Christmas 2011. - Princes Risborough School

PRINCES RISBOROUGH SCHOOL
Newsletter
Volume 8 Number 1. December 2011
Ho Ho Ho!
Another exciting term is over and in this edition you have the opportunity to sample a
range of the wonderful and diverse activities that are offered to our students. What is so
lovely is the enthusiasm and joy with which our pupils jump at the chance to get involved.
As always, when I read these newsletters I am very proud to lead a school which exemplifies its motto of ‘Enjoy and Achieve’!
Have a very Merry Christmas and a restful break.
Mr P. Rowe
Executive Headteacher
Princes Risborough School is part of a Worldwide Classroom
Shakespeare is an integral part of British culture but 64 million people are currently studying him across the world! Princes Risborough School has the opportunity this year to
step outside of Buckinghamshire, using Shakespeare to create a worldwide classroom.
For the last two years, Princes Risborough School has been in partnership with the Royal
Shakespeare Company. We have been the hub school for educating our students in
Shakespeare using active approaches and have been responsible for training surrounding schools. Hundreds of children, Primary and Secondary, across the county have
already benefitted from ‘Standing up’ for Shakespeare at PRS.
are now a Case study for The World Shakespeare festival. You can find out more at:
http://www.worldshakespearefestival.org.uk/
education/worldwide-classroom/
Students from both schools will be trained in
delivering Shakespeare workshops to their
peers and younger students. South African
and English students will have an opportunity to communicate with each other on their
progress, watching and critiquing videos of
workshops. A specific group of students will
gain an accredited Arts qualification following
this process. As is seen in the BBC news clip
(available on the school website), the overseas students have already worked with
English students in creating activities and
exploring the versatility of Shakespeare.
Shannon Dean and James Whitaker accompanied teachers, Miss V. Wall and Mrs E.
Poynton, to Stratford for intensive training to
kick off the project. Further information about
the Arts Award can be found here:
http://www.rsc.org.uk/education/award/
shakespeare-challenge.aspx
In April, we aim to produce a showcase for a
live audience, hopefully including an interactive element with our twin school!
And it doesn’t stop there! In order to form
cross-curricular links, the form houses in
PRS will be twinned with the houses in
South Africa with a monthly activity revealing
the similarities and differences between the
two cultures. We hope that the results of
these activities will regularly appear on the
school website.
This partnership hopes to bring about real
cultural links from across the world and
ensure that a wider circle of students ‘Enjoy
and Achieve’!
Miss V. Wall
English Department The Team
This third year means further exciting opportunities for Princes Risborough School. We
are now one of only 4 schools in the country who is involved with ‘Shakespeare – A
Worldwide Classroom’. We have been linked with 2 schools in South Africa to the North
- East of Johannesburg and 'ShakesXperience' which is an inter-school arts programme.
The teachers, artist and students have visited our school to plan activities over the next
year and gain an image of school life in England. The project seeks to embed the links
between the two countries in the way we study Shakespeare but also the similarities and
differences between our schools and lives. This is part of the cultural Olympics which will
run alongside the Sports Olympics in 2012 and is supported by The British Council. We
1
Congratulations:
Kane Britnell, Year 13, was shortlisted for the Buckinghamshire
Young artist award on Sunday 9th October at the Obsidian Art
Gallery, Stoke Mandeville
His work went on display with the 6 other finalists from Ousedale
School, Chesham Grammar, John Hampden Grammar, and
Misbourne School.
The Exhibition was held from 9th – 16th October. Kane has done
extremely well, out of 200 applicants he came in the top 7.
Swinging Poi
In this picture I did a combination of the weave and the corkscrew.
These are difficult tricks to learn but once I had mastered them they
were easy to maintain. I find swinging poi fun to do as it is not stressful and because it looks really cool. It felt good to know that I could
do something intricate that I learnt in school
Rosie Stuart
WL3
Safe Drive Stay Alive
A large turn-out of Risborough Year 12s joined students from other
schools in the area to attend Safe Drive Stay Alive at the Wycombe
Swan in November. Now in its 6th year, this innovative safety promotion has been watched by more than 50,000 students in the
Thames Valley area.
On the 29th & 30th September the Learning Support Department
took part in the annual ‘Macmillan World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’. It was a huge success.
Together we raised a massive £232.45 for this incredibly worthwhile cause. My heartfelt thanks go to all those that baked,
helped, and most importantly donated on the two days.
Mrs L. Williams
Learning Support Department
The audience witnesses a specially prepared car crash, filmed in
the local area, using familiar roads and hospitals. As the drama
unfolds and the emergency services arrive, the faces on film
emerge on stage. The film is paused while they describe their
experiences to the audience: the reactions of the driver and
passengers, the medical implications and how seeing such trauma
has affected them personally. Only at the end of the piece does the
audience find out which - if any - of the crash victims survives.
As a driver myself, I promise you this had a profound impact on me
when I saw it last year. Don’t miss the chance to see this thought
provoking piece yourselves, when it comes to our area again.
Teachers pay for a good lathering
There’s nothing a PRS teacher likes more than a good soaking and
a rub down with a chamois leather… and that’s exactly what Head
Students and Heads of Year gave them recently, in the car park.
Grateful recipients paid handsomely – and their cars have never
looked cleaner!
The funds raised will go towards refurbishing the 6th form computer room, including new seat cushions and a much needed
re-paint.
