DESBOROUGH COLLEGE
DESBOROUGH COLLEGE SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST:
May 2014
Message from the Principal
tainers!
I happened to call into school one Saturday morning quite recently (10th May) and was delighted to see in excess of 40 Year 11 and Year 12 boys busily completing coursework for their ICT examinations. Strangely, although I was very pleased to see them I cannot pretend that I was surprised because Saturday morning lessons have been going on for some time now at Desborough. So too have holiday classes and what is now being referred to as Lesson 6, an additional after-hours session for boys who might ask for additional support from their teachers or who need to complete coursework.
Talented Writers at Des-
As Principal this tells me the following things:
Futsal at Desborough
Badminton Win
Multi-Talented Students
Drama: Year 11 Enter-
Dear Parents/Carers
borough
Desborough’s Bake Off
Premier League Reading
I am supported in my goal of seeing Desborough College become an outstanding school by some very talented and highly-motivated teachers who are determined that our boys are given every opportunity to achieve their potential;
We are supported in our efforts by the vast majority of parents who encourage their sons to take advantage of the opportunities open to them;
The boys at Desborough now understand that hard work and commitment will result in examination successes and the vast majority are setting aspirational targets for themselves. They will not settle for second best. Neither will I.
Stars
Peak Practice for the Borneo Boys
Italian School
Visit to Oxford University
Information for Parents:-
Muhammed Ali gave me a thrashing!
Free School Meals
Cashless Catering for
No, not the famous boxer, but a Year 11 student who has taken away my title of Desborough College’s Chess Champion. I have to confess that it was a very convincing victory gained in front of a packed house and Muhammed is a very worthy champion. I shall, however, not be taking this defeat lying down and shall be asking for a re-match.
Students
Principal’s Surgery
Victory is Sweet!
Message from Principal Continued ... 80 PC Super-Classroom The governing body at Desborough is a very dedicated group of people, raising ( and donating!) money for facilities that enhance the education of our students. Their latest success, following a huge amount of time and effort that they put into the project, was a classroom containing some state of the art IT equipment that was opened after the Easter break. I intend opening this facility in the evening so that boys can study on site, supervised, until 6.00pm. Colin Cox and Dan Jacobiy worked tirelessly on this project and received some excellent support from Simon Worsfold, Jeremy Jones, Neal Kent, Craig Waters, Pete Cole, Adam Salley from Fujitsu and ICT staff at Desborough. People like these who give freely of their time and expertise to support their local school deserve our sincerest thanks. Shivers up my spine! Drama I was privileged to attend the recent Y11 Drama Evening during which they performed their GCSE examination work. These young actors made me laugh out loud, made me think and made me envious of their confidence and talent. Some of these boys were simply sensational. Thank-you for a splendid evening’s entertainment, boys. The look of pride on their teachers’ and parents’ faces was a reminder of why I came into this profession many years ago. As for Miss Holyoake-Lloyd and Mrs Turner, they are top professionals. Well done, ladies! £500,000! On the subject of Drama I am expecting that, as you are reading this, I will have received confirmation from The Education Fellowship Trust, our sponsors, that we will have succeeded in our bid for a half a million pounds of government funding to demolish the old drama block and replace it with modern, purpose-built drama studios and performance facilities. We expect this particular project to be completed by the end of September with as little disruption to the school as possible. Rapidly Expanding! I have already shared with you the news that there was a 64% increase in the number of parents of Year 6 boys who had identified Desborough College as their first choice of secondary school for September, 2014. Well, we also have record numbers of applicants for places in our sixth-form for next September, including an unprecedented number of applications from girls, and I am giving tours of the school to parents interested in finding out more about us on an almost daily basis. We have admitted 10 boys into our Year 8 cohort alone since September. Quite correctly parents are beginning to recognise that Desborough College provides an excellent education and, following the publication of this summer’s examination results which I am confident will elevate us to the same league position as Manchester City, I am expecting more and more applications. Interestingly, a parent contacted me last week to ask if we were over-subscribed. I replied that we were not...........YET!
