Dear Parents/Students,
Tony Rushworth
Headteacher
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Q&A session about uniform
at TBS
Activate Learning
Teaching and Learning
Inaugural Industrial Cadet
Awards
Many of you will remember that just under two years ago in 2015 we changed the school's motto to
'aspire and achieve' and introduced a new and much smarter uniform which has the motto
emblazoned on the school jumper and badge.
We have been delighted that the vast majority of our students have worn this uniform well and now
look smarter than many other children in the local schools when previously this was not the case.
Rightly or wrongly, first impressions count and the smartness of our students is often favourably
remarked upon by members of the local community and employers.
As a further example of this, recently we had a visit from a DfE Education Advisor who was aware
of our school's past history. He had turned up with preconceived ideas about us, based on our time
in special measures etc but was really impressed when he saw the smartness of our students and
the excellent behaviour in classrooms he visited. There are many other such examples of this and
indeed many of our parents will remember visits for open days in the last few years and the good
impression that students and staff made on them during their tours of the school.
A smart uniform and excellent behaviour is an essential foundation for any school seeking to
provide a quality education for its students but we are also firmly committed to achieving the
second half of our motto of 'achieve.' We believe that all of our students can do well at school, even
if they have started behind others, for example in their reading, spelling or numeracy.
Sixth Form news
English Department news
Maths Department news
History Department news
That is why we have made a number of changes over time, including the banning of mobile phones
in the 11-16 school, the ongoing move back to a year-based pastoral care system (away from the
House-based forms), the focus in all academic lessons on developing writing, especially extended
writing, the increased tightening up of class discipline so that disruptions are yet further reduced,
the staffed-study periods for 6th formers, the introduction of the ePraise! rewards system, the
accelerated reading programme in the lower school, and the reading recovery programme for
students who are behind in their reading on entry in Year 7.
Music performance
Drama performance
What we cannot know
Exemplary Citizenship
Awards
Student successes
PE Department and SSCO
news
Staff profile
A lot of work has been done but there is still much for us to do to raise standards even further. We
are currently looking at improvements we can make to the way we report progress to parents at
various stages of the year, mid-year testing, improvements to Saturday schools, the further
enhancing of support for the 6th form, homework improvements and marking. Our commitment to
school improvement remains the same: as we have done in the last two to three years so we will
continue to work hard to ensure that we go the extra mile to bring about academic success for our
students.
Finally, it is important to reaffirm that we cannot do this work alone. We are reliant on parents and
appreciate their support in ensuring that all of our students look smart, co-operate with their
teachers and try their best to succeed, even when it is not their favourite subject, or the learning is
hard or they disagree with a teacher over the seating plan etc.
Thank you, parents and students, for the work and support you have given us in helping us to
secure the improvements we have made in the school over the last few years. It is very much
appreciated.
Invigilators required
Kind regards
Tony Rushworth
April 2017
A Question and Answer session about school uniform at TBS
Why is school uniform important to us?
Our smart and formal school uniform sets the tone for the type of school that we
are. In having a uniform which reflects our high expectations for behaviour, effort
and aspiration we project a very positive image both within the school and to the
wider community. A big part of our role is to prepare students for the wider world of
employment and higher education where first impressions and a smart and formal
appearance can make a big difference to the type of opportunities that are
available.
The fact that all of the students are required to wear the same uniform also removes
much of the anxiety that students can have about how they are perceived by their
peer group. When everyone conforms to the same set of uniform rules then the
pressure to wear certain clothes or to have the most fashionable items is greatly
reduced.
Tim Marston
Deputy
Headteacher
What percentage of students wear the uniform well each
day?
The vast majority of students already conform well to the uniform policy.
Approximately 95% of the school population are wearing the appropriate items
every day.
There are around 50 students for whom at least one item of their uniform does not
comply with the uniform policy.
What is unacceptable school uniform?
At present the most common items which breach the uniform rules are:
•
•
•
Girls trousers which are skinny fit and tight around the ankle.
Shoes which are not smart, black or polish-able.
Skirts which are too short.
What is the school uniform?
Our full uniform policy can be found at http://thebicesterschool.org.uk/uniform/.
The uniform for The Bicester School is as follows:
Formal black and polish-able shoes, formal black school or office-ready trousers
(or formal black knee-length skirt) and a formal white shirt (or white revere
blouse for girls not wearing a tie) are compulsory.
All students will wear a badged school jumper and students who joined the school
in years 7 or 8 after September 2015 also wear a badged school blazer (the blazer
is currently an optional item for years 9-11).
Ties are compulsory for boys and optional for girls (this is to try and match the
expectations in the wider world of work).
Can students take their blazers off in class?
Yes, once students enter the classroom they may ask to remove their blazers to
ensure that they are comfortable and ready to work.
Do students have to wear jumpers to school in the
summer?
During the summer term the rules around wearing jumpers are relaxed to reflect the
warmer weather.
Why don't we allow students to wear boots, trainers, vans
etc. to school?
One of the benefits of the consistency in the uniform policy is that it lessens the
pressure on students to wear particular brands or to conform to particular fashions.
The fashion brands which try and pass off their products as appropriate for school,
A Question and Answer session about school uniform at TBS
such as Converse and Vans as well as the more established sportswear firms such
as Nike and Puma are not part of the uniform policy because they are not formal
shoes. The expectation is that students wear shoes which reflect the formality of our
academic school.
Name
Title
Boots are not permitted as part of the school uniform. It is this area we have
problems with in school with older students attempting to wear all manner of
'fashionable' boots passed off as school wear. It is time-consuming for staff who
have to chase up uniform issues and adds a completely unnecessary complication
for them when they need to be focussing on more important teaching issues
instead.
It's almost impossible to find girls skirts that are kneelength?
