connect-35 colour

Connect
Principal: Stuart Williams
www.catmosecollege.com
A newsletter for parents, students and the local community
23 APRIL 2012
OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY REHEARSALS: Page 2
ISSUE 35
Olympic Torch
P2
Torch Bearer
P2
Floatilla
P3
Master Chef
P4
Oundle
P5
Exhibition
P7
Extreme Physics
P7
Sports Fixtures
P9
Vacancies
P 10
OFSTED - NEW RULES NEW TRICKS
On April 14, The Times Newspaper published an article titled ‘New Rules, new tricks: how Ofsted’s inspectors keep head
teachers on their toes’. The story outlines the results from the first round of inspections under the new OfSTED inspection
framework. This article makes particularly interesting reading because we are one of the schools to be inspected in the
statistics recorded.
The article mentions that of 101 schools inspected, only 5 achieved the Outstanding grade, one of them being Catmose
College. This highlights what a phenomenal job we do here at the College, not just for the two days of Ofsted but every
day. To be one of only 5 schools who were outstanding nationally puts us in the top flight of educators nationally.
The article has interesting things to say about no notice inspections, my view is simple; that if you could change a school's
ethos in two days and turn it from being a poor one to an outstanding one just for the inspection, we would all be doing it.
There would be no failing schools. If a school is judged Outstanding it can only happen because of the way staff, students
and their parents/ guardians work well together every day. This is the cornerstone of our ethos and one that all staff
contribute to in the way they engage with every student both in and out of lessons.
Thank you for your continued support.
Stuart Williams
PAGE 1
RADIOWAVES NEWS
OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY REHEARSALS
Today we students from Catmose College experienced a once in a lifetime opportunity regarding the upcoming Olympic
torch relay.
During this afternoon, after seeing many police cars, buses, caravans and sponsorship vehicles, we finally caught a
glimpse of the magical, golden Olympic Torch. We had the chance to have our photograph taken with a torch bearer
who was running from outside our school to the level crossing in Oakham. From our point of view it was an unmissable
chance to see history in the making. Seriously, we weren’t just there to skip an afternoon of lessons. We had the exposure
to be lost in the world of Olympic fantasies. After seeing various types of transport, the Olympic bus slowly made its way
past us and out came the torch with its bearer…Press of all sorts came rushing in capturing pictures of the bearer including
our Media Team from Catmose College. Then it was our turn. Standing up next to the bearer was the proudest moment of
our lives. But could it get better?
To cut to the chase…Yes!
From our point of view, we thought that this was a wonderful chance to get involved in history.
We each got to take hold and lift the Olympic torch itself. We have considered this an honour and we thank the BBC,
LOCOG and Catmose College for this exciting opportunity.
Rohan Mehra 8M & Thomas Ameer-Beg 8C
OLYMPIC TORCH BEARER
In our last edition of Connect we mentioned that Christian Brookes from year 10 will be a
torch bearer through Stamford. Recently a second student from Catmose College has also
been given the once-in-a-lifetime experience of carrying the Olympic torch. On 3 July, Alice
Evans from year 11 will be carrying the torch for 200m through Peterborough. Her close
friend Clara Feely, who is also a student at the College, nominated Alice. Alice has said that
she would like to jog the route and that she feels lucky and honoured to have been chosen.
To view an interview between Alice and Rohan (Radiowaves reporter) then please visit this
link: https://www.radiowaves.co.uk/story/372729/title/
aninterviewwithanolympictorchrelaycandidate
RADIO WAVES COMMUNITY AWARD NOMINATION
The College's radiowaves team have been nominated for the Stamford Mercury
Community champions award. There will be voting slips in this week’s edition of the
newspaper and the team would appreciate your support if you could support our
nomination.
Please vote for Team Catmose and bring your slips into college by Friday am or
send them to the Mercury office.
PAGE 2
QUEEN’S JUBILEE FLOATILLA REHEARSAL
The Catmose College Media team had been invited by the Lord Lieutenant of Rutland, Laurence Howard, to create a video
of Rutland’s contribution to the Queen’s Jubilee pageant. On Thursday 12 April, Dan, Sam and I visited the Rutland Sailing
Club on the South shore of Rutland Water where Rutland Sailability is located. They have been chosen to provide Rutland’s
contribution to the pageant as in 2010, they were awarded The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service.
Our task was to film at Rutland Sailability, a club created to teach disabled people how to sail, and capture the final stages
of the building of the Rutland Sailability Boat, The Wally Goldsmith, and its initial launch in preparation for The Queen’s
Jubilee Pageant. We undertook this task and as promised completed it within the day.
