Park House School Personal Best Issue 36

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Konnichiwa!

Welcome to our Summer celebration of the amazing achievements of our wonderful present, past and future students.

Rocket-powered car or speeding bullet train? The pace of learning and progress at Park House is never less than breathtaking! Be it the national award-winning application of technology or Tokyo 2020 Olympic-inspired curriculum creativity, the opportunities seized by our students never cease to inspire. Hold on tight and enjoy the high octane ride that lies ahead... • Derek Peaple, Headteacher

A taste of Japan Looking towards Tokyo 2020, we gave our Taster Days a distinctly Japanese theme to give Year 5 students an opportunity to learn and experience aspects of the Japanese culture.

With Japanese language, archery, origami and yoga the order of the day it was wonderful to see just how much our young guests enjoyed their experience. Over 450 primary school students joined us over three days and we saw a colourful array of primary school uniforms blending in with the wonderful Japanese yukatas and happis worn by both staff and Peer Mentors and the beautiful flower wreaths they made.

The closing assembly gave the Year 5 students an opportunity to showcase their Japanese learning by counting, singing and exchanging greetings in Japanese. They also received certificates congratulating them on the participation and an opportunity to share a review of the day with their friends and parents. • Mrs Chandler, Assistant Headteacher

Park House School A Leading Academy for the Whole Community

Personal Best is published by Park House School. It is distributed to students, staff, parents, stakeholders, alumni and friends of Park House School. Issue No 37 will be published in the Winter of 2017/18.

We need the help of staff, students and parents to produce Personal Best – thank you again to all those who have contributed to this issue – we’re sorry if your story couldn’t be included this time.

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Do you wish to say something positive about school life? Please submit ideas, stories, copy and high resolution photos for future issues to Headteacher, Mr Derek Peaple or Mrs Teresa Jones in the school office.

Park House School, Andover Road, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 6NQ T 01635 573911 E tjones@parkhouseschool.org W www.parkhouseschool.org /ParkHouseSchool @PHSNewbury

Designed and produced by Waddell Digital Limited WaddellDigital @WaddellDigital www.waddelldigital.co.uk

Are you feeling Supersonic?

Year 10 students Reuben Langdon, Adam Taylor and Matthew Maynard recently got through to the National Finals in the Bloodhound Super-Sonic Car (SSC) ‘Race for the Line’ competition.

The competition involved students from across the country creating aerodynamic rocket-propelled vehicles. Every team was given a block of polystyrene, axles and wheels; and it was up to them to sculpt the foam to create the most aerodynamic shape they could. A chemical rocket was then used for propulsion, the same for each team in the competition, and an Infra-red timing gate was used to measure the speed. The timing gate was powered by a micro:bit, who have sponsored the project.

Park House started with three teams comprised of; Ben Marshall, Oscar Patterson and Kiara Jones; Reuben Langdon, Adam Taylor and Matthew Maynard; and Phoebe Just, Charlotte Phillips and Heather Caborn. The first two teams got to the regional competition finals, these were held at MOD Corsham in Wiltshire in April. Reuben, Adam and Matthew won that stage of the competition and progressed to the national finals in June where they stood a chance of winning first prize – a trip to South Africa to watch the Bloodhound SSC world land speed record attempt. Despite the boys building a new car for the finals they just came outside the top three against stiff competition at the Santa Pod drag strip in blustery and variable conditions.

The Bloodhound SSC will be tested on the Hakskeen Pan in the Mier area of the Northern Cape, South Africa for the land speed record attempt.

A track 12 miles (19 km) long, 2 miles (3.2 km) wide has been cleared by hand! The land is the largest area of land cleared by hand in the World, this has gained the programme entry into The Guinness Book of Records irrespective of the final speed reached by the car. The driver is Andy Green and he will attempt to break the record in October 2017.

During the project all three teams helped Falkland Primary School children design and build their own cars, all of which made it to the regional competition. The team of Year 10 students worked with the Falkland Primary School students to help them with their entries by using the skills and experience that had been developed during the build of their own race cars. It’s been an all round great fun project – well done again to Reuben, Adam and Matthew. • Oscar Patterson, Year 10

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Left to right: Ellie Woodley, Scarlet King, Ben Sutherland, Luke Barlow, Lili Atraki, Ruairidh Livingstone, Corrin Benham, Abbey Barr

Greetings from the new Senior Student Team Since our appointment we have reformed the Student Council, building on the strong foundations laid by the previous Senior Student Team. By making our meetings more casual we believe that we can encourage a broader spectrum of students to attend, providing a more lateral view of the school’s progress.

One of our key goals is to produce a mentoring system that caters for all year groups in the school. By having both Sixth Form students and staff leading mentoring sessions we hope to build a tightknit support network targeting those who are struggling with any academic pressures, exams and careers decisions that students face in school.

As a team we are also passionate about boosting student involvement in school debating and house sports events, with the aim of creating a welcoming environment for all students, whether they be academically or sportingly gifted.

With regard to the community beyond school we hope to arrange regular pensioner tea and coffee mornings, with the aim of raising funds for a few select student voted charities. We would like to thank the previous senior student team for their affability throughout the transition, and we’re hugely grateful for all of the kindness and support that we have received by fellow students and staff members. • The Senior Students

Settling into Sixth Form nicely...

Joining a new Sixth Form was a scary decision, and once I decided where I wanted to go I had no idea what to expect. But, my experience at Park House has been better than I could have imagined. I have not felt like an outsider; I felt comfortable and accepted from the beginning.

My worries that people already had their friendship groups and that I would be sidelined were unfounded – it has been nothing like that. I have made amazing friends in all my subjects and my teachers have helped me settle in quickly. I’ve loved my first year at Park House School. • Corrin Benham – Year 12

Dressed by the kids!

In June we took part in Oxfam’s ‘Dressed By The Kids Day’ raising over £500 to help alleviate poverty!

In return for a donation students could attend school in non-uniform and for an additional donation suggest a fun outfit for a member of staff.

As you can see several staff entered into the spirit and some of our Year 7s even donned some Mr Hornsby-style beards!

• Mrs Robinson-Slater

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A Level Drama performance In April this year our A Level Drama students embarked on their final performance project; ‘The Story of Hope’, an original play, written entirely by the students.

This was a tale of the ancient, arrogant God Apollo and the havoc his greed wreaks on a small Kingdom. The play was performed to an excited group of Year 7 students and their teachers as well as a visiting external examiner.

It was an extravaganza of songs, comedy and even dance routines, which the audience gladly joined in with!

It was the perfect way for the students to end their seven years of Drama at Park House and the examiner said in 20 years this was the most original play he had seen. We wish all the Year 13 ‘Class of 2017’ the very best of luck in the future! • Miss Baron

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Head over heels about acrobatics...

I am aged 14 in Year 9 and since I was four I have always been fascinated with gymnastics and dance.

I remember joining my first gymnastics club – I was so excited when after many days of practice I managed a perfect roly-poly! And now, ten years later, I am balancing on people shoulders, jumping off, doing tumbles, hand-stands, backward walkovers and splits in shows to over 400 people.

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I love every minute of it; it’s really helped me in my confidence and core strength. I look forward to my acro classes every weekend – you should try it! • Maddie Wilde See italiacontinewbury.org.uk for more information.

Jacob

Abigail

Since joining Park House I have had a variety of amazing experiences: I went to Bayer and extracted my own DNA, I visited a snail farm and went on a massive ferry on the Year 7 French trip and I am currently making an exhibit to show in the Year 7 Gifted and Talented group. I wouldn’t have been able to do any of these amazing things if it weren’t for the fabulous teachers and supportive staff.

It might seem too good to be true but my first year has been great.

From getting a bus to school to going on the school trip to France for a day it’s been filled with excitement and curiosity.

Before I arrived I was very worried about getting lost around school and when someone told me I would easily know my way around by the first week, I didn’t believe them. But, they were right! Within two days, I knew my timetable off by heart, I didn’t get lost once and I wasn’t afraid to ask a friendly student or teacher anything – I already felt part of the community.

Moving up to secondary school isn’t the easiest for some people, but thanks to my awesome primary school, Falkland, and everyone at Park House I have settled in. Overall, 2017 has been one of the best school years for me, I made plenty of friends, went on loads of fun trips and made countless happy memories.

Thank you Park House!

One of the most amazing things I did this year is taking part in the cross country and athletics leagues. Sporting events like this are a great chance to make new friends and work in a team.

I remember when I first went to athletics, I just stood there by the pit whilst all these scary professional-looking girls were warming up around me. Soon enough though, a group of Year 8 girls were running over and helping me. You’d think jumping into a pit of sand would be simple but trust me it’s a lot more complicated than that!

Overall my Year 7 has been great. I’ve gone from having just one friend to having multiple close friends who I can rely on for anything.

• Abigail Carver, (previously at Welford & Wickham)

• Jacob Howard , (previously at Falkland Primary)

My Park House –

Belle In my first year at Park House I have been presented with many amazing opportunities and awesome experiences.

Year 7, one year on

I can’t believe how things have changed in a year. I moved from a village junior school to here, a much bigger Academy school and I have an ever expanding circle of friends. From the first few days of catching a bus to a school that seemed huge, when I wasn’t sure where I was going, to now when the school has shrunk over the last year as my familiarity with it has grown.

I am thoroughly enjoying my favourite subjects like English and my confidence and academic skills have improved dramatically. I have had the chance to visit Google London HQ where I experienced a taste of what goes on in a modern technology business.

• Belle Ceney, (previously at Woolton Hill Junior)

Thomas

This year I have completely grown from being a shy boy to a confident one. This year hasn't been plain sailing though.

In September I was living in a Travelodge travelling 15 minutes to get to school, and then a Premier Inn taking half an hour to reach school. The reason for this is that I had moved 250 miles from East Yorkshire to join Park House. This move had meant I had joined school with no friends, but that soon changed!

People like Harley Pottinger and Eddie Smith really helped me settle in and make me feel welcome, along with the teachers and staff. I still miss my old friends, but my family firmly believe that I have changed for the better... and do you know what? Despite my protestations, I actually think that they’re right!

• Thomas Rowe, (previously at Driffield Junior School)

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Cheers for Evie’s team success Evie Farquharson in Year 8 was chosen to represent Great Britain at the World Summit All Star Cheerleading Champions in April this year which were held at Walt Disney World Resort, Florida.

Evie’s team Crimson Heat Tigers are the 2016 National, European, FC Grand Champions, USA National Champions and USA Grand Champions.