Tim Marston
Deputy
Headteacher
The difficulty in finding skirts which are genuinely knee length is understood. They
are available (including through our uniform supplier) but we will be altering the
wording of the uniform policy to reflect the need to wear a skirt of an appropriate
length (ideally knee length) but certainly not the shorter skirts which some students
are attempting to wear to school currently.
Can we buy a blazer without the badge and sew the badge
on separately?
This can be done. The blazers need to be plain black and formal. Iron on blazer
badges can be purchased from reception at £4.00 each and will be available after
Easter.
Do we have to buy trousers from the supplier, PMG?
No, the school trousers do not have to be purchased from the school supplier,
however it is the easiest way to ensure that the item you are purchasing is school
approved and will not need replacing.
What is our approach when students do not wear the
uniform?
To ensure that students have access to school wear that is in line with the uniform
policy we will take the following steps where an item of uniform does not comply;
1. Parents will be contacted to bring in the appropriate item on the same school day.
If the item needs to be replaced then a timeframe will be agreed for the appropriate
uniform to be provided. This might be over a weekend or within an acceptable
length of time as agreed by the head of year.
2. If the deadline for replacing the item passes and the issue is not rectified then
parents will be invited in for a meeting. At this meeting the Home - School
agreement will be revisited and a successful resolution will be agreed. This may
include an item being purchased direct from the school in the appropriate size.
Activate Learning
In the February newsletter I updated you on the growth of the Activate Learning Education
Trust multi academy trust (MAT), by saying that the UTC Reading and UTC Oxfordshire
schools have integrated into the MAT. By way of a further update I can now confirm that
UTC Swindon will join the MAT formally from 1 September 2017. Joanne harper, the
Principal of UTC Reading will take up the position of Executive Principal across UTC
Reading and UTC Swindon. This is great news for the MAT as this gives us a family of five
very different schools that can contribute to the development of practice.
Lee Nicholls
Activate
Learning
One good example of how a group of schools can work strongly together is our recent
meeting with BMW MINI in Cowley, Oxfordshire. BMW MINI and Activate Learning
Education Trust have struck up a strategic relationship to help us give our students better
progression opportunities and to help BMW MINI get better prepared applicants for their
Apprenticeship programmes. At our meeting a couple of weeks ago we had all of our
schools and colleges represented from across Reading, Oxford, Banbury and Bicester. The
Bicester School was represented by Gareth Ladd in his capacity as head of sixth form. At
the meeting we discussed how we can offer:
•
Better work experience (BMW MINI have offered us 200 work experience
placements across the group of schools and colleges next year);
•
Better preparation of students for apprenticeships (this year we trialled a session in
four settings where BMW MINI employees and apprentices talked about the
scheme);
•
Curriculum enrichment through exposure to projects that can be done in
school/college to develop the softer ‘work related’ skills in our students (for
example UTC Oxfordshire have run a project to design a new MINI dashboard).
It was very revealing to hear from a large and perhaps typical employer that qualifications
are only the gateway test that gets a student applicant through the door. From that point
onwards, it is all about work readiness, behaviours and attributes. It is at this part of the
process that many student/applicants fail the test. An interview at BMW MINI is all about
psychometrics and the ability to demonstrate emotional grit, resilience, team working and
character. How well do we really prepare our students for these experiences?
Across Activate Learning, we talk about our Learning Philosophy. The BMW experience
underscores how important this is for students and ourselves as a group of schools and
colleges trying to stand out from the crowd. If we focus too much on being an ‘examination
factory’, we stand to do our students a dis-service. By focussing also on the emotional
barriers to learning and the emotional strength that we develop in our leaners, we in turn
‘dial up’ the motivation for learning. With strong motivation and emotional resilience, the
brain is capable of anything! Our job as educators is to drive to the ‘sweet spot’. Students in
the ‘sweet spot’, with technical mastery, emotional resilience and a strong motivation to
succeed will walk into BMW MINI – and, come to think of it, any other employer or top
university you care to think of!
My question therefore is “As teachers, does your planning for learning take account of
building the brain, emotional resilience and motivation of your learners”?
Lee Nicholls
Teaching and Learning
“Aah, Miss, that’s long….”
One of the new initiatives of The Bicester School at the moment is to encourage
students to write at length.
“We are wanting to develop our students’ writing because the new specifications
require longer passages of writing,” says Deputy, Roland Howard. To support this
teachers are including periods of silent writing in lessons. “Discussion can generate
ideas but silence is also good because it encourages students to really think
deeply,” he adds.
Roland
Howard
Deputy
Headteacher
The school is also buying each student a Collins dictionary
to support reading and writing skills. These will be
distributed after Easter. The Literacy thrust continues with a
renewed emphasis on precision and accuracy in grammar
and spelling. Commonly misspelt words will appear in next
year’s Student Planners to be learned in form time.
Roland Howard
Deputy Head
Inaugural Industrial Cadet Awards
On Thursday 2nd March 2017 I was lucky enough to accompany six students from The Bicester
School from Year 9, 12 and 13 to the Industrial Cadet awards at The Savoy Place, London.
As a result of the hard work the students had accomplished in a number of Industrial Cadets
projects The Bicester School had been nominated as one of four finalists in the category of
Industrial Cadet School/College of the Year. This in itself was a remarkable achievement given
that some 6000 cadets had been involved in similar projects within the last year.
Unfortunately however, we were pipped to the post by another School but the maturity,
professionalism and work ethic demonstrated by The Bicester School students deserves its own
recognition and again high lights the credibility of the children in our school community.
Wayde Vardy
I felt very lucky to be part of the event, especially after the hard work we
had put in last year to earn our gold industrial cadet awards. To earn this
award, myself and a group of five other AS Physicists worked on an
engineering project with Viridor (Energy Recovery Facility based in Ardley,
Oxfordshire). We spent six months working with Viridor to find a use for
their parasitic energy. We presented our project at Rutherford Appleton
laboratory and were awarded a Gold crest award, a student’s choice
award and the Gold Industrial Cadet award. As a result of this work I also
achieved the High Sheriff of Oxfordshire young engineer of the year.