Some of the many delicious cakes that didn’t last long at the Learning
Support Macmillan Coffee Morning.
Another fantastic fundraising effort. We raised
£1230.86 for Children In Need. Well done everyone with special thanks to RW2 who raised
£129.53 by holding a cake sale.
Grateful thanks go to all those staff who parted so generously with
their cash and well done to all the hard working car washers who
gave their time and effort for such a good cause.
Jack Whitaker
Sixth Form
Children in Need 2011
2
The New House Point system has got off to a flying start. From
September, students have been given a gold coloured plastic
token for a house point. The students have then been popping
their tokens into one of the 6 collecting tubes in the House Point
Totaliser.
Head students 2011-2012
Billy Stott, Robert Hanson, Emily Radforth, Mhaira MacDonald,
Daisy Rennison and Connell Henry
It has been important for the students to also record their individual tally of house points in their homework diaries.
At the end of half-term, in October, Icknield had the most house
points. The students from Icknield who had contributed the most
house points were:
Kieran Bryson
Caleigh Pocock
Emily Swindlehurst
Year 7
Year 9
Year 10
James is a star in the making!
IN2
IN3
IN7
These students were all presented with a gift card at their house
assembly. There is a great sense of competition throughout the
school with the new house point system and this is not just with
the lower year groups but year 10’s, 11’s and even 6th formers are
rushing to the LRC to make a difference to their house’s total.
Tutors have been witnessing older year groups setting examples
and also congratulating other students during our vertical tutoring
time.
Everyone, including the very competitive Heads of Houses, have
been wanting their house to win and at the time of writing this,
Chequers is in the lead for the end of term prizes.
Mrs S. Gough
Head of Learning Resource Centre
My experience on “Born to Shine” was an amazing one! I loved it.
I met so many celebrities there, such as Jason Manford, Jennie
Bond, Denise van Outen, Angellica Bell and more. Another great
part was the hotels that I stayed in, 2 of them had swimming
pools on the 6th floor! It was really fun mentoring Jorgie Porter, as
not only did she learn a lot, I did too. It was interesting being part
of a live show it was so much more different to seeing it at home.
At home the studio looks massive but when you’re actually there
it is quite small. This has been the best experience ever and I
would love to do it again!
A new arrival to the music department is a beautiful baby grand
piano, which is installed in the hall. Kindly donated to the school,
it is a John Broadway in perfect condition, which looks and
sounds amazing and will be used in the Christmas Concert as
well as all the other school concerts and productions. Come
along and hear it.
Myself and some of my Dance Crew, Urban Strides, are enjoying
an Arena Tour, performing in huge Arenas’ around the U.K. in
Birmingham, Sheffield, The Royal Albert Hall, Dublin, Manchester
and London’s the O2. As well as performing a showcase of their
dancing, the dancers are also opening each show and teaching
8,000 kids at a time a street dance routine! Each night will see us
performing to crowds of up to 22,000!!
James Mulford
3
PERFORMING ARTS
On the 12th October a group of Year 9 and 10 BTEC
Performing Arts (Acting) students visited the Aylesbury
Waterside Theatre for their Off-Stage Choices day. This is
an active careers event in which students discover some of
the behind the scenes jobs available in the theatre.
Students were given a backstage tour to experience stage
management, lighting and sound responsibilities. This
included walking on the grid above the stage at the highest
point inside the theatre - not for the faint-hearted! They were
also given an understanding of how to market and publicise
a show. The day was rounded off with a demonstration of
set and costume design. They then created and performed a
piece of shadow puppet theatre.
JOE MILLINGTON
I started kayaking when I was 9 and last summer I became interested in
'freestyle' playboating which is tricks in moving water. During the spring
and summer months I train 3 or 4 times a week mainly at Boulters weir,
HPP, The Nene Whitewater Centre, Lea Valley or Hurley, which has the
best wave in the country. I can now loop, cartwheel and flatspin and I'm
now working on my blunt. In the winter I also go river running in Devon
and Wales and I went to Scotland to run grade 4 rivers including waterfalls.
Our students were rightly praised by theatre staff for
their enthusiasm, searching questions and good contributions. It has given them a deeper understanding of the range
of career opportunities in the theatre and the teamwork and
co-ordination needed to put on a successful show.
Mrs Harrison
Head of Drama
Work Experience Week
This term PRS held a work related week where one of the
challenges given to year 11 students was an ice-cream
themed enterprise event. The day was filled with visits from
successful local business people (in the industry) and a session to test PRS students enterprise by designing a flavour of
ice-cream.
The competition was tough as we were informed that the
winner of the event would get awarded a free prom ticket
along with a free year book (a prize worth fighting for!)
The event was described as being 'a huge success' from both
students and members of staff, along with a comment from
the professionals that described the day as a 'resounding
success for both students and mentors'
This summer I represented Marlow Canoe Club in the National Youth
Kayaking Freestyle Series. This is a freestyle event for under 18's with a
competition held over 4 locations with your best 3 events counting to the
overall series championship. My first event in July was at my local play
spot Boulters where I competed and won the 12 and under category.
I really enjoyed this competition because of the friendly atmosphere.
The next event in August was a 5am start and a long drive to the
Washburn in Yorkshire where I won my class again. I was really pleased
that my points tally would have given me 3rd place in the 15 and under
class
The winning team created an idea that was so outstanding
that the professionals' decided to award us with the honour of
manufacturing the product. The ice-cream was named 'Pop-A
-Lot' as it contained popping candy and chocolate ice-cream
which included a free box of snaps to enhance the popping.
