Bablake Diary

In this issue

Tuesday 20 AprilSummer Term Begins

Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 AprilHouse Drama Festival

Monday 3 MayBank Holiday (School closed)

Tuesday 4 - Friday 7 MayGCSE Art Exhibition

Monday 10 - Thursday 13 MayAS and A2 Level Art Exhibitions

Monday 24 - Friday 28 MayInternal Exams

Monday 31 May - Friday 4 JuneHalf Term

Sunday 27 JuneParents’ Association Treasure Hunt

Tuesday 29 JuneHouse Sports Day

Friday 2 JulyEnd of Summer Term

Thursday 2 SeptemberStart of Autumn Term

Friday 17 SeptemberPrize Giving and Speech Night

Friday 12 and Saturday 13 NovemberOpen Evening and Open Morning

German Exchange

Charity News

Crest Award Successes

Indoor Hockey Success

Individual Successes

2

3

6

6

8

LIONTH

E NEWS & VIEWS FROMBABLAKE SCHOOL

ISSUE 33SPRING 2004

This year the theme of the Holocaust

Memorial Day was ‘From the

Holocaust to Rwanda: Lessons Learned,

Lessons Still to Learn.’

THIS DAY OFFERS an opportunity for

people in 21st Century Britain to

reflect upon, consider and discuss

how those events still have relevance

for all members of today’s society.

Ultimately the day aims to restate

the continuing need for vigilance and

to motivate people to ensure that the

horrendous crimes, racism and

victimisation committed during the

holocaust are neither forgotten nor

repeated.

So once again the whole of the 3rd

Year and the 5th Year Religious

Studies GCSE students visited Beth

Shalom to reflect on the continuing

examples of genocide in our world, in

the only memorial site in Britain.

However as always, the personal

testimony of a survivor was the most

thought-provoking part of the day,

for staff and students alike,

especially as he asked the question,

“Why do people not learn from the

holocaust?” �

Mrs L J Jackson

Beth Shalom – The House of Peace

Phab BallONCE AGAIN THE Phab Ball wasvery successful on all fronts; themoney raised for Phab was inexcess of £1700; the music wasexcellent and enjoyed by all; thefood as ever was muchappreciated and the decorationsin the hall – to the theme ofMasquerade – were perhaps thebest ever – striking in blue,purple and turquoise.

The ball was attended by 200people – 6th Formers, staff andfriends of Phab. All those whoenjoyed the ball owe a big thankyou to Mrs Goodwin, Mrs Heath,Mrs Harris and other staff whoworked hard to make the eveningrun smoothly. The waiters andwaitresses from the 5th Formwere excellent and the organiserswere very grateful to all whohelped set up on the Saturdayand clean up on the Sundaymorning. �

Mr W I Appleby

FOR A NUMBER of the pupils, and also for MissJames, it was the first visit and it took place aweek earlier than usual. The group left Coventryearly in the morning of Wednesday 11 February,this time missing the three days of school beforehalf term rather than the three days after. Theweather was kind to us, a little misty in themornings, but not too cold and we had no rain atall. We did all the usual visits – to Cologne(including the cathedral and the chocolatefactory), Oberhausen Shopping Centre and a jointouting to Münster with the German pupils andstaff. Those there for the second time found it

Bablake School2

After Belgium, Holland, Ireland and the CzechRepublic, Hungary seemed like a natural progressioneastwards for the now annual Business/EconomicsTrip. The country is due to join the EU in May andhas been the recipient of a great deal of Westerninvestment.

