April 2015 - Katharine Lady Berkeley`s School

Newsletter
30 April 2015
Music Department
Inter-House Music Festival
The Music Department has had a busy few weeks, and there
is no plan to slow down any time soon. Towards the end of
March, we hosted our very first Inter-House Music Festival,
with students from all years taking part. Students entered
solo and group pieces and performed to a selection of ‘guest’
judges (and a 200 strong audience) in the Drama Hall
throughout the day, all gaining house points towards the final
count-up in the afternoon. It was a wonderful occasion for
students to showcase their hard work, and we were thrilled
with the enthusiasm and support shown from everyone who
took part. Congratulations to all who performed, and thank
you to those who supported the event.
Schools Concert as part of the Wotton Arts Festival
Junior Choir and Training Orchestra have also been busy over the last term, taking part in the Schools Concert as part
of the Wotton Arts Festival on 28 April. Students from Years 7 and 8 joined forces with more than 60 children from
Blue Coat Primary, The British School, and North Nibley Primary to perform a selection of classic ‘Stage and Screen’
favourites in St Mary’s Church. An extra mention must go to some of our GCSE and A level musicians who kindly came
along and performed some fantastic solos to give the younger children something to aspire to. Robin Pillinger (Year
10) played a fabulous organ solo, Ella York (Year 10) and Melissa Spreadborough (Year 12) performed ‘Meditation’
from Thais, Man Ho Hui (Year 11) wowed us with a Pirates of the Caribbean medley on the piano, and Ash Lloyd (Year
11) impressed with Game of Thrones on his guitar. Well done to all involved.
Music Department Summer Prom Concert – Wednesday 24 June
The Music Department’s Summer concert will be on Wednesday 24 June (please note change from previously
advertised concert date), and will feature students from all year groups.
The first half will start with the Samba Band, hopefully to include some Year 5 and Year 6 pupils that will have
been involved in Samba workshops with us, and the Junior and Senior choirs will then join for a semi-staged
performance of Captain Noah and His Floating Zoo, a hilarious 30-minute mini musical with plenty of solo roles and
memorable tunes. In the second half, the instrumental forces will join together in a Last Night of the Proms
spectacular. All the traditional favourites will be there – the Hornpipe, Land of Hope and Glory, Rule Britannia,
Jerusalem and much more. And, of course, there will be plenty of flags, balloons and party-poppers!
The concert will start at 7.00pm, and will take place in the school’s Drama Hall. Tickets for the evening will be
available on the door, priced £3.00 for adults and £1.50 for children. Refreshments will also be available in the
usual manner.
Careers Department
A number of Year 11 students have now been offered apprenticeships. Parents and students may like to know that
the National Apprenticeship website currently has over 60 apprenticeship opportunities within ten miles of Wotton
under Edge; please see www.apprenticeships.gov.uk for further information. Students who need further advice or
help with the application process should see Mr Ashford in the careers office.
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Alice in Wonderland
After a great deal of rehearsal from the members of the
Drama Club, they took a final trip down the rabbit hole on
Thursday 16 April in a one-off performance of ‘Alice in
Wonderland’ on the Drama Hall stage. It was great to see
so many family and friends come to support the cast and
crew, which comprised entirely of Year 7 and 8 students
who had volunteered their different skills for the
production. My congratulations go out again to all who
played a part, either on or off the stage and particular
thanks is due to the group of young ladies from our Year
12 Drama class, who took up the task of running the whole
show. I think all students concerned did a fantastic job and
I’m very proud of the commitment and collaboration they
showed. It’s an achievement I hope they will reflect upon
with a grin to rival that of our notorious Cheshire Cat!
Keep an eye out for these talents in future productions, and thank you for all your support.
Mr Blake
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Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) Presentation Evening
On the evening of Thursday 13 March in the school library, we held our first ever Extended Project Qualification
presentation evening for Year 13 students undertaking the qualification. Guests were treated to accomplished
presentations by the students who shared their research and answered detailed questions about their projects.
The Extended Project Qualification, equivalent to an AS level, requires students to undertake an independent piece
of research on any subject of their choosing, but that is clearly beyond the scope of anything that might be on an
A-level syllabus. As part of their project, they must give a presentation to an audience of non-specialists that
details their project, the research they undertook and their findings. In May, students submit evidence from their
presentation as well as a log of their project and a research report for assessment.
The students enthralled and impressed guests with the depth, detail and specificity of their knowledge and the
fluency of responses to questions from the audience and in particular this was highlighted in their responses to
probing spontaneous questions. They demonstrated that the EPQ really does provide an opportunity for students
to become experts in their field of research.
