Varndean Eye Easter 2012

Varndean Eye www.varndean.co.uk Spring 2012

Varndean School Balfour Rd, Brighton BN1 6NP Editorial and advertising contact: Vanessa Charles vanessacharles@varndean.co.uk

Inside this issue: Page 2

King Lear

Page 5

Baroness Prosser visits Varndean

Page 6

Dance Festival

Page 9

CHOCS

Olympic Diver visits Parkour Club On Tuesday 28th February Varndean PE Department had the pleasure of the company of Olympic diver Peter Waterfield.

Page 10-11 Sports round-up

His specialism is the 10 metre platform event, both as solo competitor and in the synchronised event. For the 2011 season, Waterfield was

venue in London.

Peter has also won an Olympic Silver medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics and commonwealth Gold and Silver medals. Peter is confident of qualifying for the London Olympics in August and in doing so will be participating in his fourth Olympics, a remarkable achievement!

Peter was at the school as part of the Sky Sports Living for Sport project.

This is a project that promotes all types of sport in schools. Schools are asked to submit a sports project that will help students develop.

Varndean submitted the

Follow us on twitter at www.varndean.co.uk or www.twitter.com/Varndean School Regular school updates and information First Day of Summer Term Monday 16th April Staff LearningPM(Early Closure)

Thurs 19th April Varndean Links Parents Group Meeting in the Libray ALL WELCOME Thurs 3rd May 7.30pm Bank Holiday Monday 7th May

paired in the synchronised competitions with 2008 Beijing Olympic competitor Tom Daley .

Peter has just won a Bronze Medal in the 10m event in the World Championships at the new Olympic Swimming

Parkour project - a free running gymnastics sports club held at lunch time.

The Parkour club will have a demonstration after Easter to raise money for charity.

Peter spent time meeting and taking questions from

Peter meets students

the students about his career, how he got into sport and the personal benefits sport has given him. He also brought along his medals for the students to see and hold.

Students were particularly interested in his Olympic silver medal.

Peter also talked to the group about the 10m synchronised event with Tom Daley.

We are hoping to organise a second visit where he will lead students in a practical session; the group is very excited about this!

Paul Taylor, PE Teacher

Drama Focus King Lear For our Y11 play Mr Taljaard chose the challenging King Lear - the cheery plot of lies, murder and betrayal. I, along with many other cast members, 'um'ed and 'ah'ed about whether or not to participate in the play. Although most of us do it every year, the thought of mocks and real GCSEs, seemed overwhelming. We unfortunately lost a few members of the cast to the stress. However, thankfully, some amazing people stepped in at last minute, frantically learning lines and made the characters their own. A huge thanks to Sophie Scott, Lauren Kane-Simmons, Indigo Edwards, Luke Clapham and Charlie Suff - the play couldn't have happened without them.

Mr Taljaard always gave us cake and squash to make deciphering Shakespearean language more appealing. It was a struggle to understand our lines but I think we all learnt a lot from it. The complex plot took a few weeks to figure out but it was really satisfying and a welcome challenge to play such complicated characters. The challenging roles of two-faced, murderous, resentful villains really gave us something to sink our teeth into. It was very enjoyable.

I would recommend taking part in school plays: it is very rewarding and builds a community spirit amongst the cast. Despite the stress of juggling King Lear, mocks, Les Miserables, school concerts and GCSEs I would do the play again.

I am hugely appreciative to Mr Taljaard who puts so much time and effort into the plays. I hope when I go the college I will have such a dedicated and inspiring drama teacher.

Lydia Johnston, Y11 Student Hamlet in an hour was one thing.

But King Lear? Dual plots; the ultimate representation of madness and the disintegration of Humanity?

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Ned Wall Y11 plays King Lear Seriously Ed, what were you thinking?

They’re fifteen…

The play opened with Ned Wall's Lear striding around a large map of Britain, deciding to divide his Kingdom in three between his three daughters according to how much they love him.

