The Regents Review Summer '15

The Regents Review Regents park Community College Newsletter

Summer 2015

Year 11 Leavers’ Prom See page 9

Red Sofa at Regents Park

page 3

Year 7 Rugby Club visit Twickenham page 7

Choux pastry magic page 12

Astrodome page 13

The Regents Review Summer 2015

WELCOME

Headteacher’s Welcome The summer term is always busy and this term has been no exception. In many ways, the months of May and June are dominated by GCSE exams.

Our students were put to the test of serious study, revision sessions and weekend revision days – the students should be congratulated on their behaviour and positive attitude throughout this time. I look forward to the results day in August when we will see the fruits of their labours.

Of course, the end of Year 11 also witnesses our annual Prom; I always find it amazing to see how the students transform themselves and appear as young men and women.

I congratulate all who attended for their appearance and behaviour throughout the night. They were a credit to Regents Park.

Regardless of the pressures of the examination period, the staff have continued to offer a wide range of opportunities to all our students.

Throughout the newsletter, you will read about our successes both in and outside of the classroom. I feel a special mention has to go to the Rock Challenge team for their fantastic performances and achievements this year – firstly winning their heat at Guildhall, Southampton; then coming second in the Southern final. A huge thanks to Mrs Anibaba and Mrs Ballard who lead Rock Challenge.

As we say goodbye to Year 11 and the Student Leadership Team, we welcome our new Senior Student Leadership Team (see page 4) and I am looking forward to working with them over the next academic year.

At this time of year we also say goodbye to members of staff and look to welcome staff joining in September, further details will be within the parents letter. We have two long serving members of staff I would particularly like to mention.

Paul Isaacs is retiring from Regents Park after many years. Since joining the school in 1988, he has had a range of roles within History and also became an advanced skills teacher, working across the city.

Laterly, he became a member of the extended leadership team. I know that many parents and students will have experienced his passion for his subject and I hope you will join me and staff in wishing Paul the very best for the future. Caroline Shore, Assistant Headteacher, is also leaving us this summer. Caroline has been with Regents Park since 2002 and has successfully led many areas within the school and in the wider business community. I would like to thank Caroline for her commitment to Regents Park and wish her the very best on her new adventure and life in France.

I would also like to wish Andy Withers, Headteacher at Foundry Lane, the very best on his retirement this summer. Andy has been the Headteacher at Foundry Lane for 25 years – so I know lots of parents, ex students and current students will join me in thanking Andy for his leadership of a wonderful school. I would also personally like to thank him for his support of Regents Park, as Andy has been part of the interim executive board over the last two years. I look forward to continuing to work with Andy on the new governing body.

Finally, as the summer break begins I hope you and your family have a good summer and take some time to enjoy the sunshine. Please don’t forget to get all the latest information from our website and follow us on Twitter for updates @RegentsParkCC Jonty Archibald Headteacher

General News

Unity 101 The community radio station continues to go from strength to strength at Regents Park with a new team of presenters now fully trained in presenting and recording the show.

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There are currently 2 teams in action, headed up by Dominic Green and Niraj Savjani in Year 10 and Crystal Turner-Brightman in Year 9.

You can listen online on Fridays at 2pm at: https://unity101.org.listenlive

The Regents Review Summer 2015

General News

News from the Library Mrs Andrews would like to thank her team of Student Librarians for all their assistance this year.

Their contributions have been a big help and have had a positive effect on the smooth running of the library.

• Abigail Flynn Branson CW • Shannon Meek Branson CD • Tshana Wilson Parks TP Once again, the Accelerated Reader programme has run successfully and the following students are to be congratulated on their progress.

Class

1st place

2nd place

7BZ

Jamie Boyer (up 10 sub-levels)

Summer Dobbing (up 9 sub-levels)

7GZ

Callum Linklater (up 10 sub-levels)

Jake Barry, Anthony Walczak (both up 7 sub-levels)

8BY

Rohan Thakker (up 14 sub-levels)

Solonya Cunningham, Darren Hooper (both up 7 sub-levels)

8BZ

Kacper Kuropatwinski (up 12 sub-levels)

8GZ

Rhia Sanger (up 9 sub-levels)

Aleksandra Koperkiewicz (up 7 sub-levels)

9GY

Natalia Maciejewska (up 6 sub-levels)

Brynie O’Brien (up 5 sub-levels)

9GZ

Rafael Gomes (up 12 sub-levels)

Rafael Carvalho (up 7 sub-levels)

‘Red Sofa’ at Regents Park Regents Park Community College were excited to host BBC Breakfast and their ‘red sofa’ at the school, as part of the show’s tour across the UK to mark the start of the recent General Election. Their aim was to capture the opinions of Southampton teachers towards what the new government’s priorities and policies should be where education is concerned.

The visit attracted a lot of attention from staff and students. It was a fun opportunity for students to pose on the ‘red sofa’ and BBC presenter Charlie Stayt was available for photos and ‘selfies’!

VIVOS Beth Davies was proud to be the first Year 7 student, this academic year, to receive her gold VIVO certificate from Mr Archibald. Beth and her friend, Tiffany McDermott, were invited for a special celebration tea with Mr Archibald on Tuesday 19th May. A brilliant achievement! Well done Beth!

