DESBOROUGH COLLEGE
INDEX:-
Desborough Legacy
Radley College
STEM Room
Rugby Report
Student Successes
Desborough House System
Charity Food Donation
Poetry
Remembrance Assemblies
Visit to Radley College for Desborough Geographers
Biology Field Trip
Avery Factory Visit
Trip to The Houses of Parliament
Visit to Honda Factory
O2 Visit
Trip to Iceland
Take-Over Challenge
Safe Drive
Chess Tournament
Advanced Learners Seminar
Art and Photography Report
Drama Report
Design Technology Report
Christmas Lunch
Information for Parents
December 2017 Dear Parents/Carers,
It’s been another excellent year for our school and the impending news that we have been given the approval of the Department for Education and the Regional Schools Commissioner to become a Standalone Academy Trust in 2018 will be the perfect New Year present. There are exciting times ahead with control of the strategic direction of the school in the hands of the leadership and local governors, including parent governors. Our aim of achieving an “Outstanding” Ofsted judgement when they next visit remains the same. Our popularity continues to grow amongst the local community with more first preferences than at any time since 2007, the earliest date for which I have data. 2017 saw an increase in first preferences of 30% from Maidenhead boys on the previous year and there has been a similar increase for 2018. Examination outcomes at both KS4 and KS5 for 2017 were the best in over a decade and 2018 results will be even better. We are in the top 6% of all schools nationally for progress made by our boys in English and Maths with 76% achieving Grade 4+. That’s 13% above the national average for all pupils, an excellent figure because it compares us with results achieved by girls, who outperform boys significantly at GCSE. The behaviour of the boys is outstanding using Ofsted criteria and the extra-curricular offer outstrips that of the vast majority of state schools and plenty of independent schools as well. We excel in the majority of team sports and provide boys with opportunities to develop and showcase their talents in music, drama, public speaking, debating, chess and young enterprise competitions. Our curriculum offer includes Mandarin Chinese, Latin and the separate sciences. Very few state schools can boast a curriculum as varied as ours. I am more confident than ever before that 2018 will see Desborough College enjoy more and more success. Everything is in place: excellent staff, unrelentingly ambitious governors, a clear vision of the future and full control of our own finances and destiny. Have a wonderful, peaceful break over the Christmas period and enjoy a healthy and happy 2018. P Frazer Principal
DESBOROUGH LEGACY CONTRIBUTION FORM 2017-2018 Desborough Legacy (PTA) is a fundraising charity run by parents & staff to provide extra equipment and facilities that benefit the students at the College. We are now starting a drive to provide lockers for the boys starting with the younger age groups. Please consider making a small monthly donation to the Legacy. The donation amount is entirely discretionary, but we encourage parents the monthly standing order or regular payment to provide us with regular flow of funds which is easy for us to administer. (If unable to give monthly, one-off donations are of course welcome). If you are a UK tax payer, please complete and return a Gift Aid form to enable us to boost funds by reclaiming tax on your contribution at no cost to you – send an email to the address below and we can send one by return. Donations can be made in one of 3 very simple ways (see below). For any option please include your son’s name as a payment reference. 1. ONLINE OR MOBILE PHONE: Set up standing order donation(s) directly to the Desborough Legacy bank account below. Log in, set the frequency, start date and monthly payment date. Our Bank: Account Name:
HSBC Desborough Legacy
Sort code: Account No:
40-31-05 90559261
2. YOUR BANK BRANCH: In your branch, complete and submit the Bank’s Standing Order Form 3. BY CHEQUE payable to “Desborough Legacy” and sent to the school office for the attention of Nuria White. Please include a note of your name and your son’s name. Please return this completed form to the school office For the attention of Nuria white or scan it and email to NuriaWhite@desborough-college.net
Thank you so much for your assistance! – keep an eye on our activities and projects on our Facebook page, including our drive to raise money for the provision of lockers
Desborough Legacy charity status number: 1113365
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Radley College Expedition to Honduras A fantastic opportunity has arisen for pupils presently in Years 10, 11 and 12 to join Radley College’s 2019 scientific expedition to Honduras. Help will be provided to boys with their fund-raising efforts. If you would like to express an interest in your son or daughter participating in this expedition and would like to find out more about it, please contact me via my e-mail address: paulfrazer@desborough-college.net Dear Parent/Guardian I am delighted to be able to invite your son to take part in Radley’s next scientific expedition to Honduras (provisional dates: 10th July – 23rd July 2019). It is open to all students studying Biology in the current Fifths and 6.1, but others who have a particular interest in wildlife, ecology and/or outdoor pursuits may apply for a place. This will be the sixth expedition I have organised to the region and I am sure that, like its predecessors, it will be a fantastic success and invaluable to the students both in terms of scientific