HillsNewsMar2018

HillsNews Spring Newsletter

@HillsRoadNews

March 2018

Photography Trip to Venice

SuRie

We are very proud to announce that Hills Road Alumna, Susanna Cork, professionally known as SuRie, will be representing the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest in Portugal on 12th May.

Head of Performing Arts, Richard Fredman, said “It is impossible to think of anyone who is warmer or more supportive of others than Susanna Cork. Just before Christmas, in the middle of her preparations for this thoroughly deserved success, she was still making the time to visit Hills Road to share her skills with the next generation of performers.”

“She has an indomitable energy and a great sense of fun; always encouraging and enthusing others. My favourite memory of her is when she was Musical Director for our college production of Les Misérables.”

“Suspended on a platform two metres above the stage and having just run a hip-hop warm-up for the cast, the band was a pianist down, so Susanna proceeded to play 1st piano whilst conducting the entire Photography students taking photographs in Venice show with her head. I am so delighted that

Photography students visited her extraordinary talent is finally being Venice in March where they experienced recognised.” a fantastic trip including visits to Murano to see the ‘masters’ demonstrating glass blowing and Burano with its brightly coloured buildings.

They went on a gondola ride past Mozart’s house, where they learnt about the history of Venice and the fact that there are

Photo: Guy Levy

Susannah Cork AKA SuRie

NUS Vice President talks to Students

Emily Chapman, Vice President of the National Union of Students, is currently conducting a tour of further education providers affiliated with the NUS in the region.

She came to Hills Road on 12th March to talk to students about what the NUS stands for, current NUS policies and objectives, and the upcoming NUS election.

There was also time for students to ask Emily questions. This was a great talk to attend for students interested in the representation of students and politics.

Photography students take a boat trip in Venice

over 400 bridges throughout the city.

There was also time to study Art at the Peggy Guggenheim Museum and to take night shots at the Rialto and Scalzi Bridges that cross the Grand Canal. The weather was perfect with a mix of rain, sunshine and cloud which ensured that everyone’s project work really benefitted from the trip.

Biology Olympiad

LGBT+ History Month

Congratulations to all the students who took part in the British Biology Olympiad Round One.

We are delighted to announce that there were two Gold medal winners, two Silver medal winners and three Bronze medal winners, as well as several who were Highly Commended and Commended. Well done to all entrants.

Gold medal - Kathryn Bullough, Hannah Lin Silver medal - Becca Testa, Ed Wheeler Bronze medal - Grace Duncan, Ben Allouis, Ben Hamilton Highly Commended - William Tan, Lucy Harlow, Edward Chen, Cass Baumberg, Ghazal Seidi Commended - Charlotte Parker, Kieran Stakem, Alice Lomas

Hannah Lin was then invited to the International Biology Olympiad (IBO) Team Selection Preliminary Round where she took a ninety-minute written paper in early March.

Sixteen finalists will be chosen to go through to the selection final where four students are chosen to represent the UK at the IBO 2018 in Tehran, Iran in July! Good luck Hannah!

There was a college-wide focus on celebrating LGBT History month during February with the aim to add depth and breadth to the work that is done every day within the community and beyond, in the promotion of respect, inclusion and tolerance.

Students received information by email about LGBT History Month and departments also contributed by providing a range of displays, guest speakers, film showings, music to enjoy, activities in class and beyond, and more.

Examples of these included: the LGBT Society selling Pride badges to raise funds for the Kite Trust, Dr Daragh McDermott from Anglia Ruskin University

gave a talk to students on 26th February entitled ‘Homophobia: are there different types of prejudice against LGBT people?’ and there were film showings of Milk and Pride during lunchtimes by the History Film Club.

Congratulations to student Ilona Winn, winner of the library competition to celebrate LGBT+ History month. Ilona correctly identified 10 LGBT+ persons hidden in the library and received a £10 Amazon voucher as a prize.

The College wishes to actively and clearly reinforce LGBT rights, and to send a message to everyone that will make students, staff, visitors, parents and contractors feel equally valued, supported and safe within College through a concerted unified focus.

Ilona Winn won the ‘Guess Who?’ competition

Headstart For Hills Road Students

Hannah Lin

Life of a Satellite

2018 has seen a record year for successful Hills Road student applications for Headstart Engineering courses. The scheme is part of EDT (the Engineering Development Trust), the largest provider of STEM enrichment activities for UK youth.

The courses include specialisms ranging from broad-based engineering to maths, physics, chemistry and computer science.

Hills Road students are to be congratulated on their successful

applications; they can look forward to working in a university environment this summer at universities across the country and gaining valuable insight and experience in their chosen field.