The VIVOS system will continue to run in September but there are currently some changes being made.

Watch this space for information on how this will further motivate and drive students to keep striving to achieve their best.

The slot was aired 3 times the following day on the BBC’s breakfast show.

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The Regents Review Summer 2015

General News

New Senior Leadership Team Mr Archibald would like to announce the new Senior Student Leadership Team for the next academic year: Niraj Savjani – Head Boy Hannah Day – Head Girl Cameron McAllister – Deputy Head Boy Isobelle Bramley-Hill – Deputy Head Girl Miki Krok – Senior Prefect Jhorna Begum – Senior Prefect Dominic Green – Senior Prefect Georgia Underhill – Senior Prefect

RPCC among winners of National Handwriting Competition Regents Park Community College has been named runner up of the ‘National School’s Handwriting Competition 2015’.

The national competition, organised by Cambridge University Press and SATIPS, was looking for the best handwriting the UK has to offer. It was open to children aged 4 to 13 and teaching staff from schools across the country.

Regents Park beat off fierce competition from over 7,000 entries to be named overall runners up in the national competition. There was success for staff and students alike. Milly Dowse, Year 8, was runner up and Bobbie Miah, also Year 8, was highly commended. Assistant Curriculum Leader of Maths, Miss Jones, was runner up in the staff entries but it was Mr Hayward whose handwriting shone: he is this year’s national staff winner.

Patricia Lovett MBE, world-renowned calligrapher and Chief Competition Judge, said; ‘The standard of entries to the competition was incredibly high which made my job very difficult! It is wonderful to see so many schools recognising what a vital skill handwriting is and giving it the importance it deserves.’

Ex Regents Park Student offered place on prestigious Tonmeister course An ex student – Jack Gallacher – has been offered a place on the prestigious Tonmeister sound recording course at Surrey University.

Jack secured his place after completing a rigorous assessment day of technology and music tests, as well as completing a 40-minute interview to demonstrate his musical knowledge.

a place, making Jack’s achievement even more impressive. Jack said: “I was really happy when I was offered a place as I worked so hard to prepare for my assessments. I had private tutorials with my teachers to prepare me for the tests and I also attended extra Music Technology lessons to boost my knowledge of the subject.”

Surrey University is one of only 3 institutions in the world to offer the course, with only 25 people given

Everyone at RPCC would like to say a massive congratulations on this fantastic achievement.

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The Regents Review Summer 2015

GENERAL NEWS

Environmental ethos It has been a busy term for the environmental projects and Suzi Hoskins, the school’s environmental teaching assistant, is proud to say that the projects she has undertaken are now complete. The school now has an amazing vegetable garden and a quiet reflection space in the quad pond garden. Both link with many topics and subject areas which can be used in the curriculum and as extracurricular activities. Resources to use the solar panels are available in Geography and Science and can be related to more world-wide topics to aid students’ understanding of third world issues and climate change.

An outstanding amount of work has been achieved with Eco-Schools, and the school have recently been awarded a Silver Status certificate.

Sadly, Suzi will be leaving Regents Park at the end of term to take up a post closer to her home in Gosport. It is hoped that new volunteers may come forward to head up a gardening club as many students have expressed an interest in this.

Hero in our midst Mr Archibald was stunned and proud by the news that a student from Regents Park Community College had been hailed a local hero after helping to save the life of a lady he found collapsed unconscious close to his home in April. Year 7 student, Oliver Piggott, kept his cool and administered first aid to check the lady was still alive, whilst his step sister called an ambulance.

The Daily Echo reported how Oliver came running into his home, to tell his dad that he had found a woman unconscious close to their house. His father, Anthony, praised his son for his actions, which he believes saved the young woman’s life. Oliver told us: ‘I feel happy and am proud of what I have done.

I got taught first aid at school and I remembered it.’

The lady was later taken to Southampton General Hospital for treatment.

2nd place in Rock Challenge

Finally at 11.30pm it was announced that we had won awards of excellence in Entertainment, Visual Building on the huge success of taking first place at the Enhancement, Soundtrack, Concept and Choreography.

Rock Challenge™ heat at Southampton Guildhall, staff and It was then announced that we had also achieved 2nd students took their performance to the Southern Open place! We were all very shocked and pleased which led Final A at Portsmouth Guildhall on Thursday 18th June. to screaming and many tears of joy being shed in the changing rooms. Congratulations to all of the performers Staff and students spent their day rehearsing and watching the rehearsals of other schools and colleges. This and crew and especially to the Year 11 production team for their hard work. was a great chance to see the ideas, creativity and talent of other crews. Students had fun all day when they did Huge thanks go to those who supported our entry: silly dances, sang and watched all of the teachers get up Mrs Anibaba, Mrs Ballard, Mr Branford, Miss Croud, on stage to do the staff dances. As always, hours were Miss Jones, Mr Makepeace, Mr Marchment and Mrs Selfe. spent having hair and make-up done in preparation for the performance.

