Accent End of an era on Ashcombe THE ASHCOMBE SCHOOL DORKING Issue 25 • June 2010 he end of an era indeed… Miss Goswell’s dramatic legacy is legendary and her farewell production gave hundreds of people who have worked with her the opportunity to celebrate her achievements. A special final day of two performances of Oliver! was a fitting tribute to her contribution to the school. T Evan Davies, ex-Head Boy of The Ashcombe and now a BBC presenter, spoke fondly of his involvement in the productions and Miss Goswell was delighted to meet up again with him and many past performers. See inside (pages 8-9) for photographs. Annual Awards Evening he Annual Awards Evening in December was a splendid occasion in the Hall with a packed audience of parents of prize-winners, governors and sponsors. Students performed music and this added to the sense of celebration of achievement. T The special guest was John O’Callaghan, who heads up the Leadership Partner Schools Programme. The school had gained this second specialism during the previous academic year. Amongst the many prizes awarded, Hugh Baker and Ruth Luckins shared the GCSE prize for outstanding results, and Laura McDonald and Luke Caldwell shared the prize for overall performance at A level. We are very grateful to those individuals and companies who sponsored the awards this year: there were over fifty donations made. We also recognise the role of the PTA in supporting the event in so many ways. Accent June 2010 | 1 Sixth Form he Sixth Form have had a very active year… without mentioning the examinations and the disruption of learning through inclement winter weather. T The photographs from various social events, including these Halloween ones, give evidence to the vibrancy of The Ashcombe Sixth Form and are a real tribute to the energy that the staff put into this sector of the school and the tremendous response from our students. 2 | Accent June 2010 Sixth Form Sixth Form Christmas Mr Stock and the Sixth Form about to sing… ... and in the act of singing at the first official Sixth Form Carol Singing Festival held in Bradley Quad. All Lower Sixth tutor groups were involved in putting together Christmas hampers for the elderly people of the area and volunteers took the produce out in the school minibus. The spirit of Christmas really hit the Sixth Form. They must have had a premonition of the bad weather about to hit the UK… Charity Sleepout group of staff and sixth formers had the bright idea of sleeping rough for charity one night. The venue was the Bradley Building quad area and cardboard boxes and sleeping bags were the items permitted for protection from the cold. Money raised was donated to the housing and homelessness charity, Shelter. A Accent June 2010 | 3 Charities Week harities Week 2010 was held immediately after the February halfterm break. C The superb organisational skills of the Lower Sixth team, ably led by the Batmanesque Mr Woollett, produced a lunchtime programme of activities that packed out the Hall. Students and staff volunteered their musical and creative skills in various displays of expertise whilst the sound and light shows enhanced the atmosphere greatly. The takings from MUFTI day on the Friday enabled the money raised to top £3000. The proceeds go to supporting the Romania and Tanzania Funds and the Royal Marsden Hospital. 4 | Accent June 2010 Duke of Edinburgh Award he Duke of Edinburgh’s Award has more participants at each level than ever at The Ashcombe this year. We currently have 150 students undertaking their Bronze award (all in Year 10), 47 students participating in Silver (all in Year 11), and 25 students have just enrolled at the Gold level (all in Lower 6th). T Year 11 have already completed a damp and soggy practice expedition to Exmoor, and will have tested themselves in the beautiful countryside of the Peak District by the time this is published. We hope the weather will have been kinder! Bronze participants have completed after-school training sessions, and also developed navigation and outdoor cooking skills during training at weekends, all in preparation for their expeditions around Box Hill and Leith Hill during the Summer Term. Our Gold candidates faced some gruelling challenges in Snowdonia, where they developed their mountain skills before they undertake their stringent assessed expedition amid the stunning scenery of the Lake District in July. All the participants have been very grateful for the efforts of the many staff who have given up time to help support them through their training and expeditions, and we are particularly grateful to all those who have helped to ensure that Bronze D of E becomes wheelchair-friendly! Accent June 2010 | 5 School Trips Sixth Form Trip to USA hirty six students and three staff spent part of the Easter break in the USA. Their visit to the White House coincided with the Easter