learning, personal development and UCAS/CV applications. It will also be great fun! The expedition is being run in conjunction with Operation Wallacea. Our group will team up with academics and students from Oxford and other international universities to help with a major biodiversity survey of the tropical montane cloud forest in Cusuco National Park. In recent years our groups have witnessed the discovery of a mammal new to science and data collected by them has contributed to a front-page article in Nature. Cusuco National Park is listed by the UN as being in the top 100 of 173,000 such sites surveyed worldwide for biodiversity, so visiting there is truly special. The group will fly into San Pedro Sula (probably via Miami) and will be taken straight up to their mountain forest camp. For the first part of the week they will be learning some basic jungle survival skills and how to complete forest structure surveys. For this they will be based in a mountain village community or at one of the Base Camps. In the second part of the week the group will be trekking into one of the remoter camps where they will be living in hammocks and helping with forest and habitat surveys. During both the training and surveying periods the group will have the chance to join the other biodiversity teams working on dung beetles, butterflies, moths, jewel scarab beetles, amphibians, reptiles, birds, small mammals and bats. In addition they can do an amazing Canopy Access course (for an optional £120 extra) with the training team that does much of the BBC filming work in forest canopies for series including “Planet Earth”. For the second week the group will go to the coast and complete a Caribbean reef ecology course learning how to identify the corals, invertebrates and fish. Most will do this by scuba diving but snorkelling is also an option if preferred. Boys who are not already divers can use the College’s Sub-Aqua Club to do the confined water training at Radley, allowing them to make best use of their time in the Caribbean. This currently costs £225, almost half price compared to some dive centres. We will spend the Marine Week on Utila, one of Honduras’ “Bay Islands”. After the challenging forest week, the boys will relish the opportunity to stay in a hotel right beside a coral reef in a relaxed Caribbean atmosphere and climate!
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Radley College Expedition to Honduras Cont ... The cost of the expedition will be £1225 approx to Operation Wallacea which covers all food, accommodation, training, insurance and participation in the research programme. Dive equipment hire, PIC (diving registration) cards, flights and other transport should cost about another £1770 so, to be on the safe side, we are suggesting students budget for a total cost of about £2995. A deposit of £300 will be required and the balance will be payable either (a) as a slightly reduced up-front payment of £2650 or (b) in instalments of £750 in March, July and December 2018 and £445 in March 2019. If £2995 proves to be an over/underestimate an appropriate adjustment will be made to the final instalment (flight costs won’t be known until August 2018 and, in the past, have varied from £700 to £1055). The first part of the expedition involves voluntary conservation work so the students will be actively encouraged to seek funding to assist with their costs. Operation Wallacea have a professional fundraising team who will visit Radley next summer term and help those students who wish to raise a proportion of the total sum needed themselves. Coupled with a period of summer work in 2018 this could enable many students to self-fund a substantial proportion of their costs. If you would like your son to join this expedition please return the following to me at Radley ASAP or by no later than 9th February 2018: Parental Consent Form AND Code of Conduct Deposit cheque for £300 payable to “Radley College” More detailed information about Operation Wallacea, its Honduras research sites, health and safety, etc. can be found at www.opwall.com. You may also have seen informative articles about past Honduras Expeditions in editions of The Radleian and the Radley Newsletter. I will be running an information meeting for parents in the Biology Department at Radley (Queen’s Court, room B5) at 7:30pm on Thursday 4th January and look forward to the possibility of meeting you then. Yours sincerely, Michael Noone, Head of Biology, Radley College
Feedback from some of the 115 Radleians who have joined on the last three Honduras Expeditions: “Really recommended, best experience, highlight of the summer, legendary.” “Thank you - Greatest two weeks of my life!” “It was an amazing diving experience – went diving in Greece afterwards and it wasn’t nearly the same.” “Huge variety of animals.” “Great! – more scientific than I thought it would be.” “Very good – I understood a lot though not doing biology.” “Loved it – felt I had more responsibility for myself.” “Would go again for sure – great fun!” “Amazing trip.”
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Radley Lectures this Term The staff and students would like to thank the Dons and Masters of Radley College for giving up their time to come along to Desborough to provide lectures to our students on a variety of topics which were most interesting. Here are some pictures Photos from Claire Sargent’s talk on the 23 November, entitled “Crimes and Punishments”
Photos from Alex Rhodes’ talk on the 9 November, entitled “The Mafia!”
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Radley Lectures this Term Cont...