The team was made up of : Dan Thompson, Ella Thompson,
Hayley Free, Rory Gunning, Matthew Hatt and Katie Battams.
Dan Thompson
In September I went to HPP for the Grand Final. My second run wasn't
great but I still managed to win the series to become '12 and under
Champion' as well as 7th out of 52 in the club competition (singlehanded).
I received a trophy and a buoyancy aid as a prize. Next year I hope to
make it to the top ten in the 15 and under age class.
The winning team
Joe Millington
RW1
4
Egg Day
I have to admit that I wasn’t completely filled with optimism as I
entered school on Friday 21st of October. But the day was brilliant,
full of creativity, excitement, humour and fun. We started the morning entering registration at the normal time to find out that we would
actually be in those groups for the whole day. I personally thought
this was bad news because I don’t know many people in my form,
but then again that was the point of keeping us in our registration
groups, so that we would get to know other people a lot better. We
were told that the theme of the day would be about eggs. We were
split into 3 groups which we could choose. The 3 groups were
“artistic”, “construction” and “literary.” In the “construction” group, the
members had to make a capsule that would house an egg that
would be dropped from the second floor girls’ changing room; the
winner would be the one whose egg didn’t break. They also had to
make a catapult that would fling an egg in a competition against
other registration groups. The “literary” group had to write a story
about an egg. And finally the “artistic” group had several things to
do. These were decorating the egg capsule, creating posters related
to the egg story and making two hats for a race at the end of the
day. The hats themselves had to be designed to carry an egg.
I decided that I wanted to be in the “artistic” group. Our job was to
decorate the egg capsule, but then we realised that we would have
to wait for the capsule to be made, so we decided that we would
have a crack at writing the egg story, seeing that nobody had voted
to do it. We wrote about an egg that was on the run from M.I.5 for
spreading a deadly disease called “rubberitus”, which made all the
eggs in the world rubbery. Eventually the packaging was completed
and passed to us. I came up with the brilliant idea of using the
theme of our egg story as inspiration for our decoration. We drew
our runaway egg in the foreground with some M.I.5 agents in the
background. We also stuck some ribbons on to the capsule so it
would look appealing to the eye. In other groups, the posters were
coming along nicely, the capsule group were testing their model
from table level, the catapult group had finished constructing the
final model and the hat group had begun to decorate their egg holding hat. All these things had to be done by lesson 3, so it was a
massive test of teamwork to get all of these things done.
By lesson 4 all the groups had to have finished their chosen tasks,
because in that lesson we had a series of tests that prove if we had
done a thorough job. The first one was the egg drop test. In this test
several members from each registration group went upstairs to the
girls’ changing room where they dropped their egg capsule from the
window. The winners would be the groups whose egg didn’t smash.
Another test was conducted to see how far each catapult could fire
an egg. It was amazing just seeing how many different designs
there were. They ranged from the basic to the not so basic, ranging
from simple flingers, through zip wires to complicated pulley systems. They achieved distances of up to 10 metres. Then it was
lunch time! After lunch we went down to the playing fields for the
final challenge, a race around an obstacle course. But this was no
ordinary obstacle race, because, in this race, three contestants from
each team had to complete a lap, each carrying an egg in their hat.
When they had completed a lap they would pass the egg to their
team mate, only using their hat and not their hands. The egg race
was absolutely hilarious. It was just the way the contestants ran,
“like penguins”, one of my friends said.
I never really saw the point of cross-curriculum days, but now I do.
They are there to improve our team working and communication
skills. I remember before the day not wanting to take part in events
like these, but now I’d happily take part in any activity. Also the day
massively helps with our creativity because most of the activities
were creativity based. And finally, it was also great fun, wasn’t it?
Jon Janecki
Year 9
Also read Shannon Eaton’s account of the day on page 13.
5
Number Day was yet again a great success. Students were given
the task of answering over 80 questions and then matching them
up with staff who wore one of the numbers throughout the day.
The winning forms were:
1st: WL6 (50 right answers) 50 house points – Well done to WL
2nd WL1 (44 right answers) 30 house points – WL AGAIN!
3rd EQUAL IN3 & CQ1 (39 right answers) - 20 house points each
“Most entries from a House” was a dead heat - from CH, IN and
WL – 20 house points each.
Y7 & Y8 classes also did a house Number Trail competition in
their maths lessons. The points scores were:
PS 601 – 60 house points
CH 540 – 54 house points
CQ 512 – 51 house points
RW 483 – 48 house points
WI 464– 46 house points
IN 442 – 44 house points
Well done to all of the students who took part, it was a fun and
interesting way to learn.
Mrs Brassington (dressed as the
baker’s dozen for number day)
The Young Chef competition heat took place at PRS on November
28th and the following students were congratulated on their well
presented and flavoured products, as well as their calm and organized approach:
Sophie Ahern
Danni Comley
Christina Lishman
Jake Richardson
The scores were very close with only a few points between them all,
and Jake was declared the winner on the night. He will go forward
in the final at Wycombe High School on January 30th
We wish him the best of luck and hope that he enjoys the experience, well done!
Mrs Dandy
Some of the students taking a break from trying to answer the
questions set, and tracking down staff.
6
MURDER HUNT AT PRS
Detectives get to work questioning some
pretty suspicious looking characters
This term Year 8 RR4LL pupils have been helping to solve Princes
Risborough School’s first murder.
