The Official Magazine of St Birinus School

“Chelsea’s Choice”

Superteen Star of Tomorrow

School Association News

St Birinus School, Mereland Road, Didcot, Oxon OX11 8AZ01235 814444 ● stbirinus@st-birinus.oxon.sch.uk ● www.st-birinus-school.org.uk

“Inspiring Excellence”

CelebrateEdition: Six

dEc ‘12 - Mar ‘13

Press Club:

Ala’Eddin BayaaLee Besley

Maxim FlynnWilliam Fothergill

Chris GaddLewis Hinds

Tom LawrenceMatthew O’Dea

Mr Brown (Editor)

Dear Families

Participating in a wide range of ‘extra’ and broader curriculum activities is a key aspect of life at St Birinus. As much as a strong set of qualifications is needed to open up next-stage pathways, the skills and attributes that come from engaging in extra curricular activities are fundamental to a successful life, long after ‘formal’ education has come to an end.

On a personal note, much of the ‘attributes’ that have allowed me to progress in my own life and career were certainly formed whilst participating in a range of, usually, team-based activities that ran alongside the ‘normal’ classroom-based curriculum.

We celebrate the richness of these opportunities as being a key part of the school – and, as you will see, we use this edition of Celebrate to give you a flavour of these many opportunities.

Best wishes

Alwyn Richard

Thundersport GB

A huge congratulations go to Zak Corderoy (9.3) who received the Superteen Star of Tomorrow trophy (pictured on the front cover) for his achievements in Thundersport GB.

Thundersport is the National Motorbike Racing Championship and requires a lot of dedication like many other sports; Zak said, “I train seven days a week and training involves going to the gym for 2 hours every day.” He went on to say, “I take part in racing because its fun” with his future hopes being to win the Championship trophy at the end of this year.

Throughout 2012, Zak racked up an incredible 12 podium places out of 22 races, as well as achieving the lap record at the Rockingham International race track. This effort meant that, despite missing two races, Zak was placed 4th overall at the end of the season and so was clearly deserving of his trophy!

Mrs Dobbenie, Zak’s form tutor, said, “In our form, we have watched Zak’s races on Youtube and we were all amazed at how skilfully he manoeuvred his bike around the track. We are very proud of him and hope to see him become the champion in his age category in the coming year.”

Beyond Birinus

Many of our pupils achieve great success in a range of activities outside of school, and so we’d like to help spread their news!

Cross Country Championship

Sunderland played host to the National Cross Country Championships on 22nd February where our own Nick Wiltshire (7.6) was competing. Of the 205 competitors in the male U13 race, Nick was placed 90th, a great achievement in a nationwide meet.

Nick’s next run was on 9th March in Birmingham, representing Oxfordshire at the Inter-Counties Championship. This race was broadcast on Sky Sports and he was selected after claiming 2nd place in the Oxfordshire championships earlier in the year.

Chelsea’s Choice

Term 4 started off dramatically for the whole of Year 9. They became the first pupils in an Oxfordshire-wide tour to witness the production of “Chelsea’s Choice”, a play educating them about the dangers of child sexual exploitation. The hour-long event included an extensive question and answer section where everyone learnt a range of information, including how to stay safer online and how this issue can affect boys just as much as it does girls.

This is such an important issue that St Birinus welcomed many members of the local and national press to watch; there

were film crews from BBC South Today, ITV Meridian and Channel 4, as well as reporters for the Oxford Mail, Didcot Herald and JACK FM! This meant a busy morning for 4 boys asked to talk with the press about what they had learnt from the actors – but after 3 separate interviews, Daniel Blair, Joe Clinton, George Kay and Dellan Thornton were seasoned pros at answering the journalists’ tricky questions!

Mr Williamson, Mr Fuller and members from Oxfordshire County Council services were also grilled by the press. Later, Mr Williamson said, “The boys were given a hard hitting, thought-provoking performance – challenging them to consider the real life consequences of

Chelsea’s decisions. This true story brought stunned silence from the audience at it’s climax, clearly driving its message home. The boys asked the cast some fantastic questions and really understood the importance of online safety.”

This was a great opportunity for pupils to learn some great life skills which they clearly took seriously as evidenced by Mr Fuller who reported that “they were very quiet and very much thinking about the message that was being given out”.

Don’t worry if you missed any of the broadcasts on TV, as you can find a link to them on the school website!

Shooting

Jack Rivers (11.9) has triumphed once again in the world of competitive shooting. On 23rd and 24th February he competed in the British Airgun Championships, completing the weekend as the Class C aggregate winner!