Egg roll, at which President Obama and thousands of guests were present. After visiting the Museum of Modern Art, Ground Zero and other T famous sights of the Big Apple, the group moved on to Washington where they visited the Senate and the Vietnam War Memorial. The only dull part of the trip according to Mr Robinson, was a tame basketball match between Washington Wizards and New York Knicks. Battlefields trip s part of their GCSE History course, 49 pupils, led by five staff, visited the battlefields of the First World War from 10th to 12th February. They first travelled to Ypres in Belgium. Aside from a brief period in October 1914, Ypres never fell into German hands but suffered a heavy toll during its defence, some 250,000 allied soldiers dying from 1914-18. Students visited a number of British and German cemeteries before then experiencing a British trench system and the Cloth Hall in the centre of Ypres which houses the impressive museum 'In Flanders Fields'. A The school party attended the moving Menin Gate ceremony where three girls were able to take an active part in the event by laying a wreath in the name of The Ashcombe School. Every night of the year, without exception, policemen close the road to traffic at 8.00 p.m. 6 | Accent June 2010 and then stand at the salute while buglers from the Ypres Fire Brigade play "The Last Post". When visiting the Somme, in Northern France, the party’s travel arrangements were blighted by heavy snow and as a result could not get to the planned locations at Thiepval or Beaumont Hamel. Instead, at short notice, the group had a guided tour of the memorials and trench system at Vimy Ridge near Arras. The battle-scarred terrain from the shelling and the frequent warning signs keeping visitors from still dangerous areas continue to bring the war and the sacrifice back to life. Other than the travel disruptions, the trip was certainly successful, and staff are looking into incorporating some of these weather-induced changes into the itinerary for next year’s visit. Exchanges French Exchange he first Sixth Form exchange for Ashcombe students of French took place in the Spring Term. T Miss Solomons organised a link with the Lycée Fresnel in Bernay, Normandy, where she used to work! The students had an official welcome and reception at the Mairie, spent a day in Paris and a day in Rouen, and visited the D-Day Museum and a cider distillery during their stay. The French group, pictured with their English hosts, visited London, Oxford and Brighton. Spanish Exchange he Spanish exchange took place over the months of January and February this year. Whilst the Spaniards miraculously escaped the rigours of the English winter, the English did not enjoy the usual late winter sunshine of the Spanish capital. T However, there was much to be gained for the students from the visits to Real Madrid’s stadium, the Prado Museum and the Queen Sofía Centre for Contemporary Art in the city itself, and visits up in the sierra to the Escorial and the Valley of the Fallen gave opportunities for some clear mountain air as well as culture. The hosting families in both countries are to be thanked for their wonderful hospitality and tremendous efforts in making the exchange such a pleasant event. Accent June 2010 | 7 Oliver! iss Goswell’s attention to detail was evident everywhere. The programmes contained lots of useful background information to help audiences contextualise the production. She added a farewell note in the Oliver! programme that we re-print below. M I joined the school when it opened as a comprehensive in 1976. By the autumn of 1977 Ian Mellor and I found ourselves producing the first major Ashcombe production, “Zigger Zagger” in the then Lower School Hall. Rehearsals were often by torch and candle light thanks to the miners’ strike and electricity being switched off for hours at a time, and the football terrace we erected was built of scaffolding running from the balcony (now the music office) to the Hall Floor. Times have changed, but what was started then has become one of our Ashcombe traditions – the November Production. Thanks to fantastic staff – musical directors, assistant directors, backstage and technical helpers, we have had a show in nearly all of the intervening 32 years. It is impossible to count the pupils who have taken part but the number must run into thousands – all talented, dedicated and committed to making this one…….. the best! I am very proud of our achievements – ‘our’ being the operative word because it is the whole team effort which brings success as has happened again this year in ‘Oliver!’ For me personally the “big production” has been the highlight of each year. I shall miss it very much but it is my sincere hope that Ashcombe productions will continue to give enjoyment to participants and audiences alike for many years to come. 8 | Accent June 2010 Mr Thurley, who took over as Head of Drama in January, has been speedy in keeping The Ashcombe theatre-visiting world going, taking groups of students to see performances of Hedda Gabler at the Richmond Theatre, and Woman in Black and Six Degrees of Separation in London. Oliver! Accent June 2010 | 9 Sports Highlights Extra-curricular provision has seen large numbers taking part in a range of different activities at lunchtime and after-school clubs. Swimarathon ur Speed Team (James Gartland, Seb Fox, Alice Wearn, Katherine Hall, Alex Pratt and Georgie Chapman) completed a brilliant 99 laps of 50m. O Special thanks go to Alex who stepped in at the last minute. Alex, Seb, Katherine and Georgie then stayed on to swim with all the other Ashcombe swimmers for a further hour. (Alex also joined another team later on for another hour – all after a two-hour training session in the morning!) A fantastic effort from all 32 swimmers clocked up an overall total of over 24km – that’s the distance from Dorking to Redhill and back: well done! Surrey Schools Swimming Competition Congratulations also go to Georgie Chapman (Lower Sixth) whose impressive time in her 100 metre freestyle in the Surrey Schools Swimming Competition ensured her place to represent Surrey Schools against Kent Schools. Netball he Year 7 netball team played some fantastic netball to gain second place in the District Tournament held at Rosebery School. After remaining undefeated all afternoon, the team of Victoria May, Hannah Beresford, Lydia Goodwin, Imogen Bowles, Lucy Watson, Meg Quinn, Anna Issberner, Hannah Price and Grace Keen narrowly lost out in the last match of the afternoon. T Year 8 girls went into the Surrey District tournament with high expectations after such a successful season last year. The turnout was very strong but the girls held their own beating Howard of Effingham and Greenacre on their way to joint second place. Congratulations to Beth Bridgman, Esme Bathe, Eve Bradley, Ellie Rowlands, Jess King, Alice Goodwin, Abbie Johnson and Rachel Farmer. Cross Country he Surrey Schools event was held at Priory Park, Reigate in January. As always a very strong field was present and we were well represented. Top ten finishes were achieved by the following: T Michael Alwin in the Senior Boys, Jack Wyllie in the Junior Boys, and Daniel Ashwood and Charlie Wyllie (who finished first) in the Boys’ under 13 race. Congratulations to Jack Wyllie who represented Surrey at the English Schools’ cross country event. 10 | Accent June 2010 Rugby Even with the inclement weather curtailing several events, there have been some notable achievements. The highlights have been the Year 7 Rugby team that remained undefeated in league matches and reached the Surrey Schools’ Semi Final. Blenheim School organised a Sevens rugby competition for local state schools and our Year 7, 9 and 10 teams won their groups with Year 8 finishing runners-up. Congratulations to Fraser Mosley and Bill Rowlands (Year 10) on their selection for the Surrey under 15 Rugby team. In addition, Fraser was also selected to attend a week’s training over February half-term with the London and South East under 15 development squad. Trampolining he Ashcombe have successfully set the standard at recent competitions, which are new to the Mid-Surrey School Sport Partnership calendar. The competitions involved three disciplines, including Body Management, Set Skills and a Set Routine. Our Year 8 Girls’ team won their competition, the Boys’ team were also victorious and the Year 9-11 Girls’ team came second. They all showed great enthusiasm, practising at lunchtimes and after school, and we look forward to retaining the titles next year! T Girls’ team (Y8): Holly Jennings, Amy Risbridger, Jess King, Annabelle Terry, Beth Bridgman and Charlotte Smith Boys’ team (Y8-11): Tom Holmes, Nick Harris, Marcus Dell, Alex Fyffe Girls’ team (Y9): Katy Griffiths, Jo Goddard, Louise Chiverton, Hermione Hill Girls’ team (Y9-11): Tati Orme, Grace Shopland, Becky Prior, Georgina Welton. Sportshall Athletics he Ashcombe is beginning to get a reputation as a force to be reckoned with at this annual event, after winning the Mid-Surrey Schools’ competition with ease. The team consisted of seven boys and seven girls who went on to compete for the title of Surrey Champions. Each pupil is permitted to take part in three running events and two field events which include speed bounce, vertical jump, shot putt and standing triple jump for the field and long and short distances, relays and an obstacle course on the track. For the finals, the boys and girls were competing for separate trophies and from the start we dominated almost every event. There were nine teams competing and our closest rivals were Collingwood College, Camberley. When the final results were read out we had won both trophies and the pupils all received medals