Starting with an assembly from the Thames Valley Police Lead
Crime Scene Investigator for the Aylesbury and Wycombe area,
pupils were charged with finding out who killed Thomas Clifford, a
notorious mine owner known for his playboy antics.
In subsequent lessons local police community support officers
handed evidence bags to the pupils to try and piece together what
had happened. This even got the attention of the Bucks Herald
who came to report on what skills the pupils were learning.
Mr Hood again, he really enjoyed his moment in the spotlight
Pupils were then taught the art of questioning and whilst time
machines do not exist (as of yet) pupils were able to question the
various suspects who may have been implicated in the crime.
Once all evidence was handed out pupils had to write a theory
about whodunnit!
In the final lesson, it was revealed to pupils that Thomas Clifford
was killed by an illegitimate daughter who was neglected by her
father. Can year 8 pupils remember the final twist?
Mr Hood
Likewise Mrs May
Surprisingly enough it wasn’t
this character, great piece of
acting Mr Hood.
Who me?
This is the culprit, Rosie Kyte who did the dastardly deed.
Many thanks to all the “characters” who played their part
in making the exercise so interesting and such fun.
7
YPRES TRIP 2011
I woke up at 3 am I was so excited, it was unbelievable!! I got to school by
4:05am. I was really worried because I was wondering if Beth was there or
not. I got out of the car and as soon as I walked towards the coach I saw
Beth I was really happy. The coach journey to Folkestone was fun! I had
such a good time. We then got off the coach to stop at the service station
to go to the toilets. We then went onto the Eurotunnel. On the Eurotunnel
the coach was swaying side to side, it was nice. I ate a lot of sweets but
not enough to be sick! After 30-35 mins we arrived in Calais. It was nice
and sunny there, as soon as we got off the Eurotunnel the sunlight
beamed in my eyes, it was beautiful! We then had a coach journey for
about an hour. We had to change our time as Calais was 1 hour ahead of
England.
We then arrived in Ypres at about 10:45. We then went to visit the Flanders Museum. We had a stop to go to the toilets. At around 11:45 to 13:45
we went to the chocolate shop which was fantastic. The chocolates were
nice and the people seemed really nice too. We then went to visit the
Menin gate which was really fascinating as you saw the list of so many
people it was unbelievable! As we went up the stairs we saw even more
names. We then went and had lunch where there was a lovely view of the
Menin gate. Then we went to the museum where we were given a card
with someone’s name on it who lived in Ypres. We had to take the card
and put it into the computer where we found out what happened to our
character as we went along the museum. My character was called Kathe
Kollwitz. She was born in Belgium and she had a son called Peter. Peter
joined the war, on the 23rd October 1914 Peter died. He was the first one
from his regiment to die. Kathe started to work on a monument. She had a
grandson called Peter who died in the Second World War. She died in
1945. I saw many fascinating things in the museum such as the Lord
Kitchener Poster. I thought that was the real Lord Kitchener poster.
Afterwards we got back on the coach to drive to Hill 62. At 14:00 we
arrived at Hill 62. When we arrived we got off the coach and put our wellies on. We then entered the museum. We then got to the trenches and
got our wellies all mucky and it was very amusing. I then went into the
house where I saw some very fascinating things such as the recruitment
posters. We then got back on the coach and we drove to Tyne Cot Cemetery. We arrived at Tyne Cot Cemetery at 16:00. It was beautiful. We had
a one minute silence and we put a wreath near the headstones. I felt very
emotional for those who haven’t found the bodies of their loved ones. We
then went in our groups to put the work in our note books. We then left the
cemetery but before we left some of us went to the toilet.
We then left to visit the Langemark German Cemetery. When we went to
the German Cemetery we realised that the headstones were flat on the
ground they were nothing like the graves in Tyne Cot Cemetery. We then
found out that this was because the Belgian’s didn’t really care for the
Germans as they invaded their country so they just dumped them anywhere.
After a long and eventful day we got back on the coach and drove back to
Calais. We then got on the Eurotunnel. And we arrived in Folkestone at
about 19:30 to 18:00. We then stopped at the service station where we
went to the toilet and we were allowed to get a bite to eat. I went to get
some food from WH Smith while some people were queuing up for Mc
Donald’s. We stopped for about 15/20 mins and then we got back on the
coach and drove home. We were back in school for about 22:30. I got off
the coach and collected my wellies and I found my uncle who then
dropped me off home.
I had a very nice and eventful day. It was the BEST day of my life. I carried on talking about the trip even when we were in school on Monday!
That is how amazing it was. I will never forget this trip. Thank You!
Aneesa Mahmood
Aneesa - pictured with
her prize book
‘The History of the First
World War’ won for this
excellent article on our
Ypres trip.
Aneesa won a book on the History of the First World War for this piece of
writing
We can see you Mrs Jackson!
8
GEOGRAPHY TRIP TO OVERSTRAND
Sunday – it all started on a sunny morning we
got in the minibuses of love. We travelled for an
hour and a half till we stopped at a Little Chef for
half-an-hour for some lunch. Everyone thought
that we were going to be worked to death when
we got to there. We then set of again for another
two hours, Mr Jacob’s minibus was the boys
minibus and Mrs May was mostly girls but they
had the famous Morrissey. When we got to
where we were staying, which I’ve got to say,
was huge!!.. We found our rooms and did a
quick tour of the site. We then got straight into
an activity, the boys did archery, the girls had
lazar-quest. We then had an introduction to rivers for an hour. After putting on our blind-folds, it
wasn’t long until we were clambering about various obstacles screaming and laughing as we
groped our way through the woods. This was
hard enough without mean Mr Jacob throwing
leaves and tapping us with a stick.