They were also the official cheerleaders for London 2012. Their first competition of the season in February at Heart of England Birmingham resulted in all the teams from Crimson Heat winning first place and becoming Grand Champions.

Our team motto is FIFO – Full effort In, Full results Out. We know any success we achieve is hard-earned. The team for Evie is not just about sport but something bigger – it’s about being part of a family.

Evie returned from the States in May – a whirlwind once-in-a-lifetime experience in America – as part of a team who are now World Champions!

We had no expectations for the USA competition; just being there was enough for the team. We had won every competition in England but had no idea how we would fair in the home of cheer. But, the girls made cheer history! They won! The first ever British team to win in USA and beat the Americans!

The team are now the best junior one team in the world! We are in shock and complete awe! The girls have their medals and flags for the win with the main prize being the world Summit commemorative ring!

The latest news from June this year is that Crimson Heat Tigers competed in the European championships and that each of our four teams who entered came first, winning two paid bids to return to the USA to defend their titles. • Johanna Powers – Evie’s Mum

“I am humbled to be part of Crimson Heat Tigers family.

I’m forever thankful to Head Coach Gareth Green for my place in the Crimson team and for supporting me and my family.”

Ex-student dancer now part of GCSE curriculum

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What a treat for the GCSE dancers in Years 9 and 10 to meet ex-Park House student James Cousins; now a rising international choreographer. Along with one of his company dancers Chihiro Kawasaki, James visited us in March to deliver a workshop exploring his dance work ‘Within Her Eyes’ – a piece of professional choreography which has been selected for study by the AQA Examination board within the new GCSE Dance Specification.

Thank you for coming to Park House to teach us a workshop. It was an amazing experience and I can’t believe I got the opportunity to take part! Both of you are such amazing dancers and I am still a little in awe to be honest!

James has been described by Sir Matthew Bourne as ‘one of the UK’s most promising choreographic talents’. In 2012, he won the inaugural New Adventures Choreographer Award, selected by Matthew Bourne for his ‘refreshing desire to entertain’, culminating in a sold out performance at Sadler’s Wells, London, where his work was critically acclaimed as ‘visually breath-taking’ and ‘spellbindingly beautiful’. James has been commissioned to create work for companies worldwide including National Ballet of Chile, Oper Graz, Royal Ballet of Flanders and Scottish Ballet.

If I had to choose something I liked the best, it would have to be the lifts and the trust-building exercises. It was really helpful and I am hoping I can use some of it in dance pieces in the future. I found the most difficult part to be the warm up. That was so hard and I have no idea how you did it so easily!

I gained loads of confidence from this experience and I hope I’ll have the chance to do more things like this again in the future.

We are so proud of James and all that he has achieved in the ten years since leaving Park House. James’s visit to inspire our students coincided with his visit to the Corn Exchange as part of a tour of his new work ‘Rosalind’. Our GCSE dancers were able to watch his company perform and see firsthand, the beauty, craftsmanship and complexity of his choreography. • Mrs Mawazini, Head of Dance

After the workshop my Mum and I went to see ‘Rosalind’ at The Corn Exchange. It was the first time my Mum had seen live contemporary dance and she was completely in love with it! Chi, you were honestly amazing!

Not what I was expecting, but still amazing! I hope I will get the chance to do another workshop and I will definitely try and watch another James Cousins performance!” • Daisy McPherson, Year 9

New bodies of work Our students continue to surprise and challenge us with their artwork which this year included a skeleton armchair and a photography installation in a full-size greenhouse at our annual, combined exhibition of A Level Art, Textiles, Photography, and A Level and GCSE Graphic Products.

The exhibition felt busier than ever with many members of staff, and younger students and their families attending to view the wide and imaginative selection of work from our various departments. We were also delighted to have visits from Izzie Butler, currently at Bath Spa doing Contemporary Arts Practice and Selina Jones doing Textiles at Loughborough University.

Among our leavers we have Tom Butler aiming to study Architecture at Manchester, Catherine Langley going to Bournemouth’s Foundation, Sophie Deacon going to Plymouth’s Foundation and Mahid Abdul at Basingstoke’s Foundation. We wish them and all our students the best for their post-A Level futures.

A special thank you also to caretakers Jack and John who go above and beyond with their help in setting up and taking down the show.

• Mrs Waddell, Head of Art

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Park House Interact Club Year One As we hand over the mantle to next year’s school Interact team we are looking back at our first year of the Park House Rotary Interact Club which has been fantastic. As a team our first involvement with Rotary was doing the car parking for Newbury Triathlon back in September, this alone raised over £300 for the Cancer Research Rosemary Appeal to build a cancer treatment facility at Newbury Hospital.

After this we wanted to get involved with some more Rotary activities so we signed up to be ambassadors for the End Polio campaign which, for us, culminated with the ‘Wear Purple to School’ day in October and the planting of over 1000 purple

crocus bulbs within the school grounds (they looked amazing by March!).

Throughout the day we raised £450 for the campaign which was doubled by the Bill Gates foundation so in the end we sent £900 to the very worthy End Polio campaign.

Very soon after this event we organised a food bank collection for West Berkshire and a van of donated food was sent off to help those in need in our local area. Our final event as the current team was the Easter egg hunt back in April which saw around 60 students off around the school following hints to earn chocolate prizes!

Overall this year we have donated £900 to End polio, £400 to the Rosemary Appeal (this value has been trebled by the Rotary to £1200) and £100 to Daisy’s Dream. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time as the Park House Interact team and wish the best of luck to the new team taking over and encourage them to take every opportunity thrown at them by Rotary Newbury. • Gemma Maynard (Ex-President of Park House Interact)

William raises £750 for Macmillan!

My husband and I are delighted by William’s progress in Year 7 and so pleased he is flourishing in his first year at Park House.

We are especially proud of his fundraising efforts. In March, Will completed a running challenge to raise money and awareness for Macmillan Cancer Support. It was his own idea to run three tenkilometre races – a total of 18.6 miles in one day!

His first run started at Newbury Parkrun at 9am and he completed two further runs spaced out throughout the day. He crossed the finish line of his final run shortly before 5pm supported by his younger brother Matthew and his friend Ned Robey who was determined to complete all of the runs with him.

Ellis Russell, Year 9 also ran with Will for two of his runs. So far Will has raised over £750 for Macmillan and we hope to raise more through other events in the future. • Mrs Welch

Station on track with fundraising efforts Year 9 rock band Station raised £55 during one lunchtime in February for Amnesty International! Safe to say they played brilliantly and we really appreciated their cool fundraising idea and music! • Miss Douglas

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Ex-student asks for your help...

If I can describe Park House School in one word it would be creative.

You are allowed to be you. Your passions are encouraged. Your imagination is unleashed, from Dance to Maths! Even the school’s grounds are just beautiful and I spent many a free-period sat with friends revising, quizzing or letting my creativity take over.

It costs £14,000 a day to keep our hospice going. We need your help.

Whether it’s running, singing, baking or talking, there’s a way for you to get involved, and we will support you in anything you decide to do. Last year we provided 95,000 hours of care to people across Berkshire, but we can help many more with the help of people like you.

I finished Park House school in 2005 and I always look back at my time at school as a very happy one.

Every penny raised helps. Please get involved! If you would like a fundraising pack bursting with simple ideas to help make raising money for Sue Ryder easy and fun please contact myself on hannah.griffiths@sueryder.org or call 0118 9550 421. • Hannah Griffiths

The staff were approachable and had a true passion for their subjects. My most loved subjects were English and Drama. These subjects were brought to life by my fantastic teachers who gave me an opportunity to use my creativity and build my confidence, which has definitely helped me with my further education and into my career. I also loved taking part in the school play West Side Story. I was Puerto Rican, and I loved my costume, especially the twirling skirt!

Every day as I walked to my tutor room and I was greeted by the smell of delicious cakes from the canteen... the spongy ones with sweet icing and sprinkles, I can remember it like it was yesterday! My form tutor was the lovely Mrs Croft and our tutor room was in the IT department near the canteen.

I went on to Winchester University where I studied Journalism and Creative writing and then spent a few years in retail and travelling the world in the meantime. When my Mum fell ill we started fundraising together, and I now work at the Duchess of Kent hospice where my mum sadly passed away. I am part of the fundraising team and I love it! We raise money to help support patients, service users and all our services.

Our services cover West Berkshire from three sites: Duchess of Kent Hospice in Reading, Wokingham Day Hospice and Charles Clore Unit in Newbury. We provide specialist end of life care, aiming to help people live as well as possible with the effects of their conditions by offering care, symptom management and support from a multi-professional team.

Cool for cats!

Just before the Easter break, it was indeed very cool to do something for cats. The Cats Protection charity, to be precise. I’ve always loved cats.

And have had them has pets throughout my life, for as long as I can remember. We currently have three from the Cats Protection Rehoming Centre in Newbury. Being an owner is wonderful preparation for both the joys and challenges of senior management... [herding cats? Ed.] Thanks to a contact via an old school friend who now works for the Cats Protection Charity and Abi Young, their Head of Fundraising our very own CATS (Cats Action Team Students!) voluntarily responded to my initial request to help the Charity. They were instrumental in everything that followed, spontaneously exemplifying the qualities of kindness and generosity of spirit in young people that make doing my job such a privilege.

We discovered that the charity were looking to launch a national fundraising campaign based around the idea of a 'Pawsome Afternoon' Tea, and with feline-like grace our team leapt into action to organise the country’s first national pilot event...

Ably supported by our new Senior Student Team at their first official event, the team beautifully hosted forty special guests from the Fair Close Day Centre in Newbury, including Ronald – who we discovered was the school's Head Boy from 1948, and who had a fantastic chat with Lucas and Luke his successors from 2016 and 2017...

After the event we were delighted to visit the Newbury Homing Centre to present them with a cheque for £110.45. I can only describe the young people responsible as the cat’s whiskers...

• Derek Peaple

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Soap stars clean up in business In Year 9 Business Studies students learn all about how to run a successful business and how to manage people to get the best out of them through practical team-based challenges.

Students are placed into business groups at the start of the year and are then tasked with preparing a detailed portfolio for a Soap Project which has been an annual component of our Business Studies course.

Students are briefed on the nature of the project and its final aims. Their task is to come up with an idea for a soap they would like to make and that they think will sell the most. They are in competition with the other groups so the heat is on!

After some initial market research they make a financial and practical business plan on how they expect to make, package, market and sell the soap. Once this has been planned, they then sell their soap to other students.