The first two, Goneril and Regan, played by Abbie Standing and Olivia Sewell, fool him with lies and reap rewards with land, orchards and vineyards. The youngest, Cordelia, played with strength, yet with a gentle innocence by Ruby Phelan, expresses her love truly ‘according to my bond, no more, no less’. Lear misinterprets her honest expression of love for betrayal and blindly casts her out into the wilderness. Events then spiral out of control through war, madness and hideous violence.

The cast was impressive. Lydia Johnson's Edmund was presented as a wiley, slimy, two faced plotter. She ensnared the audience into his evil and manipulative plotting. Ned Wall‘s arrogant and bewildered Lear suggested an old head on young shoulders. His descent into madness and subsequent self discovery was handled with power and humility. As Goneril and Regan turned against him and reduced him from King to nothing, he found solace in a wacky and chipper Edgar (Ellen Wood) who offered much welcomed light relief, and Kent (Luke Clapham), playing the role of Lear’s Fool and guide in disguise, who threw his lines out hilariously as though they just didn’t matter.

There were the usual left-field directorial techniques you’d expect from Taljaard and McEvoy.

Ellen’s Edgar disguises himself as Poor-Tom by simply donning rabbit’s ears. When Gloucester (Seren John Wood), Lear’s loyal friend, has his eyes gouged out by the sinister Cornwall (played seamlessly by Jack Grant), because of his loyalty to Lear, they are represented by welder’s goggles, taking a much needed edge off the horror. .

The stand out scene was Lear's reunion with the forgiving and ever-loving Cordelia. Wall's Lear awoke from a healing sleep that "balmed" his "broken sinews" and dreamily tells his daughter, "Come, let's away to prison;/ We two alone will sing like birds I' th' cage." He delivered it with a delicacy and a tenderness not seen in his Lear until that point which was wonderful to see in an actor so young.

However, it was Standing and Sewell's combined performance of the evil daughters, Goneril and Regan, that really stole the show.

They played their vile and traitorous roles brilliantly and with a disconcerting ease. I really enjoyed the way they were completely absorbed into their complex roles; for that hour, they had me totally gripped.

Paul Offord, English Teacher

74% Campaign. The final push - will you be one of the 74%?

Our Year 11 students are very ambitious. Recent college applications are higher than they have ever been and an amazing 176 students (74% of all Y11s) in the year group are aiming for a Level 3 course (equivalent of ‘A’ levels) next year.

To get onto (and succeed on) these courses, each student will need at least five GCSEs at C grade or better, preferably including English and Maths. 176 students achieving at this level is far in excess of the targets set for the school so it won’t be easy but we want to do all we can to help them be one of this special group, one of the 176 (74%).

The 74% campaign (launched after February half-term) is about inspiring and helping students develop the specific skills and knowledge they will need to succeed.

All students should attend booster

classes, revise thoroughly and follow the specific advice from their teachers.

With the right support at home and at school we look forward to all students achieving their ambitions.

Gareth Hughes, Deputy Headteacher

Eco Club News

Eco-Club is currently getting very busy working towards achieving Eco-School Green Flag Status.

We are hoping to develop a wildflower meadow and plant a mini-orchard at the back of the school in partnership with Brighton Permaculture Trust.

This will increase the amount of biodiversity that we have at present in the school grounds.

Y11 Reward Scheme Eco-Club is also working towards organising a green-themed nonuniform day. Proceeds from this will go towards developing a new pond that will be used as a teaching resource by the school and broader community.

Tamsyn East, Science Teacher & Eco-Club Co-ordinator

Stephen Ford,Y7, feeding chickens

A fortnightly raffle style reward scheme has been launched for Year 11 for students who have done exceptional work or made extra effort towards their GCSEs. Every fortnight there is a draw in the year 11 assembly and the student chosen will receive a reward for them and a friend.

So far the winners have been: Lizzie Jones, Grace McDonnell and Josh Scott. Well done Year 11 and keep working hard.

