No: 1112 Friday 24th June www.yarmschool.org

Newsletter

Happy 7th Birthday Reuben Manor! A group of eleven dedicated Yarm School pupils in the First, Second and Third Years kindly committed a lunch time to entertain residents of a local care home. Many thanks and congratulations to our young musicians for preparing and performing such a wonderful programme - the residents were thoroughly grateful and even joined in with a few of the numbers! 'Last week, during lunch, a group of us went to Reuben Manor Care Home to give them a little concert to celebrate their 7th birthday. I went with Stella Dooris, Mia Mack, Ananya Singh, Connor McMurray, Ananya Padmanabhan, Charlotte Rutter, Freddie Dawson, Jamie Wiltshire, A-J Thorne-Wallis and Rachel McMurray. We played a variety of instruments and sang. The residents of the care home really liked and enjoyed it. I thought it was really fun and I’m sure the others did too!' Emily Carter B1 SJC

Congratulations go to Fifth Year pupil Elizabeth Atherton who received a prestigious Vibe Award by Darlington Borough Council for her Contribution to the Community. The Vibe Awards is an annual event which celebrates the achievements of young people across Darlington Borough with awards being given for

outstanding achievement. Elizabeth was put forward by the Girl Guiding Association for helping to run the local Brownie group and being such a positive role model for the girls that attend. Keeping it in the family, her sister Caroline was due to be dancing at the ceremony but was not able to as she was on the 3rd Year Journey but was possibly dancing up a hill! Well done, Elizabeth, it is good to see your efforts recognised and the award is thoroughly well deserved. We are very proud of you.

Mrs Gratton

Musical pupils help to celebrate the birthday of a local care home

Vibe award for Elizabeth EU Mock Referendum

The Dovecote Summer Concert - Sunday 3rd July, 6pm Free admission. Tickets from the Senior School Office

Yarm School voted to Remain. For the full details and analysis please see page 3.

NEWS

24th June |Yarm School Newsletter 2 |

Debating the Lessons of History

'That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history' - Aldous

Huxley Aldous Huxley, the esoteric English novelist and commentator gave us the seductively entitled novel Brave New World. But this futuristic vision was not an idealised depiction of where human development may lead us, but rather a dystopian portrait of a society in regression and repression. It is almost an inbuilt lazy assumption fed by all manner of narratives that we are 'building a better world', that history has delivered us to a place of progress. Whilst at the same time popular culture is soaked in nostalgia for innumerable previous historical epochs, from our dreams of days at Downton Abbey, to our misty eyed glimpses to 'back in the day'. To wrestle with this intellectual conundrum the Sixth Form students of the History Departments of Yarm and Conyers will be coming together next Wednesday in order to debate this very this issue. The motion for the evening will be 'This House believes we have never had it so good'. The event will take place in the Lecture Theatre from 16:30. All members of the school and their families are most welcome. Refreshments will be available.

Mr S Edwards Next Tuesday, 5.00pm As part of our commitment to provide enrichment opportunities for pupils and to extend their understanding beyond the curriculum, we are delighted to welcome the former Middlesbrough, Newcastle and England manager, Mr Steve McClaren to deliver the final lecture of this year’s evening lecture programme.

Steve McClaren will be delivering a lecture on the Psychology of Success, drawing on his own experiences as well as those of people has worked with in the world of football and beyond, including Roy Keane, John Terry and Sir Alex Ferguson. The lecture will explore the key traits of successful people, including passion, discipline, focus, the ability to deal with adversity and confidence. The lecture will be held on Tuesday 28th June and it will begin at 5pm. It should last approximately one hour including time for questions. If you would like your son/daughter to attend the lecture, please email Mrs Harrison (elh@yarmschool.org). Additional spaces can also be reserved for family and friends of Yarm School. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

An audience with Steve McClaren

Several Newsletter readers will remember Molly Bean's regular contributions and blogs about her veterinary science work experience during her time in the Sixth Form. Molly returned to school this week to share her recent experiences at Edinburgh University and offered advice to pupils planning to follow in her footsteps.

Molly has just completed the second year of her degree at Edinburgh and she kindly shared words of wisdom and answered a plethora of questions related to university applications, work experience and what it is really like to study veterinary science. She is about to travel to Borneo to engage in a community project work there, so we are very grateful to her for giving up her valuable summer holiday to help us, and we look forward to seeing her return to Yarm for visits in the future.

Miss C E Rhodes

Intermediate and Senior Duologues

Thursday 30th June 2016, 6.30pm Tickets: Adults £2, Pupils £1

Becoming a Vet...

NEWS

24th June |Yarm School Newsletter 3 |

As the end of the school year approaches, we are aware that many parents are keen to make arrangements. The details of the last two days of the term are listed below: Tuesday 5th July 4.00pm Term ends for Fourth Years and Lower Sixth. Wednesday 6th July 10.30am Lower School Prize giving for First, Second and Third Years in the Auditorium. 12.00 noon Ceremony ends. Pupils dismissed for end of term and

begin to depart (no school lunch

provided).