He can add this to his previous achievements, which include winning the team silver medal at the Junior International Match in August last year. Jack doesn’t just compete nationally; he also shoots for the Great British Junior Target Rifle Squad, last year winning bronze at the International match held in Germany.

Jack has been shooting since he was 10, gaining a place on the GB team only one year later. He trains in Wantage and said, “I love shooting because it’s a sport that always gives me a goal to work towards.” He

added that the sport also has an amazing social side, which helps to motivate everyone involved.

Jack will be competing again this year on several occasions, including a return to Germany for this year’s international match. “We are extremely proud of Jack’s outstanding success and look forward to hearing about his forthcoming matches” said Miss Hopkins, Jack’s head of year, a sentiment supported by the whole school community.

Programming

On 10th January Joshua Soames (7.3) was invited along to Reading University to support Harwell Primary School at the National Lego Challenge. Joshua described the competition as “building a lego robot and programming it to pass obstacles set up on a mat, getting points for each one you complete.”

Joshua was asked because he used to attend Harwell Primary School and was well known for his programming skills. With Joshua’s help the pupils won the trophy for Best Presented Team (focussing on “behaviour and kindness”) as well as developing their programming skills.

“I thought it was very good,” Joshua added, “and I think that all the pupils who went thoroughly enjoyed the experience.”

Photos, Top: Jack RiversBottom: Joshua Soames

TRAIN

Dom Kane and Jake Neal (11.5) were both shortlisted for the Didcot Business and Community Award for their involvement in TRAIN, a local Youth Community project. They were nominated because they secured £3,500 as part of the Positive Activities Fund panel, which was used to fund a residential trip to Biblins Youth Campsite.

They are both now Junior Volunteers for TRAIN and working hard towards their Oxfordshire Youth Volunteering Awards by helping run football sessions, organising further trips, raising money and lots more!

World Book Day

World Book Day (7th March) is a day where children and adults can enjoy and celebrate books and reading. In previous years the school has done events such as stop and read, but this year the school ran two quizzes; one on book covers and another general quiz. School Librarian Mrs Wilkins said that “World Book Day has always been popular and this year even more so!” Pupils in years 7 to 11 this year were given a book voucher that got them £1 off a book.

Tom Lawrence (10.3)

Weightlifting

The 29-strong team won 24 medals at the recent British Schools’ Weightlifting Championships on 2nd March. Of these, 9 are now official National Champions, which is superb!

This is our 18th consecutive year with at least one national champion, a record which no other school in the country can boast.

The team also secured the “Team of the Day” award for their behaviour and performance, with Mr Thompson saying “the boys excelled in all areas.”

Carnival

This time of year sees many communities celebrate through the use of Carnivals. Pupils have been learning about these festivities in their Language lessons, but three pupils were lucky enough to witness them first-hand, providing us with the following accounts:

During the time before Lent in February, great carnival and Mardi Gras celebrations take place around the world. We have been researching about the biggest and the most famous ones such as the carnivals in Rio de Janeiro, Venice and Cologne. It is amazing that the people prepare for the parades and costumes for almost the whole year to be ready for February events. The costumes and colours are fascinating and colourful, everything seems to be so vibrant! In Cologne a huge amount of sweets are thrown from the parade to the crowds where people stand with open umbrellas - but upside down - to gather as many sweets as possible when they are thrown to the crowds.

Haydn Sandland (9.7)

I was lucky enough to go on holiday this year during the February break during the carnival in Venice. We spoke about the carnival celebrations in our lessons and I really looked forward to seeing them “live”. Venice is a fascinating and unusual place, but the people walking around in masks and costumes gave the place a different and really magical feel to the celebrations. I enjoyed watching the parades around the main monuments such as Canal Grande and Rialto Bridge.

Sion Rees (8.4)

During my time in the Bahamas I experienced two festivals, one being Mardi Gras and the other being Junkanoo. Both included huge parties and parades. They happen annually throughout the year, and in the summer I enjoyed it all seven times. I was always involved in the festival and wish it could happen here as well.

Neo Groves (7.1)Picture: Masks from Sion’s visit

to Venice

Eco Column

The eco-committee have recently achieved Bronze Eco School status for St Birinus. We are currently working towards getting the silver status.

We are only a small group of students, but we come from all years of the school. We are working closely with teachers and the site team to achieve our goals.

Currently, we are aiming to attract wildlife onto the school campus. One way that we are doing this is by trying to plant more flowers within the school grounds, because this will encourage birds and insects to visit.