The 18 successful students are Maia Benstead, Joe Bevis, Jed Beynon, Alasdair Catmur, Alexander Day, Josephine Eftimakis, Michael Gilliland, Nick Hall, Lucy Howes, Elizabeth Hughes, Florence Miller, Ruby Page, Amy Shaw, Finn Sutcliffe, Kara Thomas, Charis Wang, Edward Watts and Ethan Willcock.

Tony Jorden talking to students about satellites

Too hot. Too cold. Too much sun.

Too little. Sending messages to people across the world. Staring into space.... just another day in the roundabout world of a satellite’s life.

Airbus space engineer and scientist Tony Jorden came along to the College on 23rd January to talk to students about his work on building satellites.

Lucy Howes, Ruby Page, Alasdair Catmur, Jed Beynon, Josephine Eftimakis, Elizabeth Hughes, Michael Gilliland, Finn Sutcliffe, Joe Bevis

Opportunities To Gain Technology Skills

Progression Week

Talk for students and their parents about Careers in Pharma plus Degree Apprenticeships by Astra Zeneca

Hills Road students Crispin Rose, far left and India Godfrey (second from right) programming Alexa at Amazon

Cambridge LaunchPad is a movement led by Cambridge science and technology companies, investing their talent and resources to inspire young people especially girls and young women - into STEM (Science, Technology and Mathematics) careers.

It is managed by local company Form the Future and works with pupils from ages five to eighteen at schools and colleges across the Cambridge area

In February, Cambridge LaunchPad provided Hills Road students with opportunities to visit local technology

companies and work on interesting projects with them. Students worked at Amazon where they were helping to programme Alexa to become even cleverer, at The Technology Partnership on the design and prototyping of a surgical instrument, and at the Sanger Centre helping to plan the roll-out of a new anti-malaria drug into Africa.

We are hopeful that Hills Road students will do well at the LaunchPad awards event in June, where prizes are awarded for the best projects. But everyone involved is looking forward to the LaunchPad magical mystery tour day in July!

The Careers department hosted the February Progression Week and invited a range of interesting speakers into College to talk to students about possible careers and Progression routes.

There were 58 talks and workshops for students (and parents if they wished) to choose from and these included ‘Interested in Finance/Consulting/Accounting? Ways in’, ‘Interested in Medical Engineering?’, ‘Apprenticeships in all fields’, ‘Allied Health Careers and working in the NHS’, ‘Entrepreneurship’, ‘Careers in Pharma plus Degree Apprenticeships at Astra Zeneca’ and ‘Applying to Higher Education’.

There were sessions on ‘Writing a CV and cover letters’, giving examples of what should be included and ‘Preparations for job interviews, assessment centres and psychometric tests’.

A session for students about writing CVs and Cover Letters

International Women’s Week Hills Road students Sharon Cherian, centre and Julian Ngong, right at The Technology Partnership

Visit to the Institute of Astronomy

Sixteen Year 13 Physics students visited the Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Road with Simon Goorney, a visiting student from Cambridge University who is at Hills Road as part of the Physics In Education option of his 3rd year course at the Cavendish Labarotory.

The students listened to a very

Students at the Institute of Astronomy

interesting lecture by Matt Bothwell on Cosmology today and were treated to a session of Sun spectroscopy by Dr Robin Catchpole.

They then visited some of the older telescopes on site and explanations were given as to how these worked and what they were used to discover.

To mark International Women’s week from 5th - 9th March a programme of activities took place in College as follows: Monday 5th March - The Feminist Society (FemSoc) & LGBTQ+Soc with guests DHIVerse held a talk on inclusive sexual health.

Tuesday 6th - Feminism 101: what is a feminist?

How do we define feminism in modern times?

Wednesday 7th - Get Involved (writing letters to local MPs, marches and more).

Thursday 8th - FemSoc & PolSoc THE DEBATE: This house argues that the word ‘feminism’ should be abolished.

Friday 9th - at lunchtime in the quad with bands, cakes, stalls and local event and charity information.

Maths In Action Conference

RoboCon 2018: Update

Twenty Maths students attended this ever-popular annual conference for sixth form students on 8th March.

Students were entertained by the story of Fermat’s last theorem and of Professor Andrew Wiles, who conquered the challenge, working in secret for seven years; challenged by the question ‘Does Maths really exist, or is it just something people do?’; shown that data scientists are the new rock stars of technology; introduced to some of the mathematical ideas used to understand antibiotic resistance; and led through a humorous exploration of the way statistics is used and misused in the media.