Photos from Michael Noone’s talk on the 7 December, entitled “Getting into Tropical Marine Ecology”
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STEM Room Our new Innovation Room proves to be very popular amongst the students who have enjoyed some lessons in the new area. We have provided some photos of our enthusiastic boys, always keen to learn.
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Rugby Report for Term 2 The Christmas holiday signals the end of another Rugby season at Desborough with the results implying the future is bright. Year 7 have consistently put two teams out for games and a number of players have picked up the sport since joining the school and have shown a willingness to learn and improve, resulting in a superb player pool being developed. Jody Bunce has shone throughout the year scoring tries for fun, a real prospect for the future. Placed second in the County Cup after an unfortunate loss to Claire’s Court, they are an exciting team with high hopes for the future. Toby Pocock also had stand out performances in the County Cups and a very good first season along with a number of other boys. The Year 7 season was rounded off with a fixture against Great Marlow with a hard fought win for the As and the Bs running in tries for fun! Year 8 continued to develop well this year, winning the plate at the County Cup with a number of impressive performances, losing only one game on the day. A side packed with talent and a real hunger to learn, this is an age group that will dominate their school year for their duration at Desborough. The combined Year 9 and 10 team showed they could grind out a result in an ill tempered game vs Downs School in a 19-17 win. With encouraging progress in their final year before the boys move into 1 st XV contention the progress to the Quarter Final of the County Cup is encouraging. The 1st XV’s attention turned to the annual Claire’s Court game this term. A buzz developed around the squad in the weeks leading up to the game. Several players made their debuts in the annual game, including Louis Rainford at Fullback and Fionan Dunne at Blindside Flanker, both of whom continued their impressive form in the 1st XV. The game unfortunately ended in a loss, with Desborough having to hand the trophy back after two victories in previous games. The boys grew into the game, defending with a real sense of resilience as Claire’s Court tried every form of attack to break through. Elio Mandozzi covered every blade of grass as he made tackle after tackle and made several effective carries from Hooker. Justin Bowry had an explosive fifty minutes in the second row before being replaced by the ever reliable James Bannister. Elliot Jones collected the Man of the Match award after another strong performance in the centres. Unlucky to come away with no points from several attacks, mistakes let us down on the day, with the majorty of the team back next year as they continue their studies. The phrase, ‘The future is bright,’ is certainly true for Desborough Rugby. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in Desborough Rugby: Mr Hamilton, Mr Brar and Mr Furmage for their coaching and support; Mr Andrew-Jones and Mr Lawrence for taking time out of their own subjects to aid in coaching and refereeing; Steve Jones who, once again, took up the role as first team coach; Mr Cook and Mr Kelsall for being team bus drivers all over the county; the players themselves and the fantastic group of parents we seem to have at every game whose time and effort encouraging their sons does not go unnoticed. In conclusion, in the knowledge I am starting to sound like a broken record (or download if you are under the age of 20) the future is bright. See you all next season. Mr D Kilcoyne—PE Teacher and Head of Rugby
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Student Successes In January 2016 I started volunteering to teach swimming with my local swimming club , Maidenhead Marlins, in “The Learn To Swim” group. One of the teachers was a lady called Sharon who also teaches with an organisation called Sportsable. Sharon encouraged me to come along and help teach at their sessions. Sportsable is an organisation specialising in all areas of disability sport, including swimming. I help every Thursday evening at Newlands Girls’ School for 1.5 hours, teaching 5-18 year old disability swimmers who are either learning to swim, improving or competing. I am part of a team of young volunteers and I am also a swimmer myself so I understand the techniques and the dedication to the sport. Teaching is fun and incredibly rewarding. It has been over 6 months since I started and I enjoy every minute of it. Scott Lange—Year 10
Well Done Boys! Alex is a talented student in Year 9 who recently came third in the British Ice Skating Championships in Sheffield. He’s also performing in the Beauty and the Beast on Ice pantomime at the John Nike Leisure centre in Bracknell over the coming weeks.
