The New Wittonian - Spring 2022

Sports News All the results from SJD’s successful season in the North West Colleges League Page 8

The New Wittonian The official newsletter of Sir John Deane’s Sixth Form College

Issue 2, Spring 2022

Successful Oxbridge applicants with Oxbridge co-ordinator Robert Palin and Assistant Principal Christopher Capey

Record Oxbridge offers College celebrates record Oxbridge offers and higher education success, with 90% of students heading off to university in September Students at Sir John Deane’s have secured a record number of offers to study at prestigious Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

40 students were invited for interviews before Christmas with 20 students recently receiving news of their offers.

Robert Palin, senior teacher and Oxbridge coordinator said: “Congratulations to all the students involved in this year’s Oxbridge programme, including all those who were offered an interview. It is an incredible experience and they should be extremely proud of themselves.

“These students have worked really hard and have become an incredibly close community, supporting each other and developing ideas together during our discussion sessions.

“The number of offers is testament to their hard work and commitment and also to the incredible teaching staff across all subjects who have provided specialist mentoring.

“We are really proud of them all and wish them all the best in the coming months.”

Continued on Page 6

News

Pictured from top: The Sir John Deane’s Jazz Collective and singers Lucy Bradburn and Archie Pytches 2

Issue 2, Spring 2022

Jazz Collective return for Evening of Jazz and Soul Talented singers and musicians from Sir John Deane’s Sixth Form College brought the glitz and glamour to the stage for the return of the muchanticipated Evening of Jazz and Soul.

The sparkling event, held at the Macdonald Portal Hotel, Golf and Spa in Tarporley, on Thursday 17th February, saw the college’s 33-strong Jazz Collective, directed by Liam Murray, perform a stunning range of classics from the likes of Frank Sinatra, Nina Simone and Sam Cooke.

The audience were treated to old favourites such as Ain’t That a Kick in the Head, My Baby Just Cares for Me and Panic Button as well as more contemporary pieces from Norah Jones and Adele.

The whole event was supported by the college’s talented Tech Crew, with students contributing towards the spectacular sound and lighting.

Liam Murray, Music Teacher and Director of the college’s Jazz Collective, said: “This event showed our talented jazz musicians at their very best. It was wonderful to hear them performing and on such top form, especially having not been able to perform live for so long.

“We’d also like to thank the audience for their incredible support and for their involvement in helping us create a truly special and memorable evening.”

Pictured, anti-clockwise: Director, Liam Murray. Conrad Clenton, Sarah Kefford and Noah Petts Upcoming Events Battle of the Bands Sir John Deane’s Sixth Form College, Theatre Thursday 31st March, 7pm

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News

Careers Opportunities Employers support college’s first careers fair during National Apprenticeships Week The college welcomed more than 30 employers to its first ever Careers Fair to mark National Apprenticeship Week in February.

Representatives from a large range of industries took part in the event and students embraced the opportunity to find out more about career roles and early career pathways such as apprenticeships, graduate schemes and work experience.

and really took advantage of having such great employers and industry representatives join us on campus. Students were engaged, enthusiastic and were an excellent representation of Sir John Deane’s Sixth Form College.

“I would like to thank all those who joined us, and we look forward to planning more events like this in the future.”

Some of the names amongst the exhibitors included Bentley, Morrisons, Eddie Stobart, British Army, Future Elite Sports, Manchester Airport, Storengy, Cheshire Police and Cheshire West and Chester Council.

Danielle Oultram, Careers Advisor at Sir John Deane’s, said: “Students from both year 12 and 13 attended the event 4

Sir John Deane’s alumni Alex Jackson representing Eddie Stobart

Issue 2, Spring 2022

Celebrating Diversity & Inclusion

February was LGBTQ History Month which provided an opportunity to highlight the journey towards equality and those people and movements that have contributed significantly to progress.

This year’s theme was ‘The Arc is Long’, allowing students to explore the idea of social justice and changing attitudes towards LGBTQ people as well as identify important events that have led to increased acceptance.

Throughout February students had access to a gallery on The Street which displayed key events, activism, cultures and art.