The team who sells the most wins (depending how much profit they have made versus their outgoings). The money they make is then reinvested in watermelon and smoothies which they will sell at Sports Day. This is a fantastic project which combines all the topics they learn throughout the year. This year the students were superb and they did me, themselves and the Business Studies department very proud. • Mr Columbro

Take a Chance at Vodafone Take a Chance is an innovative programme which consists of a series of mentoring sessions and workshops. This year seven Year 10 students – Adam Taylor, Hannah Humphrey, Richard Dobson, Ethan Morris, Ben Newitt, Greg Barker and Callum Dyke – embarked on a journey of self-discovery. Over five sessions at Vodafone’s headquarters with ‘Vodafone Buddies’ they completed activities which helped them to develop confidence and motivation.

The students took on different challenges each session and they would show how far they had progressed during the day by demonstrating to their ‘Vodafone Buddies’ what they had learnt. The aim of the sessions was to raise aspirations and to develop enthusiasm for future career possibilities for which they could ask the Buddies for guidance and references in the future.

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The students thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It was a great way for them to interact with students from other schools. The free cookies and hot chocolate helped too!

On the final session they all came together to celebrate their achievements over the course and were all given certificates to reward them for their hard work. Group photos closed the final session of the year and they had time to celebrate with their peers. It was amazing for me to see students grow in confidence which showed not only in the work they produced at Vodafone over the sessions but also in classes back at school where the students were able to use what they had learnt to help them with their school life. Thank you to all the staff at Vodafone and the Education Business Partnership and also to the students who were awesome! • Mr Columbro

A new generation of legal eagles The Magistrates’ Court Mock Trial Competition introduces the legal system to young people in an innovative and exciting way.

Mock trials has been an enlightening and enthralling experience for all of us. I found the experience both entertaining and educational.

In the roles of lawyers, witnesses, magistrates and court staff, students prosecute and defend specially written criminal cases. Teams compete against each other in real Magistrates’ courts in front of real Magistrates.

Our preparation for this years competition started in October 2016, where a group of Year 9 (and later Year 8) students began to construct the case they were given around a fictional teenage robbery. They had to write their own opening and closing speeches, practise court procedures and memorise witness reports.

I learnt more about the British justice system and how criminals are punished for their crime whether that be stealing or something much worse. I learnt that both the defence and the prosecution have an almost equal (though not always) chance of proving their case. Before the court proceedings of the day, we had a small tour around the courtroom to get used to what it feels like.

All students did a marvellous job and as a result our students came fourth overall. • Ms Herden

We started the proceedings. Our prosecution side went first and you could clearly see how hard it was to win the case. When the defence team took over I was put on the stand as the defendant; I had to think on my feet whilst also remembering the events of the day in question.

Students involved: Lydia Nowicka, Josh Lane, Flynn Roberston, Ellen English, Summer Mason, Holly Gimingham, Harvey Kent, Ben Eaton, Aditya Kottapalli, Josh Hensby, Rachael Day and Laura Davis

I would recommend this to other students because it builds your teamwork skills and it also involves a fair amount of text analysis that can help during exams (especially English).• Lydia Nowicka, Year 9

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Ten years after...

Ok, it’s a little over ten years... Since leaving Park House in 2006 it’s been an incredible journey. After completing A Levels in Business Studies, Music Technology, English Literature and Philosophy I went on to study Management with International Business at Royal Holloway, University of London and the University of Hong Kong.

I recently launched my own brand called Teddy Maximus.

Looking back on the opportunities I took at school I have great memories of being House Captain for Oak and Deputy Head Girl, A Level Business Studies with Mrs Langford-Holt, and taking part in numerous Music clubs and concerts (including playing at the Millenium Dome – gosh, that makes me feel old!). Seize every opportunity – because it will shape you and give you confidence. It’s the extra miles that will define you and give you resilience.

After graduating I was delighted to secure a marketing role with Procter & Gamble – you’ll be familiar with some of their brands – Gillette, Fairy, Olay and Pampers to name a few. I started out as Assistant Brand Manager on Aussie and Pantene before specializing in Communications, eventually becoming Corporate Communications Manager for P&G Northern Europe.

Learning alongside some of the best leaders and thinkers in brand management has been a privilege.

Whilst working at P&G I decided to bring a little Dachshund into my life called Teddy Maximus – Maximus by name and by nature! He certainly has much to answer for… I’ve always had a passion to create my own business and inspired by this little fella I founded Teddy Maximus – fun, luxury British dog accessories. As champions of British manufacturing we design and make everything in the UK. Our leathersmith Mo makes each collar from start to finish and our brass fittings come from one of the last foundries in England.

Growing a business is full of ups and downs, a learning curve like nothing else. When you are at the helm you see and do it all. Trade shows, managing cash flow, creating a website, managing social media, creating photoshoots, winning new sales accounts and negotiating contracts to name a few. When you are doing something you love, anything is possible with a lot of hard work of course!

Highlights to date have included securing space in Bentalls Kingston & Bracknell, a listing with Ocado’s pet site fetch.co.uk, Not on the Highstreet, premium Pets at Home stores ‘Barkers’ and being a finalist in the Nectar Small Business Awards – Home Grown Business of the year. In the last two months I’ve gone full time on the business which has already started to pay dividends and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the brand in the USA and Japan! • Holly Simpson (Yes, that’s my mum on the opposite page...)

Please do follow our journey on Instagram @teddy_maximus, Facebook @TeddyMaximusUK and Twitter @teddymaximus or sign up for our newsletter at www.teddymaximus.com

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Thank you for the music...

Do you remember what you were doing in 1980? Assuming you were alive 37 years ago... Watching one of only three TV channels, listening to New Wave, marvelling at the rivalry of Coe and Ovett at the Moscow Olympic Games, held behind the Iron Curtain in the mysterious and threateningly Soviet-dominated Communist Bloc? Margaret Thatcher was in the first year of her premiership and the Internet didn’t exist.

Press interest had just begun to grow in a certain Lady Diana Spencer, who was rumoured to be in a relationship with Prince Charles.

I was in what was then called the Fourth Year at secondary school, studying for my ‘O’Levels - the predecessor of GCSEs, which made their entrance some seven years later.

If you had been a student at Park House in 1980 you would have been taught for the very first time by Mrs Sue Simpson, who in that year joined the school’s Music Department. Over the next four decades, she’s gone on to inspire generations of young musicians with her passion and enthusiasm; not only that, she has also taught in virtually every area of the curriculum to

provide cover during periods of staff shortages and trained dozens of student teachers during their university placements. She has twice led the Department and, most latterly, been fundamental to the outstanding success of the Sixth Form as Deputy Director of Studies in Key Stage 5. The Lennon to Mr Faust’s McCartney.

To extend a musical analogy – she has been the counterpoint to the life of the school over the last thirty-seven years, a period which has witnessed extraordinary change. She has been a rock, but she also rolled; rolled and adapted magnificently with the ever-changing demands and challenges of the profession. She’s done so because of a fundamental and timeless commitment to young people and their needs and an unerring passion for teaching the subject she loves. An unparalleled breadth of musical activity at the school is her legacy, with her beloved Choir the jewel in the crown.

Loyalty is a priceless quality in an ever transient age, and Sue Simpson is its personification. Thank you, Sue, for the decades of wonderful music... • Derek Peaple, Headteacher

2012 at Ashford Hill Church – Mrs Simpson with one of many school choirs she has led.

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Acceptable in the ’80

Join togeth er

with the ba nd...

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Infinite creative opportunities Gareth Carless who left Park House in 2015 is currently in his second year at Bristol University and has now secured a three-month, summer internship at Apple: Creativity is not often the first skill that comes to mind when people think of STEM subjects such as engineering or, in my case, computer science which is more frequently associated with technical ability, maths and problem solving. But while these are all important in these fields of study, it is creativity that regularly decides their direction; science got us to the Moon, but the creativity to look up and want to be there was equally crucial.

Being creative does not necessarily mean being artistic, or musical, or even great at designing things. It can be ideas, solutions to problems, different viewpoints or approaches to issues, and is something everyone is capable of.

Taking advantage of opportunities that present themselves, or making your own, is a fantastic way to improve this ability. • Gareth Carless

With it being Apple’s fortieth anniversary this year, a quote from Steve Jobs, the co-founder of the company, seems most appropriate: “Technology alone is not enough. It’s technology married with the liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our hearts sing”.

This is made all the more relevant for me, as I recently accepted an offer to complete an internship with Apple over the summer. Having started my interest in computer science by developing iPhone apps, this is a hugely exciting opportunity for me.

It is an opportunity that comes after many others I have had throughout university and during my time at Park House before that. The importance of making, and taking, opportunities, is reiterated time and again by teachers, advisors and anyone else who gets the chance, but it’s for good reason. Even now I wouldn’t say I was the most technically talented candidate at the interview day for the internship, but by seizing the opportunity to apply when it arrived, and carrying that through the interview, I got the position.

During the interview day I was able to draw on debating, Gifted and Talented, and other opportunities at Park House that helped develop the creativity I put to use in the challenges we were set.

Gareth pictured at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California.

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Sofa so good for ex-student...

Since leaving Park House in 2001 and graduating from Aston University in 2005 with a degree in French and German, my working life has taken me from Cannes to Cardiff City, Derby County to Downing Street and Walsall to Wembley Stadium.

During the week, I am a communications manager for Marketing Birmingham – my job is to liaise with the regional, national and international media with the aim of attracting more tourists, event organisers and investors to the West Midlands region. I’ve welcomed journalists from publications including New York Times, China Daily and Sydney Morning Herald to help produce articles highlighting Birmingham’s leisure and business offer.

Birmingham might not be the first place you’d think of visiting as a tourist, but when I tell people that it is where you’ll find the home of Cadbury chocolate, more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other UK city outside London and 40% of the country’s jewellery production, then they soon warm to the idea of spending some time here! The job can be extremely varied – in the past year, for example, I’ve promoted Birmingham’s inward investment offer at the international property conference MIPIM on the French Riviera; highlighted the city’s events credentials as it hosted its fifth Conservative Party Conference since 2008; and also helped welcome fans from across the world at cricket’s ICC Champions Trophy at Edgbaston Stadium.

At the weekend, I get the opportunity to live out a childhood dream by working as a sports reporter for BBC WM, the country’s second biggest local radio station. Every Saturday, I report on the fortunes of any one of the West Midlands’ professional football teams – with the ultimate highlight coming in April 2015, when I worked at Wembley Stadium to describe my favourite team Aston Villa’s FA Cup semi-final victory against Liverpool.