Our students took to the stage and delivered an outstanding performance. It was evident that the staff and students had worked extremely hard to pull off their best performance yet. A nervous wait followed for the results and although we hoped to place in the top 5, we knew that there were some extremely talented schools there so the competition was tight.

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The Regents Review Summer 2015

GENERAL NEWS

Extra-curricular sporting success It has been a busy term outside of school for many students. Ben Edwards in Year 9 has been taking part in Bowling competitions around the country for the past 2 years. In May, he and his team travelled to Torquay to take part in the area annual Bowling competition. Ben and his partner managed to scoop first place in the doubles with 15 points ahead.

In June, Ben successfully took part in another competition in Tolworth.

Again, he won by a large margin of 16 points. Well done Ben. We look forward to hearing of more successes in the future!

George Cherry, Year 11, has also achieved outstanding sporting success as the ‘Short Mat’ bowls Under 18 National Champion. George took part in the competition in March in Derby. It was a tough competition as his opposition had topped her group all the way to the final. But despite an early lead, George beat her in the final 10-7. Well done George; a fabulous achievement!

A member of RPCC staff – John Molyneaux, who works in the Mathematics Department, has also had some outstanding sporting success following his participation in The British Swimming National Masters

Championships held at the Manchester Commonwealth Pool between Friday 12th and Sunday 14th June. He

competed in and won medals in the 50M (Gold), 100M (Gold) and 200M (Gold) Backstroke; 200M (Gold) and 400M (Silver) Individual Medley; 50M Butterfly (4th). All races – except the 50M Butterfly – were New Hampshire County Records and South East England Records.

This has qualified him for the European Championships being held in May next year at the London Aquatics Centre.

Imagine the Future On Tuesday 30th June, 6 students, accompanied

by Mrs Cosford, participated in the ‘Imagine the Future’ event which was organised by Red Funnel and Southampton City Council.

The aim of the event was to encourage students to think about the future of Southampton and how it could be developed into a vibrant city full of opportunities for all.

Students from all over the city were involved in some thought-provoking workshops, which were led by sixth form students from across the city.

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The event was held on the newly renovated Osprey ferry, which sailed along the Solent for the duration of the event. All students enjoyed the opportunity of mixing with other students and seeing some of Southampton from the sea.

The students involved were: Ernest Tkaczyk Yazmin Simmons Crystal Turner-Brightman Rhiannon Ford-Bailey Milly Dowse Alex Keith

Year 7 Year 7 Year 9 Year 8 Year 8 Year 8

Thank you to all for collaborating so well and sharing some interesting and innovative ideas.

The Regents Review Summer 2015

GENERAL NEWS

Learn with US Last month fourteen Year 10 students took part in Southampton University’s ‘Learn with US’ project. The two day intensive research project is aimed at helping students develop good presentation technique, as well as interpersonal skills such as teamwork and effective communication.

The students attended workshops in Archaeology, English, Law, Medicine and Human Physiology – all based on this year’s infectious diseases theme. A mock BBC newsflash alerted students to epidemic of smallpox that threatened the population of Southampton. It was now up to them to contain the outbreak.

competition impressing the judges with a ‘well thought out plan’ and ‘seamless speech’.

All of the students enjoyed the event and felt they had learned from it. Niraj Savjani said, ‘it was a good experience we learned skills like teamwork and time management’. Georgia Underhill said, ‘doing the project helps build your confidence.’

Year 7 are the next group of students taking part in this enriching opportunity. Look out for news of their experiences in the next newsletter.

Teams from nine different schools competed to find the best strategy to stop the spread of the disease and to vaccinate those at risk. The students presented their ideas to their peers and a panel of University staff. After a tense wait Regents Park were declared the winners of the

Year 7 It has been an exciting term for Year 7 as Regents Park were one of twelve schools chosen from around the country to participate in a once in a lifetime Twickenham experience. This opportunity stemmed from the ‘All Schools Programme’ which Regents Park are involved in. It aims to raise the profile and opportunities for school children to play rugby in school and in the local community.

The experience was hosted by England Rugby and Canterbury – the England clothing manufacturer. The experience included a tour of the stadium as well as areas often out of bounds such as the member’s area, royal box and the England changing room. In addition the students competed in a touch tournament on the hallowed turf, which was a highlight as very few people have an opportunity to step on to the Twickenham pitch.

During the games the team played well, moving the ball and running into space.

The team came close to scoring a try a number of times, but it wasn’t to be.

Although the team didn’t qualify for the quarter finals, the experience was amazing. The students were buzzing, especially after meeting: England’s most capped women’s rugby player Maggie Alphonsi; World Cup winners Jason Leonard and Mike Catt; as well as the current backs and defence coach and ex England player Andy Farrell.

especially in the lead up to the Rugby World Cup later this year.

Mr Sinclair, Head of Year 7

The teachers also managed to play a game cheered on by students. The Regents Park teachers were part of the All Stars teacher’s team who managed to get to the final, after beating the BBC presenters in the semi-final.

Unfortunately we lost the final 3 tries to 2. A special thank you must go to Konur Bilgic, who managed to capture my moment of glory scoring a try that I will always treasure. Thank you Konur!