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Desborough House System What a busy term we have had with many meetings, events and opportunities for all Desborough pupils to take part in supporting their house. I have been so pleased with the House Captains with their enthusiasm, commitment and good leadership skills as well as being great role models to their fellow house pupils. I gave the Captains the challenge of linking a charity to each of the houses and any charitable donations we make this year will go towards them. The charities that the boys have chosen are: Brunel- British Heart Foundation Constable- Moonlight Dickens- Sportsable in Maidenhead Elgar- Children in need The house leader board in half term 1 was as follows: The current house leader board in half term 2 is:
DGBBO The Desborough Great British Bake Off was a success with 51 entries from all houses and year groups. Miss Kelleher and Mr Gleeson took on the roles of baking judges; it was a hard task, but complete with the help of the House Captains. There were lots of cakes, biscuits and even some pastries! The theme was Christmas, although some pupils embellished the theme slightly. I was extremely pleased with the quality and effort the pupils made, with particular credit to Timi, Gyan, Jenson, Owen and Nathanial. The overall winning bakes were; 1st place- Joseph Woodward 2nd place- Aidan Melling 3rd place- Mahad Mian
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Desborough House System Continued ... Thomas—Year 7 Herbie—Year 7 Jack—Year 7
Miller Cup Challenge We had the return of the Miller Cup Challenge this term where the Sixth Form students take on Desborough staff in a University Challenge style competition. The champions were the staff who, with the help of Mr Nicholas in particular, received 450 points leaving a talented Sixth Form team with 230 points. Both sides played well throughout, although perhaps Mr Myatt needs a little brush up on knowledge as he got a few Geography questions wrong. Better luck next time! Mr Craig Wood and I will be having weekly Miller Cup Challenges every Thursday from 11th January onwards to compete for lower school, and see which house has the best general knowledge!
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Desborough House System Cont... Token Display and trophy The token display in reception is really taking shape now with the houses spread pretty evenly this term. Pupils are awarded coloured tokens from staff for outstanding work or characteristics, and white tokens from Heads of House or senior teachers. So far the leaders are Elgar, with Dickens a close second! These totals will be added to all house points achieved. Who will win the house trophy in July?
We were very happy to receive our house trophy this half term, kindly donated to us by our partner school Radley College. The trophy is engraved with the school crest and the key “Desborough Way” characteristics. The Captains were very excited to see and hold the trophy, but who will be holding it in July as house winners for the whole year?
Report by Mrs McFarlane—Head of Music and House System 12
Charity Food Donation We have been busy collecting non perishable foods for the Maidenhead homeless charity, the Brett Foundation this term. Each house had a box with their logo on and the challenge was to see who can fill it up! Of course, the pupils at Desborough are generous and kind so we had no issues with receiving lots of food to give away, competition or not! However, Dickens did manage to fill two boxes of food, so well done to the generous Dickens pupils. Mrs McFarlane—Head of Music and the House System
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Poetry Please see below the five winning poems this term from class 8En2, poetry anthology based on the theme of Nature.
The Shadow By Sam Wayth The loud growls boom through the woods, The hideous, horrified human smells of sweat, Scared sweat that drizzled from his Face. The shadow of the fierce bear, Towered over him. The bears roar lured the vicious hunter Through the woods, The grapple of the Gun, Bang! The human drops dead! The dark sky followed over the blood. ———————————— The Fog By Rio Kaul-Rawlings The old man wandered in the Dreary grey fog. He was searching And searching for his little brown Dog. As he wandered and wandered Through the mysterious mist, miles at a time, It seemed that one by One his memories were Falling behind. ———————————— The Lighthouse By Tyler Lawrence I could hear the wind screaming, The seat was spitting at me, I could taste the salty sea. The boat was swaying in the wind, The wind was whistling a tune, Bang! The boat was smashed to bits. The lighthouse was sitting by itself, The wind was breathing on the lighthouse, Finally the lighthouse gave up And fell into the sea. 14
Poetry Continued ... The Old Man By Hashim Hussain As he walked The fields were covered in snow The old man wandered Trying to find his way home. The cold feeling of the snow Beamed on his skin. He was like a cold deer In the freezing countryside. He walked and walked Desperate for a place to stay. He knew he was in the middle of nowhere All by himself. He was a lonely cat trying to find his way home He could smell a warm fire. And could hear laughter. There he found a lovely shelter. _______________________________
Lost in the Clouds By George Knight The fog itself seemed to leech into my mind, Sending a ghostly chill down my spine and SNAP! A twig, a lonely twig scraped under my Feet. A ghostly chill of what I thought might come. I felt the rough bark of the wood and saw the Murky outside of the trees. But I had to Get home. No time to meander. The weather Itself was smothering me like a blanket. The fog seemed like a solid wall of clouds and the howls Of beasts mocked me. Will I ever get home?
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Remembrance Assemblies
Photos of our remembrance assemblies. Staff and pupils attended assemblies to remember those who lost their lives fighting for their country.