12.30pm School buses depart supervised by

duty staff.

ALL PUPILS MUST LEAVE THE SCHOOL

SITE AND MAY NOT RETURN LATER IN

THE DAY.

Arrangements for the end of term

Geography Map

In Geography the First Year pupils have been studying the 'Geography of the Rio 2016 Olympics'. So far they have used their Atlas skills to give detailed descriptions of the location of Rio and created climate graphs for Rio de Janeiro. Pupils were asked to create their own map to show what they would want to include in an Olympic Park. Many wonderful maps were created including Mia Mack's map which was simply outstanding. Fabulous work Mia!

EU Referendum Results

'Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose' Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr

Perhaps already jaded from the tumult of the national campaigns, or perhaps choosing to adopt a more discreet approach to politicking, the Yarm School Mock EU campaign conducted itself modestly, with decorum, but no lack of conviction. The Electoral Commission's clumsy decision not to liaise directly with Yarm School over the timing of the national referendum led to a short campaign having to be run following the return of the Lower Sixth from their period of study leave. The two rival teams comprised a host of students from the departments of Politics, Economics and Business Studies, with the Leave campaign led by Sam Tilley, Annabel Jones, Alex Maddison and Hollie Blake and the Remain campaign led by Freya Gittens, Eve Mason-Howell, Alice Powell and Aran Banerjee. In addition to roaming around the school grounds at break and lunchtime seeking to elicit support from the school community, the two teams had the opportunity to address the entirety of the pupil body by delivering two separate assemblies to both the Senior School and the Prep School. The Senior School event saw a considered and carefully weighted pair of speeches from Freya and Aran, presenting a raft of arguments in favour of the UK remaining in the EU. It was then the turn of Sam Tilley for the Leave campaign to raise the rhetoric with an eloquent and impassioned case for withdrawal. It was certainly motivating for the senior school pupils to witness their peers who had clearly invested much thought and demonstrated conviction for their cause. The Prep School event was an altogether different creature; following a brief introduction to the topic and two short speeches the occasion was given over to a question and answer session. The indisputable winners here were the Prep School pupils, showing irrepressible energy and engagement, raising numerous highly considered and well articulated questions, covering issues such as the economy, defence and leisure. Probing questions even searched for answers on the future direction and growth of the EU. The campaigners were deeply impressed with the pupils level of understanding and willingness to confront and challenge ideas. Thursday lunchtime saw the culmination of the process with the Senior School vote in the Dovecote-cum-polling station. Congratulations to all for a fascinating, informative and good natured campaign. The results were announced by Mr. Dunn on Thursday morning and they are as follows: Remain: 63% Leave: 34% Turnout: 73% Total votes cast: 462 Spoiled papers: 13 The Prep School result: Remain: 70% Leave: 29% Turnout: 75% Total votes cast: 161 Spoiled papers: 2

Mr. S. Edwards

SPORT

24th June |Yarm School Newsletter 4|

Other tennis results: U15B Girls v Conyers Won6-0 U13B Girls v Conyers Won 6-0 U13A Girls Cup Final Won 12-0 U13B v Durham School Won 6-0

U13 Boys and Girls are Durham and Cleveland County Cup Tennis Champions!

As the school tennis season races to its conclusion yesterday delivered a particularly gratifying result. Both U13 Girls and Boys had reached the Durham and Cleveland County Cup Final. Meeting for a morning of tennis at David Lloyds. Both teams faced tough competition in the form of Durham Johnston. In a first round of doubles, Yarm established themselves, securing some vital points before the singles matches. Despite some able and spirited competitors Yarm had their game heads on and were without exception convincing in their respective matches. Representing the boys were Guy Gill, Freddie Dawson, Jack Norton and Luis Munro and representing the girls were Abby Scott, Roya Bayat, Amelia Richardson and Annie Pickard. The results were as follows: Boys Double One: 6:1 Boys Double Two: 4-6 Girls Double One: 6-2 Girls Double Two: 6-0 Boys #1: 6-2 Girls #1: 6-3 Boys #2: 6-2 Girls #2: 6-3 Boys #3: 6-0 Girls #3: 7-6 Boys #3: 6-3 Girls #4: 6-0 This was a much deserved and well worked for victory with some very visible improvements in the quality of play and confidence of the Yarm pupils.