Jo Neville, Y11 Co-ordinator

Music Department upcoming events Thurs 26th April – Year 11 Creative Task Exam Sat 5th May – Childrens’ Parade (Brighton Festival) Thurs 10th May – Upper School Concert Thurs 5th July – Lower School Concert Varndean Eye Spring 2012 3

Headspace Dear Varndean Families, I was sitting on the school stage last night during the dress rehearsal for Les Misérables. As well as negotiating my way through the score, not having played the French Horn since the last night of South Pacific last year, – I was conscious that the view from the stage of the hall, where around 130 students were performing, was a very particular one of our school. The audience will be seated ‘in the round’ so that the performers will be seen from all angles. It will not be possible for anyone to hide behind anyone else.

This more public view has meant that the performers have had to work extra hard and to a higher standard this year.

Many of you will have seen the show by the time you read this article and will have witnessed what I describe. As with the vast majority of our students, you will have seen self-assured, confident young people pushing themselves to take the risk of performing very difficult material under close public scrutiny. The work that the staff do with your children, not only in the arts, is about enabling them

to lead for themselves with a healthy dose of ‘push’ in the mix. We don’t take no for an answer. Varndean staff are full of belief in your children; they have a ‘can do’ and ‘will do’ attitude.

I’m in the privileged position of seeing this in action on a daily basis, in and out of lessons.

This is one of the most industrious terms. We work from September through to the February half term – we call it the long winter term. In this way we drive progress over the Christmas break. The second half of the spring term is where we check where we are and adjust what we do, to respond to the needs of our students. This is where we are at the moment - a bit like teachers spring cleaning. This is also the time when our Y11s are making their final preparations for their exams. Many of them are working flat out and taking full advantage of the additional support from their teachers. I know that you’ll be doing your bit at home, keeping them focussed and healthy. It can be a stressful time for all, so I encourage you to contact the school if you need information or support in this final phase of Y11. The students are moving into a much more uncertain world than you or I experienced and I hope that Varndean has given them the tools, the

New cyberbullying advice website

William Deighan

Headteacher

Varndean School Challenge and Pride A warm welcome to Ms Carter our new Deputy Headteacher (Teaching & Learning) who joined us this half term from The Addington School in Croyden. She will be predominantly focussing on classroom practice.

She was the successful candidate from a field of over 80 applicants. We are expecting great things from Ms Carter congratulations on your appointment and no pressure.

Krissi Carter

Student work will include paintings, collages, mixed media and ceramics alongside current GCSE work. A Textiles Fashion Show will also showcase student designed clothes and accessories.

Musical entertainment will also feature, and refreshments will be available.

With the problem becoming worse due to the advancement of social media we are offering vital advice, support and guidance to anybody affected by cyberbullying.

Please join us between 11am-4pm on Saturday, 26th May 2012

OPEN HOUSE INVITATION Varndean School, Balfour Road, Brighton BN1 6NP Telephone: 01273 561 281 www.varndean.co.uk

Varndean Eye Spring 2012 4

The most immediate challenge is the ensuing revolution of the opening night of Les Misérables where I have no doubt our students will meet the challenge head on with their innate grace and pride.

On Saturday 26th May, Varndean School will take part in Brighton Festival’s programme of Artists Open Houses.

The Cybersmile Foundation is the only charity in the UK dedicated to helping the victims of cyberbullying and hate campaigns and are working closely with Sussex Police and Brighton & Hove City Council to play an active role in reducing the number of incidents of cyberbullying across the City.

Our advice is available from our website www.cybersmile.org which is available from the 2nd April 2012.

We are also planning to provide a free counselling service and would welcome all enquiries to info@cybersmile.org regarding this.

resilience and the confidence to step out into the next phase of their lives, to enable them to cope with the challenges they will face.

Baroness Prosser speaks to Y10 Philosophy and Applied Ethics Students At the beginning of the spring term we were given to the opportunity to lightly interrogate Baroness Prosser for around 60 minutes. Baroness Prosser is a Labour peer who sits in the House of Lords, she was given her peerage by Tony Blair. She has worked for the Trade Unions and is very involved in Human Rights and equality projects in this country.

She began by telling us how the House of Lords works and why she considered the House of Lords to be an important part of the British political system even though it is not democratically elected. She also told us some stories about her experiences as a member of the House of Lords.