Paul Frazer 2
Futsal at Desborough 11 May at Surrey Sports Park saw Desborough U16 Futsal squad compete in the Regional Futsal competition with the winning team reaching the National Competition in Birmingham. Desborough College had done fantastically well to reach this competition being the only school competing against Futsal clubs. The first match saw Desborough lose a close encounter against Oxford Academy 2-3. However, showing excellent resolve they won the following match 3-2 against Hollingbury Hawks Youth Futsal club. Unfortunately this was not followed in the next performance losing 0-3 to Guildford Saints, meaning we could not qualify for the National stage. However, despite this disappointment the team picked themselves up and provided an fitting final performance winning 4-1 against Hasting Futsal Club. U16 Regional Futsal Competition final standings Guildford 12pts Oxford Academy 7 pts Desborough 6 pts Hollingbury Hawks 4 pts Hasting Futsal Club 0 pts Mr A Ravetta—PE Teacher
Badminton Win Over the weekend 19-20 April, Nicholas Rowe played in the Margaret Tipton U12 Memorial Badminton Tournament held annually in Woodley Berkshire. There were competitors from all over the South of England and as far afield as Cornwall. This was a national level tournament. Nicholas and his partner Anthony Zhang (Berkshire’s number one and two singles U13 players) played solidly through their box of four teams to get to the quarter finals which they won. All of their skills and determination would be tested in the Semi-finals when they were down 18-20 and held off with match points against them to rise and win 22-20. They were able to keep this momentum going and won their final match comfortably 21-14 and were named as the double champions of 2014. Mr M Capps—Year 7 Form Tutor
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Multi-Talented Students Warrick Heath is a member of Desborough’s Year 11 cohort and remarkably talented in a number of spheres. Not only is he an extremely pleasant, polite and hard-working young man he is also ranked Number 1 in the country in Karate (he is a black-belt and teaches younger children) and is determined to represent GB at a future Olympic Games. I for one do not doubt that he will achieve his ambition. However, he is also a very talented musician who sings and plays the guitar to a very high standard. In addition, Warrick finds the time to commit himself to the Army Cadet Force and his achievements in that organisation were recently recognised by Councillor Andrew Jenner, the Mayor. He had this to say of Warrick: You can indeed be proud of the contribution you have made to the life of 5 Platoon Maidenhead. In his nomination your Commanding Officer made mention of your commitment and loyalty to the Unit, your dedication in helping young cadets and your assistance with teaching the cadets at all levels some basic staff defence moves, putting your karate black belt qualification to good use. I am sure you will also be pleased to know he mentioned “with your mild mannered temperament and bearing you stand out among others in a high performing detachment�. Well done, Warrick! We have many boys at Desborough who are high-achievers in activities outside of school, but who rarely share news of their successes with me so that I can celebrate with them in school. If you know of any Desborough student who you think deserves wider recognition of his achievements then please contact me by email at paulfrazer@desboroughcollege.net.
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Drama: Year 11 Entertainers! The Year 11 Drama students performed particularly well in their recent GCSE exam, firstly to an impressed examiner, then to a full house of parents in the evening. The programme of comedy had taken weeks to rehearse and at times the challenges of extended group work were testing. However, every single student rose to these challenges and gave of his best – the creative achievements were amazing to watch! The comedy ranged from the political satire of ‘The Government Inspector’ and ‘Accidental death of an Anarchist’, to the slapstick bawdy humour of Godber’s ‘Up ‘n’ Under’ and ‘Bouncers’, leading eventually to the delightfully witty and philosophical play ‘Over the Wall’. Highlights of the evening included Tom Downey and Chris Macleod as hilarious ‘camp’ town gossips; Liam Hing as a powerful female ‘viper’; Dan Henshaw’s exaggerated drunken escapades; Joe Moore’s frenzied impersonation of the Maniac; Tim Langley’s great yoga moves; and the absurd physicality of all the ‘Up ‘n’ Under’ cast. Mrs Holyoake and I would like to thank all the students for their commitment and dedication to rehearsals and their humour and creativity throughout the process. Job done! Well done! Mrs K Turner— Head of Drama
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Further Drama Photos
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Talented Writers at Desborough!