During this term we will be hosting a touch tournament at school for all students; boys and girls; as well as teachers to compete together. The tournament will be a weekly fun event with the hope to further increase the profile and enjoyment of rugby, 7

The Regents Review Summer 2015

GENERAL News

Year 8 We have had some fantastic achievements this term in Year 8 and I would like to share a few of these incredible successes with you.

Ollie Piggott saved a young woman’s life using his first aid knowledge from school. He was featured in the Daily Echo for his bravery and we are very proud of his efforts. Well done Ollie! Read more about Oliver’s story in the ‘General News’ section.

The school is very proud of qualifying for the Southern Region finals of Rock Challenge, especially as there are some fantastic Year 8 dancers and actors taking part! The competition took place at Portsmouth Guildhall on the 18th June. Read more about this story in the ‘General News’ section.

Nominations have just been made for 25 gifted and talent Year 8 students, who will be participating in the University’s ‘Learn with US’ event. These students have proven to be excellent role models’ for their year group and have been chosen as students who will value the experience and benefit from the learning activities on offer.

A small group of students participated in an antibullying workshop run by sixth form students at Totton College. These students acted maturely and supported the students by offering positive feedback and comments during the workshop. Thank you to those students for their time and effort.

Year 8 are also really looking forward to the rewards trip that is happening on the 17th July.

We will be going to the New Forest Activities Centre near Beaulieu, participating in a variety of events from canoeing to Battlefield LIVE (a laser tag game).

Overall this term has been filled with positivity and success; I look forward to sharing more of these with you in the next edition.

Miss Hocking, Head of Year 8

Year 9 Year 9 students have just completed a very important half-term – they have decided on their options for next year and the journey to GCSE is underway. Reports were sent out, so parents can see how well students are doing – and they can see the areas that might need more focus. Overall, we’re very pleased with their progress to-date and our Presentation Evening on 9th July will be busy as a result!

As the academic year draws to a close, it’s important that students realise that even though the year might feel as though it’s winding down, they still need to maintain standards that ensure they come to school ready to learn: some students are arriving without the most basic of equipment – a pen. It’s getting warmer, so jumpers can be left at home, but students must ensure they arrive in their blazers.

We’ve had lots of interesting assemblies this term. Mr Robinson, Ambassador for CEOPS (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre), talked about safety on the internet. Technology is moving so quickly; it’s opened up

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so many exciting opportunities, but we know it can be used for the wrong reasons. If you’d like to find out more about CEOP, please visit: https://www.ceop.police.uk We also had a vegetarian food-tasting for World Vegetarian Day and there was the opportunity for students and staff to taste some of the non-meat cuisine available on the market.

Mrs Neale, Head of Head of Year 9

The Regents Review Summer 2015

GENERAL News

Year 10 mechanics at college Since September, a group of nine Year 10s have been attending a Motor Vehicle course at Southampton City College on a Thursday. It has been an enjoyable experience for the group and they’ve learnt a lot. Some of the students hope to pursue a career in Mechanics in the future and have found the day release option invaluable in helping them decide on a future career path.

As you can see from the images, they’re encouraged to get stuck in and the course adopts a practical approach.

They spend most of their time in the motor vehicle workshop, working in teams on a number of different vehicles. In these images, they are learning about the rear braking system and are removing and checking rear brake pads and drums, before reassembling them.

Year 10 This term has been a really exciting term for Year 10 as they have begun the transition to the top of the school. They have watched their friends in Year 11 sit their GCSEs and come to the end of their school career. With Year 10 exams fast approaching they are hoping to prove that they have made the progress this year that their teachers are predicting. In addition, there has been a changing of guard for the School Senior Prefect team. Twenty students applied for 8 positions and they went through a gruelling double interview selection process where they presented to teachers and Governors. Read more about this in the ‘General News’ section.

Year 10 will also be investigating their Further Education options at the Open Day at Richard Taunton Sixth Form College on the 6th July.

A celebration of their successes this year will also be had when they head off on a Reward trip to Thorpe Park on 17th July. Well done to all of you for a fantastic year and good luck in your exams!

Mr Holloway, Head of Year 10

Year 11 It has come to that time of year again when we have to say goodbye to Year 11.

They have been a great year group to look after and support throughout their final year here.

As part of saying goodbye to our Year 11s, we had a brilliant leavers’ assembly, with students being joined by family and friends who came to celebrate their time at Regents Park.

We shared a lot of photos which were a nostalgic, fun and memorable reminder of their time at Regents Park. There was also the delivery of a heartfelt speech from the Head Boy, Bradley Coster and Head Girl, Faye Draper. The teachers also had a little surprise for Year 11 in the form of a video recreating ‘Uptown Funk’.

Zeynep Gunaydin, Jem Scully, Emma Barnes and Magda Majka. The prefect team have also provided lots of support.

On a final note, Year 11 has been a very special and different year group with a lot of individuality; they will all be missed. Everyone at Regents Park wishes them all the very best for their future and we hope that they all keep in contact and tell us how they are doing.

Miss Bishop, Head of Year 11

On the 2nd July we had our Year 11 Leavers’ Prom at the Macdonald Botley Hotel. We all had a great time – and a lot of dancing was done by all.