We asked a range of questions and the Baroness was very kind to give her views on each topic that we broached. Apparently she said that

she felt like she had been ‘run over by a bus’ due to the variety and probing nature of our questions. We found it a very interesting session and that the Baroness was very different to what we had expected.

Below is a list of the questions/

topics that the Baroness responded to: The legality of the war in Iraq; the state of Britain’s economy; the financial issues that students face concerning University; the role of America in Britain’s recession; homelessness in the UK; the killing of Bin Laden and Gaddafi; euthanasia and abortion; the death penalty;

women’s rights; the recent strikes; Issues within the media; UK riots; change of Korean leadership; role of religion in the House of Lords; views on the causes and ‘solutions’ of the recession; the EU bail out of Greece and the UK’s role in this and Retirement age/ rights.

Overall this experience was incredibly eye opening and interesting to hear the voice and opinion of someone of great significance within politics. We would like to thank everyone involved and those who allowed this to happen and of course a special thanks to Baroness Prosser herself.

Teddy Cheung & Conrad Hartnoll, Y10 students

Year 6 Art Competition

Did you know that...?

primary schools to launch an art In September a group of our Y11 Student Leaders and some Y8 gifted competition around the theme of art students visited a number of local ‘Growing-up’. We had a fantastic response with an amazing array of work being submitted. The judges chose one winner, 3 runners up and 8 children to be highly commended.

The winner was Feja Smith (Balfour Primary School). The runners up were Mona Alwakel (Queens Park Primary), Louis Freja Smith - Balfour Primary Burdick (Balfour Primary) and Eshe & Marnie (St Luke’s Primary).

One of our afternoon cleaners Jodi Mechen, has had a novel published called ‘The Cure’. It's the tale of a young woman who is fighting demons both inside and out as she comes to terms with a monstrous revelation in her own past and the revelation of a monstrous being in her present - and her own unique role in both events. It should appeal to those who love the Twilight and Underworld sagas and can be found at both Waterstone’s and Amazon.

All of the work submitted will be displayed as part of the Varndean Open House on 26th May 2012.

Judith Ford, Assistant

Eshe & Marnie - St Luke’s

Headteacher

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Talking to your teens.....

February 22nd saw staff and parents from both Varndean and Dorothy Stringer Schools joining together to discuss talking to teens about sex and relationships.

Here are a few of the parents’ comments about the event: • Thought provoking! I learnt a few facts I didn’t know before.

Thanks!

• Great presentations – made me re-examine issues, very informative and fun too!

• Some good ideas around how to discuss issues etc...

• Thank you, a good start.

Realised am very ignorant!

• Thought provoking, reassuring and very helpful.

• Very informative, opened my eyes to areas I wasn’t aware of.

Thanks to everyone that attended.

Anyone interested in future ‘Talking to your Teens’ events please contact Alison Browning , Assistant Headteacher alisonbrowning@varndean.co.uk

The Chelsea Dance Festival Students from Years 7 & 8 competed at the Chelsea dance festival in Eastbourne at the end of January. The students spent the day watching dance pieces from around the region as well as performing their own piece in front of hundreds of people. The students created a piece which was inspired by 9/11.

Their performance was very moving and the hard work put in during rehearsals certainly paid off. They represented Varndean extremely

Student Intervention Groups

Y7 & Y8 students performing

well and I was very proud of all of them.

Kirsty Powell, Dance Teacher

Are you interested in Disability & Equality?

2O12 has seen the D37 Inclusion team getting their popular and successful Student Intervention Groups up and running again after the Christmas break. The groups are lead by learning mentors who invite carefully selected groups of students to participate in six week courses (that’s one 5O minute lesson a week) focussing on various aspects of their learning such as improving their attendance, coping with stressful situations, managing their emotions or communicating effectively.

The assembled students get involved in activities that encourage future fulfilment and promote positive progress.

Students can be recommended for the groups by teachers, form tutors and student managers and their participation is permitted by parents and carers.

Brian Milburn, Learning Mentor

We run a very enjoyable, interesting & useful group: the Disability Equality Focus Group at Varndean. It’s made up of staff, students and parents who are interested in raising the profile of issues that particularly affect anyone with any disability who comes to, or is associated with, Varndean School.

