e t a d p U N IC
Welcome to a mini edition of the Itchen College News magazine, keeping you updated with the latest events and successes across our departments during the 2016/2017 Summer Term.
Shanghai Students Get Creative Art & Design Our international taster group from Shanghai, China have been working with our Art & Design department. The Shanghai students (pictured left) took part in an Art class led by teacher Jon Leftley.
Itchen Welcomes New Principal We are thrilled to welcome our new Principal Alex Scott, who began his new post in April. Mr Scott comes from Brockenhurst College where he held the role of Vice Principal for 10 years. Before that, he began his teaching career at Barton Peveril College, rising through the ranks to Deputy Principal.
returned to her previous post as Deputy Principal. Commenting on his new position, Mr Scott said: ‘I am excited to be joining Itchen Sixth Form College, returning to the area of Southampton where I spent my childhood. I have waited for the position of Principal at Itchen to become available for a number of years.
‘I see Itchen as a good college with strong student recruitment throughout Southampton and He has strong links with the local Hampshire. It offers a widecommunity, having been brought ranging and relevant curriculum up in the area and representing with excellent support for Southampton Rugby Club for a its students. I will bring the number of years. experience I have gained across my previous appointments to Mr Scott replaced Interim take Itchen forward to what I see Principal Vanessa Cass, who has as a very bright future.’
They were asked to respond to a brief by creating artwork for a book cover of the poet Edgar Allan Poe, giving them a good idea of what type of work artists might do in responding to clients. The students enjoyed creating images of ravens, moths and beetles! We are delighted the students got an insight into the type of art we offer here at Itchen, and hope the rest of their visit was just as exciting.
Open Evening Dates: 2017/2018 Come along to one of our Open Evenings to find out more about studying at Itchen. Meet teachers, have a look around our campus and discover the courses we have on offer. • Thursday 12 October 2017 • Tuesday 21 November 2017 • Wednesday 2 May 2018 Itchen Sixth Form College Middle Road Southampton SO19 7TB Tel: 023 8043 5636 Web: www.itchen.ac.uk Email: info@itchen.ac.uk
Students Visit Bletchley Park Computing & IT Humanities, Criminology & Law In April, our Computing & IT and Humanities, Criminology & Law students visited Bletchley Park in Milton Keynes, the home of World War II codebreaking and modern information technology. After a two and a half hour journey to Bletchley Park’s stunning grounds, the students had a workshop on encryption techniques. The students also had a unique opportunity to see a genuine Enigma machine and have a guided tour of the grounds and huts where people worked during the war. Alan Turing is one of the most famous people involved with Bletchley Park. He was significant in breaking the Enigma code and was famously given a posthumous pardon by the Queen in 2013. Bletchley Park played a major role in World War II, providing secret intelligence which had a direct and profound influence on the outcome of the war. Our students had a fantastic day exploring the Bletchley Park museum, learning about encryption and how Bletchley Park helped during the war. If you want to find our more about Alan Turing and the codebreaking work at Bletchley Park, go to their website at www.bletchleypark.org.uk.