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Year 12 Visit to Radley College—2nd November The Geography Department are forming a partnership with the Geography Department at Radley College to promote A Level exam technique, assist with university applications and to work together to widen students’ subject knowledge. On 2nd November some of our Year 12 Geography students visited Radley to attend lessons and to build on our partnership for the future. Hopefully there will be many more visits taking place. Watch this space! Mr Myatt Head of Geography
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Year 13 Biology Field Trip—5 November This Autumn we have returned with our Year 13 students to Nettlecombe Court in Somerset, in order to carry out their Ecology studies. Being a residential trip, this allowed for full immersion into the ecology of the area, supported by expert teaching from the renowned Field Studies Council staff. Every morning started with a hearty cooked breakfast, followed by a teaching session in a classroom. Then the students would be off into the field to investigate the ecology of the local area. Watchet Bay on the Somerset coast provided a suitable rocky shore environment where students nvestigated rock pools and the distribution of limpets. The stunning and unique environment of Exmoor allowed a detailed look at an unpolluted freshwater stream and the immediate grounds of Nettlecombe were used for terrestrial grassland work. Additionally, students were taught how to set a humane mammal trap in nearby woods and some in the group were rewarded with a mouse in their trap the next morning! After weighing them, the animals were released without harm (and having had a free meal). Most days saw us return back to Nettlecombe in time for the daily afternoon cake – a welcome tradition after a busy day in the field! The days were long with lessons continuing after supper and finishing at 8pm. It was a tired but successful group that returned to Desborough -well done to everyone for their hard work.
Embercombe Stream, Exmoor
Mr E Brockett – Head of Science
Watchet Bay
Investigating the grounds at Nettlecombe Working hard in the classroom
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Avery Factory Visit—Just in Time! In November, 30 Year 10 & 11 students travelled to Northamptonshire at the invitation of Avery whose Head Office is in Furze Platt, Maidenhead, to see their Business Studies learning in action. The key topic this term was production processes and lean production methods, and students had been evaluating their contribution to the importance of efficiency meeting customer demand, satisfaction and overall company profitability. “I was impressed by their questions about everything from the humidity machines to the importance of emerging global markets”, said Sean Flanagan, the Operations Manager. Avery’s modern plant is based in Northampton. Students commented that the production of paper products was machine enabled with the human element carrying out generally two major tasks, setting up the machine for the job in hand and during the production process checking on quality of output. Simon Daems observed, “This allows them to be very flexible in meeting end customer requirements and matches what we’ve learned about efficiency – there is very little wastage or down time in the production process.” Lisa, our Guide, made sure that the huge printing machine was opened so that we could peer in and we learned how Avery are moving into the consumer market with their ‘We print’ service.
Jess, who speaks English, French and Arabic, led the boys on a tour of the warehouse, where they commented on the low stock levels and the use of just-in-time methods and lean production. They had a go at picking products from the warehouse to fulfil customer orders and enjoyed quizzing the Operations Manager during Q&A after the tour. Avery have sponsored two enterprise days for Year 8s as well as helping with bringing the curriculum alive. Director of Sales and eCommerce, Fiona Mills said, “We have a commitment to corporate social responsibility are thoroughly enjoying working with Desborough College and seeing the impact on the boys”. Ms Neal—Head of Business & Economics Enterprise Centre Lead
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Trip to the Houses of Parliament On Tuesday 7th November, Mrs Murphy kindly arranged a tour around the Houses of Parliament for her Sixth Formers and the students from Newlands, Cox Green and Altwood who study consortium subjects at Desborough College. Going to Parliament was such an excellent experience and a real inspiration for some of us aspiring politicians. Once we arrived at the Houses of Parliament, security as I imagined was of course at a very high scale; each student went through airport style security before entering. The tour started with a brief explanation and a run-down of the agenda, followed by some historical information about the building itself. It was fascinating to see the effort involved that went into building the House of Parliament; it held such character. An enormous hallway stands in the middle leading into the House of Commons and the House of Lords with a circular division and a Post Office in between. Our Tour Guide was really interesting and informative, he explained everything exceptionally well and did not leave a point out. He was so passionate about his job which made our tour even more enjoyable. Once our tour had concluded we were fortunate enough to watch a live debate taking place, about motorised vehicles and electric cars in the House of Commons. It was eye opening to listen to and watch. We were fortunate to see Jo Johnson and Dennis Skinner speak. Being able to understand and form opinions is crucial as a politics student, and this really benefited me to be able to do exactly that. Listening to any debate is useful because it helps us to write and debate decisively and concisely. The debates also increase our own knowledge which therefore helps us write better essays. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and I was mesmerized by the extensive effort and planning that went into building and now running the Houses of Parliament. If given the opportunity, I would love to be able to visit again to learn about the House of Parliament in greater depth. Rahul Chawla—Year 12