Tracy Foy, Deputy for People and Culture at Sir John Deane’s, said: “A very big thank you to Thomas Donaldson, Daniel Griffiths and Rhiannon Flame who worked hard to organise this special month for our staff and students and for the generosity and warmth they have shown in sharing their personal experiences.”

College sees in Chinese New Year Thank you to the college’s wonderful catering staff for playing their part in our calendar of celebrations throughout the year.

To celebrate Chinese New Year, students enjoyed a special menu of traditional Chinese dishes, enhancing their cultural understanding and appreciation of this special event.

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News

Off to Oxbridge!

Congratulations to the class of 2022 who have secured offers to study at Oxbridge and Cambridge universities.

Continued from front page The college has a long tradition of Oxbridge success due to its dedicated Oxbridge readiness programme, which supports students at every step of their application, including practice and preparation for the highly competitive interview process.

Those set for Oxford and Cambridge come from schools across Cheshire, with a number of successful applicants previously attending the college’s partner high schools including The County High School Leftwich, Weaverham High School, Hartford CE High School and Bridgewater High School.

Across the year group, more than 700 students have applied to university (approximately 90% of the cohort), with many continuing to receive their first choice offers over the coming weeks.

2022 Oxbridge Offers Thomas Barnes (The County High School, Leftwich) Biochemistry at Oxford Samuel Beschorner-Birch (Weaverham High School) Chemistry at Oxford Emily Braviner (Sandbach County High School for Girls) Natural Sciences at Cambridge Harrison Cartwright (Weaverham High School) Modern Languages (French and German) at Oxford Claire Cooper (Helsby County High School) Computer Science at Cambridge Robert Foreman (Helsby County High School) Ancient and Modern History at Oxford

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Juliette Gilchrist (Queens Park High School) English Literature at Cambridge Nathan Griffiths (Helsby County High School) English at Oxford Jasmine Hardy (The County High School, Leftwich) Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Cambridge Eliza Harris (West Kirkby Grammar School) Materials Science at Oxford Elliot Hepplewhite-Ford (Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School) Physics at Oxford Emma Higginson (Bishop Bluecoats CE High School) Economics and Management at Oxford Susie Kirsten (Altrincham Grammar School for Girls) Natural Sciences at Cambridge Daniel Marquand (St Nicholas RC High School) Natural Sciences at Cambridge Molly McCall (The County High School Leftwich) Mathematics at Oxford Joshua Piper (Hartford CE High School) History at Oxford Olivia Richardson (Endon High School) Classics and English at Oxford Abbie Strain (The Heath) Psychological and Behavioural Sciences at Cambridge Jacob Williams (Bridgewater High School) Physics at Oxford Martha Wood (Kings School Girls Division) Physical Natural Sciences at Cambridge

Pictured above: Jasmine Hardy, Molly McCall and Thomas Barnes, who all attended The County High School, Leftwich and Samuel Beschorner-Birch, who attended Weaverham High School.

Issue 2, Spring 2022

Apprenticeship Success Trio secure highly competitive degree and higher level apprenticeships

Daisy Bolton, Degree Apprenticeship, Rolls Royce

Katie Wadcock, Degree Aprrenticeship, Voisey & Co

Daisy, a former Knutsford Academy Student and Head Girl at Sir John Deane’s will be starting a fouryear degree apprenticeship at Rolls Royce, in Bristol.

Katie will be joining Voisey & Co accounts in Warrington on a four-year degree apprenticeship. Katie, a former student at The Heath who studies Economics, Maths and History will begin her apprenticeship in July, following her A level examinations.

Daisy, who studies Economics, Maths and Physics, was selected following a highly competitive process which involved, multiple online psychometric tests, personality screening quizzes and a pre-prepared presentation on carbon capture and carbon removal technologies. This was followed by an interview and un-prepared task.

From September, Daisy will spend her first year in different areas of the business, before choosing one area to specialise in. She will also spend time attending lectures at UWE Bristol.

As part of her apprenticeship she will complete her AAT (Association of Accounting Technicians) qualification first before moving on to the ACA (Associate Chartered Accountant) to qualify as a Chartered Accountant, while also having the opportunity to work in a number of different departments across the firm.