One speaker received rousing applause for celebrating the women mathematicians there on International Women’s Day!

We certainly had a highly informative day showcasing a selection of mathematicians From left to right: Samuel Clarke, Pralish Satyal, Amy Shaw, Tom Humbles, Jack Larkin with a passion for their subject.

Lottie Hanfling, Teacher of Maths required to demonstrate the skills of their A Technical day was hosted at Hills robots within a bespoke-built arena, provided Road Sixth Form College on Saturday 24th by fit-out and design company, COEL. The February ahead of RoboCon 2018, the most exciting robotics competition to take place in robots will have to pick up cubes and place them in designated areas of the arena. A Cambridge. robot that controls a cube will earn their team

RoboCon 2018, which is sponsored one point, two points if the robot puts a cube

by Cheffins, includes eleven teams from in the designated area and five points if the schools across the region, putting their cube is placed in a bucket. The team with the robotics and engineering skills to the test on most points wins! the 14th and 15th April.

Hills Road student, Samuel Clarke

Members from four teams received said “The competition should be an amazing help with their autonomous robots from Hills experience as it’s always great to see the Road students and mentors on the Technical varied and innovative approaches that other Day. Marian Galatanu from the Haydon teams have used with the design and the School said “The Tech day has been a great strategies of their robots to best complete opportunity to get advice from the Hills the required tasks.”

Road robotics team. I feel like we made huge

Teams of between 4 to 8 members progress with the robot.” from the following schools are taking part in

David Massey, one of the Robocon 2018: Comberton Village College, Ely competition organisers, said “The Tech day College, The Perse School, Collyer’s (Sussex), was a great success with each team making Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School (Herts), progress towards their goals.”

Hazelwick School (Crawley), Haydon School

The rules of the much-anticipated competition were released at the launch (Hillingdon), Longsands Academy (St Neots), St Peter’s School (Huntingdon), The John event in November and the teams have been Warner School (Herts) and a team of students busy building their robots in preparation for from Hills Road too! the two-day competition. The teams will be

Popular Calculations Lunchtime Sessions

Head of Business & Economics, Ian Pryer is running a ‘Calculations’ lunchtime session every Monday for students who may need help with calculations.

The students watch a tutor2u topic video at the weekend and at the Monday session with Ian they work through sections of the AQA A level Business Calculation Practice (Business) Book.

Ian said “The sessions are going so well, I’ve got more students choosing to attend the session on Mondays!”

“Who would have thought calculations could be so much fun!”

Hills Road student Lydia Shepherd preparing a circuit board

Geologists Head for the Lake District

The February half term holiday saw 24 Year 12 Geologists heading north for the snowy slopes.. of the Lake District.

For the new Geology A level students were able to study the sedimentary rocks of the Eden Valley, the 400 million year old igneous intrusion of granite at the Pink Shap Granite Quarry as well as the metamorphic rocks north of the study centre at Blencathra. A really hard working group of

History of Art Trip to Paris

students undertook field observations in all weathers and learned lots about the rocks of the Lake District.

Student Isaac Chapman-Drake said “The Geology trip to the Lake District was a fantastic, mostly rain-free excursion into the geological history of Cumbria and the UK as a whole, from Caledonian Orogeny to the present day! All with a tranquil hostel and a full meal to return to after a long day.”

Highlights of this year’s History of Art trip to Paris included visiting The Musée d’Orsay, The Louvre, The Pompidou Centre, and The Orangerie (to see Monet’s famous water lily paintings) alongside the Picasso Museum.

Visiting the Eiffel Tower, climbing the Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame along with the grand Opera house also added excitement to the visit (as well as a few steps!!)

The Paris trip serves the current Year 13 students who study the 19th and early 20th centuries as part of their A2 specification.

Paris provides a wealth of opportunity to study at first-hand many of the works that are looked at on the course.

ARTiculation Geology students in the Lake District

Digital Cartographers

Lottie Reeder giving her presentation at the Sainsbury Centre

Mollie Macginley trying to get a good location fix

During Progress Review week in February Geography students worked in small teams to collect data along two urban transects across Cambridge.

They used the Survey123 app on their phones to geolocate the data. One transect took students through established neighbourhoods to Great Kneighton and the other through Northern wards of Arbury, and Chesterton to Orchard Park.

Some students took advantage of the new ofo bike hub near Hills Road and

cycled between sampling sites to speed up their data collection, while others got a bit cold as it was one of the days of snow flurries. The results were all uploaded to the ARC GIS mapping software and back in college students worked to create maps of the data collected and had the satisfaction of developing lots of new skills as digital cartographers. These skills will be very useful to them as they start their individual projects on both Human and Physical topics.