Itchen Students Take To The Stage Performing Arts Our Performing Arts students have had an extremely successful year and a busy Summer Term. Rock Challenge Back in February, they placed first in their Rock Challenge heat at Southampton Guildhall, where they performed alongside other schools and colleges. They beat a school from Le Havre, France, and Wyvern College to take 1st place for the first time. Itchen’s piece was entitled ‘Stop the Violence’ and explored the events surrounding The Lincoln County High School shooting in Tennessee in 1998. It was solely created by second year Dance students Charlie Randall and Kyron Hamilton. Although they didn’t win the finals in April, our students received awards in choreography, performance skill, soundtrack, concept, entertainment, stage crew and drama. The eight other schools competing also voted for Itchen to receive the Performers’ Choice Award. The Search In March, our Level 3 Acting students headed to Southampton Solent University to compete in the final of livestreamed talent show The Search and they took home the trophy, beating Barton Peveril College. Itchen’s two acts, ‘Miles’ (Miles Spake, Ellen Strand, Tom Guy and Zaynab Burden) and ‘Mona’ (Jasmine Armstrong, Matteo Traverso, Jared Squires, Leah Williams and Anna Hinzmann), left the judges speechless. The winner was decided by the public, who voted on Facebook. ‘Miles’ came out on top for their piece which included the 7/7 bombings and highlighted the emptiness of turning to drugs
and alcohol as a way to try to solve mental health issues. ‘Love, Hope, Almost’ In May, our Performing Arts students put on a performance called ‘Love, Hope, Almost’ which fundraised for 4th Itchen Netley Sea Scouts. The event was a huge success, raising £80. The Art House Music Showcase A group of our first year Music students held a showcase at local music venue The Art House in May. Their show involved both solo and duo performances to an amazing turnout with a fantastic atmosphere. Community Dance Platform Students from across Hampshire were welcomed to Itchen in May, when our Dance students hosted a Community Dance Platform. As well as our own students, there were performances from Hampshire Youth Dance Company, Wyvern College, Parkewood School of Dance, Roynon Dance Woolston, Andover College, and Innov8 Dance Company. ‘Man Up’ A group of our Acting students have been performing their play ‘Man Up’ to audiences across the local community. ‘Man Up’ explores male mental health and the rate of male suicide. It also challenges society’s traditional view of masculinity and portrays the lack of mental health support for men. ItchenFest The Student Centre was alive with music in May as ItchenFest, our annual student-run music festival, returned. Kicking off at 11am with two stages set up, the Hawaiianthemed event was watched throughout the day by many of our students and staff, with performances also livestreamed on Facebook.
English Literature Students Visit Southampton Solent University English In May our English Literature students visited Southampton Solent University. They were invited to take part in a workshop called ‘How Literature Can Save Your Life’, run by Devon Campbell-Hall, course leader for English at the university. During the workshop, they discussed the importance of literature in an everyday context, alongside its importance as an art form that can reflect and even shape our own lives. The students studied and discussed example passages from a number of classic and lesserknown novels and poems. In addition to the workshop, students were given a tour of the main Solent campus, including the recently opened and stateof-the-art Spark building, and a talk on applying to the university by the admissions team. The day gave our students a great opportunity to learn more about their subject and to experience a taster of university life. The English department will continue their links with Solent via a follow up workshop with Dr. Campbell-Hall here at Itchen in the near future.
Sport Brings Home The Gold Academy of Sport Our Academy of Sport has been busy defending their titles and winning lots of medals and trophies this term.
Golf Our Golf Academy students travelled to the Forest of Arden Golf Club in Birmingham in May for two days to compete in the British Schools and Colleges National Golf Finals.
90 individual golfers and 22 of the best teams in the country took part and Itchen’s team Athletics finished in 10th place overall. Our Athletics Academy has had a This puts them into the top 10 great first year and it has finished British Schools and Colleges with celebrations after the team teams in the country. became Hampshire College Champions in May. Basketball In April, our Ladies’ Basketball Itchen’s athletes travelled team won the AoC National to Basingstoke where they Championships in Nottingham. competed for the title, with After already winning the many of them winning individual Hampshire League, Hampshire titles too. Cup and South East England Cup, this win was the perfect way It was a fantastic two days of to end the year. competition and by the end of it, our students had beaten their Football closest competitor, Queen Mary’s Our Men’s 2nd team had an College, by over 100 points! excellent day in April as they won the Hampshire Colleges’ 2nd Mahamed Mahamed Team Football Cup. Itchen student Mahamed Mahamed successfully defended The team played a hard fought his title of National AoC Cross match against Basingstoke Country Champion for the third College of Technology but won year running in April. Mo also 2-0, becoming the reigning competes for Team GB. Hampshire Cup champions.
Double Win At Army Competition Uniformed Services Academy For two days in May, our Uniformed Services Academy competed in the Army Competition at Thorney Island Army Base. Our students are the reigning Hampshire and West Sussex champions, so the competition was a chance for our students to retain the title on both days. They were competing against other college teams from across the south coast, including: South Downs College; Fareham College; Chichester College; and Richard Taunton College.
Our dynamic teams started with a 1.5 mile run, followed by various fitness, leadership and command tasks. The students dug deep, put in the effort and were rewarded by winning the ‘Public Uniformed Services Challenge’ trophies on both days of the competition. Our teams represented the college with pride, commitment and focus. They were not fazed by any of the physical or leadership command tasks and gave 100% both days. Mark Hughes, head of the Uniformed Services Academy, said, ‘An amazing achievement, well done Team Itchen.’