A 5am start to make a Heathrow flight was notideal but with heightened security and the M25 nochances can be taken. Budapest Fereigny airportturned out to be ultra-modern and very subdued incomparison. Only one suitcase failed to turn up butwhen the group heard about the lucrativecompensation package many other students clearlywished that their luggage had gone astray. OurHungarian guide ‘Kate’ met us and took us to ourrelatively central hotel on the Pest side of the Danube.The hotel was extremely comfortable, situated abovea Pizza Hut and only a few yards from a McDonaldsand a KFC. Nevertheless some students managed to

GERMAN EXCHANGE

Budapest Business/Economics visit

Thirty 4th and 5th Year pupils took part in the annual

exchange to Hemer this year, accompanied by

Mrs Hill and Miss James.

much easier to understand and to communicatethan during the first visit, and many pupils arekeen to sign up again for next year. Miss James’German came on in leaps and bounds, herfavourite new phrase being, “Ich verstehe nurBahnhof.” This doesn’t make sense if translatedliterally, but is the equivalent of saying, “I haven’tgot a clue what you’re talking about” and provedto be very good for Anglo-German relations. TheGerman pupils will be coming to Coventry againin October and we are already looking forward toour return to Hemer in February 2005. �

CAREERS CONVENTION

As always, the Convention (entitled Tomorrow Today)covered a very broad range of professions. We wereable to welcome 75 delegates, the overwhelmingmajority of whom were former pupils offeringexcellent real evidence of young professionals alive toopportunities presented. The event was very wellsupported with all 300 programmes being issued onthe night and complimentary comments receivedfrom delegates, students and parents alikeafterwards.

We have had visits from the Army,PricewaterhouseCoopers, Objective Team, Sarah Gill(Law graduate and former Head Girl) and Kate Lee (avoice coach). Also this term James Gunn’s redesign ofthe Careers website, www.2morrow-2day.com, hasallowed us to offer a far more comprehensive onlineservice to all our students. Additionally, as well asinterviewing the bulk of our 5th Year and developing aprogramme on Professional Practice (CVs, UniqueSelling Points and Press Releases) for our Lower 6th,we arranged our biennial Careers Convention.

Mr MGA Woodward, Head of Careers, is heading toExeter University for the annual CRAC HigherEducation Conference, the key event in the calendarfor UK Heads of 6ths and Careers/Personal advisers.

As well as catching up with the latest news onHigher Education admissions, he will be deliveringthree workshops to the delegates: Technophobia – asurgery covering use of technology in Careers advice,Woody’s Webwatch - a session for beginners on usefulcareers websites based around his own site,www.woodyswebwatch.com and Careers in a Suitcase,offering ideas for new advisers on how to set up aCareers Department. This will be the fifth year he hasbeen invited to present such workshops. �

stick to local cuisine for the entire trip - a highlycommendable effort!

Our first full day included a visit to the BudapestCommodities Exchange. Although small incomparison to London it is aiming for regionaldominance. In the afternoon we visited the DreherBrewery, now owned by global giant SAB Miller.Students were impressed with the scale of theoperation, especially a new canning line whichproduced 40,000 cans per hour. A tasting at the endproved understandably popular. Also visiting theBrewery for promotional reasons was Hungary’sstrongest man, who happily posed for pictures.

On the second day we visited an InterSparHypermarket and students learnt about the cut-throatworld of post-Communist retail. Tesco now dominatethe Hungarian market as well as the UK one. Full timeshop floor workers earned a little over £200 permonth, which seemed rather low even with a far

lower cost of living in the country. In the afternoonthe group visited Eriksson, the telecommunicationscompany who opened their Hungarian operations in1991. Students were somewhat surprised to hear that76% of Hungarians owned mobile phones, a figurenot much less than the UK. That evening somemembers of the group saw an exciting ice hockeygame – a popular sport in the country.

Saturday morning provided an opportunity forsome last minute shopping, sight-seeing and packing.Budapest airport had none of the hassles of Heathrowand our flight left on time. Saturday happened to beJamie McDonnell’s eighteenth birthday and BA kindlyserved him some champagne. It was a most enjoyableand informative trip for all concerned. My thanks tothe Upper and Lower 6th students for theirenthusiasm and interest, and to Mr Woodward andMrs Yates for their help, support and good humour. �

Careers news

It has been a busy term for the Contingent, withcadets taking part in numerous events, activities andcompetitions.

PARADE NIGHTSThe New Fusiliers are now working towards theirWeapon Handling Tests and are being taughtcharacteristics of the weapon as well as how to hold,fire and clean it. The staff have been particularlyimpressed by the enthusiasm that the cadets areshowing as well as their quick learning skills.

