BBC NEWS SCHOOL REPORT 2015 Cowley International College has once again taken part in the BBC News School Report project, showcasing the talents of students.

The scheme, which is run by the BBC, gives students an opportunity to experience the world of media and journalism, as well as develop their computer skills using the latest editing software in our state-ofthe-art Media Suite.

Eighteen budding journalists from across Years 7 – 9, who are part of Cowley’s Gifted and Talented cohort, scoured the day’s breaking news stories, selecting the most interesting stories for their target audience.

These stories were then written up and recorded by our news anchors, before the all the stories were edited together to form the finished programme.

Students worked hard to meet the strict deadline to produce and publish content onto a dedicated page on our website that the BBC then linked to, giving the pupils a real audience.

Cowley students are becoming seasoned reporters with this being the fifth year that the school has been involved.

This year more than 1,000 schools and 30,000 pupils from around the UK took part.

The Head of Communications at Cowley, Mr Lilley, said it was a pleasure to take part in the nationwide project: “The students are met with real deadlines, real audiences and real professional standards to meet. To be able to share the principles of good journalism and for the students to have their work presented to a mass audience is fantastic.”

Set up in 2007, the project gives 11-16 year-old students in the UK the chance to make their own news reports for a real audience.

Schools make reports for their own website which the BBC links to from an interactive map.

The BBC works in partnership with schools to bring young people’s voices to its mainstream news output.

NEWS IN BRIEF

BUG MAN VISIT

Year 8 demonstrated nerves of steel when the Bug Man, armed with a whole host of creepy bugs came to visit.

Some of the animals that the students got to hold and touch included a tarantula (called Fluffy), a python and a bird of prey.

The Bug Man took Year 8 on a fascinating journey through a Tropical Rain Forest, presenting different animals from the mystical layers of the forest.

The Bug Man spoke of his travels through Africa and two lucky students got the chance to dress in traditional tribe outfits, complete with hand-crafted accessories and tools.

THE BIG COOKATHON 2015

GCSEs 2015 A book to help students prepare for their GCSE exams has been created by the college. The book includes key information such as: • revision techniques • study tips • dealing with stress The book has been posted home to all Year 11 students and is also available on our website for parents to view.

A timetable of all GCSE exams taking place in the summer is now available on our website. Also, a timetable of all revision classes can be found online too.

Cowley’s history and reunion in May An exhibition at the World of Glass, chronicling the rich history of Cowley dating from 1714 to the present day, has seen many ex-students and staff visit to remember their time at Cowley. The exhibition ran from Monday, 12th January – Friday, 13th March and was organised by former pupil and teacher, Mrs Allcock. Pictures of the exhibition can be found on Cowley’s website.

A reunion of Old Cowleians will take place on Saturday, 23rd May from 2pm until 4pm in the old school hall, Hard Lane.

This event is part of the celebration for 300 years of Cowley Schools and all ex-pupils and staff, past and present, are invited.

On Tuesday, 10 March, Cowley International College took part in the national healthy cooking challenge – the Big Cookathon, and had more than 130 students, parents and fire service personnel cooking the same healthy meal on the same day.

As part of the Children’s Food Trust BIG Cookathon 2015, participants were given a set of ingredients and helped to create a healthy dish, which they then took home for free.

Miss Mason, the school’s Let’s Get Cooking coordinator, said: “Cooking healthy food together in one place is not only beneficial to the participants who learn about preparing and cooking a healthy meal from scratch, but it’s also about bringing the local community together for a great cause, and that’s what the BIG Cookathon is all about.

Miss Mason continues: “It’s an exciting challenge to have so many people cooking on the same day, and this year’s Let’s Get Cooking challenge has been the biggest so far!”

Led by the School Food Trust, Let’s Get Cooking provides training, resources and support to help set up healthy cooking programs for people of all ages

There will be light refreshments, entertainment from the 1970s School Band, exhibitions of Cowley artefacts from the 1900s and an opportunity to meet old friends.

Tickets are £5 and are available from Mrs Barton: sumbarton@blueyonder.co.uk.

Ray French returns to a Cowley classroom

Let’s Get Cooking has established England’s biggest network of healthy, school-based cooking clubs for children and families and studies show that more than half of people taking part in this schools-based initiative reported eating a healthier diet after the event.

For more information about this event, visit www.letsgetcooking.org.uk

STUDENT COMMENDED BY TOP UNI Cambridge University recently ran a science writing competition aimed at Sixth Formers.

The BBC visited Cowley at the beginning of this term to film a sketch for the Super League Show which featured former English teacher, Ray French helping a class get their heads round the new league structure put in place this year.

Though two years below the intended competition audience, a talented Year 10 Cowley student spent a week writing an essay on Time and submitted it. The essay didn’t win, but the student was commended by the prestigious University.