Chris Gadd (10.3)Matthew O’Dea (10.2)

School Association News

Autumn gave some great opportunities for social and fundraising activities. These included a BBQ and games evening for the new Year 7 and their parents, and the eagerly anticipated Quiz Night, with our very own Mr. Fuller providing the questions. Together these events and our presence at the Street Fair have raised nearly £1,000.

The big news for the Spring though, is the launch of the St

Birinus School Lottery to replace the Easter Raffle of previous years. This will run throughout the year with monthly prize winners taking up to half of the money raised and the rest

being used to enhance the boys’ educational experience. Everyone wins! Look out for the sign-up form coming soon.

Glyn Oliver (School Association)

“The teams clearly know

the answers on Quiz Night - or

maybe not!”

Photo: Chris Launchbury

(10.1)

Caption: Will Fothergill (8.4)

Gifted and Talented

G&T is a system that runs in the school through all years – a selected group of pupils have the chance to do activities that really challenge them.

There are opportunities throughout the year, including one that appeared a couple of weeks ago. Lewis Hinds took part in a philosophy challenge where he and the other pupils were posed questions that had “no logical answer”, thus testing their thought processes. He said that “we are currently making PowerPoint presentations on it” to reaffirm the results of the activity. Other recent projects have included learning how to publish non-fiction books and learning about the history of

Dorchester Abbey on topics such as religion, agriculture and sculpting. Lewis added “all of these activities were mentally challenging yet still fun.”

Other upcoming events include the “G and Me” 2-day course for Year 9 students. The course is based on giving them the opportunity to break down what they want to accomplish and put it into the smallest steps possible to maximise their chances of achieving that goal. Mr Heley said that “this course has been running for the past 2 years” and so looks set to be an annual feature of the school calendar!

Maxim Flynn (8.4)Lewis Hinds (8.4)

Dog Agility

Congratulations to Anthony Aldridge (9.4) who competed in the National Open Dog Agility Championships for England. It was a fierce competition but England ended up defeating Scotland, Wales and Ireland and taking the top-spot with the help of Anthony.

Promo Video

This March we see the launch of SBS’s first ever video! Between October and January the film-makers and pupils worked hard to showcase the achievements of our Weightlifting, Swimming and Tennis clubs.

The film includes demonstrations of the pupils’ skills from all 3 clubs as well as interviews discussing their dedication to their sports, why they enjoy taking part and their future goals. This is supported by interviews with the club coaches and the Headteacher adding information about how the school and local community support the teams

and why we should be proud of their successes.

The making of the film took a lot of planning and the outcome is a testament to the boys’ ability to demonstrate their high level of skills throughout lengthy training sessions. We would also like to say thank you to the film-makers, Joe Zabrariek and Chris Frost, who produced the wonderful video for free.

The video can be viewed on the school website. We also hope to be adding many more videos that highlight a range of talented boys across all areas of academia, extra-curricular activities and community spirit,

so if you have any ideas, let us know!

Rugby

The Year 7 Rugby team became the official ball boys at two London Welsh rugby matches in February. After performing their official duties they got the chance to meet the players.

Baptist Union Award for Ethics and Morality Barclays Bank Award for MathematicsBen Cross Memorial Award for Drama

David Draper Award for EnglishDidcot Herald Victor Ludorum Cup

Didcot Railway Centre Award for Vocational EducationExel Logistics Award for Geography

Infineum Award for Chemistry London Wasps Award for Achievement in Sports Leadership

Nicholas Perkins Award for Technology

Outstanding Achievement in History Oxford University Press Award for Modern Languages

Philip Karlsson Award for WeightliftingPhilip Reader Award for Performing Arts

Research Machines Award for Information & Communication Technology Ron Jones Award for Physical Education

Roy East Award for ArtRotary Club “Service above Self” Award

St Birinus Award for Biology St Birinus Award for Engineering

Toumaz Award for Physics Head Boy Trophy

BMS World Mission International Citizenship Award

Mathew NorrisJoshua StrangeJoseph ParkerGabriel NaughtonEima MeadeAndrew EaglesAdam CapstickJoshua StrangeScott GroveMatthew TaylorCiaran BirchMatthew NorrisSamuel BakerAlexander JohnsonWill StantonDeclan HunterSamuel McDermaidChloe WebsterChristopher GaddCharlie CoxConnor DoughanBeth LongJoshua StrangeWilliam Kingett

Awards Evening

It seems a distant memory now (when the nights drew in earlier and it was a lot colder!) but the end of December saw our annual Awards Evening take place. As a highlight of the year we celebrated the successes of boys from across the school. We have included just a small selection of the winners to remind you of the hard work shown by everyone at St Birinus! Log on to the website to see a full list.

Top picture: Cornerstone workshop in full swing!