We meet two times a year in school and have very insightful meetings. The minutes are presented to the governors and also inform a staff lead group called the Single Equalities Group. They draw up an action plan which is informed by other groups as well as ours.

Having 'lost' some parents we are now hoping to recruit more! The next meeting is Wednesday, 2nd May 2012 at 3.15 - 4.30pm in D4; refreshments including chocolate biscuits provided!

To join or for info contact: Sally Newman, Assistant SENCO sallynewman@varndean.co.uk

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Community Partner Seventeen years ago Stagecoach, then Brighton Theatre Arts School, found a home at Varndean School.

When I joined in 2005 I found it had a long-established ethos of wholesome, creative and artistic training. As the singing teacher I taught many Varndean students and it was a joy to see those young people in action in Varndean’s concerts, plays and musicals; I felt immensely proud.

Since 2007 I have been the Principal of Stagecoach Brighton overseeing teaching in all three discipline: Dance, Singing and

Drama. I am so grateful that my predecessors chose Varndean to house Stagecoach all those years ago. We have benefited from the Performing Arts department whether in swapping props and sharing production ideas with Ed Taljaard or absorbing musical inspiration and influences coming from Robbie Mitchell and his team (I’m constantly encouraging my students to join the school choirs and audition for the musicals!). Students coming to both Stagecoach and Varndean benefit from a shared experience of Performing Arts resource and training.

Let me highlight Tom Sissons, Y11, who is also an ex-student of Stagecoach. He is a gifted actor who, as well as writing a sitespecific show for us, went on to gain an award in an international playwriting competition through Varndean. He has now been cast as Javert in this year’s ‘Les Miserables’ see the show and judge for yourself how he has developed as a performer. Having the precious opportunity to unleash and nurture such talent is why Performing Arts teachers do what they do and I’m sure the dedicated staff at Varndean would second me on this one.

Visit our website at www.stagecoach.co.uk/brighton & come & try our two week taster!

Red Gray, Stagecoach

Approaches to Learning - Attitudes to Life Building on our focus this year on pride and challenge, we have recently launched an initiative to raise the profile of other shared core values such as always being polite and courteous, respectful, cooperative, positive and prepared.

The initiative aims to emphasise the attitudes and skills which lead to success in school, in the workplace and in life in general.

These values have been discussed during form time and posters have been put up around the school.

Brian Somers, Head of MFL

Varndean Eye Spring 2012 7

Student Cabinet 2012 As a newly elected member of Student Cabinet 2012, I would like to say thanks to anyone who voted for me, or my fellow candidates. The campaign was a short one, but tonnes of time and effort went into this year’s election, both from students and Ms East. This year I know that the student cabinet will endeavour to make a lasting change to Varndean. Some of the issues that we want to focus on evaluating and improving are:

Student Cabinet 2012

• Eco schools • Bullying • School concerns and student voice • Local and national student voice You can find out about the Student Cabinet on flipper, so have a look at what we’ve been up to online.

Orla Byrne, Y9 Student

Varndean School is now a Fringe Venue Master Illusionists Slightly Unusual have represented the UK three times in the European Magical Championships and have just won another award and were the best illusion act at the 2012 UK National Championships. They are presenting their award winning

show at the Brighton Fringe Festival 2012. The show combines high tech custom designed illusions, hilarious comedy and stunning magical moments you will remember forever.

We are offering all students at Varndean School 50% off the price of tickets for themselves and their friends and family. In addition all profits from our Brighton Fringe run will be going to charity.

This year we are supporting two charities 'Help For Hero's' and Varndean School CHOCs charity 'Afrikids'. If you want to support two brilliant charities and see Britain's Biggest and Best Comedy Illusion Show then there has never been a better time.

The dates for the shows at Varndean are 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 17th, 18th and 19th May.

Varndean Eye Spring 2012 8

Year 5 Master Classes Over the last few weeks we have welcomed Year 5 children from all over the city. Over 50 children have taken part in ‘Master Classes’ at Varndean School which have included: bread making, trampolining, Drama, Maths for Fun and English workshops based on Matilda the Musical.