and certificates for their hard work. The proud Surrey Champions are Lucy Watson, Laura Amos, Rachel Higgins, Victoria May, Imogen Fuller, Imogen Broster, Lara Evans, James Bennett, James Stone, James Kressinger-Dunn, Charlie Wyllie, Dan Mahony, Tobias Barnett and James Ashford. T Sports Highlights Gym and Dance Evening he Ashcombe School PE Department’s annual evening of Gymnastics and Dance took place in January. Throughout the Autumn Term and early part of the Spring Term extra-curricular clubs covering the aesthetic sports were open for all pupils of all years and abilities. The pupils attending these clubs had one shared goal: that they wanted to work towards choreographing routines and sequences that they could perform in an evening of aesthetics presented to family and friends. T Displays during the evening were solo, duet and group sequences ranging from street dance to jive to gymnastics apparatus pieces. Group sequences included a cheerleading squad, a trampette and a vaulting routine. Some of the dances performed were part of pupils’ GCSE work, others were extra-curricular work. It was particularly pleasing to see our gym squad perform for the first time. The Year 7 and 8 squad of Amy Risbridger, Holly Jennings, Nick Harris, Ollie Fyffe, Tobias Barnett, Charlotte Smith, Victoria May, Meg Bowie, Grace Keen and Rhianna Burgess won the Mid-Surrey Schools’ Partnership Competition. The Ashcombe took first place after scoring the overall highest in the three disciplines of body management, vaulting and the floor piece. Mole Valley Youth Showcase Awards e were delighted to be asked to put forward an act for the Youth Showcase Awards in February. Dom Nicholls, Jack Whetnall, George Clarkson, Nick Harris, Holly Jennings and Amy Risbridger had rehearsed most lunchtimes in the lead-up to the performance. Unfortunately Nick suffered an injury (not gym related!) and was unable to perform. The rest of the gymnasts continued, making the adjustments needed and with a guest performance from Miss Dobson the show went on and was received warmly by the audience. W Mole Valley Schools Twenty 20 Tournament t John’s School, Leatherhead hosted an under 15 Twenty 20 cricket tournament for Mole Valley Schools as part of The Forty Club’s* contribution to the Chance to Shine project. S Pupils from The Ashcombe School, Howard of Effingham School, Therfield School and St Andrew’s School (Leatherhead) took part in the tournament. In our morning game we beat Therfield off the last ball and in the afternoon we scored 146-1 in beating Howard of Effingham. The Player of the Tournament Award went to The Ashcombe captain, Harry Keay, who scored over a 100 runs on the day with 70 (not out) of them being in the final. *The Forty Club is the second largest private cricket club in the world. The aim of the club since 1936 has been 'to take cricket to the schools' by organising tournaments and offering schools fixtures against experienced cricketers. The Chance to Shine programme was launched by the Cricket Foundation in 2005 with the objective to take competitive cricket and its educational benefits to schools. Accent June 2010 | 11 Links with China Historical Links! China in London e have recently discovered that The Ashcombe's links with China go back further than 1998 when we made our first tentative foray into South East Asia. In fact, the link goes back as far as the 1940s n February, a group of Year 11 pupils were privileged to get a guided tour of the British Museum's Chinese collections from China specialist James Trapp, followed by a quick visit to London's Chinatown. W As a student at Dorking Grammar, Archie Barnes learnt Chinese from his RE teacher who had been a missionary in China. Archie went on to be Professor of Chinese at Durham University. Keith Pratt (pictured with Dr Munford) was Archie's first student and Keith himself later became Professor of Chinese at Durham. Theresa Munford then graduated in Chinese..... from Durham University... and is now Mandarin teacher at The Ashcombe! China Exchange he annual exchange to China took place at the end of the Summer Term and the group visited Beijing for four days before heading south to stay with exchange partners in Shanghai. The group is pictured in the Forbidden City and in our link school in the Putuo district of Shanghai. T 12 | Accent June 2010 I Fundraising Events Sponsored Walk raises £14,528 anesh Amin of Year 8 proudly shows off his bicycle that he won thanks to having raised the sum of £270 in sponsorship for the Sponsored Walk in the Autumn Term. The incentive to raise money was perhaps enhanced by the offer of the bicycle from the West Street Head-for-the-Hills bike shop, to whose owner, Dan Webb, we are again grateful. D We would like to thank those families and friends who supported the event. The money has been put to excellent use. Some has been used for