Wayde Vardy
Assistant
Headteacher
The awards event was held at the Institution of Engineering and
Technology, Savoy, London. We had the opportunity to network with
several businesses such as Jaguar Land Rover and Airbus and to explore what their industries
have offered to promote STEM in education. During the presentations there were talks from
many industry leaders and also two video talks from HRH Prince Charles and the astronaut Tim
Peake.
The awards also firmed the importance of STEM jobs and the encouragement of women in the
industry which I feel was very supportive of my future education and job prospects.
The Bicester School was only introduced to the Industrial cadets last year and has already won
the Bronze, Silver and Gold award through the efforts of Year 9 and sixth form students.
Frankie Targett, Year 13
Last year, I and five other sixth former students wrote a feasibility report
for Ardley Energy Recovery Facility. The report dictated the use of the
excess power the plant produced. After six months of working with Viridor
on this project, we presented it at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory; the
team and I earned a Gold Industrial cadet award from this - along with
various other awards.
The Bicester School also received the Bronze and Silver industrial cadets
won by younger years in the school. Due to these awards, the school was
put forward as a finalist for “School/College of the year”. The event was
hosted at the Institution of Engineering and Technology in London. It gave
us the prospect to network and become influenced through many different
companies- including Airbus, Rolls Royce, GSK and Jaguar Land Rover. Furthermore, it
showed us the vast opportunities in STEM careers; more importantly, it showed us the
importance of STEM careers as we develop in the industrial world. The event was also a host to
significant people including CEOs, HRH Prince Charles and Tim Peake.
I am very grateful to have had this opportunity to attend this event and for the project with
Viridor. I hope more opportunities like these come to The Bicester School and that the Industrial
Cadets becomes more available and widespread with schools around the UK.
Zak Wilce, Year 13
Sixth Form News
Giles Henderson visits Sixth Form students
On Wednesday 22 March the Sixth Form welcomed a speaker from the Speakers for
Schools programme, who gave us all an insight into the life of someone growing up in, then
leaving, Apartheid South Africa, attending university in Oxford, lecturing in Law in America,
becoming a senior partner in a leading London law firm before, finally, being appointed
Master of another Oxford college.
As Giles Henderson said, his life has been spent on three different continents and he proved
to be a very modest but fascinating speaker, keen to share his experiences with a younger
generation.
Giles wanted to encourage students to fulfil their ambitions by following the motto, “Nothing
Ventured, Nothing Gained.” While admitting we all need a bit of luck in our lives, his
message of hard work and “NVNG” was inspiring.
Jo Waddums
Second in Sixth
Form
Jo Waddams (Second in Sixth Form), Gareth Ladd (Head of Sixth Form) and Giles
Henderson talking after the event.
Sixth Form News
World Speech Day
On 15 March The Bicester School was invited to take part in a debate to
mark World Speech Day at the Oxford Union. One of our Head
Students, Emily Barrett , prepared a speech in support of the motion as
detailed in her report and spoke confidently and impressively in what
could have been very daunting circumstances; in fact she did a brilliant
job! Emily was accompanied and supported by a group of Sixth Form
students as well as Mrs Rosier and myself. This was a great opportunity
to visit one of the most striking and famous parts of Oxford University
and was part of their initiative to interact with local secondary schools.
Jo Waddams
Second in Sixth Form
Jo Waddums
Second in Sixth
Form
On Wednesday 15th March, a few other Year 13 students and I travelled to the Oxford
Union at The University of Oxford for World Speech Day. At this prestigious event, sixth form
students, university students and special guests debated a pre-disclosed topic having been
instructed which side to argue for. Not only did we go and listen to this debate, I was the
sixth form student taking part, and I had to do a 7 minute speech proposing the argument
'this house believes that delaying the process of Brexit is anti-democratic'. I have competed
in public speaking competitions all over the United Kingdom for years but I have never taken
part in something so prestigious as World Speech Day, nor at such an influential
establishment. In September, I am going to university to study law with politics, so the two
guest speakers that were there on the day were truly inspirational to me; Gina Miller, the
strong business woman who campaigned to challenge the authority of the British
Government to invoke Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union using prerogative powers,
arguing that only Parliament can take away rights that Parliament has granted; also, William
Rees-Mogg, the nephew of controversial conservative MP, Jacob Rees-Mogg.
The experience I had on this day was truly unforgettable and I enjoyed being tested by
debating the opposite argument to how I felt! Unfortunately, our side of the argument lost
(much to my liking as I actually voted for the other side...!), but I felt so proud in representing
a small school like The Bicester School at the world renowned, University of Oxford.
Emily Barrett
Head Student
Emily Barrett far right
English Department News
Creative Writing Competition
Closing Date: Friday 7 April 2017
CREATIVE WRITING COMPETITION FOR 11-18
YEAR-OLDS
Engage, enthuse and inspire your students to write, no
matter their age or ability, with Welcome to
Wonderland!
Students are challenged to create a fictional world before writing a mini saga, a story in just 100
words, inspired by their world. Will they create a parallel universe, re-write history, opt for sci-fi
or fantasy realms, or perhaps a post-apocalyptic world will spark their creativity? Speculative
fiction is a portal to wherever students' imaginations take them…
Fran Pollard
Head of
English
Give your entry to Ms Pollard before 6th April or submit online here:
https://www.youngwriters.co.uk/competitions/wonderland/.
Carnegie Shadowing Book Group
Set up and run by Miss Hoyles, Carnegie Shadowing Book
Group gives Year 7 and 8 readers to judge who they think
should win the prestigious Carnegie Award for Children’s fiction.
We invited twenty readers who have made excellent progress in
their reading skills over the past term to join the English
teachers to discuss the Carnegie short list. So far, each student
and the English team have chosen their first book and will meet
in the final week before the Easter break to discuss our thoughts
about the books so far. We look forward to picking our Carnegie
Shadowing winner!