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First Class Students Visit First Class Factory 8 November 2017 If you were invited by Honda’s just-retired Global Head of Customer Service to take 20 students on a unique visit to Honda’s Global Manufacturing Plant, how would you decide who was to go? It’s a tough one, especially as we want everyone to Enjoy, Compete, Achieve, but this time, when Kevin Hunt offered, I decided to reward those who were already competing with themselves to beat their targets and achieve high. So, on 8th November, we drove to Swindon with 20 students from Years 10 and 11 who had met their targets back in July. With Operations Management a key part of this year’s learning, the Honda visit was a perfect opportunity to see it in action within the work place. A 25 minute presentation of Honda’s global manufacturing capability for all products - Car, Motorcycle and Power Equipment – revealed some staggering facts about how lean production and just-in-time techniques send 700 cars a day rolling straight onto transporters and off around the world. Then, kitted out with radios and headphones, we entered Number One Plant - the global platform for the manufacture and assembly of the current model Civic. Boys followed the full production process from rolled metal to finished product. We were mesmerised by the synchronisation of the robot body-shell welding process, mind-boggled by the idea of a thousand operatives all completing their tasks within the allowed seconds as the cars rolled past at a set speed on the assembly line and stunned at the logistical choreography of doors, separated from their chassis at the paint shop, reuniting with it in perfect timing later near the end of the assembly process. The day ended with a lively Q&A session and an overview of Honda’s successful Apprentice Programme. It is always a pleasure taking Desborough boys out and I loved their response to this visit. I am very grateful to have Kevin working with me pro-bono once a week to help to organise enterprise opportunities for the boys. If you feel your organisation could offer something, however small, to enrich our boys’ learning, please don’t hesistate to contact us. stellaneal@desborough-college.net
Ms Neal—Head of Business & Economics Enterprise Centre Lead
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Sixth Form Students See Into the World –17 November In November a number of our sixth form students ‘went to work’ under the guidance of members of the major departments of O2 Telefonica to gain invaluable and practical insight into the world of E-Commerce – for O2’s Online Trading Day. Our students had sessions on Trading and Merchandising, the User Experience, Design, Online Analytics and Operations, yet always being made aware of the ‘real world’ need to meet sales targets and to ensure customer satisfaction. What was particularly impressive about this experience was not just learning about the detail of online trading and e-commerce but having to repeat the process, as the students were broken into groups, and, having absorbed the lessons of the morning, had to prepare an online campaign for an imagined product incorporating as much as they could from the day’s insights and ultimately present their campaign to a panel of judges. I am, of course, hugely proud to say that the three groups chosen as the finalists were all led by Desborough Students – and a more confident and impressive group of Sixth Formers would be hard to find! Christina Sansom Careers Adviser and 6th Form Mentor
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Photos of the Visit to O2
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Iceland Trip—19 November We were ready for the cold weather when we departed school on the Sunday morning, but nothing prepared us for the blast of freezing air that hit us when we arrived in Iceland. On our way to the hotel from the airport, we stopped off at the Blue Lagoon where we spent the afternoon swimming in the geothermal heated silica blue water. Our first night was spent in the Cabin Hotel in Reykjavik. The following morning after breakfast we set off at 8.45 in the pitch black as the sun doesn’t come up until 10.15, to visit the Hellisheidi Power Plant for a detailed tour and explanation of how geothermal energy is used in a sustainable way in Iceland. After this, we travelled onto the UNESCO site at Thingvellir. It was amazing to be able to walk in the fissures and faults of the continental drift between the North American and Eurasian plates and to see the historic Parliament site. After this, we stopped off for a typical Icelandic lunch of meat soup and bread which was well needed as the outside temperature here was -6 degrees, but in the wind it felt much colder. We then visited the frozen Gulfoss Waterfall and the Geothermal Geysers which go off every 6 minutes. The evening was spent eating Icelandic ice-cream at a nearby parlour and then we travelled out into the darkness where we waited in the hope of seeing the Northern Lights. After much standing around in the dark and cold looking up we were lucky enough to experience this natural phenomenon.