I started – as most people do – by asking for work experience, and after a period helping behind the scenes on the station’s sports output, have since reported live from more than 200 football matches. I’ve also worked at Sports Personality of the Year, Davis Cup tennis and in the mixed zone at major indoor and outdoor athletics events in Birmingham. These include the Diamond League and the British Championships, where I’ve interviewed Olympic gold medallists such as Jessica Ennis-Hill, Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford.

I’ll always be grateful to Park House, particularly the school’s Modern Languages Department. Studying French and German at GCSE and A Level has helped me to work under pressure, think and act quickly, improve my linguistic ability and deal with a number of different personalities – all skills which came in handy when I won an episode of Channel 4’s popular game show Countdown earlier this year! • Tom Marlow @tommymarlow

Tom pictured below on the BBC Breakfast sofa with Steph McGovern (centre).

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The Normandy Trip, May 2017 In May, as a part of our World War II studies, the History Department took 60 students from Year 8 to Normandy for a memorable and enriching visit to key D-Day sites to provide a real understanding of the scale of the human sacrifice made in the cause for freedom and liberty.

Our first port of call was to Sainte Mère Église, which was the first French town to be liberated by The Allies; a town made more famous by the fact that John Steel, a parachutist of the 82nd American Airborne Division, landed on the tower of the Church on D-Day. His crash-landing probably saved his life, as following heavy fighting in which many of his fellow soldiers were killed, he was cut down by the Germans, and spent the rest of the war as a Prisoner of War. His effigy still remains visible on the church (main picture opposite) as a poignant reminder seventy years later.

intensely fought battleground after D-Day. The largest beach of the campaign at over six miles wide, Omaha was hemmed in by steep cliffs which made attacking the area very difficult.

At St Mère Église, the students visited the Airborne Museum which documents the brave mission by the All-American Airborne Division, who parachuted into France on the night of the 5-6 June, 1944. Students had a chance to see a glider which had models of soldiers getting ready for their flight: these gliders played a key role in transporting over 4000 troops, as well as vehicles, ammunition, rations and other military equipment for the soldiers.

We then visited the strategically-important Pointe du Hoc – the highest point between Utah Beach to the West, and Omaha Beach to the East. The cliff viewpoint gives a unique overview of the enormous task facing The Allies landing on the beaches. German forces had heavily fortified the area, with concrete gun emplacements and gun pits to make any landing difficult.

After scaling the cliffs on D-Day the United States Rangers captured Pointe du Hoc where many original fortifications and numerous bomb craters remain.

The American Cemetery and Memorial above Omaha beach – a hugely significant focus of our trip – commemorates the lives of 9,387 Americans who lost their lives liberating this area. Omaha Beach was the most

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Part of the cemetery overlooks Omaha beach, and here, students saw for themselves some of the difficulties experienced by the American soldiers.

Furthermore, they also saw the moving memorial to the Americans fallen and lost in the assault, namely a 22-foot high bronze statue, ‘The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves’, which is the centrepiece of the Normandy Memorial and the Normandy American Cemetery. As a mark of respect for the soldiers’ selfless sacrifice, students were encouraged to put a memorial cross on the grave of a fallen one.

The following day, we visited the Pegasus Bridge Museum – officially known as ‘Memorial Pegasus’ – which houses the famous Pegasus Bridge.

The bridge was captured by British forces on the night of 5-6 June 1944.

Pegasus Bridge was captured to protect the eastern flank of the landing operations at Sword Beach – part of the Allied invasion of German occupied Northern Europe. Its capture played a vital role in aiding this attack, and was part of ‘Operation Overlord’.

Students not only learned about the events of the capture of this important strategic point, but also about the British 6th Airborne Division who carried out the operation.

Next, we visited the town of Arromanches – another hugely important historical site. It was on the beach of Arromanches that, during the Invasion of Normandy, The Allies established an artificial temporary harbour to allow the unloading of heavy equipment without the need to wait for the conquest of deep-water ports such as those found at Le

Havre or Cherbourg. We saw firsthand the remains of one of the two ‘Mulberry Harbours’, and two of our students, Emma Kay and Rebecca Sheldon, on behalf of all at Park House, laid a wreath as a mark of respect and in remembrance of the dead of World War II. The Arromanches 360 cinema, located on the clifftop, dominates the remains of the Mulberry B harbour at Gold Beach. A film, presented in highdefinition on the circular cinema of nine screens, depicting the story of the Battle of Normandy is a tribute to the soldiers of all countries, as well as the 20,000 civilians killed during the liberation of Europe. Fittingly described by one of our students as ‘the most amazing film she had ever seen’, this moving experience really brought home to students and staff alike the real horror of war, and the exorbitant human price paid for the liberation of Europe from Nazi domination.

Finally, and fittingly, in beautiful sunshine, students spent time exploring the town and beach at Arromanaches. Although the trip was often sombre and moving, we feel that the students gained a memorable experience, and as that they came away with a real sense of gratitude towards those who willingly gave their lives in the cause of freedom. In doing so, the trip helped the students to make connections between the reality of the war and what they had studied academically in their History lessons at school.

I must extend my extreme gratitude to the accompanying staff. These trips would not happen without their help, consideration and cooperation. Special thanks must go out to Miss Davis for all her efforts in helping to organise and run such a fantastic trip, to Mrs Morland for her help behind the scenes, and to Mr Jones, Mrs Waddell, Mrs Brown and Miss Chaffey for assisting and accompanying us. • Miss Lewis, Head of History

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Books, glorious books This time last year we were planning our very first whole school sponsored walk to raise funds to support literacy across the curriculum.

This has enabled us to provide 500 additional reading books to support our daily drop everything and read scheme and Accelerated ReaderTM programme (see opposite ) to enable more students to become Millionaire Readers.

Thank you so much to all our sponsors, teachers and students for this fantastic achievement which will be really appreciated by all members of the school community. Needless to say we are now actively planning our second sponsored whole school sponsored walk for this September. We will be identifying a different whole school focus to enrich the lives and opportunities for our students. The Student Council will contribute to identifying the next project. Please keep an eye on the weekly newsletter for further information. • Mrs Robinson-Slater, Deputy Headteacher

Looking ahead to Washington...

In February 2018 we have the very exciting prospect of travelling to Washington DC with 20 Sixth Form Politics students for a trip designed to help enhance their learning.

The current Year 13 A Level course focuses entirely on American systems of government, and how the American people interact with politics. The new specification A Level will also have an American unit, focusing on some of the same content. On the trip, students will get the chance to interact directly with these systems of government. Our proposed visits include a visit to each of the branches of government; the Supreme Court, Congress and the White House.

Students will explore the finer details of law making and how the country is run. We will also have the opportunity to see the newly opened National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Lincoln Memorial. This will allow students to make connections with their GCSE

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History studies. We will also be visiting the Smithsonian Museum and have a tour around the capital. Needless to say the students are all very excited at the prospect of travelling to America and enriching their studies with this fantastic opportunity! • Miss Davis

Who wants to be a millionaire?

This year again we have had great success with Year 7 and 8 students who have been taking part in the Accelerated ReaderTM program with the aim of reading a million words or more. The programme is included in their library-based English lessons.

Many of the students have also

downloaded the Accelerated ReaderTM app to complete quizzes in their own time. Our 2017 Millionaire Readers are: Year 7 James Sherlock James Nicoll Josh Donohoe Ben Hensby Ed Langdon

Harley Pottinger Millie Richards Harry Sherlock Year 8 Leah Farrant Euan Sherlock Maddie Tame Rachael Willis Lydia Mathias Emma Cheshire

Lily D’Arcy-Masters Isabel Knight Aditya Kottapolli Sophie Thornton-Allen Multi-millionaires Ed Langdon Isabel Knight Aditya Kottapalli • Ms Herden

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Let’s Dance...

Four of our dancers recently attended the yearly auditions at The Place in London for the prestigious Centre for Advanced Training (CAT) Scheme. From an audition of 250 dancers for just 40 places, three of our girls – Caitlin Richards, Year 9, Dulcie Crosby and Aimée Shannon, Year 11 – have been offered CAT Scheme places with Izzy Sutherland, Year 10, gaining a reserve place that we are hopeful might become available for her before September’s training commences. Outstanding!

The national scheme is part of an intensive programme for 11-18 year old dancers with exceptional potential and passion for dance. Several of our students have already experienced the scheme’s

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intense training and incredible opportunities – Pascale Barrett and Matt Lawson have previously attended and this year Samantha Ho and Freya Lawson have finished the scheme to go on to train professionally. As the Music and Dance Scheme Advisory Group states: “The aim of the scheme is to help identify, and assist, children with exceptional potential, regardless of their personal circumstances, to benefit from world-class specialist training as part of a broad and balanced education, which will enable them, if they choose, to proceed towards self-sustaining careers in music and dance.”

The CAT Scheme nurtures young dancers to enable them to maximize their potential, creating world-class dancers who have the capacity to

engage and compete with their international peers around the globe. Our dancers will work alongside a group of extremely talented dancers from around the UK. They will attend all day, every Saturday and also take part in intensive choreographic projects during the holidays at The London Contemporary Dance School.

This will be an incredible opportunity and we look forward to them all bringing back their new skills and feeding them into the curriculum alongside their fellow GCSE and A Level students. I am so proud of all four students. Congratulations! • Mrs Mawazini, Head of Dance

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Rushall Farm On two days in March our Year 8 students took the Geography Department’s annual trip to Rushall Farm, Bradfield to learn about river fieldwork and farming.

Students completed fieldwork in the River Pang which involved them all donning waders and getting stuck in to measure the width, depth and velocity of the river as well as doing some river dipping and finding out about species in a chalk stream. Their results were collected and then used to produce graphs and complete data analysis once back in the classroom.

Back on dry land students then learned about the workings of an organic farm. They had the opportunity to look at the machinery and learn about how it works as well as learning about the crops and crop rotation. As always we made sure we visited the farm during lambing time so students could witness the lambing where Miss Bunn even helped to deliver twins and students got the chance to hold some of the lambs. • Miss Bunn

“Visiting Rushall Farm was a really great day – the staff were really nice and showed us exactly what we had to do.

Firstly we went into the river wearing waders and we caught some fish. After we went back to the farm where we held some baby lambs.” Sergiu Chiriac, Year 8 “We did a survey of the river species by wading into the river. We also measured the water depth and width of the river.