A number of Saints’ stars, including Jon Wilkin, Kyle Amor, Paul Wellens, Josh Jones, Tommy Makinson and former Cowley student, Adam Swift joined students from Years 7 and 8 to learn about the new playoff rules.

As a prize, the Gifted and Talented department at Cowley bought the student a copy of Stephen Hawking’s “A Brief History of Time”.

The feature was shot in Cowley’s Sixth Form building, where Ray would have taught in his Cowley days.

HIGH ACHIEVERS VISIT CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY EVENT

Six high achieving Year 11 girls recently attended an exciting Cambridge University roadshow at Everton’s home ground, Goodison Park.

The students were treated to two mini lectures in History and Cancer Biology by leading Cambridge professors and they also attended talks delivered by current students on what life at Britain’s second oldest university is really like.

The girls got really involved with the lectures, asking questions and volunteering answers.

They also enjoyed mixing with 400 other Year 11 students from across the North West and sharing their aspirations for the future with them.

The highlight (especially for Miss Williams!) was a stadium tour of Goodison Park and hearing about the inspiring work carried out

by ‘Everton in the Community’ – a non-profit organisation which runs hundreds of initiatives including one which helps disadvantaged Year 11s reach their future aspirations.

Our girls relished the chance to experience a little taste of life at a prestigious, Russell Group University and it has helped them become more focused on the paths they need to take after their GCSEs in order to attain their goals.

Year 11s - if you have high aspirations for your future, set your sights on a Russell Group University – they are the best institutions in Britain. Find out more at http://www.russellgroup.ac.uk/informed-choices

UNIFORM AND FOOTWEAR FOR COLLEGE We believe that all students should attend College smartly dressed in a distinctive way and we expect all our students to correctly wear clothes and shoes specified in our Uniform Policy.

Footwear criteria: • Low heeled (internal heel below 2 inches) • Plain black, formal style shoes that can be polished • Shoes with coloured soles or markings are not acceptable • Trainers, canvas, skate shoes, sling backs, boots and sandals are not acceptable for College • Black trainers are not school shoes, however plain they may appear

Girls Uniform: • Trousers – Plain black, tailored • Skirt – Bottle green, plain fabric • Skirt Length — Just above/below knee • Pullover – Bottle green V-neck plain only (no sweatshirts) • Blouse – White shirt style • Tie – College Tie • Socks – White, black or bottle green • Tights – Brown or black only • Shoes – Black formal style with flat heels • Blazer – This is a compulsory item. Bottle green with college badge Boys Uniform: • Trousers – Dark grey or black, plain fabric • Pullover – Black V-neck, plain only (no sweatshirts) • Shirt – White • Tie - College tie • Socks – Dark, plain only • Shoes – Black formal style shoe • Blazer – This is a compulsory item. Black with college badge

SAFER INTERNET DAY

During Assembly, Form time and ICT lessons, Year 8 students joined hundreds of organisations from across the UK to celebrate Safer Internet Day. They took part in workshops and discussions aimed at highlighting the positive uses of technology, whilst exploring the role we all play in helping to create a better and safer online community.

The focus of the day was ‘Let’s Create a Better Internet Together’ - Students wrote out a personal pledge making a promise what they would do before the end of the day.

The whole event was extremely successful and the students all got involved to show how we can work together to create a safer internet.

Year 8 Pathway 1 Options 1-to-1 interviews A reminder that the 1-to-1 interviews for Pathway 1 students will be held on the following days: 8R, 8I, 8P 8B, 8V, 8Y 8G, 8W, 8O

Monday, 30th March Tuesday, 31st March Wednesday, 1st April

Year 7 raised £96 by taking part in UNICEF activities during their Geography lessons.

Scarves, that are suitable for school use can be worn. Baseball caps are not permitted to be worn.

Please read Cowley’s Uniform Policy, available on our website, for more information.

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Fairtrade Fortnight poster competition winners

21 students from across all year groups recently performed in the popular musical ‘Little Shop of Horrors’.

The production ran for three performances and tickets sold out within days of going on sale.

Combining action, humour and music, the production was fun, energetic and entertaining; the cast and supporting nine-piece band were enthusiastic and talented, both musically and dramatically.

The story comes from a 1930s sci-fi short-story about a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood and flesh.

The music is provided by the legendary Alan Menken and comes from a period and genre which spans Fifties doo-wop rock and roll, Elvis and early Motown.

Cowley has always been proud of the fact that it always tries to provide an alternative to the usual pantomime fayre and is obviously catering for a need.

Demand for tickets was again high and the cast and crew were met with standing ovations after each energetic performance.

Mr Chambers, Head of Performing Arts, said: “Little Shop was a departure from the usual type of musical we stage at Cowley but performers and audience alike thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The show was put together in just six weeks and demonstrates what a talented group of staff and students we have here at Cowley.”

A full gallery of photos from the sell-out opening night of the show can be found on our website: www.cowleyinternationalcollege.com