Monday-was river day we went down to 3 different parts of a river and took different measurements. We were led by our new hero Neil. Matt,
Pat and myself thought it would be fun to get
closer to the river and they had a little sit down,
but that was then interrupted by a tractor. We
then went back and typed up our results and it
will be a great help with our controlled assessment in year 11. We then were told we had
another activity the boys did lazar-quest and the
girls went and did rock-climbing.
Tuesday – was our last full day on the trip to
Norwich it was decided that the lads were going
to speak Australian all day, we also had an interesting game of eye-spy where our hero Neil
joined in. The primary reason to go to Norwich
was to gather data and information about how
different parts of the city are used. We then had
a little look around the shops, a couple of the
lads found some interesting souvenirs! We then
went back, also playing eye-spy on the way. We
then wrote up our information. That afternoon
the boys did rock-climbing and the girls did archery, and Mr Jacob showed his skills as he was
the only person to hit the apple. That night we
had scrap heap challenge with the aim being to
protect a water balloon when being dropped
from a 12 foot height – we all failed, but it was a
very funny spectacle!
The last day we packed up and had a final activity of the leap of faith and jungle vines. Seeing
people leap into thin air was hilarious! We even
managed to persuade Neil into doing it too!
Once the ropes session was finished it was
sadly time to go. Some people slept most of the
way home, I think all of us got home and fell
asleep.
Overall the trip was a great success and experience. We learnt a lot and had a great laugh!
Owen Toms
9
By Allie Barrington
Sixth Form
The world netball series sees the top six netball nations competing in a new version of
the game, Fastnet. Fastnet has a number of rule changes such as rolling substitutions,
power play and shooting from outside the goal circle. This year’s world netball series
was held at the Echo Arena in Liverpool from the 25th-27th of November and I was
given the opportunity to volunteer at this event through England netball. My volunteer
role was being a runner. This involved ensuring that all the ice-boxes were full ready
for ice baths, that enough water had been distributed to players and that team and
score sheets had been taken to the various media and team changing rooms. Luckily
for me runners mainly had to work between the matches, therefore I was able to watch
all the matches from the courtside, an opportunity not to be missed.
CHILDREN KNOW PEACE
The whole of year 8 took part in this Lions
International Peace Poster Art Contest with
100 extended an invitation to be judged.
The Lions Club of High Wycombe and Art in
Office from Princes Risborough High Street
put up prize money and our students did
PRS proud with six of them winning prizes.
The first three prize winners were:
1st prize £35 - Hope Nicholls
2nd prize £25 - Cameron Rose
3rd prize £20 - Mollie Fountain
The six nations taking part in the competition were England, New Zealand, Australia,
South Africa, Jamaica and Fiji. As Australia are the current world champions and New
Zealand were the 2010 Fastnet champions both teams came with high expectations.
England’s first match was against Fiji and it looked like a promising start to the series
as they won 32-15. However they then came up against New Zealand who quickly
reminded the crowd why they were the current Fastnet champions, beating England
33-16. England’s losing streak continued with Australia beating them 28-25. Fortunately England’s next match against South Africa saw a change in play and tactics and
they won the match 26-17.This winning formula unfortunately did not last as they then
lost 16-21 to Jamaica leaving England in fourth place for the start of finals day.
On finals day England were first up against Australia who were currently in first place.
As the England team took to the court the atmosphere was electric. The competition
began and the teams seemed evenly matched as at the end of the first quarter the
score was 5-5. During the second quarter England turned up the pressure and took
the lead. They managed to maintain this lead and gained a place in the final. The next
match saw Jamaica and New Zealand take to the court to decide England’s opposition
in the final. This match was incredible as it went down to the last second to find a winner. New Zealand won the match 30-29 meaning they were able to try and defend
their Fastnet title.
The final was set, the host nation versus the defending champions. Both teams took to
the court to deafening applause and England took an early lead. However New Zealand were not going to give up easily and took the lead. Just before the end of the first
quarter England scored a two pointer from outside the goal circle drawing the teams
level. New Zealand dominated the second quarter and as the time was called England
trailed by 3. However England still had a penalty shot to take from outside the goal
circle. Once again England closed the gap. The third quarter saw the lead switch
hands continuously as both teams had played their power play. This results in double
points for every goal. At the end of the third quarter England took the lead 29-22. In
the final quarter England maintained their lead and won the series 33-26, to the delight
of the home crowd.
Hope Nicholls
Cameron Rose
This weekend gave me the opportunity to experience the side of international sport
people never really see and also the chance to meet inspirational netball players.
I would like to thank Mrs Coward for her continuing support of my own netball at PRS
and for taking the time to complete my reference to enable me to volunteer at this
event. I would love to volunteer at the World Netball Series again next year but I don’t
think I can get to and from New Zealand in a weekend!!
10
Mollie Fountain
SPOTLIGHT GROUP PUT TO THE TEST
This term, pupils from the Year Eleven Spotlight group took part in a
team building day lead by the Royal Corps of Signals. The day involved
the group undertaking many activities designed to test their ingenuity,
agility, and their physical fitness.