ARTiculation is a national public speaking competition, which encourages young people to look, think and speak about art. The East of England regional final was held at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts in Norwich on Tuesday 6th February 2018.

Many congratulations to Year 13 student Lottie Reeder who took part in this year’s ARTiculation competition.

She gave a confident presentation on the painting ‘The Bridesmaid’ (1851)

by John Everett Millais, examining the psychology of womanhood in 19th century Victorian England.

Although Lottie wasn’t selected for the national final, her talk was well received with compliments focussing on her academic rigour and sheer panache.

Nine students aged between 16 and 19 from Bedford School, City of Norwich School Sixth Form, Jane Austen College, Kesteven & Sleaford High School, New Hall School, Norwich School, Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form and The Perse School gave a 10 minute presentation about a work of art, architecture or an artefact of their choice in front of an audience and an adjudicator.

Modern Language Talks

The Modern Languages department arranged two events that offered a wider perspective to students and staff on Modern Languages.

On 15th December, around 25 students attended a Linguistics talk by Dr Norma Schifano from the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages, University of Cambridge and Dr Michelle Sheehan, English and Linguistics lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University who gave a fascinating insight into how European Roman languages are structured and how they are currently evolving.

Then on 23rd January, the German Society arranged for Prof. Helen Thompson from the University of Cambridge to give a talk on German politics to an audience of 30 students.

French students visit Cambridge

History Trip to Berlin

History students at Checkpoint Charlie

The annual History trip to Berlin has recently returned. It was a great success despite the somewhat challenging weather conditions. Some 40 students and 4 members of staff went for 5 days of intensive sightseeing in what must be one of the most historic cities in the world.

Highlights of the visit included the Wannsee Conference House where the Final Solution was planned, Checkpoint Charlie,

the Treptower Soviet War Memorial and the chilling Stasi Prison at Hohenschoenhausen.

But it was not all work! They enjoyed an evening at the cinema, a lecture from a long-term British resident of the city and a number of excellent German meals – including one which was accompanied rather unexpectedly by a musician called Oscar on keyboards!

The Historical Association recently invited students to take part in the 2018 Great Debate. The event was held in partnership with the UK Parliament’s Vote 100 project.

The students were invited to present a five-minute speech answering the question: ‘Was the 1918 extension of the franchise the most significant moment in British Democratic History?’

After battling it out an in-house competition overseen by the Library Manager with help from History and Politics teachers, three students, Tooba Ahmed, Keir Bradwell and Surena Pahlevan, were selected to enter the regional heat which took place on 17th January. All three students are in year 12 studying History, Politics and English (at A level).

The students gave engaging, knowledgeable speeches with clear and well-reasoned arguments. For example, Keir argued that the Magna Carta was in fact a more significant moment in British democratic history as it created the foundations of democracy and paved the way for all future reforms. Surena spoke eloquently on living in a democratic society with progressive equality for women and compared this to other countries such as Iran.

Tooba argued that whilst the

1918 Representation of the People Act was significant (the 100th Anniversary of the Act was celebrated on 6th February) a more definitive moment occurred ten years later in 1928 when the Equal Franchise Act finally allowed women electoral equality with men.

We are very pleased to report that Tooba Ahmed 17, won the regional heat and will be competing in the national final on 10th March at the Houses of Parliament.

The judge said that Tooba ultimately won because her speech was compelling and would be remembered after the event. He also remarked that it was unbelievable that such engaged students couldn’t actually vote yet being under the age of eighteen. Perhaps lowering the voting age to sixteen is another good topic of debate for our students!

Laura Moss, Library Manager said “It was a pleasure accompanying the students to London. They were more confident than their peers from other schools which made them stand out from the competition.

It’s great they are so well informed and politically aware. All credit to them for volunteering to compete in a prestigious national competition. I wish Tooba well for her forthcoming speech in the Houses of Parliament”.

Tooba Wins Regional Heat

Alice Bates and her French exchange student Alice

My French exchange student, Alice, came to Cambridge for 9 days in February, some holiday and some college!

We got along really well and I’m going to Paris for a week in the middle of April. I think it was great to have a mixture of holiday and term time, so I’d recommend that if possible.

Alice came with me to everything I usually do in a week and we also had days out in Cambridge (went punting, walked around shops/up Castle Hill) and London (went to the Tate Modern and saw landmarks) which was really good! We also went to the cinema and cooked some food together.

In College she came to my classes and was able to understand most of them!