Mr S Edwards

North of England Championships On Saturday, 10 players attended the U14 and U12 Championships hoping to continue what has been a good summer of tennis. As usual, the standard was very high and our players rose to the challenge. In the morning all pairs play round robin matches within a pool which then determined the Matches in the afternoon. The U12 boys all recorded wins and, with many of them playing for the first time in a tournament of this standard, they did well. Ultimately they all went into the plate competition and won more games. We then had all 3 pairs in the quarter finals with two of them against each other! Their day ended when we lost in both plate semi-finals in what were very tight matches, one going to a tie break! In the U14 event, both pairs had a really good morning; the 1st pair winning all 4 matches and only dropping 2 games and the 2nd pair winning 3 from 4, a great effort. They both went into the last 16 of the cup and kept up the high standard of play. The 2nd pair went out in the quarter finals but the 1st pair made it through to the semi-finals and were just edged out in a tie break, after playing some very good doubles. Very well done to the U14 boys who were all playing a year up! HMC Mixed Doubles Bradford was once again the setting for this event. The tournament pairs the U13 and U15 boys and girls tennis players together. Each age group team consists of two mixed pairs, each playing their own matches but results counting as a team. Like the North of England event, the first rounds were pool stages to determine qualification. The U13 team had 2 strong pairs and played some dominant tennis, only losing one pool game (to the eventual winners, RGS). The team progressed through to the Cup stages and carried

Tennis on winning well to reach the semi-finals. They then met a strong team from GSAL and we eventually went out after a titanic match between the 1st pairs which went all the way through tie break. In the U15 event, we started slowly but began to record some pleasing results and gained confidence. The team narrowly missed out on a place in the Cup stages and so headed into the plate match determined to win. We were too strong for the other plate teams and went into the final in good form and that carried them to victory.

We travelled down to Holy Head, Wales at 9pm to get the 2.30am ferry. The ferry crossing was 3.5 hours to get to Dublin, from Dublin we then had to drive another 140 miles to get to Kinvara-Galaway. On Friday evening we went to Lough Cutra Castle, where the triathlon was going to be held, for a practice swim. For the practice swim I was allowed to swim the one mile course with the adults, which I really enjoyed and swam it in under 45 minutes. In my age category (13-15) I have to swim 300m, bike 8km then run 3km. I did the swim in 6:59 which in a pool wouldn’t be that great, but in open water it is totally different and was quiet good. I was in 25th place at the transition. I then unracked my bike to go out on an 8 km cycle course where I climbed up 21 places to be 4th. During the 3km run I lost 2 places to finish 6th out of 60 with a time of 43:21. I was happy my season got off to a great start in Ireland.

Triathlon success in Ireland

Second Year, Ben White, has started writing a blog of his triathlon and cycling competitions this year. We thought it might be of interest for those who are thinking of giving it a try! If you think you are interested in completing a triathlon why not have a chat with Ben.

FLIER

24th June|Yarm School Newsletter 5 |

Durham Regatta

Durham Regatta, also know as the Henley of the North, was yet again very well attended by Yarm pupils and parents. A record number of 35 crews raced on the Saturday which was a fantastic achievement. The friends of the YSBC made and sold delicious cakes, served drinks and hot rolls in the Yarm School marquee. The school catering staff also served afternoon teas which were the envy of many schools and clubs. The racing produced some excellent results. The boys’ first eight won the U18 eights and the girls just lost out in the final. The U16 boys’ race was very close beating a combined crew form Durham and St Leonard’s School by 3 feet. This crew had previously represented the North at the Junior Inter-Regional Championships. Not to be out done the boys’ U15 won the octuple. There were plenty of outstanding performance by junior crews, many racing in singles and double for the first time. Ewan Wadd just lost in the final, and Hazel Wake who won the U15 singles hence becoming the North Champion. Last weekend the senior girls’ crews competed at Henley Women’s Regatta. A young first eight crew raced well but lost in the first round. The U15 girls’ four did very well competing in the U16 competition but just missed out by one second on qualifying. They are a real prospect for next year! The senior boys’ crews are involved in Henley Royal Regatta over the next ten days. Qualifying starts on Friday. We will hopefully be racing against the top UK crews in addition to crews from America and Australia. There will be a picnic for former Yarm pupils at the Henley cricket club on Thursday 30th June from 4.00pm. Any parents visiting the regatta are welcome to attend.

Sports Day - Monday 4th July, starts at 9.45am. Middlesbrough Sports Village - Parents are welcome.

Please provide your son / daughter with a packed lunch. Thank you.

FLIER

24th June |Yarm School Newsletter 6|

Third Year Journey Photos

More photos on the gallery section of the School website

On the 5th of June we went on a treasure hunt trip to Yorkshire. We had to navigate our way towards the river, decide the best point to cross and fight the current to cross it; only to end up getting wet. We trudged up a hill in the blazing heat getting as much shade as we could. We walked through a field of cows who were really interested in us and followed us to the gate. As we went into the next field they stuck their heads over the gate watching and listening to what we were doing. We did a bit more walking then finally it was lunch. Afterwards we went to a temple and had to use a compass and rope to find the hidden treasure. After a record breaking hour long search we found it and had a quick walk down the hill to get home in time. It was a great day!

Rebecca Keetley and Sarah Mhando

Yorkshire Treasure Hunt

The Band of the Royal Air Force College - Friday 8th July, 7.30pm Tickets £12 from the School Office & www.thepaaonline.org