Year 9 Trip to the Globe Theatre
We took a group of Year 9 students to the Globe Theatre in London to see Shakespeare’s
comedy The Taming of the Shrew. We had a fabulous time and the students were a credit to
the school. The theatre staff commented on how well behaved our students were.
Year 10 and Year 11 Macbeth, English Literature GCSE Revision
Guide available To Buy
We have a newly published revision guide called “The Quotation
Bank” available for you to purchase at a reduced fee. The guide
focuses specifically on quotations from Macbeth, a core English
Literature examination text. (The examination on Macbeth contributes
20% towards the final GCSE grade.) The guide takes 25 of the most
important quotations from the text and provides detailed material for
each quotation, covering:
•
Interpretations
•
Literary techniques
•
Analysis
•
Use in essays
Also included is a sample answer, detailed essay plans, revision activities and a comprehensive
glossary of relevant literary techniques.
Please return the letter (given in class or available from Ms Pollard) with payment of
£4.20 to Reception.
Mathematics Department News
Over half way through the academic year and Maths is definitely gearing up now to the main exam
season. Our Year 11, 12 and 13 students are all getting into the swing of revision using a range of
resources available in the department.
Year 11 have been attending a range of Morning Maths sessions with small targeted groups on
specific topic revision, Wednesday Period 6 sessions for larger groups with Mrs Nash and many other
revision sessions being made available by class teachers during lunch and after school weekly.
Everyone now should have a plan for their Maths revision in place using a combination of practice
papers provided in class, their revision workbooks provided by the department and online resources
including Hegarty Maths and MathsWatch. Hegarty tasks are being set regularly by all class teachers
so please ensure students are logging on and working on as much as possible.
Students in specific classes who have been working continually showing resilience with their studies,
have managed to raise their marks by 2-3 grades since the November mocks. If there are any issues
regarding logging onto Hegarty or MathsWatch please see your teacher or e-mail them directly.
Katrina Nash
Head of Maths
Logging on:
Hegarty – www.hegartymaths.com
To log on type the school name, your Forename and Surname (capital first letters), your date of birth
and your personal password.
MathsWatch – www.vle.mathswatch.co.uk/vle
Username: ‘initial’ ‘surname’ ‘year you were in year 7’ ‘@bicester’ (lower case and no gaps) e.g. Tom
Smith who is Year 11 this year (year 7 in 2012) would be tsmith12@bicester
Password: tbsmaths
March Mocks took place recently for all Year 11 students in Maths, English and Science and with the
same grading system used for the November mocks the majority of students have raised their overall
results by 1-2 grades in the last 3 months. This is a tremendous achievement already and shows how
much the hard work they are demonstrating inside and outside of the classroom is starting to pay off.
We now need ALL students to be continuing this effort into exam season and to the very end in order
for them to achieve the results they truly deserve for Maths.
Year 12 and 13 students are also approaching the end of their AS and A2 courses and starting
preparation for the final exams currently in class. Past Paper booklets have now been provided to all
students for all 3 modules they are sitting with the expectation being of them working continually
through these at home. Teachers will be advising students if they need to be completing papers for
work in class also. Additional revision has been set up for Year 13 students on MyMaths and ‘Mini
Mocks’ will be taking place after Easter in multiple modules for both Year 12 and Year 13. These will
enable students to have another opportunity to try a paper in exam conditions before the real exams,
but also allow teachers to identify any final areas for improvement within topics in the course that can
still be addressed in revision sessions.
One of our missions in the Maths department is to be able to demonstrate to students how Maths is
used and applied in the everyday world. This year we decided that there might not be any better way of
showing this than taking students abroad to give them the full experience of Maths around the world.
Florence has been one of our absolute highlights this year with Mrs Laverick, Mrs Williscroft and myself
taking 30 Year 9 students for 4 days to this magnificent city and its surrounding areas.
Whilst here we were able to explore topics such as Loci and Pythagoras, observe
Maths through the beautiful architecture of many buildings throughout Florence and
look in more depth at the studies of Galileo, Archimede and Da Vinci. Together with
a few lessons in map reading, a good dose of gelato and pizza eating, a total count
of 212 flights of stairs and 79,000 steps over 4 days, we can easily say the trip itself
was a resounding success with the mathematical opportunities and culture it
allowed us to explore.
We very much hope this is the start of many
fantastic travels to explore Maths with the
department, around the world, in years to
come.
Mathematics Department News
Allowing all other year groups the opportunity to see for themselves how much Maths is used in the
real world we have just finished our 2017 Maths Week.
After the success of last year we saw it as an important message to get out to students again that
when they venture into the world of work they will need to have their Maths skills they have gained
from their time here at TBS together with many other important life skills which we incorporate into our
classrooms daily.
Katrina Nash
Head of Maths
Between functional maths activities organised for whole year groups including ‘Maths Spy’ using maths
to depict codes to solve the mystery and find “The Factor”; ‘Build and Trade’ using a range of basic
materials to construct bridges to carry the largest weight possible allowing teams to trade with money
different equipment they may need; What’s your heart rate?’ giving students the reins in designing
fitness tests to achieve their optimum heart rates and then analyse results; ‘Bypass construction’
showing Year 10’s the beauty of design using mathematical software and the technical precision that
goes into designing our roads we use daily, together with a range of guest speakers from large
organisations such as Bicester Village (Lucy Busby), Amazon (Andrew Nash), Bicester Leisure Centre
(Kevin) and some of our own in Nursing (Nicola Laverick), HR (Alison Blyth) and Sport (Tim Marston)
we have been able to enrich our Year 7 to 10 students and show them first-hand the importance of
what they learn in the classroom with us and how invaluable maths is to many people who thought they
would never have to use it again once they finished education.