A special thank you goes to all the Student Senior Leadership Team who have supported the school massively over the last 5 years. Faye Draper, Bradley Coster, Zoe Smith, James Doyle, Jyoti Sappal, Ray Patricio,

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The Regents Review Summer 2015

Departmental News

English Shakespeare Slam

Key Stage 3 Year 7 have been investigating the history of the English language, including looking at texts written in Old English

by Chaucer and trying to translate them into modern English. Students used their knowledge of Chaucer’s writing style and The Canterbury Tales to create their own pilgrim and write a prologue for their character.

The Monk by Lewis Nott

The monk was very religious He was very superstitious As a monk, he was very poor He had to sleep on the floor.

He looked after the sick And always read the Bible, which is very thick.

He was skinny and weak,

Year 9 have studied William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet this term. They were fortunate enough to have watched the performance from the Young Shakespeare Company which helped them understand the plot of the play and also things to consider when acting for a performance. These tips came in really useful for the cohort’s ‘Shakespeare Slam’ where students were challenged to present their understanding of Romeo and Juliet in a form of their choice. Performances ranged from acting out key scenes to creating and performing songs about the play. Each class had their own heat and selected one group to represent them in the final.

The winners of the ‘Shakespeare Slam’ were: Hollie Cook, Nisha Landa, Lucy Smith and Nancy Pope.

Enlightenment is what he seeks.

Their rap about the plot of Romeo and Juliet was original and inspired.

Year 8 students have been busy studying the Science Fiction genre. This has included reading a range of short stories and extracts from famous novels such as The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. They have also been writing their own science fiction stories and poems.

A special award was given to Tristan Brown for his outstanding performance in his group’s Jeremy Kyle adaptation, where they presented the feud between the Montagues and Capulets.

A big well done to everyone who took part.

Young Shakespeare visits Years 9 and 10 When Shakespeare came to school, Years 9 and 10 did not know what was about to hit them. There were the predictable moans and groans of, ‘do we have to, really?’, and at one point the English Team felt as if they were the only ones looking forward to the performances.

All that changed when they met the 5 members of the Young Shakespeare Company: Alexandria Bull; William Donaldson; Robyn Hoedemaker; Andy McLeod and Samuel Oakes.

From the start to the finish, there was not a dry eye in the house, from the sheer hilarity of improvisation; ideas used for this had been taken from 10

the students. What’s more, some students actually got to participate in the action. The actors had better watch out as we have some excellent budding thespians, who took to acting like ducks to water. The travelling band of actors came and did the unthinkable – they made Shakespeare actually cool. And all the students loved it!

The Regents Review Summer 2015

Departmental News

Mathematics Junior and Intermediate Mathematics Challenge 2015

The UK Mathematics Trust (UKMT) is a registered charity whose aim is to advance the education of children and young people in Mathematics. The UKMT organises national Mathematics competitions and other mathematical enrichment activities for 11-18 year old UK school pupils. It was established in 1996 and last academic year over 600,000 pupils from 4000 schools took part in the three individual challenges, the UK's biggest national Mathematics competition.

Students from Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 were chosen to represent our school in this competition, answering 25 challenging questions set by the University of Leeds and the Actuary Profession.

Congratulations to all our students who were chosen to sit the paper and especially well done to the following students for gaining awards: Year 10: Gold and best in year – Ilyaz Sayenko Bronze – Tomislav Conrad, Miki Krok, Emily Hartley

Georgia Underhill Year 9: Gold & best in year – Jeremiah Scariya Silver – Satveer Taak, Macaulay Totten Bronze – Raphael Patricio, Jessica Crouch,

Lucy Smith, Abby Fell, Lera Kipore,

Michael Snook, Flora Smith Year 8: Gold and joint best in year – Elwira Kilichowska who also qualified for the Junior Kangaroo Challenge Ilyaz and Jeremiah’s high scores qualified them to take part in the ‘Grey Kangaroo’ European challenge; well done! At the time of press we are awaiting these results.

Year 11 GCSE Mathematics revision – ‘Pi’ or Pizza…?

As mentioned in previous newsletters, it has been a pleasure to teach Year 11 this year. They have had three mock examinations in Mathematics (October, December and March) and each time students have raised their game and improved their grades through target setting with their teacher; well done!

Revision sessions have been well attended and our final calculator workshop (where much revision of ‘pi’ took place) ended with a pizza treat. Thank you for working so hard this year and we look forward to celebrating your results with you on results day this summer.

Regents Park’s helpful Maths video clips We often see that students are more able to understand explanations from their peers than from their class teacher.

As a result students are busy making their own video clips in which they explain and demonstrate topics in Mathematics such as transformations, Pythagoras’ Theorem and many more. It is hoped that by including students in the delivery of this material it will enable students to take an active, hands on approach to their learning and enable students who might not have fully understood to get to grips with some of the key topics where basic errors can be made. We will be regularly adding to this bank of clips and hope as many students as possible can have an input to this valuable resource.

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The Regents Review Summer 2015

Departmental News

ICT and Technology Year 10 visit the Design Museum and the Tate Modern The Year 10 Resistant Materials classes had the opportunity to go on a trip to visit both the Design Museum and Tate Modern in London this term.