It was a great experience as I now understand what they do at the farm on a day to day basis.” Emily Robinson , Year 8

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Geographical Association World Wise Quiz In January six students from Years 8, 9 and 10 competed in the Geographical Association World Wise Quiz at Reading School. They competed in two teams of three and in a variety of different rounds ranging from Famous walls, geography from space and country outlines.

From schools across Berkshire 28 teams entered and our fantastic teams managed to come 8th and 12th – very creditable as it was the first time that we had entered and we were up against very stiff competition! • Miss Bunn Duncan Somerville, Year 8: It was a great experience representing the school at the Worldwise Geography Quiz. Our teams travelled to Reading Boys’ School where we were up against teams from across Berkshire. There were lots of different rounds and some of the questions were tough! The most difficult round was the individual round where we each had to answer up to six questions but we had to get each question correct to get the next one which was very stressful but luckily, I scored five out of six. Our teams finished 8th and 12th which was a fantastic result for our first attempt and now we know what to expect I’m sure we can go back next year and do even better!

Callum Somerville, Year 8: I really enjoyed taking part in the Worldwise Geography Quiz. We had two teams and as well as competing against all the other teams I was up against my brother Duncan who was in the other Park House team! Some of the rounds were extremely challenging especially when we had to identify countries by their outline which was difficult enough but we had to also decide how confident we were with our answer as for each clue we received the number of points we could win decreased. Also like Duncan I found the individual round very scary but I also scored 5 points which was a big relief! I’d really like to be in the team next year as I know we will do better now we know what to expect! •

GCSE Students’ Studland studies On two days in June, two groups of Year 10 students visited Studland Bay as part of their Geography GCSE to collect data to answer key questions on their return to the classroom.

Students looked at sand dune succession in the mornings and completed transects across the dunes. The transects involved counting plant species, measuring the soil depth, recording the angle of the slope, taking the temperature and recording wind speeds.

In the afternoons students looked at the impact of tourism on Studland Bay. Students completed people counts, questionnaires, environmental impact assessments and mapped where damaged areas and management was taking place.

Despite the awful weather students were very motivated and got some great results that they will use to write up this fieldwork. • Miss Bunn

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Frozen...

We are very excited to be going to Iceland with Rayburn Tours in April 2018 with 55 students who are either studying GCSE or A Level Geography along with six members of staff. This is the first time the Geography department have run a trip like this so we are so glad it has proved popular.

Whilst in Iceland we will doing the full Golden Circle tour which involves waterfalls and geysers, we will be bathing in the secret lagoon and walking the hot spring path. We will also visit the famous Eyjafjallajökull Volcano as well as the Sólheimajökull Glacier (pictured). It really is going to be a trip not to be missed! • Miss Bunn

River Kennet Eels This summer term the Geography Department was very fortunate to be given the opportunity to work with a local charity – Action for the River Kennet (ARK) who are key campaigners for raising awareness of the value of water for both wildlife and people. This term our Year 8 students have been focusing on rivers and the school agreed with ARK to take on and support the growth of a collection of Glass Eels from the Sargasso Sea. Eels are critically endangered due to damage to their habitats, over-fishing, river pollution and obstacles in their migration course.

The glass eels have migrated over 7000km from the Sargasso Sea which is in the Western Atlantic Ocean near the Bahamas. These young eels have traveled to the UK as they thrive in our chalk streams. There are approximately 200 chalk streams in the world and 85% of them are located in the UK. The combination of geology and climate results in chalk streams make them very effective in providing habitats for many different species of wildlife.

Students who visited Rushall Farm (see page 26) during the spring term were lucky enough to complete river investigations in the River Pang, and should recall observing the different species of wildlife that were found, from Mayfly Nymphs to Bullhead Fish.

The arrival of the eels has educated both teachers and students alike regarding their life-cycles, diets and migration patterns. The eels were released in to a local stream on Wednesday 21 June by a selection enthusiastic students from 8 Gamma. • Miss Snellling. For more information go to: www.riverkennet.org

A taste of France...

This term we have been on an amazing French trip! We started off by going on a bus to Dover then boarded a ferry and travelled to Calais. Once we had arrived we went to a snail farm, and got to see where the sails lived and were given an opportunity to hold them.

Shortly after we were taken to a seating area where we could try the snails. Many of us tried them and enjoyed their garlicky taste; others weren’t so sure (especially Tom!). The snail farm owners kindly made jam, biscuits and lemonade to supplement the taste.

We then travelled to a small town, by the beach, called Le Touquet.

The groups then split up, some went to an ice cream shop while others went to a gift shop. We then went to a small sweet shop (called La Bonbonnière) that could barely hold all of us! After we had finished buying all our sweets we went to a very nice bakery, where we bought lots of delicious biscuits – ‘Miam! Miam!’

Everyone was tired by the end of the day so we got back on the coach and made our way back to the ferry port, we got back to school at 12:15am in the end! Overall this trip was such a good experience, we asked some of our classmates what they thought of the trip. Will said ‘The opportunity to try different French food was awesome for example eating snails.’ Amy said ‘It was a great experience.’ And Marcus said ‘It was great but we wished we were there longer – a day isn’t enough.’ I agree; a day wasn’t enough! • Maisie Jade Glover, Year 7

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Photo: Christophe Pinard

Ahoy!

Monday 22 May signaled the start of our annual voyage for the Park House Pirates.

Twelve students made their way excitedly to Poole to board their home for the week, the Prolific – a ketch, which means that she has two masts, a taller main mast and shorter mizzen mast behind it. With a mainsail, a mizzen sail and an assortment of headsails to be hoisted, there was plenty for twelve crew members to do!

We were to be the crew of the Prolific and made our way down the pontoon to catch out first proper view of the boat. After dumping our bags and choosing our bunks, we settled in the living area (the saloon), with the table for meals and briefings. We were introduced to the Skipper, First Mate, Watch Leaders and our Engineer and then got straight up on deck to learn how the boat worked.

We spent a few hours learning about all of the safety equipment, how to use the winches and sails, and how to tack (a sailing manoeuvre by which a sailing vessel (which is sailing approximately into the wind) turns its bow through the wind so that the direction from which the wind blows changes from one side to the other). After this, it was time to set our course for our chosen destination of Cherbourg!

We set off on the first evening and had a short sail, to Studland Bay where we dropped anchor for the evening. After dinner, which Josh, the engineer, kindly prepared for us, we had our first experience of how to wash up on the Prolific. It may not sound like much fun to clean up, but only those of us on the boat know the true brilliance of ‘Extreme Washing Up’! The next day, we headed south and fairly soon the sea sickness began! Luckily, we soon gained our sea legs and successfully crossed the English Channel.

After docking in Cherbourg, we had a much needed rest after our long and challenging sail. We decided to spend the next day exploring Cherbourg and also took the opportunity to take the dinghy out on the water for some rowing experience.

The sail back to Gosport was our longest and most successful stint. By this point, we had a good grasp of how to sail the boat and managed to get the boat moving at some good speeds! Jack set our record of nearly 11 knots, which is incredibly impressive under sail. The conditions were perfect and we had lots of time to practice all of our skills on watch and soak up the sights of the Channel. The sun was shining and, with Tom using the electronic equipment to navigate us through the busy shipping lanes, we all agreed that this was our favourite day. We even all got the chance to get out on the nets connected to the bowsprit at watch as the hull cut through the waves. All in all, a great trip! Everybody got the chance to steer the boat, navigate, winch, change and hoist sails. We learned new skills and made new friends and memories. Well done to everyone for earning their RYA Start Yachting certificates and many thanks to the crew, who really made sure our week was the best! • Miss Hutchings

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award We have had a very successful year with two of our groups completing their Silver award, three students undertaking their Gold and 20 students doing Bronze. July saw the students undertake the Bronze assessed expedition walking from school to Linkenholt Outdoor Activity Centre in Andover where they camped overnight before walking to Hungerford Common on the Sunday. Volunteering achievements have included walking an elderly neighbour’s dog and helping in the library. Their skills have varied from learning Japanese to learning to drive along with improving many physical sporting skills. • Mr Burton

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Sports Presentation Evening Now in its 14th year, Sports Presentation Evening hosted by the PE Department is the pinnacle of the year. The evening was a great opportunity to celebrate the year’s sporting achievements with students from Years 7 to 10 who danced the night away after the presentations.

Michaela Breeze – Commonwealth Gold, Silver and Bronze weightlifter – shared her key theme of determination, having faced serious injury setbacks herself and the students were inspired to continue despite challenging times.

With awards for most improved and players’ player, the evening highlighted the success, dedication and hard work that the students show throughout the year. Finishing the awards ceremony with the most prestigious awards, Sports

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Personality of the year. This is an award where names on the trophy speak for themselves, James Cousins, Tom Croft, Jonathan Joseph to name a few, as well as our own Miss Chaffey & Mr Rowell...

Year 7 Sports Personalities – Kyla Barclay & Tom Ferguson Year 8 Sports Personalities – Erin Miller & Oscar Reeves Year 9 Sports Personalities – Grace Chiltern & Harvey MacKay Year 10 Sports Personalities – Lilly Gohara & Toby Albert Congratulations to all who won awards! • Ms Rowland

Table Tennis Winners

Max McDougall and Archie Dyson with another member of their team got to the finals of the Pembroke Cup in the Newbury District Table Tennis league.

This is based on a handicapped system resulting in them being this year’s winners. Woolton Hill Table-Tennis Club were absolutely thrilled for this achievement for one of their teams. • Mrs McDougall

Berkshire Young Coaches Academy In September 2016 a number of our students applied to have a place on the Berkshire Young Coaches Academy.

The programme’s aim is to identify, and develop coaches of the future by offering training, personal development and mentoring. The programme is aimed at young people who want to develop as coaches, gain coaching qualifications or training and are committed to actively coaching within a school and/or community setting. The Academy provides a pathway from school leadership and volunteering programmes into coaching.

Congratulations to Zoe Forte, Izzy Fry, Miles Albert, Oliver Hewitt, Joshua Reeves and Gabriel Silva, for completing the programme. • Mrs Whyatt

This year I have been taking part in the Berkshire Young Coaches Academy which consists of attending regular workshops and new guidance on what makes a good coach.

The whole programme which will give me an overall Level 1 coaching qualification was very eye-opening due to the fact that although I felt I was a good, consistent coach it turns out I can still improve on many aspects of my coaching skills.