Alice Bates Year 12 student

Media Live! Conference

Media Studies students travelled to Disneyland Paris for the annual Media Live conference in March.

Students listened to three speakers at the conference; Lucy Brett, Head of Education at the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC): the organisation responsible for rating films, DVDs and trailers released in the UK. Gill Corley, Head of Marketing Communications for Disneyland Paris and Cally Beaton, Senior Vice President at Viacom International Media Networks.

The students learnt about how

the Walt Disney company and its five main divisions are so successful.

Student Tawana said “I really enjoyed the Media Live conference because it was nice to hear from successful people within the media industry.”

“Learning about their story and how they too seemingly started from nowhere but have managed to work up to the top and then give advice about how we too could get to the top just gives me some reassurance that it is possible and not completely as hard as it seems.”

French Exchange

Marguerite and Alice in Paris

Media Studies students attending the Media Live conference at Disneyland Paris

The Paris exchange was an unforgettable experience. Admittedly, I was a little nervous before meeting my partner, however as soon as I met Marguerite in Cambridge she was very enthusiastic, both at college and at home.

During her stay in England we spent time in Cambridge, going punting and visiting various colleges, and decided to go to the Suffolk countryside at the weekend.

When I returned with Marguerite to France I spent part of the week in Paris, attending her lycée, visiting tourist sites and experiencing true Parisian life. We then took the train to Samoëns, a village in the French Alps, at the end of the week. It was great to have some time to relax and be with the family after a busy few days in the capital.

From the exchange, I have gained not only an improvement in my French, but a boost in my general confidence, a second family and a friend for life.

Alice Sizer

The exchange was like going on an adventure in Paris, and I’m glad that we made the most of our time there in terms of improving language skills, seeing the best sights and learning about how French people live. An unforgettable moment for me was sitting on the metro, going across the Seine with a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tour and the river, accompanied by an accordionist who happened to step on and start playing - it was like a scene from a classic French film. I look forward to welcoming my exchange partner sometime next term.

Hannah James

Prachi and Tawana at a Monsters Inc set

The Eiffel Tower

Eva Clarke talks German Exchange about the Holocaust During the February half-term

Saturday 27th January was International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.

Eva Clarke came along to the College to talk about her family’s experience of the Holocaust: “My mother spent 3½ years in concentration camps: Theresienstadt/Terezin in Czechoslovakia, Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland, Freiberg near Dresden in Germany and Mauthausen in Austria.”

Eva was born in Mauthausen Concentration Camp and both she and her mother were almost the only survivors of their close family.

Eva’s talk is a powerful and moving experience. However, if you were unable to attend this talk, you will have the opportunity to see Eva at HillsFest in the summer term.

holiday, 19 students set off for Hamburg to take part in the 27th year of the work experience exchange scheme between Hills Road and the Hansa and Luisen schools in Hamburg-Bergedorf.

Jill Phelps, teacher of German at Hills Road and the German Language Assistant, Jonathan Lottes, visited each of the students in their work placements, which ranged from office work in an engineering consultancy to working in a village pharmacy.

Student Niamh Downing was lucky enough to gain a placement in a GP’s surgery and this is her report:

“During the exchange trip in Hamburg, I was working at a doctor’s practice just outside Hamburg in a town called Allermöhe. I worked with both the healthcare assistants and the doctor herself. I took patients’ blood pressure, prepared equipment for and oversaw the taking of blood, assisted an ECG and worked on the reception making appointments and helping patients.

I also observed the doctor whilst she was carrying out ultrasounds, lung function tests and analysis of the data collected during the ECGs, which was really interesting!

Overall, it was a brilliant opportunity, not only for the medical experience that I gained, but for the language skills that I picked up. I managed to learn so much, whether it was just by taking part in everyday conversation with patients, or listening to more formal conversations between the doctor and patients. It was

an extremely valuable experience, and one that I’m sure will benefit me massively in the future.”

Students from Hamburg will be visiting Cambridge on 18th March and will work at local companies including Heffers, Pembroke College and a number of primary schools and nurseries. Many thanks to Barbara Tucker for organising these placements.

Niamh working at the doctor’s practice in Allermöhe

Spring Chamber Concert

Eva Clarke talking to students about the Holocaust

Classics Talk on The Aeneid Book X

This year’s Spring Chamber Concert provided a real feast of music-making with some of Hills Road’s most talented performers demonstrating why music is such a strong feature of College life.

The evening began with a spirited rendition of Holst’s St Paul’s Suite played by the string section of Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Helen Higgins before moving on to a sequence of delightful soloists, duets and ensembles, offering a fantastic repertoire, much of which had been chosen and rehearsed by the students themselves.