Progress is always a key drive in the department as it is throughout the school and with this as one of
our top priorities we have made provisions to have Mrs Laverick, our 2nd in Maths and KS3 specialist,
to have time to work with small groups of students in Year 7, 8 and 9 in order to support those who
either need an extra challenge to allow them to achieve their targets or those who need some
additional support so that they do not fall behind their peers.
We have spent time converting our top Maths office into a purposeful work space for students for this
exact reason. Teachers are now therefore able to have small groups working on supplementary work
set by their class teacher to ensure secure progress is made by every student we teach. Similar
support has been put in place for Year 10 students with Mr Antwi, which has been well received so far.
To challenge our students and build up their resilience to tackle harder maths problems, we always
take pleasure in entering any competitions available with the UKMT and this term has had its fair
share. We have taken a team of Year 8 and 9 students to take place in the Regional Team Maths
Challenge at the Mathematics Institute Oxford with Miss Stone. Students who attended were Logan
Scarrott (9), Miranda Hitchens (9), Sam Cole (8), and Lillie Dunn (8) with the competition combining
mathematical, communication and teamwork skills and allowing pupils another way to express and
develop their enjoyment of Mathematics.
Mathematics Department News
Year 10 were able to take part in the regional ‘Maths Feast’ at Wheatley Park School with Miss Le Brun
where a team of 4 including Charley Lewis, Emily Wright, Jacee Thomas and Ben Greener were put
through their paces with a range of mathematical activities and problems allowing them to explore
maths in other contexts. We are extremely proud of both teams and their achievements on the day.
Other teachers at the events have been quoted as saying “They are a credit to your school and tried
really hard”.
In school, we also had the Intermediate Maths Challenge take place with many fantastic results across
Years 9 and 10 including Best in School for Ben Greener (10) and for him also Best in Year and a
Silver award. Matthew Harris (10), Miranda Hitchens (9) and Beatrice Robertson (9) also achieved a
Silver award with Miranda achieving Best in Year also, and Charley Lewis (10), Tom Couzens (10) and
Zuzannah Potocka (10), Max Challener (9), Daisy Holloway (9), Katie Ford (9), Lucan Goff (9) and
Jake Ayling (9) all achieved a Bronze award. Many achievements all round and topped off with
Miranda (Year 9) also qualifying for the Intermediate Kangaroo paper for which we are still awaiting
results.
Katrina Nash
Head of Maths
Huge congratulations to everyone involved in all events.
Problem of the Week is still baffling many tutees and tutors alike. Please have a go again at our most
recent offering:
Mrs Katrina Nash
Head of Maths
History Department News
John Fieldsend returns to school
Exactly one month after visiting The Bicester School to talk to Year
9 students, John Fieldsend, a Kindertransport child, returned to the
school to talk, this time, to the staff and over one hundred students
from Year 7 to Sixth Formers.
John spoke of his journey across Europe and his life since arriving
in Britain. Once again John’s testimony was insightful, humbling
and deeply moving, sharing with us his story of tremendous
courage during horrific circumstances. By sharing his testimony we
had the opportunity to hear, first-hand, where prejudice and racism
can ultimately lead
Jordanna
Riches
Head of History
To read about John’s life and to hear John read the farewell letter
his parents sent to him please click on the link at the bottom of the
article, ‘Year 9 meet John Fieldsend, Holocaust survivor and
Kindertransport child’ which can be found on the ‘News’ section of the school website.
As a school, we are very lucky, and grateful, that John was able to visit us and share his testimony
which honours the memory of those whose lives were lost but also takes forward the lessons taught
by those who survived.
History Department and Lessons from Auschwitz Project
The History Department are active participants in the Holocaust Educational
Trust’s ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ Project which involves sending two A Level
History students on a day’s visit to Auschwitz. The Lessons from Auschwitz
project has been running since 1999 and over 30,000 students have taken part
since its start. As a department we were very pleased to send Lily and Ellie, two
Year 12 students, to be participants in the project.
Based on the premise that ‘hearing is not like seeing’, this four-part course explores the universal
lessons of the Holocaust and its relevance for today. The visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau was preceded
and followed by half-day seminars.
In the article below you can read Ellie and Lily’s account of their visit to Auschwitz, and the impact it
had on them.
The clip below gives you a bird’s eye view of Auschwitz, and follows the route Lily and Ellie took
whilst on their visit, as well as giving a sense of the enormity and scale of the Nazi operation to wipe
out a race of people.
History Department News
A-level History Students Visit to Auschwitz, March 2017: Student
article
In the first week of March, we took part in the two-part ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ Project, run by the
Holocaust Educational Trust, where we became Auschwitz Ambassadors. We first attended an
orientation seminar, where we learnt about pre-war Jewish life, and heard from a Holocaust survivor
named Rudi Oppenheimer. At the age of 12, in 1943 Rudi, and his family, were rounded up and sent
to the transit camp Westerbork, and a year later deported to Bergen-Belsen.
Two days after the seminar in Reading we travelled to Poland to visit Auschwitz. We started at the
site of the Great Synagogue in the town of Oswiecim. A Rabbi explained how the Germans had
burned it down during the war. But he went on to say that even though the Germans had devastated
their place of worship, it didn’t destroy their faith. This was a 20 minute drive away from the camp of
Auschwitz I.
Jordanna
Riches
Head of History
Before the visit we were doubtful about the way the barracks were converted into museum rooms,
however as the tour went on it helped to improve our understanding of the Holocaust and was
presented in a tasteful manner, which added to our experience. We were overwhelmed by the
enormity of what we saw.
One of the saddest sites, was where we were able to see the hair that
was cut from the heads of an estimated 140,000 victims after they had
died. There was a very large amount of hair which was quite shocking
to see. You could see how each person was individual in terms of hair
colour and style. Additionally, in block 5, there was a display of shoes
that took up half a barracks room. Most had deteriorated, and were of
the same dark grey colour, expect from a few women’s and children’s
shoes, which were made of red leather. There was an equally large
display of suit-cases marked with the names and addresses of the
Jewish victims and with the names of countries on that they had
thought they were going to be transported to. Some were marked
‘America’ and ‘England’.