We have had amazing feedback and the workshops have been a fantastic experience for both Varndean teachers teaching primary age children and the Varndean students who have been able to lead on some of the sessions.

Thanks to all those that have been involved; we hope to run some similar courses again next year.

Vanessa Charles, Marketing & Events

Children Helping Other Children Smile (CHOCS) CHOCS 2011 CHOCS 2012 Well done to the students involved in CHOCS 2011. They raised £4,772 for SHIKA. It is good to see so many of the students transferring the skills they have gained working in the fundraising team to new roles on the student cabinet or as prefects.

CHOCS charter

35 students have now completed their first training sessions for CHOCS 2012. They have chosen AfriKids as their charity, their reasons for this choice are outlined below:

“One of the main reasons we chose to support Afrikids, and Mama Laadi's foster home, was because they aim to be sustainable by 2018.

The foster home does not want to have to depend on the AfriKids charity - they want to be able to provide for themselves. We thought this was a very impressive and admirable thing to aspire to.

We also chose to support the foster home because we think Mama Laadi is an amazing person and CHOCS charter 2012 has a great deal of positive impact on these children's lives. She is a local hero in Ghana, and we hope we can help her achieve her goal of sustainability.”

The team have started their fund raising with a book character event for year 7. More detail in the next edition.

Alison Browning, Assistant Headteacher

Duke of Edinburgh Update

Our students need you!!!

Authors visit Varndean

Nearly one tenth of the students at Varndean School are currently involved in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.

Most of these are Y9 students working on their bronze award. They have completed a hectic day of training, started their volunteering, are working on a skill and are in the process of completing a physical activity.

We want Y10 students to talk to adults from lots of different areas of employment on June 26th as part of Enrichment Week.

CHOCS 2011 Assembly

We look forward to filling the stage at Hove Town Hall at the award ceremony in November again.

Alison Browning, Assistant Headteacher

Would you be prepared to give up a few hours on June 26th from 11am or 1.30pm?

Please email Alison Browning, Assistant Headteacher if you think you could help out. alisonbrowning@varndean.co.uk

Promoting Wyrme Weald, their new series of books aimed at the slightly older reader, Chris Riddell demonstrated illustration techniques whilst Paul Stewart talked about the inspiration behind their books. In addition, they were kind enough to donate signed copies of their books to Varndean School Library.

SpSports round-upNews Football Y10’s Progress to Brighton School’s Semi-Final The Year 10 football team have made it through to the knockout stages of the regional competition after successfully winning their group. The League stage saw Varndean placed in the same group as Patcham and, arch-rivals, Dorothy Stringer. Varndean maintained a 100% record in the competition by defeating Stringer at home 4-1 to add to victories over Patcham, 4-2 and 4-1 respectively, and Stringer, away, 3-2.

Congratulations to all players involved, in particular the likes of Lukas Franzen-Jones, Sid Carey and Harry Eyre for their remarkably consistent effort and levels of performance.

David Altendorff, PE Teacher

Netball Year 8 Blatchington Mill The Year 8 A and B teams played away against Blatchington Mill in February. The B team played first and came up against some strong shooters. Unfortunately they lost with a final score of 5-14. Player of the Match was Isobel Jupp who scored some fantastic goals from the top of the semi circle.

Y10 Football Team At the start of the A team game we thought it would be a repeat of the previous game as Blatchington Mill scored 2 goals within the first 2 minutes. The girls fought back with some fantastic interceptions in the centre court and finished the match with a draw 11-11. Players of the Match were Issy Ricca-McCarthy and Romy Beer.

Tournament The year 8 teams competed in a tournament at Patcham High school at the end of February and played against 11 other teams.

Both teams showed fantastic team spirit throughout all their games.

The A team finished in 3rd place overall and the B team finished in 7th place.

Athletics Team

Kirsty Powell, PE Teacher

Year 7 Year 7 girls are performing well in the league and continue to be very committed to the club. The C team had a closely fought match against Dorothy Varndean Eye Spring 2012 10

Stringer but unfortunately lost 1-2.