Instrumental award students, who are supported to pursue excellence through additional coaching, delighted us with some stunning performances, including a really memorable piano duet of Darius Milhaud’s Scaramouche played with passion and

panache by Laura Mayo and Zak Cebon.

A touching first movement of Schumann’s 3 romances for Oboe and Piano was beautifully performed by Daisy Lihoreau, with equally moving renditions from the brass quintet, string octet, piano trio, chamber group and not forgetting the two brilliantly dramatic musical theatre offerings sung beautifully by Rianna White and Zoe Antoniou Tibbits.

Music making is alive and well at Hills Road and it was wonderful to share an evening with young musicians who were deriving such obvious enjoyment from one another’s talents. Looking forward to the next choral and orchestral concert at the Church of Our Lady and the English Martyrs on Wednesday 2nd May.

Prof Stephen Oakley talking to students about Book X

Professor Stephen Oakley came in to College to talk to students of Classical Civilsation and Latin about Book X of the Aeneid.

Professor Oakley has taught Classics at the Universities of Cambridge and Reading; he is currently Kennedy Professor of Latin at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Emmanuel College.

Helen Higgins conducting the String Orchestra at the Spring Chamber Concert

Edward Gant’s Amazing Feats of Loneliness! Dance Show

Well done to everyone involved with the amazing production of Edward Gant’s Amazing Feats of Loneliness.

I can genuinely say I have never seen anything like that before! From the singing spots waiting to be squeezed, through

Nepalese trepanning to life size bears with imaginary cups of tea, it was a voyage of discovery! Brilliantly acted and staged, with excellent performances from the Year 13 cast. Thank you for a great evening!

Jo Trump

Ella Ketteridge, Eliza Chambers, Sophia Pascale, Femi Ariyibi

Dance students gave a presentation of their forthcoming A level examination work on Tuesday 6th March.

There was a nice variety in the devised pieces with some really thoughtful and thought-provoking choreography and great technical execution. The collaboration and commitment between all the students was really nice to see with great support for one another.

Scene from Edward Gant’s Amazing Feats of Loneliness

All My Sons Natascha Katkova-Milner, Katie Frear, Daisy Muir, Leonie Garner

Femi Ariyibi

Scene from All My Sons

In 1940s America, the backyard of a cosy, suburban home provides the setting that sees a family’s memories and secrets from the Second World War re-emerge.

When a tree planted as a memorial to their missing son is torn down by a storm, tensions rise as Kate battles to hold onto her belief that her son will one day return. But her husband, Joe, has his own struggle to confront when his long-held war secret begins to resurface as his son prepares to marry the daughter of his convicted ex-business partner. The same partner Joe was in business with when his factory produced faulty plane components that killed 21 pilots...

The student cast and crew: Hannah McKay – Director Eloise Curtis – Director Tawana Chamanza – Assistant Director Kamila Szelag – Lighting Eve Werdmuller Von Elgg - Kate Keller Tom Murray - Joe Keller Stan Gordon – Chris Keller Zoe Antoniou-Tibbitts – Ann Deever Alfie Coulstock-Cockeram – George Deever Jenny Escott – Jim/Bert Georgia Howitt-Sutton – Sue Bayliss Charlie Froy – Frank Lubey Eliza Chambers – Lydia Lubey

Josh Ties The Knot!

Ski Course in the Ziller Valley, Austria

Josh and Mariam

Government and Politics teacher, Josh Perkins, was married during the Christmas holidays!

Josh and his bride were kept extremely busy with three separate celebrations!

The first ceremony, the Mehndi, is a bit like an engagement party and it is very colourful. Josh’s bride, Mariam was dressed in yellow and Josh was dressed in green and gold.

They then had their legal wedding with Josh dressed in a suit and Mariam in a white dress.

Finally they had their NIqah which was the Islamic wedding and their big day where they had a reception as well.

Congratulations Josh and Mariam!

This year’s group of ski course students and staff

During February half term, an even mix of Year 12 and 13 students were brought together (by wanting) to meet the challenge of this year’s ski course in the Ziller valley, Austria.

A third of the students were beginners who had only started skiing on a dry slope in Welwyn, (on evenings) in November as part of the course. A snowy second day left excellent conditions for the rest of the week and five friendly instructors coached everyone on technique as they guided each ability group around a variety of ski areas, at appropriate levels of challenge, with more experienced groups reaching 3250m on the Hintertux glacier.