This allowed students to immerse themselves in the variations of design on offer in society. We looked at the way artists and designers have taken inspiration from the world around them, while in the Design Museum the focus was on the best designs of 2015, ranging from cars to smart textiles and interactive products.

ICT Computing Award Students in Year 9 have been completing the Regents Park Computing Award in their units this academic year. They have covered a range of topics including: Understanding Computer Logic, Computer Hardware, Computing Trends in Society and Computer Programming. All students within the year will have achieved an award ranging from Bronze, Silver Gold and Platinum and will receive a lapel pin badge that they can wear on their blazer for the rest of their time in school.

It was also an occasion to view the various architecture styles on the surrounding buildings and landmarks like the Shard, Big Ben and the Gherkin. The students conducted themselves well and made the most of the opportunity to broaden their design horizons. It was a fantastic trip and we wish to thank the students for their efforts.

Catering In May, the Year 10 catering students were fortunate to have a visit from Mark who runs the catering course at City College. Mark began his working career in hotel kitchens and progressed to become Head Chef of the Botley Park Hotel and later a top London Hotel.

Mark demonstrated the making of choux pastry and how to present a profiterole to a high standard by making it into a swan. The results were amazing.

The following 25 students who achieved the Gold Award: Lori Birch

Satveer Taak

Maisha Khan

Amber Turner-Brightman

Toby Parker

Ella Baker

Drew Richardson

Samuel Coleman

James Chester

Peter Dowse

Jessica Crouch

Benjamin Grave

Rhys Gilbert

Lera Kipore

Jeena Khela

Aaron McKeown

Nikhil Kumar

Gemma Miller

Raphael Patricio

Naiya Moreno

Jeremiah Scariya

Nancy Pope

Lucy Smith

Max Satterly

Michael Snook A special mention should also go to Mikey Watson and Flora Smith who both achieved the highest award of Platinum.

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The Regents Review Summer 2015

Departmental News

Science Science week National Science week took place in March and this year we chose our own theme. Key Stage 3 students had themed lessons during the week. They completed some exciting experiments, including making mentos and coke rockets and investigating how much sugar is in a standard fizzy drink. They also carried out investigations to find out which crisps have the most energy.

Lunch time activities ran every day with students having the opportunity to try some exotic fruit and other fun activities.

The annual inter tutor group Science week quiz was run alongside a marble run challenge. Well done to Key Stage 3 for throwing themselves into activities and trying new things.

Science week drew to a close with the solar eclipse.

Although we could not observe the eclipse, all lessons across the school paused to watch it on the news channels. We were also privileged to have Emily Thorpe-Smith from Winchester Science Centre visit us and show Year 9 students how Infrared technology works. This was a great show and the students were in awe at the use of Science and Technology.

Feeder schools Science day On the 30th of June the Science department and Portsmouth EBP hosted all the Year 6 pupils in our primary feeder schools. During the course of the day the pupils rotated through 5 workshops including: experiments that go flash and pop in the Science laboratory; CSI investigation and visiting some exhibitors before the grand finale show which was put on by the University of Southampton. Thank you to the Year 9 students who volunteered their time to help out on the day.

Foundry Lane and St. Marks Science days Miss O’Donnell and some Year 8 students spent a day in each school. The Year 6 students had a themed day – ‘Fuel for Life’. The students had a fantastic day completing this topic of their curriculum completing a series of workshops including heart dissections, respiration experiments and even investigating if listening to music has an effect on your heart rate during exercise.

Science Club back by popular demand!

Science Club has been very busy this half term. Led

by Miss Groves the club has done some weird and wonderful experiments to suit all tastes each week.

Astrodome On Tuesday 24th of March Southampton University Physics department visited us with the Astrodome.

This year the dome was bigger than previous years so more students were able to see each show. The dome took up the hall and all Year 7 students had the opportunity to take part.

Each show lasted 45 minutes and students had a guided tour of the night sky. By the end of the session they were able to use the constellations to navigate the night sky.

Our students showed great interest in the Astrodome and asked the exhibitors some fantastic questions.

Year 11 revision Year 11 revision has continued during the year. Students had the opportunity to attend Wednesday morning breakfast club and Thursday after school. Well done to all those students who attended the sessions throughout the year.

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The Regents Review Summer 2015

Departmental News

Physical Education It has been a jam packed term for the PE team.

Several events have taken place with many students demonstrating outstanding performance and team work.

The PE Department would like to say a big thank you to all students who have represented the school in a number of events and are really helping Regents Park Community College to move forwards in terms of PE and school sport.

Numbers at our clubs are increasing; the lunch time activity programme is proving to be a roaring success and many students within Year 7 and 8 have received great prizes as a reward for their participation in our extracurricular programme.

City Swim Gala It was a pleasure taking a team of Year 7, 8 and 9 students to represent RPCC at the Southampton Schools City Swim Championships.

It was a great overall team effort and we observed some fantastic results from several students.