One of the more challenging activities involved the group raising a
system of poles and wires in order to established a working system of
telephones over the lower school field. They also had to work out a
system of moving numbered tyres from one point to another under
strict rules.
Pupils completed their day with a highly energised test of reactions,
this involved pupils using a lighted reaction wall. Alby Wightman was
crowned champions due to his lighting fast reactions.
A huge well done to Ben Bailey, Ryan Baker, Daniel Bond, Kim Brown,
Ben Collier, Ryan Davies, Connor Davison, Holly Gammon, Rory Gunning, Matt Hatt, Jade Heseltine, Leah Jellis, Jack Mannion, Lauren
Minette, Buchi Obiamago, Sonnie O’Sullivan, Emily Shadbolt, Michael
Warick, Nicole White and Alby Wightman.
Mr Green
11
INTERACT is a junior branch of ‘Rotary International’ which aims to organise fundraising for various charities both inside and outside of school. In PRS, Interact has
been established for just over a year. We have 12 members in Sixth Form, all of
whom are committed to working as a team to plan and carry out events.
Our most recent event was a fête in the school hall raising money for ‘Children In
Need.’ The activities available included; ‘Guess how many sweets in the jar,’ a
Pudsey photo-shoot, a cake sale and the immensely popular ‘Pie-in-the-Face.’
Facing the formidable threat of shaving foam were the likes of; Mrs Baker, Mr
Marriot, Mr Priestly, Mr Morris, Mr Manning, Mr Dilks, Mr Instone and Mr Essex
(the latter arguably being the most popular victim.) During the 30 minutes the
event ran for, we managed to raise £311 and hope to have raised well over £1000
in total including the money from mufti clothing.
Obviously, Interact would like to thank all the members of staff who volunteered,
as without them, the event would not have raised such an impressive proportion of
student participation. Special appreciation is allocated to Mr Morris, for his obvious
display of either common sense or past experience in bringing along a protective,
1940s gas mask. Congratulations are also awarded to Ella Thompson for not only
guessing the correct amount of sweets in the jar, but being the very first person to
take an estimate.
Aside from the fête, Interact have also been involved in local events such as the
Princes Risborough Bonfire and Fireworks held on the top field, for which we
made the ‘Guy’ and secondly we ran a stall at Kop Hill Climb. As you may have
heard, Uchira school (twinned to PRS) was burned down earlier this year. Interact
therefore decided to donate the £183 to the Uchira school fund. To raise the
money people were allowed to dress in Edwardian style clothes, sit in an Edwardian car and have their photograph taken in return for donations.
This year has without a doubt been even more of a success for Interact than the
last and we hope this trend will continue with the support of the school and pupils.
Merry Christmas!
Caroline Smith
WL7
UPDATE ON UCHIRA
Ismail Mungure, Headteacher at Uchira Secondary School has sent me this photo of the re-building of the admin block which burnt down
nearly a year ago. We have sent them £1000 so far towards this and I have recently sent a further £500, as I have also received copies
of invoices and receipts for the work so far.
Thanks in particular to Miss Wall, Mr Hood and Mr Anderson who did such wonderful work with the Yr 7 and 8’s Fairtrade Fair in the
summer which was responsible for raising a large proportion of the funding. And many thanks to all of you who contributed so generously – every penny has gone into bricks and mortar.
Mrs Summerfield
12
DAN FREEDMAN
On 3rd November, the whole of year 7 met with Dan Freedman, the
popular children’s author.
Dan gave the students an insight into a writer’s world and got them
enthusiastic about reading. After the talk, all of year 7 got a chance
to either have a creative writing session with Dan or to have a football skills coaching lesson with an FA qualified coach. Dan awarded
book prizes to some students who he thought had written well.
Everyone got a chance to buy a signed copy of one of his books.
The
Day Breakers
In Day Breakers this term we held a Halloween and Bonfire
night drawing competition
We asked Miss Barton to come along and be our judge.
1st prize went to Layla Keep
“It was awesome. I loved the football skills, it is good to meet new
people who help you get a wider knowledge of new and different
books”
“brilliant, brilliant, brilliant”
“I thought he was cool as he has done some incredible things and
met a lot of famous footballers”
Dan’s latest book was published in July this year – here is a sneak
preview….
It's the big one! The World Cup Finals beckon for Jamie Johnson
but first he must answer a huge question: Which country will he play
for? With brand new characters and all the trademark jaw-dropping
footy action, Dan Freedman and Jamie Johnson return on very top
form for the fifth book in the series.
Just a quick reminder….
Our reading lists are available online at :
http://www.lovereading4schools.co.uk/viewschool/113/favourite
The Great Egg Day!
The Great Egg Day was a really good day. We were each given a
selection of materials we could use such as; pieces of wood, nails,
elastic-bands, plastics, decorations, paper and card. We had to
make 3 different things; an egg catapult to see how far we could
launch the egg, an egg in a secure box so it could survive being
thrown out of the window without smashing, and we had to make
two egg hats for the relay which had to have a funnel we could
pass the egg through.
I made The Egg Catapult along with Anthony White, Adrienne
Sproate and Aaron Morris. At first we found it difficult to come up
with ideas, and that made it really difficult but we looked at all the
conclusions and we had 5 cards to get holes drilled into it so we
marked a hole in 2 places and we made a frame. We also used
elastic-bands to keep it steady. We needed an egg holder so I
made one out of a bottle lid and yoghurt tops and covered it in
yellow paper. We sorted the frame out and went to fling it for the
first time and it only went 2cm so we realised we had to make the
frame smaller so we cut it smaller and it went a lot further.