Bottom picture: UKYP election candidates

Cornerstone

Last month we took part in a workshop in collaboration with the Cornerstone based in the centre of Didcot. 10 boys were invited to a workshop run by Cornerstone, Didcot’s art centre, who were there to talk about the artistic facilities in town for young people as well as help develop the pupils’ business and communication skills.

After a short introduction, we all took part in an electronic quiz. This was followed by an engaging discussion on what kinds of extra-curricular activities pupils in primary schools have access to.

Next was a business task; we split into teams and had to imagine we were running an arts centre. We were asked to devise a programme of events specifically designed to attract an audience of under 25 year-olds and then convince the Cornerstone staff of our ideas in a “Dragon’s Den”-style pitch!

The session ended by highlighting areas where the Cornerstone might appeal to the younger generations of Didcot and the possibility of a youth steering committee. These ideas were used to format an outline for discussion with their managers and with a view to some future events.

Alfie (year 7) said “it was brilliant! I loved it and it was awesome!” School Council coordinator Miss Tiley added “This workshop gave the pupils an opportunity to use ‘pupil voice’ in suggesting activities relevant to their age group. It also opens up the opportunity of art specialists from the Cornerstone being able to work with our pupils in the future.”

Tim Alderson-Martin (9.9)Mr Brown

Presently we are working on projects linked to Sakhululeka Secondary School, our South African link school in Fort Beaufort, South Africa. We have applied for a grant that will assist with the partnership, including buying relevant resources for both schools. This will be achieved with the help of the Rotary Club, who have experience in improving communications between UK and overseas schools that have limited IT resources.

The School Council Reps including sixth form will also be taking part in a Training Day that will involve various tasks and presentations with the aim of compiling a conclusive Manifesto that can be shared throughout the whole school. This will form a regular annual training day in association with South Oxfordshire District Council.

The School Council is also working on developing an INTERACT club within Didcot. INTERACT is a Rotary Club for teenagers and it enables youths

to work on projects within school or their local community. There is a Faringdon group who are looking to come in and present what activities and projects they have worked on – so St Birinus pupils could well be the ones who are the ‘founders’ for a group in Didcot!

And finally, Hammod Munir recently stood for election in the UK Youth Parliament elections for our region. He was narrowly beaten, coming in 2nd, but this was out of 12 candidates from other schools, and so is a great achievement!

Dominik Kurylo (9.9)Miss Tiley

Schoo

l Coun

cil Up

dates

House Leaderboard

The current standings in March are:

athEnian: 300 pointS

corinthian: 325 pointS

Spartan: 475 pointS

trojan: 400 pointS

Meet the Teachers

Continuing our “Meet the Teachers” feature, Tom Lawrence provides us with the following report from his latest interview:

The newest member of the senior leadership team and the St Birinus Maths department is Mrs Foster.

For the past 9 years Mrs Foster worked at Wheatley Park School in Oxford which she said she “thoroughly enjoyed.” But before that she said that she worked as a lifeguard in Bicester, saying it was “a bit different!”

Her hobbies and interests include gardening, spending time with her dog and reading; however her “guilty pleasure” is a US cop show - although she wasn’t willing to admit which one!

Finally, Mrs Foster told me how she became a teacher. At first she had wanted to be a doctor, but worried that she might not be good at it, so instead completed a Maths degree before taking up teaching.

Tom Lawrence (10.3)

And Finally...

On 6th March the U15 Football squad added a further win to their successful English Schools’ FA Cup campaign. This now places them in the top 8 teams from the original 770 that entered from across England, equalling the school’s best-ever performance.

They go on to compete later this term and you can read a full report of the matches on the school website.

Enthuse Day

Since the beginning of 2013 pupils have continued to take part in a range of enterprise days and activities; this includes the Year 10 Enthuse Day on January 31st.

The aim of the day was to teach everyone about enterprise and discover their individual strengths. The Year 10’s were put into teams and competed in teamwork activities which focussed on many different types of intelligence. These included: linguistic, logic/mathematical, naturalistic, spatial, body-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence.

One of the activities involved building a cube from various 3D shapes, testing our logic/mathematical intelligence. It was very interesting to see how quickly we could fit the blocks together.

“The Bright Futures team delivered a rewarding day” Ms Wall said. She added “as well as promoting enterprise as a means of success both in school and in carving out a career, they gave insight about how these young men need to present themselves when coming into contact with establishments offering apprenticeships and employment.”

By the end of the day we had learnt to share out tasks that play to each person’s strengths, because it then takes less time to complete tasks.

Matthew O’Dea (10.2)Chris Gadd (10.3)