Year 7 Boys – 2nd overall out of 8 teams Year 7 Girls – 4th overall out of 8 teams Year 9 Boys – 2nd overall out of 8 teams Special congratulations go to: William Greenacre: city champion for backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly; Zara Manning and Macaulay Totten: both city champions for breaststroke.

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Rounders results We are still waiting for the results to come in after all games have been used.

However, both our under-13 and under-15 teams are doing VERY well!

Our under-13 team are currently top of the league with 2 games to play and the under-15 team are 2nd also with two games to play.

A special thank you needs to be given to Year 7 competitors: Charlotte Webb and Edie Smith. Also, a big thank you to Laura Davis and Jeena Khela for taking on roles of captain and vice-captain; they have been outstanding in organising and leading the team.

Sports Day 2015 Sports Day 2015 was a fantastic event that saw students taking part in a variety of sporting disciplines. All students approached the day with the desired spirit and this created a superb atmosphere for students participating in all events. A number of school records were beaten. Please see the attached insert for more detailed information on the results of Sports Day. Following the successes of students on Sports Day, a team was put together to compete at the Southampton City Athletic Championships. Please keep an eye out for further information relating to the outcome of this event.

The Regents Review Summer 2015

Departmental News

Year 7 student Jake Barry takes the lead

Nusrat Bah taking part in the long jump event

It was close between Elbi Nguo and Ivan Alves in this Year 8 event

Harry Adams takes part in the Year 9 high jump event

Year 7 were quick off the starting blocks in this sprinting event 15

The Regents Review Summer 2015

Departmental News

Creative Arts Department Music This year marked the first ever Regents Park ‘X Factor’ competition.

Students were made aware of the event following promotions through year assemblies and the response to the request for people to audition was staggering. Students from across the year groups turned up and the vocal standard at the auditions, during rehearsals and at the performances was surprisingly high.

Decisions for the finalists were made following three days of auditions before the final line up of contestants was announced. Everyone who took part made excellent progress having received advice on performance techniques, vocal tone, breathing and how to use microphones.

Rehearsals commenced in earnest earlier this half term. The final performance will take place on 16th July and the winner will be announced shortly after. Thank you to everyone who got involved in the process and look out for news of the winner in the next edition of Regents Review.

‘X Factor’ finalists Kayleigh Andrews Kayleigh is a Year 9 pupil who has been a keen participant in the ‘X factor’. She has previously represented Regents Park Community College by singing at a concert held at Shirley Salvation Army. She has developed her vocal abilities through dedication to practice.

Rosie O’Shea Rosie is in Year 8 and sang a difficult song on the evening, which was previously performed by Whitney Houston and made famous by the film ‘The Bodyguard’ during the 1980’s.

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Rosie was keen to perform this song as it is one of her mum’s favourites.

Lilly Cross Lilly, a Year 7 student, performed the song ‘Lost Boy’ which focuses on the sentiment of one of Peter Pan’s gang in the J.M Barry Book.

Maison Brindley-Dymott Maison has been developing his singing for some time now, having been a keen vocalist at his junior school. Now in Year 8, he worked hard during the rehearsal process and delivered a song made famous by the American singer song writer John Legend.

Milly Dowse Milly is a Year 8 pupil. She decided to sing the No.1 hit song ‘Read All About It,’ which was made famous by Emily Sande.

Jaymie Stevens Jaymie, a Year 9 student, had been hiding her talent away until the opportunity to enter this completion arrived. She performed the popular hit by Coldplay ‘Fix You’.

Natalia Krupnik, Emily Rathband, Charlotte Hackerr These 3 friends and keen vocalists are in Year 8. Every week they receive vocal tuition from our peripatetic vocal coach. They worked hard on their performance of the hit song ‘Titanium’ written by David Ghetta.

Natalia Konopka, Monny Hopkins, Kirsty Holloway, Molly Tracey These Year 8 students made up the second group of the evening.

They chose a Taylor Swift song for the performance and their rendition was well received by the judges.

Josh Cook Josh was the second of the Year 7 pupils who performed. We think Josh is a natural born entertainer and is willing to sing at the ‘drop of a hat’. Josh decided to sing a song that is on the top ten richest song list, ‘Stand By Me’.

Lauren Hepburn Lauren, who is usually a very quiet and retiring girl, is another Year 7 student.

She found her voice to participate in the show and sang Adele’s famous hit, ‘Someone Like You.’ Chloe Chester Chloe was the only representative from Year 10 to perform. She is a keen musician and is studying music at GCSE level. Chloe can not only sing but can also play the guitar. Chloe chose to sing ’Your Song’.

Phoebe Underhill Phoebe is another recent addition to Regents Park and once again was flying the flag for Year 7. She is a confident performer and is no stranger to auditions, having previously tried out for Britain’s Got Talent. Phoebe sang ’Skinny Love’.

The Regents Review Summer 2015

Departmental News

Chantal Sibanda Chantal was our penultimate performer and is yet another Year 7 student who has developed her vocal abilities through regularly singing at church. We were pleased she

chose to participate in the show and enjoyed her version of, ’People Help the People’.

keen to get involved and stake her claim on the title of ‘X factor’ winner by sing ‘Pretty Hurts’ on the evening.