We did well in the Egg in a box competition. Our egg didn’t smash
and we also had a parachute to keep the air compact so it went
down straight. I also ran the egg relay and we would have come
first but the hat’s funnel wasn’t made properly so we had to pass it
through with our hands so we came 2nd. Even so, we still enjoyed
it.
This day was really fun and enjoyable, it also I think helped the
younger pupils get more confidence and feel more comfortable
within their forms. At first I thought the day would be pointless and
boring but it was really good and I’m annoyed I won’t be here next
year for it. I found it educational and I learnt a lot.
By Shannon Eaton
13
JOINT FRENCH AND ART TRIP TO PARIS
PARIS, NOUS VOILA!
Day 1:
With wall-to-wall sunshine and temperatures rising above seasonal
average, Paris was the ideal destination for our KS4 French and
Art trip on 13-15 October. Accompanied by Madame Dunford, Mr
Carberry, Mr Mace, Mr Pearce and myself, our 42 Year 9, 10 & 11
students had the opportunity to order "une crepe" near Montmartre
or "une glace artisanale" in the gardens of the Tuileries, to view the
Mona Lisa and some Egyptian artefacts in the Louvre Museum or
some fine modern art in the Centre Pompidou.
We arrived in Paris around 11 o’clock, I’d never been to France
before and was really looking forward to it, everyone was really
excited to get out of the coach and look around.
Walking through the streets of Paris, sitting on a Bateau-Mouche
along the river Seine, squashed in the Metro at rush hour or simply
sitting comfortably in the coach for a night tour and a glimpse of the
scintillating Eiffel Tower, they were able to get a feeling of what
Parisian life is all about. Some mastered their fear of heights by
making it to the top of the Eiffel Tower, some may have set a new
Paris fashion by walking around in their pyjamas but all had a
fantastic time and are a true credit to the school.
Bravo a tous
Then, after our visit to the Pompidou Centre, we had to walk to
the underground or the “métro” as it is called in France. When the
train finally arrived, only a third of us managed to board it. The
rest of us had to wait for the next train, even then we still couldn’t
get all of us on – this was Parisian rush hour at its best!
Madame Robson
On Thursday 13th to Saturday 15th October, Art and French students from year nine ten and eleven went on a combined trip to
Paris! Catching the coach at midnight, we headed off towards the
exciting and new. After a long coach trip we got into Paris by 9:00
am and headed straight to the Sacre-Coeur, the famous white
church on the hill. We climbed the endless stairs to the top and
had a quick look around the historic church. It was amazing to see
all the hand-crafted statues and painted ceilings. Quickly we took
off (before we could get married) and headed to the Centre Pompidou in the city centre where we peeked around the fifth floor gallery, trying to avoid being caught up in all the popular and bustling
French tours. We then caught the metro back to the hotel and
caught up on some sleep.
The next day we went out to the Bateux-Mouche, a water boat tour
on the river Seine. We saw all the major tourist attractions like the
Eiffel tower and Notre-Dame while topping up on the precious
French sun! We had lunch and headed off to the Louvre probably
the most famous art gallery in the whole of France! It was outrageously busy but we managed to get inside. After a short peek at
the famous Mona Lisa, we split up around the Egyptian section to
take a look around and draw a little.
Going back outside, we had an amazingly delicious ice cream
(mine was hazelnut) and headed off to the hotel to freshen up
before our midnight tour of the city! It was late and we were all tired
but seeing the Eiffel tower sparkling under the orange moon was
beautiful and well worth the late night. Woken up early by a fire
alarm, we packed our cases and took off to the Eiffel tower. It was
extremely busy but eventually we managed to reach the top; but it
was well worth the queue. The view was breathe-taking but very
high up! Finally it was time to come home. My only regret was that
we had not enough time to visit the Notre-Dame but hey, maybe
next time!
Our first experience was a trip to the Montmartre area where we
had a good chance to walk around a typical French market selling
goods and food. After this, we went to a church which was set out
like a museum. The bit I liked the most was that for 2 euros, you
could light a candle to remember a loved one.
Day 2:
On the second day, we went on a fantastic cruise on the BateauxMouche where we had a tour of all the sights of Paris from the
river Seine. We noticed that the French cover their scaffolding
with pictures or advertisements. It was fun to meet up with Madame Robson’s sister and nephew who accompanied us to the
Louvre museum where we saw the Mona Lisa.
Day 3:
It was an early start to our last day as the fire alarm sounded at
6.30! We all had to evacuate the building. We had an amazing
visit to the Eiffel Tower, or as it is known in France: la Tour Eiffel!
Some of us didn’t feel we could stand the great height of this
famous landmark so they found a local café instead but everyone
else went up.
I am really pleased that I did go up the Eiffel Tower because I may
never have the opportunity again and it was definitely a once in a
lifetime experience. We must have queued for half-an-hour to
reach the third level but it was well worth the wait when we actually got there. The views across Paris were amazing. The skies
were clear and we could see for miles. As it was a sunny day, the
shadow of the Eiffel Tower stretched out on the ground in front of
us across the city. When we finally got to the top, we walked
around a few times then we got in the queue to come back down.
We took the lift from the top to the first floor then we decided that
we wanted to walk the rest of the way down. Uhh, it was tiring!