Gillian Hayward, Chair of Governors, said “I was delighted to attend the presentations and have the opportunity to
question the work of the students. It was clear that in tackling their very different subjects, they had learnt a great
deal about problem solving methodology, project management skills and data presentation which in turn had really
boosted their thinking skills, presentation techniques and self-confidence. All in all a great opportunity which I hope
can be extended to more students from an even wider range of disciplines next year”.
The projects
Maddie Davies: Life and Art
Maddie’s project arose from her interest in the lives of artists and the way in which
knowledge of their biographies might influence the way we understand their art.
Starting from an interest in the life of Vincent Van Gogh, she quickly realised that, in
order to assess how knowledge of an artist’s life can influence our response, she
needed to start with someone about whom she knew nothing. Having settled on
Ernest Hemingway, Maddie detailed the critical reading approach that she took and the
way in which biography can shape both the work of art and the response we might
have to it. Her presentation was evidenced by an impressive and detailed range of
sources and piqued considerable interest in Hemingway’s life and art.
Lauren McCombie: Languages in Business and Education
Lauren’s project focussed on the extent to which businesses use foreign language skills in
their day-to-day operations. She discussed the difficulties of conducting primary research
among businesses and the limits of this research. She was able to make links between the
primary research and her secondary research conducted at Bristol University, and her
analysis and evaluations demonstrated good critical skill. Her findings from this study
indicate that language skills are often useful to businesses and that rather than falling out
of use (as some of the secondary research from the last century indicated) modern global
companies are increasingly in need technical expertise in a variety of languages. She
noted that KLB’s current portfolio of languages suits this market, but that the profile of
languages generally in education does not match the need.
Anna Patteson: Autism
Anna’s project and presentation stemmed from her passionate interest in
autism and has evolved into an investigation into the extent to which it is
possible for integration of autistic children to occur in a mainstream
educational setting. Her research is characterised by secondary reading and
primary research such as interviews, and also, and most interestingly,
perhaps, field research in the form of participant observation. Her
presentation and research evidence is consequently rich with anecdotes and
first-hand experience. The synthesis of material that is both very personal and
qualitative with the more theoretical secondary data is impressive and there is
a real sense of Anna tackling the problems of integration for this type of
special educational need holistically and enthusiastically.
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Eloise McAllister: Public Art
Eloise’s presentation covered the conception and realisation of her public art
project, the aim of which was provoke a public reaction. She chose as her
focus the difficult issue of female genital mutilation (fgm). She noted that,
over the course of her project, this issue has gained more and more media
attention with the introduction of new laws and the first ever prosecution in
this country. Eloise’s theoretical discussion of the conception of the piece, as
well as her impressive knowledge of the issue combined to make an
enthralling presentation. On display were photographic representations of the
evolving art work that transformed over several weeks at the end of term two
and beginning of term three. She discussed the difficulties of raising
awareness of a sensitive topic in a school environment, and the mixed
reactions she received from members of the school community. The powerful
piece is pictured to the right.
Zack Thompson: Popularising History
Zack’s project considered key factors in the popularisation of historical
periods. In conducting the enquiry, Zack related how it had been
essential to tighten the focus of the work at several points, but the
threads of the original motivation appeared at each stage of decision
making. In spite of gathering a potentially overwhelming quantity of data
through his research of broadcast media and at Bristol University library,
and through the experiences of carrying out an on-line survey, Zack
maintained sight of his intention to explore less-well-known events with
students. The realisation of Zack’s project was a Civil Wars workshop with
students drawn from Key Stage 3, covering the Spanish Civil War, the
War of the Roses and the Anarchy involving Stephen and Matilda. He
conveyed something of the excitement generated by this. His audiences left with a clear impression of his
infectious enthusiasm for history as well as for the process of the EPQ.
Emma Trevelyan: Socio-Economic change in China
Emma’s research was inspired in part by her trip to China with KLB in 2012
and she commented on the sight of a highway built through the sea in
Shenzhen that inspired her interest in China’s Special Economic Zones. Her
research has focussed on the rapid economic development in another
Special Economic Zone, Dongguan and she considered whether this kind of
economic development comes at a price. She discussed in detail the social
and cultural deficit in this city and discussed the exponential rise of
prostitution in this city that has coincided with the developments in the
manufacturing and technological industries. She evaluated some of the
difficulties of researching China, including the suppression of information
that can limit the extent to which it is possible to find valid statistical data.