With the help of Tim and Maxine I have improved my coaching skills massively. I also feel more confident in keeping my coaching sessions fun for all ages and abilities whilst teaching new skills. • Oliver Hewitt Year 12

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Double, double, some toil, no trouble Year 10 • Following an unbeaten league campaign (conceding just one goal in the process), and a 9-1 annihilation of Trinity in the semi-final, the Year 10 boys went into the District Cup Final versus Kennet full of confidence and expectation.

The game started slowly for us and the Gaffer was concerned that perhaps we had finally met our match. But he should not have been concerned; in the blink of an eye, goals from Greg Barker, Bill Sherrin and Luke Kemp asserted our control and ultimately our dominance. The boys then went into the halftime break 3-0 up, relaxed and enjoying the occasion.

Early in the second half, Kennet took advantage of another languid start, but their goal back did nothing but spur us on once more and after a goal-ofthe-season team goal finished off again by Luke Kemp, the boys played out the remainder of the game with ease, organised well by Man of the Match, James Liriano.

The final whistle brought jubilation and the presentation of the trophy to captain Toby Albert was a fitting end to a great season. A massive well done and thanks to all the boys. • Mr Gook

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Two titles each in two years for Years 10 and 11 boy’s football

Year 11 • This year’s District Cup Final was against John O’Gaunt – a match the boys had worked extremely hard to reach.

We were up against our first group game opponents John O’Gaunt who we had beaten 3-1 previously. The boys were nervous and the team talk before the game was simple, “You’re champions, go out and prove it”. It was an incredible experience for all of us at Hungerford Town Football Club – the first time I had coached from a dugout and I have to say I could get used it.

It wasn’t long before Sam Robinson, with a stunning finish, put us ahead.

We were then awarded a penalty which Callum Cunningham tucked away. We were 2-0 up at half time and things looked positive.

The second half was ours, a third goal came when Ali Thorp broke through the defence and slotted the ball under the keeper. John O’Gaunt pulled one back but Noah Recio Wood added a fourth after some great skill on the wing from Luke Donohoe. The final whistle blew and we were Champions! Two years and two trophies, not bad at all! They are a special bunch of lads with a great team spirit. I will miss being their coach and I want to wish them all the best in their exams and for the future. • Mr Columbro

Weightlifting medals...

Eran and Levi Whyte reached The 2017 British Age Group Weightlifting Championships after twice taking part in Southern Schools.

They both train under Marius Hardiman (see Personal Best issue 35) and Julie Morrish representing Oxford Powersports owned by Marius.

They have been on a training program along with two other friends (both of whom are in the under 11s) for the last five weeks training at least twice a week in both Oxford and Hungerford.

We always knew this competition would be more competitive with stricter application of the rules as Eran and Levi fall into the U15s category with other competitors in their age group slightly older and heavier.

However, they both came away with more medals! Eran with a gold for her and Levi with a Bronze – we are so proud of them both! They came away feeling inspired by the whole experience and asking when they would next compete! • Matthew and Caroline Whyte

Sport and politics do mix at De Montfort Students and staff joined the International Centre for Sports History and Culture (ICSHC) at De Montfort University, Leicester this month for a special workshop on ‘Politics and the Olympic Games’ delivered by ICSHC Director, Professor Martin Polley.

As Martin Polley himself said: “This was a fantastic event. The students from Park House really threw themselves into the discussion of the political history of the Olympics, and how political decisions affect so many aspects of the Games. They were a real credit to the school – bright, engaged, mature, and capable of really thinking on their feet.” • Derek Peaple

Athletics Team rise to regional finals after nine year drought!

Our English Schools Athletics Team have attended regional finals after a long absence. Athletics is typically an individual sport allowing students to shine on the track or jump into the pitt, so when it comes to the English Schools Track and Field Cup, it’s a challenge to bring together a team of twelve girls who have to compete in two events and ensure that we have each individual in their best point-scoring events.

Lily Gohara and Bo Stewart started us off superbly both scoring 20 points in their hurdles race winning both their races. Lucy Wells, then ran a fantastic 1500m in windy conditions again scoring 21 points. Anna Montagne had a shaky start in the 100m but true to form came through with a fantastic finish and great time scoring 21 points. Successes kept coming and we came fourth in the finals – I was so proud of their teamwork. • Mrs Clarke

The nationwide competition for us began back in May when we travelled up to Palmer Park, Reading for the first round competing against twelve other Berkshire schools. The girls competed in their field events in the morning where we lay in sixth. The afternoon saw track events where most of our girls really excel and push themselves.

With thanks to: Anna Montagne (Captain) 100m & Long Jump • Lily Gohara (Vice) Hurdles & Relay • Bo Stewart Hurdles & Relay • Emily Bettles 200m & Relay • Chloe Gallagher 300m & Discus • Mai Brown 800m & Shot • Morgan Searle 100m & Triple Jump • Lucy Wells 1500m & High Jump • Kira Angel 200m & High Jump • Georgia Tomlinson 300m & Long Jump • Bethany Roach 800m & Discus • Grace Chilton Relay & Javelin and Astrid Davies Reserve.

The last event of the day – always the most exciting – was the relay and we won with a great time scoring a maximum 25 points. We waited to hear if we had increased our points score enough to take us out of sixth position.

Our traditional rivals St. Barts and Kennet had already been called out and although I was confident we had performed well could we really have beaten Maiden Erlegh and Queen Anne’s? Yes! We had 326 points just behind Holt with 332 points.

The regional finals in Basingstoke on 7 June saw another twelve Schools (ten of which were independent) from across the South West competing against us. Our girls had all been training hard both at school and their clubs.

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Newbury Blues – Promotion to the National Leagues (with a big help from Park House!)

For those who don’t know, as well as being a teacher at Park House, I am also an ex-student. Ten years ago I would have just finished my AS exams and getting ready for my final year of studying Maths, Physics and PE. I had been a regular in the school 1st XV rugby team for my last two years, but what might surprise a few is at that time Park House was the only rugby team I had ever played for. Football and cricket were my chosen sports outside of school, but my love for rugby was growing and my experiences of playing for the school 1st team led me to joining Newbury RFC Colts whilst having a gap year before university. Fast forward ten years and I have just finished my third year as 1st Team Captain of Newbury Blues, leading them to our best season in over a decade, clinching promotion back to the National Leagues with a number of other ex-Park House students also heavily involved. Here are a few of my highlights from the season…

Beating Maidenhead at Home Even early on in the season we knew that both ourselves and Maidenhead would be fighting at the higher echelons of the league come April. We started with a bang, producing our best first half performance to take a 24-14 lead into the break. With 10 minutes of pressure but no points to show for it, an attempted drop-goal from myself to try and keep the scoreboard ticking over went agonisingly close, ricocheting off the post. However our scrum-half, Joe Pigott, was fastest to react, picking up the loose ball and diving over the line to score. Despite a late Maids surge, we held on to our lead to win 31-28.

On the break against Maidenhead on the way to winning 31-28.

The Comebacks of all Comebacks The first game of 2017 was not going as planned. Playing against a Swindon team that had been struggling near the bottom of the table, but ahead 31-17 with less than 10 minutes to go. It was wet, heavy and horrible, and to almost everyone at Monks Lane it seemed like we were down and out. But we believed, and sure enough we produced the greatest eight minutes of rugby I have ever been a part of. We produced three unbelievable team tries, all of which started in our own half to come back and win 32-31 after time was up.

It was a truly heroic performance that we would feed off for the rest of the season. The picture below shows the elation of everyone in Blues Corner as we score the winning try!

Promotion to National 3 South West After finishing third in the league in 2015/16, our target was to better that in 16/17. After losing to Maidenhead away, we were always going to struggle to overturn them and win the league outright. We could however still get promoted by finishing second and then winning a playoff game against the team that did the same in South West 1 West. We finished the season with an unbelievable run, averaging a score of 52 points per game and only conceding an average of 12.

This set up a playoff game, at home against Clevedon RFC. It was a fantastic occasion, with every corner of the ‘Monks Lane Megabowl’ filled with supporters from both teams. It was an extremely hard fought game, with neither team prepared to give an inch to the other.

A try from ex-student Jamie Futcher in the first half gave us a bit of breathing space, and with the conversion of that try and also six penalties, 20 points from my boot would in the end be too much for Clevedon. We had done it! Promotion back to the National Leagues (although National 3 SW has since been renamed South West Premier).

Celebrating winning our promotion playoff.

Five ex-students involved – Dylan Stewart, Josh Love, Toby Thorne, Jamie Futcher and myself.

Blues for Berkshire There is a strong Park House contingent at NRFC, with former students such as my brother Toby, Josh Love, Dylan Stewart and Jamie Futcher all regulars in the 1st Team, as well as myself and Mr Slater. There are a number of other alumni who have also made appearances for the 1st Team over the last few years including Aaron Johnston, Tom Martin, Tom Dyer and Michael Lintin.

Another ex-student Martin Paice is also one of our club physios.

We had a number of players go on to represent Berkshire at the end of the season for their County Championship campaign. Included in these are ex-students Josh Love, Toby Thorne, Jamie Futcher and myself, pictured below after winning away at Wootton Bassett against Dorset & Wiltshire.

There are lots of current Park House students playing in the juniors at the club, and also a number of exciting players in the colts section. I am hoping that players such as Max Hayman, Christian Atkinson, Miles Albert and Ali Magee will be soon joining us in the senior teams! • Mr D Thorne On County duty - the middle three all ex-Park House students!

Ex-student Josh Love scores the match winner against Swindon to the joys of the crowd.

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Another evening with a rugby legend Following the success of our Rugby Legends evening with Zinzan Brooke and Sean Fitzpatrick in November 2016 we hosted another rugby legend – world class referee Nigel Owens MBE – for an evening which was, dare we say, even more entertaining.

Superbly compèred again by BBC Scrum V presenter Sean Holley and supported by the Events Room and Waddell Digital, the evening had absolutely everything: irreverent humour, insight, reflection... even some wonderful singing from both Nigel himself and also Year 12 student Fiona Davis!

Dan Roch who has ambitions to get into sports journalism or commentating did a great job as student ambassador for the evening, and to cap it all we raised almost £2,000 towards rugby development at the school.

We hope to host similar fundraising evenings for the school in the near future. Please look out for news in our weekly newsletters and on our usual social media channels! • Derek Peaple

Nigel Owens explaining the finer points of the game to Sean Holley...

Towards the further development of rugby for girls and boys at Park House School. www.parkhouseschool.org

www.waddelldigital.co.uk

Fiona Davies entertained us with her beautiful voice.

Headteacher Derek Peaple and student ambassador Dan Roch present Nigel Owens with a painting by ex-student Alice Chambers.