The journey home:
We had all enjoyed the trip to Paris so much that none of us
wanted to leave. Thank you Madame Robson and all the members of staff who made this trip possible.
I say this on Madame Robson’s behalf that Jake definitely won the
award for the biggest moaner! Sorry Jake!
My first trip to Paris with PRS will be a memory that I will never
forget.
Steph Owen
Charlotte Trott
RW5
You can see from the accounts of these 3 people how much the
group enjoyed the trip. They had a fantastic experience, it will
enrich their understanding of the French language and
culture and their appreciation of Art, which they will remember
for the rest of their lives.
School trip to Paris
We left the school car park at midnight. Some of us managed to
catch up on some much needed sleep whilst others were too
excited to go to sleep.
14
PICTURES OF THE PARIS TRIP
Smiling happy faces everywhere
15
Save money and improve your child’s grades!
Do you think your child would benefit from some extra home tuition in English?
Mrs Taylor, second in the English department, will be running a “Parent-agogy” session in
the new year, teaching parents how to tutor their children at home. The focus will be on
improving writing, and meeting KS3 and GCSE assessment criteria for English.
If you would like to learn more or attend a session like this to support your child’s home
learning, please contact Mrs Taylor on [email protected]
Bucks Schoolwear Plus
THE WIZ
Please note that we shut at the close of
business on Saturday 17th December
and will re-open at 9.00am on Wednesday 28th December Thereafter we'll be
open as usual from 9.00am to 5.30pm
Monday to Saturday with the exception
of the Bank Holiday Monday 2nd January 2012. We would like to wish all our
customers a Merry Christmas and A
Happy New Year.
Coming soon…. A PRS School Production
of “The Wiz”. A re-telling of The Wizard of
Oz with funky songs and amazing characters.
Treat yourself to some escapist entertainment in the New Year. The Box Office
opens on 9th January every lunchtime in
M13. Performances are on Thursday 2nd,
Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th February.
Tickets are £5.00 Adult £3.00 Children/
Concessions. Don’t miss it!
PRS CHRISTMAS CONCERT
Thursday 15th December, doors
open at 6.45pm for a 7.30 start.
The annual grand draw, with
fabulous prizes will take place at this
event and refreshments will be
provided by the Guild of Parents.
SEE YOU THERE!
FORTHCOMING EXAMS
Please note that we have put the January exam schedule on our website under the “students” tab.
Please make a date in your diary for any
exams you are taking
Does pigeon post seem too slow to tell us your
child is absent?
Do you find the letters you wrote us, at the bottom
of your child’s school bag weeks later?
Would you like to be able to just drop us a line
explaining why your child is absent?
Then this could be the answer for you, an email
account for the reporting of student absence
[email protected]
Please note that this isn’t a general enquiries
address: it is purely for the reporting of a
child’s absence. If you want to email about
anything else please use the usual school
address:
[email protected]
You may continue to phone us if you wish, but
many parents have requested that we make available the option to email. We are happy to do this.
ILLNESS
Please notify the school, with a phone call, or
email message on each day your child is absent
from school.
On your child’s return we must have a letter
explaining their absence.
DENTAL/MEDICAL
APPOINTMENTS
Please send in a letter either prior to or on the day
of the appointment. All students must sign out with
Mrs Crane in reception. No student will be allowed
to leave school without written permission from a
parent to do so.
Late arrival
The
Day Breakers
Here at PRS we have a Morning Club,
from 8.00am to 8.30am in S11.
Students from all the year
groups are welcome. We provide
a happy relaxed start to the school day.
Time to chat to staff and each other,
help and advise on school issues.
Support with personal organisation,
daily papers, games and competitions.
Fun projects and craft activities.
All in a
warm caring
environment
Our poppy appeal collection
amounted to £119.09. Thanks
to everyone who contributed to
this brilliant total.
Attendance and Punctuality
Please note that parents are required
to notify the school on the first day of a
child’s absence and on subsequent
days, with reasons for the absence.
This can be by telephone, email or
letter.
With effect from January the morning
registers will close at 8:45 a.m. Any
student arriving after that time will be
recorded as absent.
MATHS DEPARTMENT
Dates for your diary
Future Maths GCSE Exam dates:
Additional Maths
31st January 2012
Unit 2 Module (re-sit)
5th March 2012
The full Attendance for Learning Policy
can be viewed on the school’s website.
16
If your son/daughter is late to school they must
sign in the late book in reception. If they have
attended a dental/medical appointment then a
letter must be sent in explaining this.
WE ARE REQUIRED BY LAW TO KEEP A
RECORD OF ALL ABSENCES.
If you drive your child to school and use the Hawthorn
Road entrance please drop-off at the bottom of the road
(the junction with Oak Road). Do not drive up to the
school gate as doing so causes dangerous obstructions
in the road and difficulties for residents . It is just a short
walk up the road for the children and should not be an
issue for anyone. If you believe you have a reason why
you need to drive up Hawthorn Road please contact the
school and advise us of the reason, along with your
registration number.
Many thanks for your co-operation.
Mr R Gibberd
Business Manager
Published by: Princes Risborough School,
Merton Road, Princes Risborough,
Buckinghamshire, HP27 0DT
www.princesrisborough.bucks.sch.uk
Tel: (01844) 345496
Fax: (01844) 346147
Private adverts and some articles in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the views of the
school.
Email contributions to:
[email protected]