Last Sunday the three of us were once again confronted with an exciting challenge to, this time, travel on the River Thames
in London for the practice of the Pageant with ninety boats. As we walked along the pier it became increasingly daunting
that all of the boats we passed seemed to look very lavish, large and luxurious. Then we came to ours; a re-vamped sailing
boat with a capacity of eight people. We had to sail up and down the Thames with a wind-speed of higher than 10mph in
this.
However not all was bad! As we set off from the pier the beginning of the journey was great. We got a good deal of
filming done, the water was reasonably calm and it was looking to be a good day. I spoke too soon. From when we
turned back downstream the weather darkened, the tide became more vigorous and our boat’s tiny engine struggled to
keep up with the fleet of much larger boats ahead. We travelled from Imperial Wharf to Tower Bridge through rain, wind,
a temperature of under 3°C and with the constant worry that we may capsize at any time.
After over four hours bobbing up and down on the Thames we had all the footage we needed (hopefully) and moored
back to the pier.
Despite the weather, a cramped boat, grimy Thames water and very wet bottoms we had all enjoyed our first experience
participating in the rehearsal for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Pageant. We hope that everyone who watches the
documentary will appreciate the great opportunities Rutland Sailability has to offer, as well as what a fantastic county
Rutland is.
Lewis Clark 9S
SCHOOL UNIFORM
All students are expected to conform to the College uniform policy which can be found on the college website via this link:
http://www.catmosecollege.com/downloads/Policies/Student/UNIFORM%20Policy%20May%202011.pdf. The girls’
skirt is a particular item we would ask students and parents to be aware of. Our current policy states ‘Uniform is
not a fashion item. It is designed to be both formal and comfortable…….Black skirt (should be) formal, knee length.
The Student Council are currently reviewing the style of the skirt with a view to recommending a new College skirt. This will
be subject to consultation with parents and students this term. PAGE 3
MASTER CHEF COMPETITION - THE RESULTS
Wednesday 28 March saw Catmose College host a Master Chef competition in the Food Technology room. 14
participants took part in the event.
All participants were given a brief asking them to prepare, cook and present a two course meal for two athletes from a
range of countries taking part in the Olympics.
Mr Williams and Mr Marsh both judged the competition, tasting all dishes and asking students to discuss the meal they
had chosen.
Both judges commented on how all students had achieved fantastic results. Due to the phenomenally high standard of the
chefs, the judges could not come to a decision on just one winner. The judges picked three winners who were:
•
Emellia Goodburn (Year 8)
•
Luke Booth (Year 9)
•
Ellie Loxton (Year 9)
All three winners won house points and a recipe book.
I would like to say a huge well done to all students that took part in the competition and to once again comment on how
well everyone worked. All finished dishes were presented on tables with an accompanying menu to a fantastic standard.
More cooking events will be taking place soon, so keep an eye out for adverts around College.
Miss Warren
Photo 3: Supplied by The Oakham People who also covered the event, their article can be found via this link:
http://www.oakhampeople.co.uk/Catmose-College-Students-Compete-Olympic-Master/story-15657568-detail/story.html
LET’S GET COOKING
With the Olympics fast approaching, Catmose College will be marking this once in a
lifetime event with a series of five cooking sessions. The sessions will follow a theme
of ‘Cooking Around The World’.
‘Let’s get cooking’ is open to all Catmose College students and aims to provide a
fantastic opportunity to help to diversify the culinary skills of anyone with a passion for
creating healthy, balanced dishes.
Each week you will be provided with a recipe inspired by the theme. Extensive support will be available to chefs
throughout each session to provide advice and guidance. The ingredients for each dish must be provided by each
participant.
Everyone wishing to take part will be allocated a specific five week period that they will be taking part in.
sessions will each take part on a Monday after school between 3.30pm and 5.00pm.
The five
Anyone wishing to take part should come and see me in ‘Beeton‘ during lunchtimes to collect a letter containing more
information on this fantastic event.