The next morning, again in darkness, we were driven to the glacier at Solheimajokull where we were kitted out in hard hats, goggles, crampons and given an ice axe! We spent the next 3 hours walking and climbing the huge retreating icebergs and glacier. What an experience! During the Afternoon, we struggled through a very windy and heavy snow storm to visit the Black Beach and the Skogafoss Waterfalls. On our final day, we had a city tour of Reykjavik in the morning before travelling to the airport for our flight home. All in all it was a really busy, exhausting and enjoyable 4 day Geography trip. Please see the school website for more photos. Adam White—Year 11 24
Photos of the Iceland Trip A
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Even More Boys Take Over Desborough—24 November This year’s Takeover Challenge on 24th November was even bigger and better than last, with almost 80 boys taking over at Desborough, RBWM and also London’s Heathrow Airport. Students participated in jobs right across the school and at RBWM many took Director roles across a range of functions. Joel and Scott Lange, Zak Ifsasse and Elliot Jones worked airside at Heathrow with Baxter Storey’s Jodi Nissen who said, “It was an absolute pleasure having the boys. They sent a lovely thank you email.” You’ve probably seen the Maidenhead Advertiser’s coverage of the success of the event. My PR team were out again, with Aiden Melling (Year 9) and Jared Irvine (Year 7) out and about finding out who was doing what and snapping photos. And it doesn’t stop there! In January we have boys from Year 7 going to a local primary school to teach Mandarin with Mr Swires, our Mandarin Co-ordinator. I’m looking forward to hearing how that one goes! See the next page for what participants thought of the day – our survey had almost a 50% response rate. Stella Neal Head of Business and Economics Enterprise Centre Lead.
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Take Over Challenge Cont ... What do people think of Takeover Day?
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Take Over Challenge Photo
Safe Drive—6 November 2017 I often wonder if our visit to the annual SafeDrive event will ever have less of an impact on our Year 12 students who attend, but, of course, it has never happened. This very effectively produced theatre presentation, which includes recorded film and live presentations, takes a ‘no punches pulled’ attitude toward the potentially life destroying and devastating consequences of careless driving. Once again our students left the theatre, thoughtful, respectful and openly discussing the power of the message. The students of our region are privileged indeed to be invited to these annual offerings – it is certainly something that is always part of our Sixth Form annual calendar of events for all of our Year 12 students to attend. Mrs Christina Sansom Careers Adviser and 6th Form mentor
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And The Scores Are In ... Chess Competition 29 November Recently, 6 of our boys attended Reading Blue Coat School to take part in a National Chess Competition. They played very well and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Desborough’s own Chess Tournament will start in January 2018. If any students are interested in taking part, please see Mrs Hallissey in the LRC to sign up. Well done to the boys who took part in the competition.
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Photos of Chess Competition
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Advanced Learners Seminar Tom Gidlow from the University of Reading came to Desborough on Tuesday 12th December to run some undergraduate-style seminars with the College's Advanced Learners. The Year 9 group (pictured) enjoyed a literature seminar including a discussion on the Craig Raine poem 'A Martian Sends a Postcard Home' as well as the concept of the Anglophone World. The Year 10 group had their minds stretched with an introduction to the philosophical concepts of metaphysics, epistemology, and value theory. They were challenged in a game of 'Whats in the Box?', which led them through deductive and abductive reasoning. The seminar finished with a short debate on the ethics behind self-driving cars with the question: 'How might a programmer find themselves charged with murder?' Mr Craig-Wood—Deputy Head of English and Co-Ordinator for the Most Able
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Drama Report Year 10 GCSE Performance Exam This term we have seen the Year 10 GCSE boys perform their Devised performances to the exam board and parents. The topic was Modern Conflicts, where students were shown events from the London Bombings, Paris attacks and also the Poem, Dulce et Decorum Est, in order to inspire them to create their own devised plays to address the issues in the topic. We had five very powerful performances, “Boston Bombings”, “London Bombings: The Victim’s Story”, “London Bombings: The Emergency Services”, “The story of Robert O’Neil” and “PTSD.” These performances were highly creative and had a large impact on the audience, informing and making the audience question the world that we live in today. Mrs Holyoake-Lloyd – Drama Teacher and Raising Achievement Leader – Year 10
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Design Technology Report This term has seen lots of new developments in the D&T Department with the use of our state of the art new STEM facility, our lessons have been jazzed up and we have been running more activities and clubs for the boys this year. Lego Mindstorm Club:LEGO club runs on Tuesday and Wednesday for Year 7- 10. The STEM Ambassador from Reading University came along after Halloween to get the club running which was really exciting. The boys have built their robots and each week there is a challenge. Next term we may even break up the robots and try and make our own!
House Competitions:Working with Mrs McFarlane has meant the D&T Department has been very involved in the house competitions this year which has been great fun. As well as the LEGO events we had a Christmas tree competition that was won by a Year 7 Dickens team! Well done to Tom, Ajay, Cruz and Lewis! Here is a picture of the tree they designed which is now on display in D&T. Some Year 7 and 8 students then helped by lasercutting their own Christmas tree ornaments for the tree! For every event we are awarding house tokens so keep and eye out boys for events next term!