the Covered Way project – the last phase of which will be completed over the summer break – whilst a portion will be used to help us begin what we hope will be a longstanding charitable commitment to a community in Uganda which is supported by the UK charity Build Africa. More on this will appear in the next edition of this magazine. Sport Relief n Friday 19th March Year 7 pupils participated in their very own sport-a-thon. Competing in a variety of sports, they attempted to record the best score in beating the keeper, racing the hockey slalom, hula hooping and much more. They demonstrated their sporting prowess by creating a wonderful atmosphere by raising £77 for Sport Relief. The pupils had a great time and it was brilliant to see so many of them rising to the Sport Relief challenge. O New Nursery School he building of the new Chatterbox Nursery was completed earlier in the year and it opened for service after the Easter holidays. Chatterbox manager Jan White is absolutely delighted with the new premises at the top of Ranmore drive. T “It’s just brilliant – lovely play areas inside and out, little toilets, sleeping area… just fantastic.” The nursery is a tremendous asset to the school, enabling staff with small children to leave them carefully supervised during the day. Some of the PE staff are shown here taking part in an afterschool event organised for Year 8 pupils also to raise money for Sports Relief. Lepra Health t the end of the Spring Term Year 7 took part in a workout during their Whole School Tutor Period in an effort to raise money for Lepra Health in Action. The pupils had a presentation about the charity’s work. They collected sponsorship money over the holidays. The money has gone towards detecting, treating and curing communities suffering with leprosy in India and Africa. A Accent June 2010 | 13 School Events Mock trial competition group of thirteen Year 9 pupils had first-hand experience of how a Magistrates’ Court works when they took part in the Annual Citizenship Foundation Mock Trial competition at Kingston Magistrates’ Court. A Mrs Poleviou and Miss Davidson pictured with The Ashcombe team The team played the role of defence and prosecution lawyers, witnesses (including a very convincing defendant!), usher and legal adviser, giving them a real flavour of how cases are argued. The Year 9 team consisted of Harry Baker, Johana Knowles, Andrew Trezise, Oliver Seymour, Jenny Chaplin, Natasha Lock, Emily Ford, Lucy Lott, Caitlin Burge, Zoe Everson, Yasmin Bahra, Phoebe Creswell and Isabel Budleigh. The pupils had spent several weeks analysing witness statements from a case in which a youth (the defendant) is found with a knife in her possession following a fight. The Ashcombe team finished second in the competition and received much praise by the judging magistrates, with comments such as “a seemingly natural (performance)” and “(they) presented their arguments well and picked up the difference in evidence.” As part of the experience, they also had the opportunity to see “real life” cases the week before when visiting Kingston Court as part of an organised school trip. Thanks go to Mrs Poleviou who led the team for the event. STEM Careers Event Maths Challenge n 18th March we held a specialist Careers Evening for Sixth Form students who take Science, Technology and /or Maths. Over 30 contributors from businesses in the south east came to the event which provided a superb opportunity for students and their parents to learn about possible careers related to their subject areas. ongratulations to the following students for their achievements in the 2010 national Maths Challenge competition. O Apart from one-to-one advice from specialists, Carol Davies, principal hydrogeologist at Hyder Consulting (UK) Ltd, gave a short address to parents and students. She stressed how vital the role of people with scientific and technological knowledge had been following the recent disaster in Haiti, its importance in developing the London Olympics site and generally in the world of telecommunications and transport. The Ashcombe’s next biennial Careers Fair for students in Years 9-13 and their parents will take place from 6-9pm on Thurday 23rd September. World Book Day o celebrate World Book Day (4th March) a number of events and activities were planned for the week. The main event was a talk to the Year 7s by the author, Peter Corey. As usual he delivered a very enjoyable talk that had the Year 7s riveted. Staff and pupils were invited to vote for their favourite book of the decade on a library “wall” which is now nearly full. Other activities included guessing the music from books made into films, a second hand 10p book sale, make a super hero book mark and a quiz to match the book character to their address. Pupils also received a £1 book voucher and a free book mark for every book issued. For Easter