Rochelle Cartwright, Higher Level Apprenticeship, Unilever Rochelle, a former Oak Academy student who studies Art, Business and BTEC ICT, has also been successful in securing a higher-level apprenticeship at Unilever, based at the company’s historic Port Sunlight site.

The two-year apprenticeship in data analysis provides industry training for aspiring analysts to master data wrangling and analysis techniques and covers data science, and machine learning. Rochelle stood out from the other applicants following her online application, a situational judgement test and several virtual challenges.

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Sports News Round up of sporting successes for SJD athletes Young athletes at the college have had another busy term competing both regionally and nationally in their fields.

Abigale Gentle was selected for U19s England Volleyball Team and, during the February half term break, travelled to Portugal for a training camp. In athletics, Orla Gregory came 3rd in the Cheshire Schools Cross Country competition while Hermione Mason came 2nd in the Northern indoor Athletics Championships for U20s in 400m.

In swimming, Thomas Kud qualified for Swim England National Winter Championships in not one but four swimming events, while Olivia Molden has qualified for Olympic swimming trials in April, competing in the 200IM and 400IM.

Bradley Hughes secured 3rd place in the Northern qualifiers at intermediate level of scootGB, qualifying for the finals and competing against top qualifiers throughout the UK and Scotland finishing 9th out of 35 competitors.

Gwilym Morgan won the U19’s Cheshire Schools Table Tennis tournament. Gwilym will now progress to the national finals which are due to be held in Wolverhampton in early April. Well done to Liam Aylott and Toby Hatto who also took part and played very well.

Finally, well done to Harrison Krippner who has been selected to represent U18s for the North of England by England Rugby.

North West Colleges League As we approach the end of the sporting season we would like to congratulate all our sports teams on their success in the North West College’s League this year. We wish them the best of luck in their final three fixtures.

Netball 10/11/21 - SJD 48-5 Clitheroe 17/11/21 - Cardinal Newman 66-43 SJD 01/12/21 - Clitheroe 18-52 SJD 08/12/21 - SJD 45-23 Winstanley 15/12/21 - Bury College 47-31 SJD 02/02/22 - SJD 56-36 Bury College 09/02/22 - Priestley College 10-85 SJD 16/02/22 - SJD 50-12 St. John Rigby

Football 1st team 10/11/21 - SJD 5-6 Clitheroe 17/11/21 - Cardinal Newman 3-1 SJD 01/12/21 - Clitheroe 1-1 SJD 08/12/21 - SJD 3-1 Winstanley 15/12/21 - Bury College 0-3 SJD 02/02/22 - SJD Win vs Bury College (Forfeit) 09/02/22 - Priestley College 7-3 SJD 16/02/22 - SJD 4-2 St. John Rigby Football 2nd team 10/11/21 - SJD 5-1 Clitheroe 17/11/21 - Cardinal Newman 3-1 SJD 01/12/21 - Clitheroe 8-2 SJD 08/12/21 - SJD 5-2 Winstanley 15/12/21 - Bury College 1-8 SJD 02/02/22 - SJD 4-2 Bury College 09/02/22 - Priestley College 3-1 SJD 16/02/22 - SJD 1-2 St. John Rigby

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Mixed Hockey 20/10/21 - SJD 2-0 Holy Cross 24/11/21 - SJD 7-0 Holy Cross 01/12/21 - SJD 1-2 Cardinal Newman 19/01/22 - Cardinal Newman 0-5 SJD 09/02/22 - Winstanley 0-5 SJD Men’s Basketball 24/11/21 - SJD 60-68 Aquinas 01/12/21 - Manchester College 83-50 SJD 19/01/22 - Oldham College 44-84 SJD 27/01/22 - Carmel College 93-50 SJD 09/02/22 - Oldham Sixth Form 48-61 SJD

CUP FIXTURES *FOOTBALL* 12/01/22 - Warrington Vale Royal College 1-8 SJD CUP FINAL 31/03/22 - SJD vs Knutsford Academy