Miss Warren
PAGE 4
OUNDLE MUSIC AND DRAMA FESTIVAL 2012
This was by far the biggest year for Catmose College in the music classes at Oundle. It has always been traditional for the
Chamber Choir to compete in each year’s festival; however, this year the newly formed Junior Choir took to the stage in
their first ever competition. The Junior Choir performed the mandatory song, ‘Little Spanish Town’ followed by ‘I’m yours’
accompanied on the guitar by Mr Barlow. The adjudicator commended the choir by stating how well the singing was
executed with ‘such vigour and excellent diction.’ Following on from the Junior Choir’s earlier success, the Chamber Choir
was up next in their class (18 years and under). The Chamber Choir performed three very contrasting pieces – A pop
ballad, an upbeat gospel song and a traditional Choral piece. The adjudicator was impressed with the talent from the
Chamber Choir and gave very complimentary feedback stating, ‘A stunning repertoire performed extremely well.’ Both
choirs gained a wealth of experience and enjoyed performing on the stage in the Great Hall. During the course of the day,
many students performed in the different music classes. Rosie Wilkinson, Cyrus Kettle, Freddie Ray, (Year 7) and Louisa
Orchard (Year 8) performed in Class V24 (13 and under). The four students chose their respective songs and performed in
a very large and tough class. The students gained a wealth of knowledge from the adjudicator’s comments which they can
use to aid in future performances. Chloe Berridge, Sophie Worrall, Megan Spencer and Ellena Taylor performed in the
evening’s classes; ‘Duet from Musical Theatre’, ‘Solo from Musical Theatre’ and ‘Under 18 Solo Choice.’ The four students
showcased their talent throughout the evening and accomplished some very high and respectable marks, including first
place for Chloe and Sophie and second place for Megan and Ellena in the ‘Duet from Musical Theatre class.’ Following on
from her success in the Duet class, Chloe Berridge went on to clinch second place in the ‘Under 18 Solo from Musical
Theatre class.’
Eighteen students took part in Drama at the festival involving Solo acting, Duologues and Group pieces. Rohan Mehra won
first place in the Junior Solo acting class with his performance as Sebastian from ‘Twelfth Night’. The Adjudicator was
impressed by Rohan’s eloquent delivery, confident stage presence and the challenge of taking on such a demanding role.
Chloe Booth came second place in the same class with her very lively performance of Violet Beauregarde from ‘Charlie
and the Chocolate factory’. Indira Carter and Jessica Curtis, Jo Geraghty and Lucy Hinch performed their duologues
confidently showing a real potential in their acting. In the Senior Solo acting class both Amber Goddard and Jordon Poole
wowed the audience as they brought loads of energy to the stage with their characters. Will Kettle and Cara Smithson
brought sensitivity to their scenes with characters that portrayed more serious situations. All of the duologues in the Senior
class were both sensitive and dramatic and drew the audience in with their confident character portrayals. Lastly, Seb,
Jordon and Gianluca performed an extract from ‘Blood Brothers’ for their group piece. They were commended for their
energy on stage and the ability to portray children much younger than themselves (7 years old!). Below is the placing of the
top students but all did amazingly well and did the College proud.
Junior Solo Acting 1st – Rohan Mehra (Yr 8), 2nd – Chloe Booth (Yr 8)
Junior Duologue 2nd – Indira Carter & Jessica Curtis (Yr 7), 3rd – Jo Geraghty & Lucy Hinch (Yr 7)
Senior Solo Acting Joint 2nd – Amber Goddard (Yr 9), Jordon Poole (Yr 11), 3rd – Will Kettle (Yr 10)
Senior Duologue 2nd – George Harries & Loz D’Angelo (Yr 10), Joint 3rd – Amy Thomson & Matt Cooper (Yr 11), Grace
Tebbatt & Sophie Worrall (Yr 11)
Group Piece 2nd – Seb Quinn, Jordon Poole & Gianluca Floris (Yr 10/11)
Mrs Mitchell & Mr Sammy
PAGE 5
NATIONAL YOUTH THEATRE - WILL KETTLE
My name is Will Kettle and I am a young actor who has
recently auditioned for a place in the National Youth Theatre.
The National Youth Theatre is the oldest youth theatre in the
world and has a very good reputation although, with this
reputation comes high standards meaning that places in NYT
are very hard to come back. An audition process is therefore
put in place where young actors and actresses, between the
age of 14 and 21, take part in workshops and individual
auditions in venues all around the country. However, the
National Youth Theatre only offer 500 places nationally so
the competition was very intense.
For my personal audition I travelled down to London where in
the morning, I took place in a workshop with 30 other
auditionees. This was led by two National Youth Theatre
auditioners and was supervised by 4 NYT members. This
workshop lasted 2 hours and consisted of an array of things
from friendship and rhythm exercises to team and ensemble
work. In the afternoon individual auditions were held. In these
a monologue, no longer than 2 minutes, was to be performed
to a National Youth Theatre auditioner who then asked
questions and gave advice about your performance. With the
advice of Mrs Mitchell I chose to perform an extract from the
book ‘Man in Motion’ by Jan Mark.