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Design Technology Report Cont ... In lessons:In our STEM lessons students have been learning about 3D printing with some boys even being scanned and printed!
Year 7 students have been designing their pencil cases and making their first finger joints! In the New Year they will be very busy completing their first big design project after learning the skills this term. Year 8 students are working on a very special lamp project and are all working on manufacturing their own design. We are really excited about this project and for many boys it is their first time completing their own circuit board too! Pictures to come in the Yew Year of some really unique lamps! Year 9 Students have been working hard on their new Design and Technology GCSE’s. They have been learning about materials and their properties, new and emerging technologies and power tools. They are manufacturing their own passive speakers and are almost complete! Again, more pictures in the New Year!
Year 10 students have completed an innovation challenge in their Dragons Den project which was judged by the Technology teachers, Mr Gleeson and Ms Neal. They are now working on a design and manufacture project with designs focusing on dual function furniture, lighting or outdoor living. Year 11 students have completed their Mock exams which were very positive. The boys have designed their own products for their 60% coursework and are ready to manufacture when we return from the Christmas break which will be a busy term. Follow us on instagram @desboroughdt to keep up with all that is going on!
Miss Kelleher—Head of Design Technology/Responsibility for STEM
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Year 11 Surprise Christmas Lunch On the 12 December we surprised our Year 11 students with a Christmas lunch in the hall. Staff took the pleasure of serving the boys their lunch which we hope they enjoyed. We wish all our students a happy Christmas and wish our Year 11 students luck with their studying over the holiday to prepare them for their forthcoming exams.
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Information for Parents Our mobile App is live on both Apple and Google Play Stores; you can stay in touch with our Events, News and receive free push notifications from us!
To download visit the Apple or Google App Stores and use the Username: Desborough Pin/Password: 6345
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Information for Parents Cont .. Parentview Gives you the chance To tell Ofsted what you Think about Desborough
It would be helpful if you could share your views of Desborough College with Ofsted. Please visit the website below even if you have done this previously.
School Uniform Desborough College now has a tracksuit available to pupils to buy from Goyals in Maidenhead. This can be used during PE sessions, particularly when the colder weather arrives and as part of the boys’ team kit when they compete. If parents have any second hand uniform, in good condition and would have no objection to donating this to the school, please contact Nuria White in Student Services. Thank you.
Homework Club All students are welcome to attend Homework Club which takes place Monday-Friday from 3.15 until 5.00 pm in Room B10. Maths Sixth Form Tutors attend the session every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 40
Information for Parents Cont.. Free Hot Meals For Students If you are in receipt of state benefits or you work less than 16 hours per week your son may be entitled to free schools meals. We believe that the FSM is a crucial entitlement to help ensure that all children, independent of their family income should be able to get a nutritious meal in the middle of the day. They also have important health and educational benefits for the children that receive them. All school providers are encouraged to introduce cashless systems so that children in receipt of FSM get this funding automatically. This was one of the reasons to improve our catering service. If you have any further questions, please contact the school on 01628 634505
Cashless Catering for Students Desborough has a cashless catering system in place for all our students and staff. We are working in partnership with Catering Academy to ensure a healthier delivery of food to all its students and staff. Our dining room is open from breakfast onwards and offers hot and cold drinks, snacks, and home cooked meals created by the chef on our site. Samples of the Catering Academy menus can be found on the school website. Once your child is registered for our cashless catering system he/she will be able to buy food in our dining room without the worry of remembering to ensure they have cash with them. The cashless facility has allowed us to provide the students with a quicker service as no money and change is being handled. Please be aware that there is no cash facility at the tills. In addition parents can pay for trips and take advantage of other offers available on-line. Desborough now has a brand new sQuidOnline portal that is quicker and easier to use with a whole host of new features. From 20 October 2016 parents will no longer log in through the old system and will be able to access the website through https://portal.squidcard.com/loginPortal/ To download the sQuid App go to squidcard.com/app. If parents require further information please contact the school.
Next Principal’s Surgery Parents wishing to have a private conversation with me about any issues relating to school are invited to attend my Principal’s surgery. The next one will be held on Friday 19 January 2018 8 am to 11 am. These sessions are 10 minute slots. If you wish to have a longer conversation then please book a separate appointment via Nicola Humphries on 01628 762521.
Desborough College Shoppenhangers Road Maidenhead Berkshire SL6 2QB Tel: 01628 634505 Fax: 01628 639263 E-Mail: info@desborough-college.net
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