The B team had a battle with Tideway, with the end result being 33.

Year 7 have also had their Brighton, Hove and Portslade Schools tournament where 18 teams were participating. The A team finished a fantastic 4th and the B team 7th.

Well done to all the girls who have been an absolute pleasure all season.

Athletics Varndean took two teams to the Brighton Schools Indoor Athletics event in February. The boys participated well giving the new events a go and a special mention must go to Gibril Kamara who did 2 races back to back!!

For the girls, effort and motivation were fantastic and they were definitely very determined. Again most of the events were new, but this didn’t stop the girls winning their section and hopefully progressing to the next round. Pictured with their winners’ medals are; Poppy Harrison, Molly Burston, Chloe Watson, Fauve Penketh, Yeshe Bekele, Georgia Bailey and Alice Chapman.

Cross Country Varndean had a good turn out at the Brighton schools cross country event in January. Some boys took part for their GCSE PE assessment with good performances from Harry Brown and Sam SweetmanLefevre.

Longhill. Longhill beat them heavily earlier in the season which is a mark of the progress they have made. In the semis, they went down by 3 tries to 1 but were competitive right up to the final whistle. All players should be congratulated for their efforts, and special mention to Lucas Pearse Watkins, Jaser Arar, Alfie Flavin, Ewan Hopkins, Tom Rusbridge and Arthur Hutchings.

It was the girls who shone on the day with a fantastic 4th place by Chloe Watson in Year 7, followed by a great run from Alice Chapman.

The athlete of the day has to be Esther Lutz-Davies who won the Year 10/11 race. Esther went on to represent Varndean at the Sussex Schools event and finished a fantastic 6th, earning her a place in the Sussex Schools team who are taking part in the National Schools Final in Somerset on the 17th March. Many congratulations Esther!

Year 8 Rugby Team in county 10-aside Finals

The Year 7 & 8 cross country athletes visited Christ’s Hospital on March 15th 2012.

Paul Taylor, PE Department

There were some excellent performances in races containing approximately 160 athletes! Well done to Finn Bland and Taylor O’Brien who finished just outside the top 20.

The top 20 go on to represent Sussex in an inter-county fixture.

Chloe Watson, Y7, ran superbly to finish 11th to achieve a Sussex Vest.

Well done to all the runners who took part.

Leanne Buxton, PE Teacher

Rugby Year 7 Rugby Team get to Finals!

The Y7 rugby team took part in the annual Brighton & Hove 12-a-side tournament at Brighton Rugby Club on Saturday 3rd March. In their group matches they were unbeaten with wins against Cardinal Newman and Patcham and a draw against

The Y8 Rugby team have qualified for the Sussex Schools under-13 ten-aside finals. They came second in the Brighton & Hove Tournament earlier in the year and hence earned the right to represent the area in the county finals. The team is in good form with wins over Dorothy Stringer and Cardinal Newman recently. The finals will take place on Monday 19th March at Brighton Rugby Club starting at 1.00pm.

Varndean Cup On Thursday 1st March 2012 Varndean School held a Primary school girls 7 a side football tournament on the astro turf involving local feeder schools. All matches were played with a competitive spirit with Stanford beating Patcham 2-0 in their first game and Balfour beating Moulscoombe 4-0. Moulscoombe, Patcham and Carden continued battling on with an excellent attitude and produced some well thought out matches. As the fixtures came to an end Balfour outperformed the others winning on goal difference.

Varndean students: Dan Holland, Liam McMillen, Jerome Cox-Strong, Lewis Chapman and Carima Mans were the designated sports leaders and officials on the day and did an excellent job – well done.

A brilliant effort was made by all those involved.

Bradley Pellett, Paul Taylor and Stuart Tuck, PE Department

Varndean Sports Personality Spring 2012 Name: Lauren Kelly Age: 12 Sport: Swimming Age you started training: 10 Sporting Highlights: Currently ranked number 1 for her age in the Region for 200m Breaststroke March 2012 County Championships – Golds in 50m, 100m, 200m Breaststroke Top 5 finishes in 400m Front Crawl and 50m Butterfly Training Commitments: 1 morning a week 6.15 – 7.20am Every evening for 1 ½ to 2 ½ hours including 30 minutes land training (strength work) on Monday and Tuesday evenings.