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Making STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) the root of so much of what we do at Park House - see more over the next eight pages.

CDK CodeSmart:

As part of our iSTEM+ contribution, CDK offered Park House the chance to attend our very first CodeSmart pilot event in Hungerford where students worked with professionals from the global software company to produce websites using agile development methods and coding in HTML5 and CSS3. Students were assigned teams and given a brief to build a website to promote a global brand.

The teams organised themselves and managed the project based on their individual skills and strengths. Team roles included interface design, implementation, marketing and project management. With help from CDK mentors, students engaged in learning new skills to achieve shared goals. The teams then developed a prototype website by modifying existing HTML and CSS code, before presenting their designs to all involved in the day. Congratulations to Oscar, Abbie and Aeisha who were overall winners. • Adapted from Ray Buckland’s CDK Pilot report

“This event taught me that you need a team of people to complete a project... not just one person.”

“The creative side of an IT job can be fun.”

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Centre of Excellence Park House has once again achieved the status of Centre of Excellence in the South of England in the Computer Science Network of Excellence. This was presented by Richard Benyon MP representing the Department for Education and Computing At School on behalf of the British Computing Society.

the Computing curriculum both within the school and to the local community. We are delighted to be recognised for the opportunities we provided for students in visits to Google, Microsoft and TeenTech among others and our encouragement of young women in studying and exploring Computing.

The award highlights the achievements of the school both academically for Computer Science and for the unique experiences provided to students throughout the school. The award is also supported by the outreach work that both teachers and students provide to support

My thanks go to all the students who make the most of the experiences outside of the classroom and demonstrate the love for learning that will enable them to utilise technology in the future to support whatever path they wish to take. • Mr Marshman

Ben Ainslie Racing In May a large group of Year 8 students went to Portsmouth to Ben Ainslee Racing (BAR) to see the development of Great Britain’s America’s Cup Challenge.

We were introduced to the rigours of high speed sailing and the students were given an explanation of the technology involved in developing a high speed racing yacht. BAR have developed an educational Tech Deck work area for schools to visit and see some of the aspects that influence the design of a racing yacht. Students were able to climb into some of the early prototype racing yachts on display.

There are several teaching aspects covering many areas of STEM at Tech Deck and we were looking at the biological sustainability

programme. As you may be aware the America’s Cup racing is being held off Bermuda this year and the activity was linked to a major invasive fish species problem that occurs in the Western Atlantic and also in the Caribbean Sea. This concerns Lion Fish, a very aggressive and non-native species to the area. These were introduced, by accident, by humans and the resultant epidemic of Lion Fish is destroying the indigenous populations and local coral habitats.

Lion Fish have no natural predators in the Western Atlantic so their population can grow without restraint. This is causing devastation to local wildlife and fragile ecosystems.

Students learnt about these issues and the potential consequences if we don’t intervene positively. Lots of the Lion Fish got into the local waters after a hurricane hit the coast of Florida a few years ago and destroyed an aquarium. The escaped fish then took over. Voracious eaters they just glutton their way through as much food as they can get hold of and spread out. They eat just about anything and can devastate local fish populations in a short time.

The local Bermudan environment agency is now advertising Lion Fish as a food delicacy so that humans fish for it and the phrase is now ‘ throw a Lion Fish on the barbie!’ as they are being served as local delicacies in restaurants too. • Mr Miller

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DigiGirlz On a visit to Microsoft’s UK headquarters a team of our students were given the task of designing an advertisement for a new mobile app linked to food.

The event began with a presentation on future technologies and how they can be used to in communities and to support those with disabilities.

Valuable insights were also provided into the future of learning and the skills needed to ensure that young people are ready to work alongside technology to be successful.

This year’s Park House DigiGirlz team comprised Lowri Thomas, Keala Doyle, Livia Popplewell, Emma Layton, Jessie Thompson, Georgia Poole, Leonie Craddick and Kira Tucker. The team worked together undertaking different roles to produce their final advert. Lowri was elected project leader; Keala was tasked with editing the video; Jessie and Livia were involved in creating the graphical representation of the final product; Georgia and Emma were in charge of the costing strategy and Leonie and Kira were the marketing experts.

Their solution was a design for an app that would scan food inside a fridge and then determine what meals could be made from the remaining food, enabling an order to be sent for a local supermarket to deliver the additional ingredients. Our DigiGirlz worked tirelessly on their solution.

Their process included interviewing some of the staff at Microsoft in order to gather some of their insight and views on their potential product.

They used a detailed storyboard in order to capture the necessary clips to be combined in Movie Maker where sound and transitions were added for a truly inspiring advert which featured all of the team. • Mr Marshman

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Google girls A team of our girls was invited this year to the Google Campus near Victoria Station in London to experience a day of creative computational thinking and mathematics.

As one of the few schools in the UK with access to the new Google facility, this annual event is always greatly anticipated and enjoyed by the attending Year 7 students with added excitement and discussion on the way back.

The day is hosted by two female Computer Scientists from Google who work in the software engineering and customer support teams at Google. The event started with looking at the different ways that Computer Science has helped make the lives and experiences of people across the country more enjoyable and how it

The Year 7s were accompanied by our Young Digital Leader Grace Blake (see page 41 for more about Grace).

has made information more accessible.

The students also took part in some fantastic discussions about driverless cars and algorithm behind search engines.

The girls took part in a range of programming activities using the Google Blockly platform to traverse mazes, create geometric shapes to name a only a few of the challenges using the latest Google chromebooks.

We were also treated to a special tour of the Google offices which are known for their

extremely distinctive and fun learning and collaborative spaces.

It was an enjoyable and immersive experience in a variety of open and dynamic environments, completely changing their preconceptions of working in the IT industry. • Mr Marshman

Google Mind the Gap...

Worldwide, the number of women engaging in Computer Science (CS) and Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) careers is significantly lower than the number of men. According to UCAS in 2016, women made up only 14% of university applications for Computer Science subjects and only 23% for STEM subjects in total.

Having female role models in CS and STEM careers is vitally important when inspiring students to study the various disciplines. Google’s ‘Mind the Gap’ event is part of a global diversity programme with the goal to change the way young women perceive Computer Science. The

programme started in 2008 in Israel and is now running at several Google offices across the world, including USA, Japan, Switzerland, Italy.

We were absolutely delighted that our students were invited by Google us to take part in a UK pilot.

The event took place at the Google Belgrave office in London and included Tech Talk presentations by female Googlers as well as an office tour and finally a Q&A panel with female Googlers in technical roles. Our students even got the chance to play and experiment with the yet to be released Google glasses. • Mr Marshman

“The tour allowed us to see the work life that the employee of Google had and encouraged me to consider working in programming.”

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TeenTech 2017 It was while at CDK Global’s innovation day in January that I came up with the idea of my product the Holo-Flash Band.

For about two months during Teen-Tech enrichment I developed my product idea further and after enrichment had finished I still carried on developing...

The day after the final I was asked to do another interview with Radio Berkshire and I have since also set up a website page for the Holo-Flash Band. • Ben Hensby, Year 7

Some weeks after the enrichment we spent a day writing the reports on our projects that we then sent on to TeenTech. A few weeks ago I found out that I had got into the finals and I began to prepare for the awards.

I spent two to three weeks preparing for the awards in London. In that time I also worked with CDK Global who helped me create a prototype of my Holo-Flash band.

On the Friday before the awards, I had a radio interview with Radio Berkshire over the phone where I told them about the Holo-Flash Band.

The awards were in June at the Royal society in London where I had to set up a stand about the Holo-Flash Band showing posters, information about the product and images and diagrams of what it could look like. I then had to pitch to a number of judges and celebrities including Evan Davis (Presenter of Dragons Den) and Professor Brian Cox.

TeenTech Convention On Tuesday 13 June, Oscar Patterson, Heather Caborn, Kiara Jones and Ben Marshall, represented the British Computing Society at a TeenTech Convention at the Hampshire Court Hotel near Basingstoke.

The British Computing society is the chartered institute of IT in Britain promoting a community of professionalism within the industry. They were one of many computing and engineering organisations and companies at the Teen Tech event for Year 8s from across the south.

We were asked to create an activity for Year 8s that required computational skills and teamwork. We created a maze with several solutions and asked people to solve it in as few moves as possible; write out their solution then read that list to a blindfolded team member who had to get through the maze created upon the floor.

This required clear precision of commands in the same way that they may be given to a computer. They could then pass a remote control car through the same maze with the controller turned away from the maze listening to commands from their team. They learnt the value of team communication and developed their abstract problem solving skills.

In turn, we developed our ability to communicate and work with students. What’s more, it was a fantastic opportunity to develop and make

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connections with people and educators within the tech industry. We are very grateful to BCS and Teen Tech for giving us this opportunity, and look forward to further events like this. • Oscar Patterson and Ben Marshall

Grace Blake nominated as Young Digital Leader On top of my role as a TeenTech Young Ambassador I have now been nominated as one of ten UK finalists for the title of Young Digital Leader of the Year 2017 as part of the Digileaders 100.

I was nominated for my outreach work at Kintbury Primary School where I helped teach key computer science topics to the students with a more creative approach alongside my contributions to the regular TeenTech Events; my mentoring role as a Digital Ambassador within Park House and because of my participation as a member of the Young Digital Task Force.

It’s fantastic to have been nominated out of all the entries nationwide and even more special for me as I am one of only two school-age students nominated (the rest being much older).

I’m so grateful to Park House for giving me the freedom and encouragement to do this. • Grace Blake, Year 13

TeenTech cities of the future...

“Thank you ever so much for inviting me on this wonderful trip. I thoroughly enjoyed it, as did the rest of my friends.

I was amazed at the things we did and our teamwork.” Molly Burnett, Year 7

Teams of Year 7 students have been designing, at school and home, cities of the future which could make space more enjoyable, sustainable and that would make the most of technology.

“Before I joined Park House I wasn’t very interested in computing but these experiences have broadened my knowledge and now I enjoy Computer Science more than ever. I am very grateful to be chosen for these events and I cannot wait to learn more about Computer Science.” Emily Robinson, Year 7

With these questions in mind, students worked in teams to produce models of their cities. Through teacher and parent donations, students had access to a huge range of recyclable materials in order to create a future building which could be part of an innovative city design.

Students were asked questions such as “What would your dream city of the future look like?” and “How could you make it smarter, kinder or safer?” among others.

Once completed they were invited to the Emirates stadium in London to present their work to a range of industry leaders who judged their designs.