Survey comments showed that

Josh and Mariam

Simon Valentine

Psychology teacher Simon ran the Cambridge Half Marathon in 1 hour 39 minutes, beating his target of 1 hour 45.

He ran in memory of his wife, Karen, as the event charity was Cancer Research. If you would like to donate towards Pancreatic cancer research funding you could use Simon’s fundraising page: https://fundraise. cancerresearchuk.org/page/karen-2009

Simon running in this year’s Cambridge half marathon

Students on the slopes

those who did not know others before the course gained confidence in making new friends and that everyone improved their confidence and skills in the varied weather conditions. The most common request was for more hours in the day!

In an inspiring setting, skiing is as mentally challenging as it is physically. If you have not had the chance before, the course is a great opportunity to participate in a supportive peer group.

If you would like to go next year, forms for the 2019 course are available at Student Services and need to be submitted by 28th March 2018.

Duke of Edinburgh Gold Awards

21 students from Hills Road Sixth Form College have recently achieved their Gold Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Award.

The College has been offering students the opportunity to complete the DofE Gold Award for over 20 years and during that time several hundred students have been successful. In the last 5 years alone, 170 students have successfully achieved the award through the College’s programme.

Student Clement Cahen completed the five day expedition to Snowdonia in the summer with a group of other Hills Road students. They worked on creating a photodiary of memorable places.

Clement learnt about animal welfare in zoos at Blackpool Zoo for the residential section of the award and he volunteered as an assistant lifesaving instructor at Bottisham Lifesaving Club.

Clement said “You come away with fantastic memories and greater confidence in yourself.”

Dr Kevin Jones, teacher and current leader of the scheme at the College, organises the expeditions for the students. He takes students hiking and camping in the Yorkshire Dales, The Lake District and Snowdonia each year.

He said, “Congratulations should be given to all those students who have completed the Gold Award over the past years. It is a very demanding yet worthwhile

achievement and prepares students for the challenges ahead of them.”

“Organisation of the expeditions and the award is a team effort, a team without whom the award and expeditions would not be possible.”

“Completing the assessment is always exciting and we celebrate it each year with a fun finale for all involved at the Dolgellau fire station in Mid-Wales.”

Hills Road student Becky Lillicrap 18, who completed her Bronze, Silver and Gold awards with Girl Guiding Cambridgeshire East, said “The expedition was by far the most challenging part of my Gold DofE.”

HR3/5K Fun Run

The annual Hills Road Fun Run in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust is taking place on Wednesday 25th April.

If students and staff would like to take part in the event they can buy a t-shirt and wrist band (ticket) via wisepay or from the Bursary.

If you would like to make a donation to Teenage Cancer Trust please go to our JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ hillsroadfunrun2018

Cheer Squad

Becky in India

“

“My team and I travelled to Loch The Hills Elite Cheer Squad Shiel on the west coast of Scotland to complete a four-day canoe expedition down

Congratulations to the Hills Elite the length of the Loch, out into the sea, along Cheer Squad. Placed 2nd in the Level 1 the west coast and then all the way back up category at the Future Cheer Showdown, Loch Ailort, a total distance of 80km!”

Essex on Saturday 10th March.

Becky went to India for the residential section where she spent 10 days at the world Guiding Centre in Sangam and helped at the Green Tara Foundation in Pune.

13 Hills Road students attended an award ceremony along with other successful young people from Cambridgeshire on 6th January at Comberton Sports and Arts Centre.

Presentation of the awards was made by Mr Richard Barnwell, Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire.

Rowing

Clement at Blackpool Zoo

The Cantabrigian A Crew at this year’s SHORR

The Award Presentation ceremony at Comberton Sports and Arts Centre

Four 8+ crews, including Hills Road students, competed in the Schools Head of the River Race (SHORR) on Monday 12th March, rowing in Catabrigian Rowing Club boats.

The two women’s crews rowed in the Girls Schools 1s 8+ category and came 10th and 14th respectively.

Women’s A crew (Cantabrigian A) Cox – Livvy Durant, Str – Ellen Goode, 7- Izzy Ritchie, 6- Eva Hill, 5- Kathryn Clements, 4- Rosie Allwood, 3- Lorna McBride, 2- Bex Hawthorne, Bow- Tabitha Thornton-Swan Women’s B crew (Cantabrigian B) Cox – Ellie Cook, Str – Amelise Burr, 7 – Hollie Adams, 6- Ellie Wicks, 5- Floss Potterill, 4Daisy Church, 3- Martha Cooper-Jones, 2- Cass Baumberg, Bow- Chloe Moulding

The Men’s A crew came 17th and the Men’s B crew came 11th in their categories.