there was a competition to design an Easter egg. T Displays this term have included winter reads, vampires, dragons, drawing, music and war. 14 | Accent June 2010 C Senior level Gold awards: Hugh Baker and Rachel Lawrence; Silver: Rob Johnston, Celine Kerslake-Sim, Jess Ede, James Smith, Laura Price, Eve Powell, William Isted, Gareth More; Bronze: Charlie Treadwell, James Yarde, Rebecca Cannon, Kristian Hook, Sarah Bridgman. Intermediate level: Dinah Rodell, Jack Whetnall, Julian Buckland-Wilson will go forward to a European competition for top achievers; Gold: Rob Bradbury, Lucy Howard-Comber, Patrick Rice, Emma Yarde, Beth Rudd, Dominic Pollard, Joe Moran, Reece Lunstone; Silver: Tom Coffey, Dylan Wakerly, Lawrie Switihinbank, Will Taylor, Jodie Hutchison, Gavin Morrison, Seb Fox, Dougie Baldwin, Ellen King, Tom Trier, Lydia Hudson, James Fox, David Taylor, Philip Ellis; Bronze: Laurence Crumbie, Bhavisha Patel, Jack Allsop, Michael Foskett, Elise Parish, Theo Robertson-Bonds, Hugh Arnold, Max Simon, Catherine Spurs, Owen Lynch, Liam Hawkins, Isabel Budleigh, Yasmin Bahra, Harry Baker, Will Stone, Caitlin Burge. Film Nights number of Year 7 pupils have enjoyed some film showings in the Study Centre and Hall where our very own cinema has come to life. The big screen and popcorn has made for a good social activity for pupils and tutors. A Study Centre uring the Spring Term the Study Centre held a number of events and activities. In the first half of the term we held a Valentine’s Day quiz and two drawing competitions based on two of our displays - dragons and vampires. The drawing competitions were very popular with 54 entries. There were some very good entries. D School Events Science and Technology n May a group of Year 9 pupils worked with scientists and technologists to gain an insight into the world of work by constructing a mini wind turbine to produce electricity. The day was organised by the Design Technology department through the STEM organisation which works to encourage pupils to participate in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. I Spring Concert Music arely had the snow disappeared than it was time for a concert employing ensembles and soloists to usher in warmer breezes and conjure up snowdrops from the frigid ground. B The evening took on a relaxed mood but the performances demanded much of our students who demonstrated a real enjoyment in communicating through the various styles. Leith Hill Music Competition With a fabulously condensed organisation / rehearsal period behind us what followed was a widely applauded concert noted for the consistently high standard of performance and engaging variety. he Ashcombe School Choir entered this year’s Festival Competition, and were congratulated for a musical performance, in particular in regard to a Japanese Lullaby “Aka – Tonbo”. Ensembles included solo voice with string and harpsichord continuo, jazz band, vocal quartet, Orchestra, “Cuban” acoustic set, piano duet, flute and piano. The broad programme followed examples from the sixteenth to twentieth centuries. Twenty four students from Years 7 to Upper Sixth turned out on a Saturday afternoon and gave us all a chance to experience an event such as this. Parents of pupils were delighted that we had taken part, and we have useful feedback for next year! T Choir at Senior Citizens’ Party Accent June 2010 | 15 Geography Field Visits n March the Year 12 Geographers examined river processes on the Tillingbourne and visited areas of regeneration in East London, including the Olympics site. The group were highly praised by their tutors for their knowledge and ability to engage in the geographical issues. They will use these fieldwork experiences to complete a summer examination. I Slapton Sands n October 2009 I took part in a trip to Slapton Sands, Devon, with the Geography department to improve our understanding of a selection of skills that we could use for our January examination. We stayed at the Slapton Field Study Centre for five days, which enabled us to have three full days for investigating three different projects. The Field Study Centre is used for preserving the National Nature Reserve, which comprises a maritime shingle ridge, the freshwater of the Ley (lake), the deciduous woodland and the animals that live in these areas. I 16 | Accent June 2010 On the first day we walked a stretch of the coastline in the sunshine and collected data on coastal processes. Subsequent days were for studying succession and rural environments. Upon returning back to school we have been able to write up the full investigation of our chosen project. We will then be able to answer questions relating to the investigation and use it for revision purposes for our January examination. Thank you to Mrs Stanford and Mr Ravenhill. Charlie Bruinvels, U6
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