At the end tour of Auschwitz I, we took the opportunity to remember at
least one individual from the Book of Names; this included 4.2 million
names out of the 6 million killed. We each remembered a name and took
the time to find out more about their life, ours being Rubin Mendel who
was born on the 19th June 1889 in Dzialoszyce, Poland and was killed in
Auschwitz.
Next, we visited Auschwitz-Birkenau, which unlike Auschwitz I had been
left untouched since the liberation in 1945. There was an eerie silence,
not even a bird could be heard. A railway track ran through the camp that
brought so many people to their death. We walked along the tracks, in
the footsteps of the Jewish victims, many of whom were separated from their families at this point. It
was also here we were read an extract of the story of Elie Wiesel who was born in Romania and
deported to Auschwitz, where his parents and sister were murdered:
‘It was here ‘an SS commissioned officer came to meet us, a truncheon in his hand. He gave the
order “Men to the left! Women to the right!” … for a part second I glimpsed my mother and sister
moving away to the right… I did not know that in that place, at that moment, I was parting from my
mother and Tzipora forever’.
We were also both stunned by the scale of Birkenau, and how much
larger gas chambers pulled down by the Nazis before the liberation,
which clearly shows their guilt, as they didn’t want people to see what
was inside. We ended our visit with a memorial led by the Rabbi, who
told us the history of his relatives at Auschwitz. He sang to us a Jewish
prayer in front of the photos of the Jewish people’s lives before the
Holocaust. He then led us to the railway track where we were each given
a candle to light and place on the tracks to reflect on our day and the
many lives lost during the Holocaust. We were finally read a diary entry
from one of the prisoners at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Zalmen Gradowski:
‘Dear discoverer of these writings! I have a request of you: this is the real reason why I write, that my
doomed life may attain some meaning, that my hellish days and hopeless tomorrows may find a
purpose in the future. I pass on to you only a small part of what took place in the hell of AuschwitzBirkenau. It is for you to comprehend the reality.’
History Department News
Learning about the Holocaust and having the
opportunity to visit Auschwitz is an experience
that will remain with us forever. We realised that
you can learn about the Holocaust from text
books and teachers but actually standing in
history offers a whole new perspective and gave
us a deeper understanding of what the victims
faced during the Holocaust. The most important
thing we took away from this experience is that
the six million people murdered need to be
remembered as individuals rather than just a
number. We are now able to share our
experiences with friends, fellow students, and
family and use this to view life differently and
appreciate what we have in life.
Jordanna
Riches
Head of History
Ellie Twitchen and Lily Garbandi, Year 12
My Father Was On the Run
In preparation for John Fieldsen’s visit, I told my father’s story in assemblies. He was also lucky to
escape from the Nazi’s during the Second World War. He was a Dutch boy who was born in
Indonesia, a Dutch colony during the 1920s. His dad was a head teacher and his mum a nurse. When
he was ten, he returned from Indonesia to live in Holland, on the outskirts of Amsterdam.
At this time, Hitler was coming to power in Germany, promising to “Make Germany Great Again”,
expand the army and blaming the countries problems on minorities like Jews and gypsies. Hitler
invaded Holland and my Dad, studying law at University by this time, had to sign his loyalty to Hitler
or get sent to make ammunition for the German army whilst being bombed by the RAF. He did not
fancy either, so he had to go on the run and he joined the Dutch Resistance, fighting against the
German occupiers by spying and disrupting the Germans. My dad worked as a forger, making fake
documents.
Then one day, he got stopped by German soldiers and arrested as a spy. On the morning that he was
due to be sentenced to death, he was left alone in a police station cell before going into the court. He
jumped out an upper floor window into a side alley and walked out onto the street as if he was
innocent. Once he was round the corner, he ran into the fields to hide. He spent the rest of the war in
disguise and on the run, until he got to England where he met my mum.
When I told Year 11 students this story, without saying “Was your
dad, Spiderman?”, it was clear that one or two were sceptical
about my Dad’s jumping prowess (I had mistakenly called it a third
storey window). Feeling a bit irked, I keyed his name into Google
and within seconds I got a document which was a photo of his
half-brother’s record and death certificate in a Japanese prisoner
of war camp. To me it was news: the hour and place and means
of his death- buried under sand and mud whilst building.
That evening I spoke to my sister and she told me the name of the
police station that he escaped from. A few clicks and I was at an airbnb
site- the old police station was an Airbnb, and, for a hundred euros, you
could spend the night in an old cell! I emailed the owners and they said
that next time I am in Holland, they will show me the cell that he
escaped from!
Incidentally, you may be wondering why my name does not sound very
Dutch. Well, that was because after the war he changed his name to the
most English-sounding name he could find (Howard) because people would not give him a job due to
his foreign name. His real name was (and my middle name is) Kuhlmeyer.
Roland Howard
Deputy Headteacher
Music performance
On Tuesday 14 March a group of The Bicester School’s talented musicians hosted
an evening of song and music.
Parents and friends were treated to performances from the A-Level and GCSE
BTEC groups as well as the choir and Ukulele group. The evening's finale was a
moving rendition of Duffy's famous hit Mercy.
Thank you to all who attended the performance to support the students and a big
thank you to Mrs Tansley and Mr Crook for organizing such an inspiring evening.
Lynley Kennett
Lynley
Kennett
Head of the
Expressive Arts
and Design
Technology
Drama performance
On Tuesday 7 February the Year 11 Drama class
performed The Crucible to an audience of family
and friends. Months of hard work and extracurricular rehearsals culminated in a spectacular
performance by all involved. Budding Year 7
actresses also took part taking on challenging roles
of pretending to be under a witches’ spell.