The English department are proud and delighted to announce that many of our boys’ fantastic short stories have now been published. They are in the LRC for perusal in the Young Writers’ book entitled, ‘A Twist in the Tale.’ Congratulations again to our many talented writers at Desborough College! The published students are from Years 8 and 11 and their names are as follows: Mohammed Naseem Subhani Yaseen Hussain James Merifield Jay Luxton Mohammed Mahmood Nico Mandozzi Sulaiman Khan Ilyas Mamoun Laurence Jones Kamran Ali Jordan Brown Omar Mahmood Takudzwa Mukahiwa Joshua Bowry Sukhman Kang Inderpal Thaliwal Ezekiel Quaye Matthew Devonald James Cooper Jerrell Foster Creative writing sessions are held after school on Fridays for those boys interested in honing and developing their creative skills with like-minded students. These are informal and are last about an hour in the English department. Miss Storey—Deputy Curriculum Leader of English
Desborough’s Bake Off This term saw the first Desborough bake off with boys from Year 7,8,9 and 10 taking part. They all had great fun baking a Victoria sandwich, which all looked amazing. Well done Boys. Miss L Pankhurst—Catering Department/Learning Support
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Premier League Reading Stars The 2014 football World Cup is nearly here. A chance for us all to enjoy some international football, but also for us to encourage football-loving children to read about the game. Desborough Library is running the Premier League Reading Stars challenge with some Year 7’s and 8’s in an after school football reading club which encourages boys to enjoy reading for pleasure. http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/plrs_challenges/parents The LRC holds lots of fiction and factual books on the game including magazines like FourFourTwo and Match. From blogs to biographies, websites to fiction, newspapers to magazines – reading about the World Cup can help your children to enjoy reading for pleasure. So that the whole school can join in with Reading Stars, boys may like to try the Premier League Reading Stars Online Challenge: http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/plrs_2014_home 12 Premier League players have set some reading challenges, which if completed allows the boys to win some football merchandise and are taught football skills. Our school code must be entered to win. (This code is on the posters around school). The National Literacy Trust and children’s author, Tom Palmer, have devised ten top tips to help you and your child combine reading and football and enjoy the World Cup during June and July.
Deliver a World Cup preview from a newspaper to your child’s bedroom on Saturday or Sunday morning to get them reading before the big kick off. Choose a football story from a library or bookshop and read it aloud together every night during the tournament. Play World Cup Book Bingo with your children during some of the big matches. Ask the school library for more information, or download the bingo cards from www.wordsforlife.org.uk. Discover some of the superb football fiction that World Cup Book Bingo features. Most of the featured books are available in our school library, public libraries and bookshops. Buy them a copy of one of the popular football magazines: Match, Kick or Match of the Day. Or FourFourTwo for older children. Enjoy a World Cup fantasy football game in one of the newspapers, which means you will all need to keep a close eye on who is injured and who has been dropped from teams. Another reason to read football newspapers and websites together. Borrow one of the many guides to playing football from the school or local library if your children are inspired by the skills of Messi and Ronaldo. The Usbourne Soccer School is particularly good, as is Know the Game: Football. Set your home page on your computer to a good football website like www.bbc.co.uk/ worldcup. Find one of the child-friendly autobiographies of footballers, full of statistics, pictures and clean stories. Ask at the library, school or a bookshop for advice, or look at reviews from parents online. Encourage your children to visit the LRC and look at our World Cup reading display.
Research has found that enjoyment of reading is related to attainment. Reading any type of material outside of school is also associated with greater reading attainment. So please support your children and read with them during the World Cup and beyond. We hope these World Cup reading tips help you and your family read even more for pleasure this summer. Happy reading!