Issy Wood-Cheevers Issy was our final performer of the evening. Yet another Year 7, Issy was

Modern Foreign Languages Boulogne trip – 18th June 2015 On Thursday 18th June, a group of mostly Year 7 students, with a few from Year 8 and 9 went to Boulogne in the north of France. Even though it took a few hours to get there, it was totally worth it. We had to be prepared for a very early start and travelled by coach to Folkestone, home of the Eurotunnel.

Upon arrival in the fishing port of Boulogne, we made a start on our treasure hunt, which took us around the town centre.

This involved looking at shop signs in French and finding out information. Early on in the treasure hunt, we had some free time to look around the shops and order a chocolat chaud or some croissants in French!

Next, we headed up to the old part of town, where we took some time to have our lunch and look at the view of the amazing town. After that we made our way back, some of us ensuring we bought candy floss and if there was any money left over in our pockets, we bought our families souvenirs.

This was our final stop before getting back onto the coach to return home. We arrived back just before 9 o’clock. A very long day, but what an amazing day.

Bon appetit!

French food In April, Year 8 students were able to experience a very important aspect of French culture – crêpes. Students were shown a recipe and a video of how to create them and then brought in their own crepes, with their favourite flavouring. Some students were chosen as waiters and waitresses to take orders for the different flavours and a select few students were able to be judges of others’ pancake-making talents.

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The Regents Review Summer 2015

Departmental News

Humanities Business and Enterprise On the 23rd of March the whole of Year 10 took part in the Solent EBP Interview Day. Business people from around Southampton gave up their valuable time to interview our students.

The businesses involved in interviews included HMRC, HSBC, Red Funnel, Cisco, Rotary and Hayes. This was a fantastic opportunity for Year 10 to get ready for college and potential first job interviews. The feedback from the business volunteers was also excellent. RPCC students came across very professional and they were very impressed with how prepared our students were about their pathways on from school.

Our Year 10 students should be very proud of how they conducted themselves during the interviews.

Geography Comic Relief: – Year 10 Geographers made nearly £300 by carrying buckets of water on their heads. This is to represent what it was like having no water near their homes. This is also a part of the curriculum they were studying. Special mention to Zoe Holloway who helped organise everyone.

Year 7 have been carrying out basic field work skills around the school. Their aim was to find the best site for a wind turbine or solar panels. They’ve produced some amazing graphs and great responses.

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Sailing weekend Four Year 7 and five Year 9 students had a weekend sailing on the 60ft round the world racing yacht ‘Thermopylae Clipper’, owned by Discovery Sailing Project All worked amazingly well and all learned something about themselves.

Keep in touch to see what sailing opportunities will be offered next year. We will do at least one weekend in Late May or early June on the Solent. There may be something a bit further for the older students.

The Regents Review Summer 2015

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KS3 History Student Representatives!

Are you interested in History?

Do you believe in student voice?

Then we want to hear from YOU! The History Department is looking for students to be involved in shaping the way History is taught at RPCC. For more information speak to Mrs Blake in Room 27

Games Club Games Club takes place every Tuesday and Thursday in the Bridge from 2.40pm – 4pm Come along and join in with: • playing a range of board games; • listening to your favourite music; as well as • having some food and drink.

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The Regents Review Summer 2015

Diary Dates for Parents Term Dates

Term start Autumn Term (1st half) 1st September 2015 Autumn Term (2nd half) 2nd November 2015

Term end 23rd October 2015 18th December 2015

School Holidays 26th – 30th October 2015

Inset Days 1st September 2015 23rd October 2015 18th December 2015

Calendar Events 2nd September 2015 3rd September 2015 17th September 2015 1st October 2015

Year 7 only Whole school Year 7 Welcome Evening – 6-7pm Open Evening – 7-9pm

A full calendar for the Academic Year 2015/16 will be sent to you in September.

Charity Work During the year all our students have been working hard raising money for those less fortunate and the year groups have all chosen their own charities too.

The students raised money last year for ‘Christmas Jumper Day’ and a total sum of £473.28 was raised which was divided between the year groups. Listed below are the charities that have benefitted from Regents Park students: Year 7 Cancer Research Year 8 Southampton Young Carers Year 9 Hampshire Autistic Society Year 10 Naomi House

In addition to the above nominated charities – below are more that benefitted from non-uniform days, Red Nose day and other charity events that has taken place during the year: Comic Relief (Red Nose Day)

£667.13

Naomi House (Wessex Children’s Hospice Trust) £36.89 Sports Relief

£571.52

Readathon

£176.12

Hampshire Autistic Society (Mr Pine – 10k run) £251.00 Snowden Rehabilitation Centre

£197.00

This highlights the caring nature of students here at Regents Park.

Privacy Notice – Data Protection Act 1998 We, Regents Park Community College, are a data controller for the purposes of the Data Protection Act. For more information on this and how it might affect you, please visit our website at: http://regentsparkcollege.org.uk

Regents Park Community College King Edward Avenue Southampton S016 4GW

Telephone (023) 8032 5444 Fax (023) 8032 2411 info@regentspark.southampton.sch.uk www.regentsparkcollege.org.uk