The drama of the Salem Witch Trials was brought to
life with thought provoking emotional moments
interspersed with all hysteria of the court room. Those
who were involved should all be very proud of what
they accomplished.
Charlotte Vine
Head of Drama
A big well done to Lewis Caunt, Nikita CookeSmith, Lola Boulter, Emma Griffin, Toni Dale, Libby
Blanks, Deneisha McLean, Richard Reeves, Paige
Jorda, Cheyanne Griffiths, Catalina Rada, Lucia
Sammons and Ella Louise Bradley.
What we cannot know
On Tuesday 28 March Mr Curtis and Miss
Powell took a group of us to attend a lecture
by Marcus du Sautoy. Marcus du Sautoy is a
Professor of Mathematics at the University of
Oxford, and is the Simonyi Professor for the
Public Understanding of Science. His lecture
was about the limits of human knowledge,
an idea that he had been researching for
three years.
Despite his many impressive qualifications,
and the fact that he is considered to be one
of the UK’s leading scientists, he did not
overcomplicate his lecture with technical
language. The way he presented his ideas and linked them together was easy to follow, and it
was clear that the purpose of the talk was not necessarily to educate us in science, but it was to
provoke deeper thinking on the subject of limitations. He told us about how he asked himself:
‘might there be questions that, by their very nature, will always be beyond the power of science
to know?’ This question was the driving force behind his research, and his presentation, a
question that many of us had not even considered before.
He told us about his theory of the seven edges of knowledge, and explained two of them. One
was about casino dice – he talked about chaos theory, and tiny changes to environment that
would make a big difference to how a dice landed. His explanation was a mixture of science,
jokes, and anecdotes, and he gave us a scientific image of just how unpredictable rolling a dice
really is. The second and final fully explained edge was about quantum physics, but the key
difference was how quantum physics itself has the fact that not everything can be known
embedded in it. Again, he mixed in some jokes, and these jokes helped us to understand the
scientific principles more clearly.
The visit left all of us with an interesting feeling – we had learnt a lot, and yet as we walked out
of the building we felt that there was no end to the gaps in our knowledge, and the world’s
knowledge.
He had provoked us to want to know more.
Meghan McCauley
Year 11
Exemplary Citizenship Awards
Alistair
McAulay
Head of KS4
Barney Nash, Middle, Callum Etheridge, Right (both Year 11) and Beth Stevens (Year 10)
Left
I am extremely proud to have been able to present awards to these three students for
outstanding examples of helping others in the local community.
Barnaby Nash and Callum Etheridge went to the assistance of a member of the public in
Sainsbury’s car park who had been badly bitten by a dog that was in distress after being run
over. The boys had initially gone to help the dog owner catch the dog which had come off the
lead. Once they realised that the dog had been hit by a car and the woman had been bitten they
immediately went to her aid. This included running into Sainsbury’s to get water and then
waiting with her until an ambulance arrived. The woman spent the next couple of days in
hospital during which time she contacted the school to express her gratitude to the boys. In her
own words “not only were they calm and helpful in this stressful situation but they were polite
and level headed”.
As it turns out, the person they assisted is a teacher in Warwick and therefore as a direct result
of their actions she and her colleagues now have a very high opinion of our students.
Beth Stevens was walking along behind an elderly woman as she was about to cross the road.
As she crossed the road she collapsed sustaining a head injury at which point Beth calmly
signalled to the oncoming traffic to stop. After calling for an ambulance, Beth and another
member of the public directed traffic around the woman and waited with her to provide
reassurance until the paramedics were able to take over. Thankfully the injury turned out not to
be serious but the situation could have been a lot worse if not for the prompt action taken by
Beth.
By acting in this manner Barnaby, Callum and Beth have all not only provided valuable help to
others when distressed but they have also enhanced the reputation of the school in the local
area. It has always been a central part of The Bicester School ethos to promote tolerance and a
caring attitude towards others and as such it is particularly rewarding to hear of stories like
these involving our students.
Alistair McAulay
Head of KS4
Student successes
It all started by me teaching myself at home to do gymnastics. I
used to watch a bunch of videos and Youtube tutorials. I wanted to
start a club, so I could improve my skills and learn some more
advanced ones.
My best friend, Bella Romain, then suggested to m e that I should
start doing cheerleading. I had no idea what ‘cheerleading’ was,
so I went home and looked up some Youtube videos. I loved all
the jumps, tumbles and stunts they did, so a week later, I had my
first day of cheer.
My teacher, Kizzy Burt, was lovely. At first, I didn’t think I was very
good at it. The skills everyone could do where amazing and I
wanted to be able to do exactly what they did. And that brings me
to where I am today, three years later and have done several competitions and have achieved
so much.
Recently, we had a really big competition, and one category we entered was just a group of us
(5 people) and we had 1 minute 15 seconds to show off some of our level 4 skills. We were very
proud of what we had done and were very nervous about the awards that was a couple hours
later. That’s when they announced that we came 1st and have been invited to Europeans (a
competition to compete against people from all around the world).
This just shows with a bit of determination you can achieve your dreams, something I never
thought I could do.
Ellie Stayt
Year 8
Alice Hobbs (Year 12) performed a lead flower in the Nutcracker Suite in Aylesbury Waterside
Theatre. She was a soloist in etudes on the 23rd and 25th of March, and received the senior
ballet award as well as being invited to attend a ballet class with the principle dancers of the
English youth ballet.
Very well done Alice. We are very proud of you!
Sarah Masterson
Head of PE
PE Department News
Year 8 Netball
A fantastic season of netball came to an end for the Year 8's on Wednesday 29th March 2017
when they played out their final games in the Oxfordshire County Finals.
The team consisting of; Millie Couzens, Olivia Whittingham, Charlotte Edwards, Katelin Cavill,
Caitlin Laverick, Faye Walford, Charlotte Knight, Kinisimere Tamanitoakula and captain, Chloe
Wood won a succession of matches to reach the finals.