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Peak Practice for the Borneo The first weekend of the Easter break saw the Borneo boys setting aside their GCSE revision guides for an action packed weekend in the Peak District. The first task the boys had on arrival was the weekend food shop! Armed with a pre-planned shopping list and £96 pounds to play with, Mrs Brewer and I set them on their way with a mind set of “what could possibly go wrong!” We gave them an hour in the supermarket to gather ingredients for two breakfasts, two lunches and two dinners which would have to cater for 14 adventurers! The boys spent £40 of their budget which they would live to regret as the weekend progressed! (Luckily I had a stash of supplies in my pack!) When we arrived at the camp site our leader, Lewis (from Outlook Adventures) greeted us and ran through the weekend’s proceedings, issued us with kit and demonstrated to the group how to set up camp and cook the evening meal on trangias. These are valuable skills the team will have to call upon on a daily basis when in Borneo. Day two saw the team ventured out to explore “Mam Tor” in the peak district, a very picturesque part of the national park situated near Castleton. The assent to the top (approximately 500m) was an eye opener for the team and the realisation soon sank in that Mt Kinabalu (4100m) is going to be a true test of mental and physical strength. The weather conditions took a turn for the worse at the summit which gave us all the opportunity to try out our new waterproofs! We quickly retreated down into the valley for some protection from the elements and we were able to enjoy our jam sandwiches in the sunshine! (I raided and shared the supplies from my pack because as expected, two slices of bread and a spreading of jam wasn’t enough!) Back at base the boys conjured up a chilli con carnie which I must admit, was rather good, although quantity was an issue after a physically demanding day in the hills! Shortly after it was lights out. The team were exhausted! Throughout the weekend Lewis shared vital information on staying safe in the great outdoors and different survival techniques using various camping apparatus. We engaged in team building exercises which the boys excelled at, filling Lewis with confidence with the group’s ability to absorb important information and work as a team. The team spirit within the group grew dramatically over the weekend and the boys represented Desborough College exceedingly well. Bring on Borneo! Mr A Hall – Learning Mentor
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Italian School We are here from the Italian Consulate to support the Italian community and their culture. We run classes for all school children age. Please come one day and talk to us at Desborough College on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4 to 7:30 pm in the Year 7 Block, classroom E6 and E2 ( Ludlow Road gate) or email us at: italianschool.maidenhead@gmail.com Enrica and Roberta
Roberta
Visit to Oxford University On Monday 7 April 2014; eight enthusiastic young physicists and Mr Hill visited Oxford University. This was to give us an insight as to what studying physics at Oxford University would be like and ideas for what we could do to improve our future applications for Universities. When we first arrived we took a brief tour around the town seeing the traditional university campuses, and the Bodleian, one of two libraries in Britain which has access to every book published in England and registered at Stationers’ Hall since 1610. We had half an hour to explore the town, which we used effectively as we visited the famous cake shop. Then we were introduced to Doctor Organ and he guided us around Brasenose College, where we met a student who is studying physics, and he explained to us what it was like to study at Oxford. Meeting the physics student, we discovered that you didn’t have to be extremely posh or from a grammar school to attend Oxford. Then, we had lunch in the College chapel(!) and met some more students who were there to tell us about their experiences at University and to answer any questions we might have (and for a free lunch). Afterwards we visited some laboratories and the students working there who told us about their experiments, which was very interesting. We also had a talk from a developer of a colour kindle about how the screens were made and how/why they work. After a very long and interesting day, we headed back home. Tom Judd, Shane McKenna, Jack Hillyer, Jack Tedham, Ross Taylor, Manos Mantaropoulos, Frazer Marchant-North and Ibraheem Ali— Year 11
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Enrica
Information for Parents Free £400 for Lunchtime Hot Meals If you are in receipt of state benefits or you work less than 16 hours per week with a family income below £16,190, your son may be entitled to free schools meals. This can provide you with more than £400 per child for free lunchtime meals in school. 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. To complete an Application Form on-line press ctrl and click on the link below:https://www.cloudforedu.org.uk/ofsm/mwschools/ If you have any further questions, please contact the Finance Office on 01628 634505
Cashless Catering for Students Catering at Desborough College This term Desborough launched our new look dining room. We have new caterers, the Catering Academy, and we have also introduced Cashless catering for all our students and staff. Desborough College is 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 son is registered for our cashless catering system just follow the instructions on our website for the sQuid online payment system, and your son will be able to buy food in our dining room without the worry of remembering to ensure he has cash with him. 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. http://www.desborough.org.uk/sQUID-Online-Payments
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 the Friday 13 June from 8.30 am until 11.00 am. These sessions are 10 minute slots. If you wish to have a longer conversation then please book a separate appointment with Nicola Humphries on 01628 762521. Mr P Frazer 11
Desborough College Shoppenhangers Road Maidenhead Berkshire SL6 2QB Tel: 01628 634505 Fax: 01628 639263 E-Mail: info@desborough-college.net