Once the audition was finished, there was a 6 week waiting
process to find out the results, it was later announced that the
results would be released on 6 April (Good Friday) via email,
so you can guess I was eager to hear the outcome. For the
whole of that day I was constantly cheeking my emails,
borrowing my friend’s phone, running back and forth to my
house and just generally being very irritating. However, by
the time it had reached 7.30 I was desperate for my results.
The email came. I had succeeded! The National Youth Theatre had offered me one of the 500 places for a training course
down in London and the chance to become a NYT member, following in the footsteps of Dame Helen Mirren, David
Walliams and Daniel Craig.
The course lasts for two weeks and is held down in London where I will be staying at Greenwich University, I cannot wait! I
would like to thank everyone for the support they gave me during the process but I would like to say a special thanks to Mrs
Mitchell, Mr Parsons and an ex-student Chloe Cusition who helped me with my monologue and gave me special advice
and tips.
Will Kettle 10O
Photo 1: Will performing in the Christmas Play, ‘Christmas Spirit’, 2011
Photos 2 & 3: Will performing during rehearsals as Edna in the Colleges’ performance of ‘Hairspray’, 2011
PAGE 6
RUTLAND SCHOOLS EXHIBITION
ODFAS Young Arts for Rutland Schools will be holding an exhibition in the
College gallery from Thursday 26 April. Last year’s exhibition, also held at the
College, was a great success.
The work shown will comprise of works of art created by children and teenagers
aged 7 to 14 (KS2 and KS3) from schools and colleges across Rutland. The
younger age group produced work themed on the Olympics and the older age
group (aged 11 to 14) designed and painted pieces that were based on the
magical and well-known story of Alice In Wonderland.
The work was judged by Alan Oliver for ODFAS (Oundle Decorative and Fine
Arts Society). Prizes, donated by Goldmark Gallery, will be given to those artists
who have exceptional talent. All are to be congratulated however; it is a great
experience for all who take part as they have their work on show to the general
public.
The exhibition will be showcasing from Thursday 26 April at 4pm – 6pm and will
run untill 11 May during the hours of 4pm – 6pm on weekdays and will be based
in the Gallery.
EXTREME PHYSICS COMPETITION
Saturday 30 March. Four excitable teenagers and one
solitary teacher braved their way to Rugby for a
weekend of physics; Extreme Physics. You see, every
year Catmose College is invited to take part in a
weekend physics competition, which one teacher and
four GCSE students must complete. This year it was held
at Rugby Private school, where student and teacher alike
marvel at their wide range of scientific knowledge and
equipment dating back to the 17th century. The weekend
started with a brief introduction to the school and the
competition. From then on, we were plunged in the
deep end with orienteering, a multitude of physics
related puzzles, and many other challenges including
measuring the mass of an alien and the four individual
challenges; manual dexterity; spatial awareness;
memory; and something unashamedly physics related.
The standings were taken after each challenge, achieving a score and a chance of four rosettes (achievement, knowledge,
team work and creativity) Catmose College started well, achieving third place at the end of day one.
Day two started very differently, with a trip to a shopping centre to experience rock-climbing, indoor skydiving and
delicious homemade milkshakes. We then had time out for shopping and to marvel at the shopping centre which was quite
unlike any we had seen, featuring a gym and indoor ski-slope. Finally, our last day in the competition came as a whirlwind
as all teams were given a topic to produce a presentation on. Our only catch? We couldn’t use electricity. Our group was
given the topic ‘Balance and Stability’ which we took to with much zest. Unfortunately, our inaccurate scaled model of an
orbit was not exactly to the judges taste in the previous round (apparently super massive black holes are not accepted)
meant that we didn’t place in the final scoring, but we more than won in the creativity stakes, finally taking three creativity,
two teamwork and one knowledge rosette (note the lack of achievement) which included the famed ‘If in doubt use glitter’
award, for our zeal of the stuff. Trailing home with the lack of a trophy but a mound of certificates, we reflected on our
weekend with a broad smile on our face. After all, it is not every week that you learn to fly, rockclimb, and set fire to one
of your teammates (sorry about that Grace).
