Senior School Newsletter - March 8 2019

SENIOR SCHOOL

 NEWSLETTER Friday 8th March 2019 New Arrivals at Sibford School An exciting week as the new residential lambs arrived on campus. Our two male lambs are yet to be names and are just 10 days old! The lambs will be with us until Easter break and will be looked after by staff and students.

KS4 – Date for the diary

March 22nd - Revision workshop for Y10 to help students prepare for forthcoming Y10 exams.

On the same day, we will also be running a Parent Seminar led by Elevate Education on how to support your child with exam preparations. This will take place in the Oliver Studio from 4.30pm until 6.00 pm and is open to parents of all pupils in Y10 and Y11. (Jill Spence, Head of KS4)

Congratulations to all those who took LAMDA examinations in February.

The 17 candidates achieved 13 Distinctions and 4 Merits between them! A special mention goes to Kim (Year 10), who took the highest grade level this time, Bronze Medal Grade 6, and achieved a high Distinction with a mark of 93/100. (Andrea Mardon, LAMDA teacher)

On the 1st of March Ben Lovatt from TTE (The Training Effect) came in to talk to both our Year 12 and Year 13 students about risk taking behaviours by children and young people.

Ben delivered his message professionally and creatively. Our students were totally engaged from the start as he explored the reasons why human beings, particularly young people, take risks. Ben also explored the physiological element surrounding a young person’s brain and the journey of development through to late twenties. He also referred to the environment and friendship circles and how these variables support or adversely determine how we manage and assess risk. Finally, Ben spoke about the support and strategies that young people could consider to protect themselves from risky behaviour.

This was a very thought-provoking presentation that captured the interest of our sixth formers immediately. It was perfectly pitched at their level which meant they were able to relate to the content immediately. Ben has allowed us to see that danger is avoidable.

Greater knowledge of our own behaviour and a deeper awareness of our surroundings will hopefully allow our students to manage the decisions they make; to limit their risk and live a healthy balanced life in the future. (Darren de Bruyn, Assistant Head of Sixth Form)

Demonstration of Year 7 Support for Learning one to one intervention

The support for learning department will be demonstrating the work they do during the 1:1 sessions with the year 7 pupils on 15th March at 3.30pm. The demonstration will take place alongside the parent conversation afternoon and will be aimed at those parents whose children are already on the programme or are in year 6 and will be joining the programme in September.

This will be an opportunity to see the techniques used and earn how this work can be reinforced at home. The demonstration will be held in the Senior school support for learning department. If you would like to attend, please call Frances Claydon or email on francesclaydon@sibfordschool.co.uk

County Swimming Success for Sibford Pupils Two of our swimmers Lara and Emma had a fantastic ASA Oxfordshire and North Bucks Counties last month.

Lara qualified for 20 events, achieved 16 PBs, won 12 medals and a trophy in the Junior Championships for 50 Backstroke. She was also in City of Oxford's winning relay team for the Open Championship. Emma qualified for 10 events and won medals in 8 of these including being placed 3rdin the 400 Freestyle and 100 Backstroke and 4th in 200 Freestyle. A fantastic achievement by both – we are very proud of you.

Double Success for our Equestrian Teams Last weekend several of our riders competed in the St Hughes School Equestrian Games Inter School Show Jumping at Wickstead Horseplay. We had Individuals and teams competing in various classes throughout the weekend and I am delighted that both our 90cm and 100cm teams won their class bringing home the silverware. Individual success also included Henry who came 5th in the 90cm class and India who came 6th in the 100cm class. Well done to all involved; we are looking forward to seeing you compete at the Sibford SEG ODE at Swalcliffe next month.

Senior hockey players take a trip to Holland Year 12 students, Shae Wallis and Phoebe Edmonds have written an account of the recent senior girls hockey trip to Holland that took place in February. ‘On the 15th of February a squad of 16 senior players from years 10-13 arrived in Eindhoven, Holland, to kick off the 2019 Hockey Tour. Entering the Hotel, we were delighted to find it had a slide, ball pit, indoor hockey and tennis courts, gym, bowling

alley, pool and much more – all of which we enjoyed immensely in our free time.

Over the course of the following 2 days our team was coached by players from the professional Oranje-Rood hockey teams for a total of 6 intense hours, in which all of us improved our techniques, learned new training drills, while our team dynamics improved hugely. At the end of both days we had fixtures against 2 Oranje-Rood club teams, in which both teams were closely matched for ball possession and skill level.

On the final day we went to Efteling, a fantasy-themed amusement park in Kaatsheuvel. It was great fun, and a chance to make friends with new people whilst enjoying the rides (as long as you didn’t go on straight after lunch like someone…). Lunch was a mixture of different foods traditional to Holland, which we loved to try and enjoy. There was also a great pancake restaurant in the heart of the park, which many of us appreciated a visit to. As well as large rides outside, a fond favourite was the boat tour inside a fairy tale world, and the pitch black rollercoaster underground. In addition, there were also some quieter rides, such as the Carousel, for those less fond of the larger ones.’

Netball fixtures

Match Reports

Last week the U15A team had a tough game against a well drilled Tudor Hall side. The play was even in centre court but sadly we struggled to convert our opportunities in attack. Fantastic defensive play by Eleanor. Rosie took player of the match

The U15B side again had a difficult game; with a depleted team we struggled to keep up with the standard of play. Izzy B showed outstanding skill in two positions and Grace shot well under pressure. Izzy B took player of the match.

The 1st team played their first game against the Cotswold Team - Freya D reports: The match started with a strong attacking quarter, with some brilliant work in the centre court from the attacking side of the team; delivering through to the shooters Scarlet, Hannah and Shae, who made some amazing goals. This continued as we were able to score 4 consistent goals in the first two quarters. Both the defence and attack worked to deliver a confident ball and many interceptions were made by Eloise, Phoebe, Esther and Freya. This was reflected in the score as the other team began to lose confidence, meaning that Sibford were ahead for the last two quarters.

The team kept up a strong fight for the ball throughout, in the bright sunshine. A welldeserved win. Player of the Match - Esther Rippon.

This week the U13A Netball team played in their District Tournament. The girls worked tirelessly in a tough top pool of schools. A slow start in the first match but the girls grew into the games. Some excellent defending from Rosie and Tilly L throughout and Georgie worked tirelessly in a number of positions and was a great leader throughout. The Sibford girls finishing 4th out of 10 school. Player of the Tournament - Georgie.

Boys Football

The first team travelled to BGN in tough conditions and played on a pitch not suited to good passing football. Sibford battled hard and it was pleasing to see the number of players willing to throw themselves in the way of the ball to prevent the opposition scoring. This battling spirit was nearly rewarded when George nearly gave us the lead but was denied by an outstanding save. Unfortunately, this battling spirit was not rewarded as BGN scored late to take the game. Man of the match goes to Ben who was challenged to take of a leadership role in defensive, which he did very well and his quality performance to go with it was a pleasure to watch.

The combined 9 and 10 A Team produced a battling display away at BGN to record a 4-3 victory. Mila pulled the strings in midfield and created numerous chances for Tom R and Finn. Were it not for an impressive display from the opposition keeper the score line

have been far more one-sided. Despite their keeper’s best efforts Will scored a lovely long range effort and almost had a second late in the second half. However, for his two timely goals, Amir took the man of the match award. Having said this, it was not a day for free flowing football. The back four, led by Billy, were resolute in defence, and with the exception of some uncharacteristic mistakes had a fairly comfortable afternoon.