Akito Oyama

Akito Oyama

Hills Road alumnus Akito Oyama 18, is an exceptionally talented young man. He is representing Great Britain and England in two separate sports! He has been selected to play in the GB Ultimate Frisbee team as well as representing England at Chess.

When Akito joined Hills Road as a student in 2015 he became a member of the Hills Road Ultimate Frisbee team and along with his fellow team player, Seamus Turvill, has been selected to play for the GB Ultimate Frisbee team. They will be travelling with the other members of the GB team to Canada in the summer to compete in the World Junior Ultimate Championships (WJUC).

Akito started playing chess when he was 8 years old. He started playing for England when he was 11 years old and has just returned from competing in the London Chess Classic Open competition where he came 45th= out of 289 competitors.

Akito said “This year’s competition was tough with people competing from almost 50 countries. I started off slow, but finished with two solid wins which boosted my final ranking.”

Akito studied A level Computer Science, Maths and Physics at Hills Road and is on a Gap Year before going to university to study Computer Science in 2018. He is currently working in the Study Skills department at Hills Road supporting students with learning needs.

Akito said “I enjoy working with students, helping them to have equal opportunities to make the most of their time at Hills Road.”

“After my degree, I’d like to work in the field of artificial intelligence, and participate in the Olympics for Ultimate Frisbee!”

Sports News

The Sports Department are celebrating as nine of their students have recently been selected to play for the East Women’s Rugby team at the Association of Colleges’ Sport National Championships at Nottingham University in April.

The remainder of the team is made up of students from other Colleges in the East region including Long Road Sixth Form College.

This season is the first time there has been a Women’s rugby team at Hills Road and the team’s coach, Adrian Medd, said “This group of girls - only a handful of whom had any experience of playing rugby - have come together very quickly and are now a tight-knit supportive group who represent all of the core values of rugby participation and they are a pleasure to coach.”

The Women’s Rugby team are currently crowdfunding for a rugby team kit (they currently only have training tops)

The Hills Road Women’s Rugby team with their coach Adrian Medd (far left)

Cross Country Championships

Year 12 students Thomas Keen, Oliver Newman, Cameron Ackroyd and Year 13 student Max Williams were selected to represent Cambridgeshire Schools at the New Balance English Schools’ Cross Country Championships at Temple Newsam, Leeds on Saturday 17th March.

Thomas Keen recently represented England at the Belgium Cross Cup race in Rotselaar on 11th February where he came 2nd in the Junior Men’s Race.

Thomas has also been selected to run for England at the International Schools Federation World Cross Country Championships to be held in Paris from 2nd 7th April.

Thank You!

Women’s Rugby team - thank you to Blues Property, Cambridge who are donating £500 to buy the women’s rugby team kit.

RoboCon 2018 - thank you to Cheffins Property who have donated £4,000, COEL for providing the bespoke arena, CITRIX for donating £2,000, Arm for donating £1000 and CMR (Cambridge Medical Robotics) for donating £500.

here: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ hillsroadsixthformcollege-womensrugby

In addition to the nine women rugby players, a total of 14 Hills Road Sports teams will be representing the East at the championships in April, including Men’s and Women’s Badminton, Men’s and Women’s Hockey, Men’s and Women’s Volleyball, Women’s Squash, Men’s and Women’s Tennis, Women’s Table Tennis, Men’s Cricket, Men’s and Women’s Cross-Country, and Golf.

Head of Sport, Ann Hemming, said “This is a fantastic achievement and highlights the strength and depth of Hills Road sport.”

“The National Championships are a wonderful sports festival with 2,000 competitors representing the different regions of England and squads from Scotland and Wales. We’ve been very successful over the years and the Hills Road teams should be competing for medals once again.”

Thomas Keen running for England in Belgium on 11th Feb

Production Notes Articles and photographs for this edition of the HillsReview were produced by Alice Bates, Caroline Birks, Amélie Bowers, Vivien Brownlee, Clement Cahen, Tawana Chamanza, Ayden Duffy, Robert Frisk, Richard Fredman, Helen Garner, Heidi Gjertsen, Virginia Hales, Lottie Hanfling, Wendy Hodgkiss, Hannah James, Stuart Jessup, Thomas Keen, Becky Lillicrap, David Massey, Laura Moss, Akito Oyama, Tuuli Parker, Josh Perkins, Jill Phelps, Ian Pryer, Izzy Ritchie, Richard Shepherd, Alice Sizer, Brendan Synge, Shelley Tenberg, Julia Thomson, Jo Trump, Simon Valentine, Chris Welander, Tim Winn.