That said, Emma’s evaluation and correlation of different sources was impressive and she highlighted the way in
which various responses by the authorities can indicate socio-economic trends.
Year 10 Work Experience
According to our records, 50 or so students in Year 10 have either not secured work experience placements or
have not brought in the necessary paperwork. It would be helpful if parents who have not already done so in the
last couple of weeks could contact Helen Isaacs on the school number or at [email protected] to provide
an update of the current position. We will then be able to focus our efforts on supporting those students who are
having most difficulty in finding a suitable placement.
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Library News
Overdue Library Books
The Amnesty is over!!
Thank you to all those students who returned very overdue library books before the Easter holidays. House points
were awarded as follows:
Berkeley:
Durand:
16
16
Logan:
27
Wellicome: 21
Points are no longer on offer for the return of really overdue library books – penalties kick in now so you need to
get your overdue books back to the library as soon as you can to avoid losing House points. There are still 248
books which are more than 2 months overdue and if these are not returned before 1 May 2015 then points will be
docked from House totals as follows:
Berkeley:
Durand:
80
56
Logan:
49
Wellicome: 63
If you think you may have lost a library book please see Mrs Woolfrey so that something can be sorted out and the
book deleted from your library record.
CILIP Carnegie Medal Shadowing Scheme
The shortlist for the CILIP Carnegie Medal was announced on 17 March 2015 and the
Prologue book group has started reading in earnest so that we can read all the books in
time to see which we think should win. There was a clear favourite last year and our
choice for overall winner was the same as the judges. This year things aren't so clear cut
so if you would like to be part of the process, have the opportunity to read some fantastic
fiction, eat biscuits and be part of a fun group then please come and join us in the library
after school on Wednesdays. We meet from 2.45pm to 4.00pm and anyone in Years 8-10
would be very welcome to join us. Our next meeting is on 13 May 2015.
C2C Teen Book Club
The final C2C Teen Book Club leaflet of the year has arrived. Sets of the Tom Gates and Diary of a Wimpy Kid
series and The Hunger Games and Maze Runner trilogies are available as well as the pick of Carnegie nominated
titles including More Than This and Cuckoo Song. If you would like to place an order please make sure that your
form and payment (exact cash, cheque made payable to KLBS or SCOPAY) are handed in to the Finance Office by
12 May 2015. It's an ideal opportunity to stock up on titles for your summer holiday reading.
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Have a go at the calculator tricks below and see if you can impress your friends
Is That Your Final Answer?
1.
Have someone pick a number between 1 and 9.
2.
Now have him use a calculator to first multiply it by 9, and then
multiply it by 12,345,679 (notice there is no 8 in that number).
3.
Have the person show you the result so you can tell him the
original number he selected. How? Easy. If he selected 5, the final
answer is 555,555,555. If he selected 3, the final answer is
333,333,333. The reason: 9 x 12345679 = 111111111. You
multiplied your digit by 111111111. (By the way, that 8-digit
number (12,345,679) is easily memorized: only the 8 is missing
from the sequence.)
The Secret of 73
1.
2.
For this trick, secretly write 73 on a piece of paper, fold it up, and give to an unsuspecting friend.
Now have your friend select a four-digit number and enter it twice into a calculator. (For example:
12341234)
3.
Announce that the number is divisible by 137 and have him verify it on his calculator.
4.
Next, announce that he can now divide by his original four-digit number. After he has done so, dramatically
command him to look at your prediction on the paper. It will match his calculator display: 73!
Why does this work? Entering a four-digit number twice (12341234) is equivalent to multiplying it by 10001. (1234
x 10001 = 12341234). Since 10001 = 73 x 137, the eight-digit number will be divisible by 73, 137, and the original
four-digit number.
CAN YOU THINK OF ANOTHER CALCULATOR TRICK?
As you can appreciate both these tricks would be rather difficult without a calculator, so we would be
really grateful if you would encourage your children to bring their calculators to mathematics lessons
every day. They never know when they may need it!
Dates for your Diary
(Full calendar available at http://calendar.klb.org.uk)
4 May
12 May
22 May
May bank holiday
Pastoral workshop – Dealing with challenging behaviour, 6:30 to 8:00pm
Last day of term 5
1 Jun
11 Jun
17/18/23 Jun
27 Jun
29/30 Jun
6-10 July
14 July
17 July
First day of term 6
Higher Education information evening, 7:00pm
Year 6 information evenings, 7:00pm
KLB Friends Summer Festival
Year 6 Induction Days
Year 10 Work Experience
Sixth Form induction
Last day of term 6
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