Each group received an award demonstrated a huge team effort and attention to detail. • Mr Marshman

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Particle Physics Year 7 Science Masterclass In March the Year 12 physics students went to a Particle Physics Masterclass organised by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). This is an amazing opportunity to visit the world leading experiments, that are on our doorstep, is one not to be missed. It is one of the exciting trips that we organise each year for our physics students.

The day started with an introduction and description of particle accelerators and progressed to a computer analysis session in an industrial research computer facility at Harwell. Here the students analysed real data from the Atlas experiment at CERN. This experiment provided some of the evidence for the now famous Higgs Boson particle. It was the prediction of the existence of this particle that resulted in the Nobel Prize award to the British theoretical physicist Professor Peter Higgs in 2013.

After lunch Dr Kristian Harder described the standard model of particle physics and explained the challenges and reasons for studying particle physics and the nature of matter. This was followed by a really interesting tour of the Diamond Synchrotron facility – a show piece experiment releasing electrons into a high velocity storage ring which whizz around the ring at 99% of the speed of light. As the electrons are manipulated around the ring with a magnetic field they lose energy which is emitted as x-rays. The x-rays are then used to probe matter to see how atoms are arranged which has been useful for analysing medical proteins and developing new medicines; for analysing the structure of metals and discovering how the materials behave in different conditions. Recent studies have been into developing a new honeycomb metal structure for stronger but lighter turbine blades in Roll Royce jet engines. The Diamond Light source is funded by the STFC and Wellcome Trust with more information available at www.diamond.ac.uk .

After a much earned cup of tea the students listened to the advances in cancer treatment using particle accelerators to destroy tumours. Using particle physics in this way has improved the survival rates for some cancers to 95%. and is particularly effective with tumours of the eye.

The final activity was a quiz and an exhausted group of physicists arrived back at school having extended their physics knowledge to new levels. • Mr Miller

Back in January a large group of our talented Year 7 students enjoyed a visit to the Rutherford Appleton Labs at Harwell for a sponsored science and STEM day.

The theme for the day was ‘Science in Space’ and the students spent time in the space centre doing a practical experiment modelling crater formation by asteroid impacts. They used marbles to simulate the asteroid and sand and cocoa powder for the sandy surface of the planet. They also made comets from dry ice in one of the labs.

Other experiments involved designing insulation systems for a space component or satellite. Students had to take into account the need to protect the satellite from harmful radiation by minimising the effect of the heat energy on the components. Not as simple as it sounds because they also had to take account of how much it costs to ship components into space, so their solution had to be both effective and very light weight. The bigger the mass the more it costs to send the object into space and with transport costs at £16,000 per kilogram the lighter the better. Materials were provided and the students had free reign to choose what they used and how they put the insulation together.

One of our groups won the competition as they had the lowest heat loss in the experimental test and their solution was the lightest and cheapest to send into space. The day concluded with some quick demonstrations on how lasers work, sound and noise cancelling headphones, thermal imaging and making elephant’s toothpaste. A great fun day for our enthusiastic Year 7s learning about the impact of Science on our lives. • Mr Miller, Head of Physics

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Science is our Future

Getting creative with our DNA at Bayer

A group of Year 10 girls were invited to take advantage of a Science day at Rutherford Appleton Labs at Harwell Science Park in February. We got involved in several interactive activities, including climbing inside a giant inflatable molecule!

Our Year 7 students had a brilliant time at Bayer’s new Baylab facility based in the Green Park, Reading – this free laboratory for schools offers state of the art equipment, intriguing experiments, and the chance to use innovative ideas to solve tasks and develop solutions.

The day also gave our students the opportunity to tour the Diamond Light Source and the students saw numerous experiments being performed in the world leading research facility. These were engineering projects, like looking at the structure of the Rolls Royce Trent Jet Engine turbine blades, where the technology has been used to make the high tech blades stronger and lighter leading to improved fuel economy for jet aircraft. This is done through understanding the stresses and strains in the material as the engine goes through it’s thrust cycle. The potential failure points can be identified and changes made to the design to eliminate these areas of concern.

The students’ visit involved extracting their own DNA and then combining it into a funky necklace – you can’t get jewellery much more personalised than that! Bayer has also sponsored the ‘ixplain’ GCSE Biology app which provides content to support GCSE students. The app includes many diagrams and photos, and introduces new topics such as ‘disease in plants’ and ‘food production’. • Mr Miller • www.bayer.co.uk/en/baylab/

Other experiments looked at the molecular structure of drugs used to treat innovatively diseases that are causing major issues to humanity.

Some of the interactive sessions also involved designing models to build stable wind turbine out at sea, and one of our group of students won the completion to build the most stable set up in their session, budding engineers designing power generation for the future. All in all a fun day at Harwell and some great science too. • Mr Miller

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China girl In May, my mom Carolyne, her colleague Carey-Anne and I had the most amazing opportunity to go to China. We went because an orphanage in Xi’an needed extra help with some of their children. My mom is an occupational therapist who works with children who have disabilities or special needs so she was hoping to help the children with many of their problems.

I was extremely envious of her because I wanted to go so much! Then with the agreement of my tutor and the Headteacher – (thank you Mr Hawkins and Mr Peaple!) I was on my way...

We flew to Beijing, got a connecting flight to Xi’an then went to our run down, smoke-filled hotel where no-one spoke English and it felt really awkward.

The next day we woke up to the sound of a thousand children screaming/shouting/laughing in a school about five metres away from my bedroom window (the children had to be at school all day from 6am to 5pm!). Someone had been smoking in the hallway so everything smelt like cigarettes and there was smoke in the room, a manky shower and a window that you could hardly see through. It was luxury... not!

We were taken to the orphanage by a man named John-Fu and introduced to the children who were adorable! Some of them had a lot of difficulties including autism, cerebral palsy, down syndrome and more.

Because I had no idea what to do, I just played with the kids and watched what mom and Carey-Anne were doing and copied them. One of the boys was called Ming-Ming and whenever you put him in his cot, he would cry, scream and start panicking.

My mom explained that the reason he did this was because before he came to the orphanage he was probably left for hours and hours on his own, so when you put him down he was afraid you were never going to come back. My mom showed the ladies who worked at the orphanage a special way to put him to bed that made him feel safer and calmer. He was so cute and he just wanted someone to hug him constantly!

Each day, after we had spent the morning with the first orphanage, we would go for lunch.

This was really difficult because we couldn’t understand what they were saying and they couldn’t understand us either.

Chinese food that we have in England is very different to the authentic Chinese food.

Everything was much spicier (I did get fed up with noodles pretty fast...).

Anyway, in the afternoon we would go to the second group and most of these were older children except for three babies. There was one three-year-old girl called Pearl who kept on having fits, so all she would do was just lie on her side in the corner and not do anything. We taught the ladies how to hold her so she could eat and how to slowly get her to sit up and engage with and talk to her. By the end of the trip she had gone from sleeping all day to sitting up and playing and laughing. It was an amazing thing to see because there really was such a difference in how she acted.

In the second group there were two four-yearold boys (one of them had down syndrome, he

was called Shwaun-Shwaun) and every time they saw me they would run up and give me a huge hug and I would run around and play with them. The other boy Duo-Duo loved turning the lights on and off, so he made me pick him up and he would spend about 10 minutes flicking the light switch. He could have done it for hours, if my arms hadn't got tired.

The only part I didn’t like about the trip was walking through the towns. My hair is really blonde and they all have black hair. We weren’t in a very touristy area, so most of the people had never seen blonde hair before. They would literally stop in the streets, stare at me and take pictures or videos. Complete strangers would run up to me, give me their baby and take a picture. I once had a picture taken with an entire family, just because of my blonde hair. It was really weird.

On the last day a man walked right up to my face and took a picture (by this point, I was fed up with people doing that) so I took out my phone walked up to him and took a picture of him which made him think twice about taking another one of me.

As part of our trip we had two days to be tourists, so we got to see the Terracotta Warriors and the Great Wall of China. It was a truly amazing experience and so very interesting. I was so glad to see the difference we made to children at the orphanage. • Arianne Coates, Year 8

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Quadkids!

Falkland retain the Quadkids title in 2017 Over 500 students from across 26 primary schools attended the annual Park House Quadkids festival in May. Athletes had the opportunity to score points as individuals and for their team in four disciplines; standing long jump, sprint, middle distance run and the vortex javelin.

With nearly 1000 spectators supporting their schools the standard was as high as ever. The event coordinated by Mr Mandry alongside Nick Bull and Team Kennet Athletics Club saw large numbers of young people compete and enjoying Athletics. It was also great to see how our school values are been adopted which was clearly evident throughout the day.

The event was also dependant on an excellent team of over 40 Park House leaders who worked with leaders from St Bart’s to ensure all groups and individuals were at the correct events and worked tirelessly and efficiently throughout the day. Falkland managed to retain the trophy for both age groups, however, were pushed all the way by both St Finians and John Rankin Jr. • Mr Mandry with photos by Editpost Photography Results – Year 3-4 1. Falkland 2. John Rankin Jr 3. Brightwalton 4. Hungerford Results – Year 5-6 1. Falkland 2. St Finians 3. John Rankin Jr 4. Spurcroft

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Annual Charity Run and Fun Day Photos by stuartmarchphotography.co.uk

This year saw over 540 runners join us for our Charity Run and Fun Day, with registered runners aged from one to 70 plus many more visitors from the community joining us for the fete and dog show. Once again we were fortunate to have beautiful weather. And, with tractor rides, numerous stalls and a welcome barbecue there was something for everyone.

All funds raised from the day will go to Daisy’s Dream and PHSA. We are finalising the match funding at present however believe we will have raised several thousand pounds which will be split between each charity once match funding is confirmed.

“Utterly brilliant!”

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To enjoy the photographs taken on the day or to double-check your run timings, please go to our website and click onto the relevant links www.parkhouseschool.org/Our-Community/Charity-Run-Winners where you can even see your own finish line video! We look forward to seeing you again next year. Please keep Sunday 13 May 2018 free in your diary and we will let you know once registration is open for runners. If you are interested in holding a stall next year, please email us and we will reserve a pitch for you: phsa@parkhouseschool.org A huge thank you to the many staff, students, parents and volunteers who continue to make this day a huge success. • The Committee

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Charity Run & Fun Day Additional photos by Teresa Jones.

See inside back cover for more from Stuart March Photography.

“It was an excellent event. The atmosphere was lovely and it was the most well organised event that I have had the pleasure of attending in some years.!�

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