Cara Smithson 10M
PAGE 7
GIVING SOMETHING BACK
On Sunday 22 April at 9.45am Nicola Ray, the College art and design
technician, stood with thousands of other runners at the starting line in
Greenwich Park, to embark on the 26 mile route of the London
Marathon. The reasoning behind Nicola’s decision to run was to give a
little bit back to the Meningitis Trust, who twelve years ago supported
her and her young family through a difficult time when her husband was
in hospital with severe meningitis. The trust supported her by giving her
the funds to be able to visit him in hospital.
As Nicola stood on the starting line she started to believe the stories she
had heard from people who had run the marathon in the past and
could see that it would be the best run that she would ever do. The
atmosphere astonished her, it was absolutely amazing.
‘Going over Tower Bridge was like a football crowd screaming my
name. I was overwhelmed.’
Nicola had her name across her vest so that people could cheer and
support her. The first 13 miles was enjoyable especially running past
famous landmarks, the second 13 miles which involved going over
Tower Bridge was tiring and Nicola was gritting her teeth to complete
the 26 miles. She completed the marathon in the impressive time of 5
hours and 24 minutes.
Nicola has managed to raise about £1,700 so far and has an aim to
reach £2000. If you would like to support Nicola then you can sponsor
her by going to this link: www.virginmoneygiving.com/NicolaRay
You can watch an interview between Nicola and Callum Smith
(Radiowaves reporter, video by Luke Booth) by visiting this link: https://
www.radiowaves.co.uk/story/378716/title/givingsomethingback
INDOOR ATHLETICS ROUND 2 COMPETITION
Catmose College recently represented Rutland in all age groups
after winning the first round of the indoor athletics competition
against Uppingham and Casterton. Schools from around
Leicestershire had their own competitions, with the winners
travelling to Braunston Leisure Centre for Round 2.
The teams had to compete in both track and field events with
the year 7 boys receiving medals and certificates for coming
2nd – they even had their photo taken with GB athlete Gemma
Steel! Gemma is 26 years old, and obtained a bronze medal at
the European cross country championship this year. She is
hoping to represent Great Britain in the 2012 Olympics in both
the 5,000 and 10,000m.
Year 7 girls, who were missing one of their key team members,
pulled together, coming a credible 7th in the competition.
The year 8 competitions were very close with the girls coming 5th and the boys 7th. An additional award was given to year 8 boys who received a trophy for displaying good sportsmanship behaviour
throughout the competition.
Congratulations to all students for their effort and behaviour which was faultless.
Mrs Powell
PAGE 8
SPORTS FIXTURES
Girls Rounders
Date
Year
Against
Home/ Away
Thurs 26 April
7&8
Belvoir
H
Thurs 3 May
9 & 10
Belvoir
A
Thurs 10 May
7&8
CBEC
A
Thurs 17 May
9 & 10
CBEC
H
Thurs 24 May
7&8
John Ferneley
A
Thurs 31 May
9 & 10
John Ferneley
H
Boys Cricket
Date
Year
Against
Home/ Away
Wed 25 April
7
Belvoir
A
Tues 1 May
10
Belvoir
H
Wed 2 May
8
Belvoir
A
Tues 8 May
9
CBEC
A
Wed 9 May
7
CBEC
H
Tues 15 May
10
CBEC
A
Wed 16 May
8
CBEC
H
Tues 22 May
9
John Ferneley
A
Wed 23 May
7
John Ferneley
H
Tues 29 May
10
John Ferneley
A
Wed 30 May
8
John Ferneley
H
TESCO VOUCHERS FOR SCHOOLS AND CLUBS
We are collecting Tesco Sports Vouchers again this year There will be an inter-house
competition and the winning house will gain valuable points towards their final score.
Individual house boxes can be found in the library and there is a collection box in the
sports hall reception area.
Please help us achieve our target of 24,000 vouchers for new sports equipment.
PAGE 9
VACANCIES
LUNCHTIME SUPERVISOR Catmose College
Required as soon as possible
£9.00 per hour 1.5 hours per day, 12.25pm-1.55pm term time only
For supervision of students during lunch break.
LUNCHTIME SUPERVISOR Catmose Primary
Required as soon as possible
£7.63 per hour, 12.20-1.20pm, Monday-Friday, term time only
For supervision of pupils during the lunchtime break
Application forms and information are available online or email the school at [email protected] or
[email protected]
The closing date is Friday 11 May 2012.
Completed application forms should be sent to Virginia Savage, Vice Principal, Catmose College, Huntsmans
Drive, Oakham, Rutland, LE15 6RP.
The school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the wellbeing of young people and expects all staff to share this
commitment
LOCAL ADVERT
PAGE 8