The build up to the finals saw the team face off against some tough challengers. A 5-3 win against
Warriner meant a show down with last year’s area champions, The Cooper School. A 3-3 draw at
full time meant two minutes extra time to be played with TBS eventually coming through, winning 63.
Sarah
Masterson
Head of PE
The finals took place at the Oxsrad complex near Marston. TBS played Chipping Norton first and
allowed a 4-1 lead to slip with the game ending in a draw. Next up was Cherwell School which TBS
came back from 2-0 down to then win 3-2.
Unfortunately the next two matches proved to be very tough as TBS lost to eventual runners up,
Didcot Girls School and the champions, Faringdon School.
Presentations were then awarded and tying with Chipping Norton School at one win, one draw and
two losses, it went down to goal difference with Chipping Norton unfortunately beating us. It was
them who then took third place and TBS a well-deserved fourth place in the county finals!
By Chloe Wood
Winners of the North Oxfordshire
Schools Partnership Competition
4th Place in the County
Finals 2017
Year 10 Netball
On Wednesday 29 May, the Year 10 Netball team (pictured below) got through to the county
tournament playing all the top schools in Oxfordshire. They won all their games in the Banbury and
District league and have worked extremely hard to get to this stage.
All girls worked together as a team and represented The Bicester School with flair and
determination. The games were all close with The Bicester School winning one, drawing two and
losing one match.
The final results were decided on points scored and we narrowly came 4th overall. Parent support
was great and it was an enjoyable afternoon of high quality Netball played.
All of these girls have such integrity, sportsmanship and determination. We are very proud of you
all!
Mrs Masterson
SSCO News
Inclusion Festival
Brookside Primary School hosted the inaugural Bicester Family Year 3/4 ‘This Girl Can’
festival on Wednesday 15th March. The aim of the event was to engage less active and less
confident girls by promoting the many benefits and positive feelings sport and exercise can
bring. Sixty-seven girls attended the event from the following schools; Brookside, Fritwell,
Five Acres, Kings Meadows, St Edburg’s, Southwold, Chesterton and St Mary’s
accompanied by female staff members.
As schools arrived The Bicester School Sports Leaders took participants for team warm ups.
It was a beautiful afternoon, full of sunshine, and the warm ups made the most of the fresh
air. The afternoon was based around ‘This Girl Can’ a Government initiative brought in to
develop females in sport. The Year 3/4 girls took part in eight fun and engaging activities
expertly lead by Years 7-9 TBS sports leaders. These included ‘just dance’, badminton,
skipping, target throw, netball, hockey, boxing and yoga.
Megan Wood
SSCO
Throughout the festival there
was a relaxed and friendly
atmosphere with a variety of
activities to inspire the girls who
were attending. During the
festival, the Spirit of the Games
value ‘Self Belief’ was a key
focus area. One girl from each
team was presented with a
special certificate to recognise
their positive attitude, trying their best at new challenges and activities and being confident.
It is hoped that participants will feel inspired to take part in sport and exercise in the near
future, both within school and the local community. Thank you to Brookside Primary for
hosting and all girls, student sport leaders, teachers who all contributed to an enjoyable and
fun afternoon.
“Well done Megan and Leaders! It was a great for the girls to enjoy alternative sports! They
all had a fantastic time.” (Teacher at Brookside)
“We would love more opportunities like this for the girls to try the activities” (Teacher at
Kings Meadows)
“Wow I love this already” (Pupil from St Edburgs, after one activity)
“The yoga and Netball were big hits! Brilliant event, and enjoyed the new additions to the
circuit!” (Teacher at St Edburgs)
“Well organised and space managed well, Yoga was a great touch! The pupils LOVED it”
(Teacher at Southwold)
“Really good fun. By the end, even the quieter girls were fully engaged, smiley and very
active!” (Teacher at Five Acres)
“Girls loved it” (St Mary’s)
Staff profile
After finishing my A-levels, I went to Loughborough University to study for a degree in Maths
and Management. It was while applying for jobs in accountancy during my final year that I
realised my heart was not really in it and what I really wanted to do was teach. I went on to
complete my PGCE at Oxford Brookes University and started my first teaching job in 2004.
I spent the first 8 years of my teaching career here, at what was Bicester Community College,
working up to be Head of Maths. I spent four years teaching at another Oxfordshire school
before returning to The Bicester School last Easter as Assistant Head/Raising Standards
Leader. In this role I oversee the progress of students in both Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 and
work closely with colleagues to ensure all students achieve their academic potential.
Nicola Le Brun
Nicola Le Brun
Raising
Standards
Leader
(Associate
Assistant Head)
Parent profile
It was with great pleasure that The Bicester School was the chosen venue to host 'Strictly
Bicester' last month, featuring a host of sparkling, sequin-adorned high quality local and wider
talent, proudly demonstrating their high energy and frenetic dance moves in the Cha Cha Cha,
Foxtrot, Quick Step and Charleston to name but a few.
Amazingly, Ellie Costello's (7NLA) father, (pictured) emerged as the overall winner, beating off
high quality local competition. Huge congratulations, Mr Costello. Ellie, who was beaming with
pride over his victory said, "My dad is delighted to win the contest. I'm sure he will be back next
year to defend his trophy."
Invigilators required
We are currently looking to increase our team here at the
school to provide cover/invigilation for public and external
examinations at £8.43 per hour
If you are interested contact the schools Exams Officer, Mrs R.
Harverson for further information: 01869 243331 or email:
[email protected]
Due to this post having access to children and/or vulnerable adults, candidates will
be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service check. The possession
of a criminal record will not necessarily prevent an applicant from obtaining this
post, as all cases are judged individually according to the nature of the role and
information provided.
The Bicester School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of
children and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share this
commitment.