Long Term Plans: To compete in the Olympics Next Sports Competition: More County championship events at the end of March Hero: Michael Phelps Favourite Food: Pasta and Rice Favourite TV programme: What’s TV! School/Training Balance: I don’t find it too difficult at the moment, but occasionally homework can build up.

Lauren Kelly

School Calendar This calendar will be updated in every newsletter and every week on the website: www.varndean.co.uk.

INSET days are now known as Staff Learning Days, on these days the school will be closed to students. For calendar updates please check the website.

April 2012

Mon 16th April First day of Summer Term Thurs 19th April Staff Learning PM & Twilight (early closure)

Half Term Monday 4th June – Friday 8th June Thursday 14th June Staff Learning PM (early closure) Friday 15th June Staff Learning Day Monday 25th – Friday 29th June Enrichment Week

July 2012

May 2012 Thursday 3rd May – Varndean Links Meeting, 7:15pm in the Library Saturday 5th May Childrens Parade (Brighton Festival) Bank Holiday Monday 7th May Thursday 10th May - Upper School Concert Saturday 26th May Open House/Surrenden Campus Arts Led Education

June 2012 Friday 1st June Year 11 Group photograph & form photos.

Year 7 form group photos.

Thursday 5th July - Lower School Concert Monday 9th July New Intake Parents Workshop/Meeting Tuesday 10th July New Intake Day Wednesday 11th/Thursday 12th July Y7/8 Drama Production Friday 13th July Sports Day Monday 16th/Tuesday 17th July Y9 Drama Production Tuesday 17th July Summer Fund Raising Day Thursday 19th July Celebration of Achievement Thursday 19th July Last day of Summer Term

History Focus - Varndean Must Advertise Have you ever been fascinated by the adverts in old street photographs and newspapers?

Which products and shops have survived, which are fond memories and which have disappeared altogether?

The ‘Varndean Chronicle’, published between 1948 and 1987, provides this on a local scale. It would be interesting to know why there were no adverts before 1948, although the Chronicle started in 1924. Most likely, the hard post-war economic times forced a search for extra money.

The 1949 Chronicle was much shorter than usual and printed on poor quality paper. However, once started, adverts remained.

Over the years, 76 firms took space at least once. The most faithful was Horton-Stephens, which then became Cobleys, who advertised from 1948 until 1982 – not surprising as they were the school’s official (and only) outfitters! No one else even came close to matching those 35 years. The nearest rival was Robinson’s Bookshop (19 adverts between 1964 and 1987). Then came Barclays Bank; The Midland Bank and Alpha Coaches (tying with 18 each from 1968 – 1986, 1969 – 1986 and 1965 – 1985 respectively). On 16 we have White and Wilson Grocers (1965 – 1980) and Panora Photographs (1968 – 1983). Wisden’s Sports Suppliers contributed 15 times between 1950 and 1965, closely followed by Beal’s Bookshop with 14 (1959 – 1972). Now only Barclays Bank still exists!

Why did firms advertise? Often there was a school connection. The bookshops supplied textbooks and prizes, whereas Panora took the whole school photos. Westgate Dairies used the slogan ‘school milk suppliers since 4.6 1926’. Some proprietors must have had a child in the school. At this distance, it’s hard to be certain, but it possibly applies

to Ravens Bakery (1969); Gwendoline Page Boutique (1965 – 1966), Eastwoods Nursery (1961 – 70) and, I guess, the Tupperware Agent (1972)!

Financial institutions didn’t advertise at all until 1968, but gradually became more prominent.

Apart from banks already mentioned, Alliance Building Society, Legal & General, NatWest and American Express all took space at one time or another.

Several adverts from the late 60’s onwards concentrated on recruiting Varndean Students to the Services (such as the RAF and WRNS). Most were specifically directed at the advantages females could now enjoy!

Judith Hodson, Archivist

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