The NCOs are currently preparing and teachinglessons from the cadet syllabus. Each cadet must deliver a lesson to the rest of the group which is observed andgraded by a member of 37CTT. Shortly the NCOs will be teaching the New Fusiliers; therefore the training thatthey have received in planning and teaching lessons will enable them to do an excellent job.

TRAINING DAYSA number of training days have been held at weekends throughout the term at nearby army camps and havebeen supported by both old and new Fusiliers. The training has given the cadets an opportunity to learn assaultcourse techniques as well as improving fitness.

Range days have also been attended by the NCOs, giving them an opportunity to work towards their shootingbadges.

MARCH AND SHOOT COMPETITIONBablake CCF entered a team for this year’s March and Shoot Competition held at Swynnerton Camp against 36other CCF and ACF teams from all corners of the country. Despite the team getting slightly lost on the march,their slick manoeuvres over the assault course plus their precise shooting and top marks in the inspection meantthat Bablake CCF came fifth overall. To round off the eventful day, cadets were rewarded with a helicopter flightaround the nearby area which they all thoroughly enjoyed.

BIENNIAL INSPECTIONOur first inspection took place at Bablake on Saturday 20th March. The visiting inspector, Lt Col Ockleton, wasimpressed with the standard of the cadets, especially since the CCF has only been running for 18 months and heenjoyed watching the NCOs deliver lessons to the New Fusiliers throughout the morning. On the final paradepresentations were awarded to the following cadets:

Best Overall NCO – Cdt Hughes, Best 1st Aider – Cdt Campbell, Best Map Reader – Cdt Mills, Best New Fusilier –Cdt Stefaniak

Corporal Grewal was also promoted to Sergeant.The staff would like to thank all the cadets who took part in the inspection and for all their hard work that

made the day run smoothly and efficiently.

DATES FOR THE DAIRY23 – 25 April Cadet Exercise Stretch – Leek Army Camp1 – 3 April Easter Camp – Bramcote Barracks3 – 10 July Summer Camp – Penhale, Cornwall

The CCF will be holding their annual recruitment evening in the Summer Term for any pupil (3rd Year andabove) who is interested in joining. Watch this space for further details. �

Capt C Hall

CLASS 3P HAVE continued their fund raising to help children in Hwange, a very impoverished regionof Zimbabwe. In the Autumn Term they made £260 by having an ‘African’ elephant stall at theChristmas Fayre and this term they have raised £42.83 from their cake sale.

The money has been used to continue to pay the school fees for Perish and Charity, and to sendmuch needed equipment to Gunambira Primary school. We have sent five parcels of pens, biros,crayons, cellotape, needles, pins etc.

Next term we are hoping to raise money tosend items of clothing for some of the children,especially the orphans. If anyone has any nearlynew T-shirts, shorts, skirts or flip-flops forchildren of any age, we would be very happy tohave them. Please send them to school with yourson or daughter to Mrs Marchant in theGeography Department or Mrs Goodwin in the Art Department. �

The Lion | Spring 2004 3

This school year has seen a lot of activity on thefundraising front.

Last term we decided to concentrate on one majorcharity ‘Seeds for Africa’. This involved raising moneyto send to Alan Titchmarsh (who is patron of thecharity) so that he could then send out to Africa theexpertise, tools and seeds needed to help the locals toget the most out of their land. Fundraising took onmany unusual forms including: wild animal raffle, ahidden treasure map of Africa, selling photographs,collecting foreign currency, a bowling competition,the tips from the workers in the Eurocafe on openevening, cake sales and our very own and uniqueFame Academy Talent Show!

We raised the grand total of £3,616, which was farabove our original target of £1,000. It was all good funand staff and pupils showed great determination andcommitment towards this venture.

Other Charities supported through weeklycollections and cake sales/raffles include: Diabetes UK£180, Jeans for Genes £725, Children in Need andBirmingham Children’s Hospital £625.

A grand total of £5,146 for the first term.This term we thought we might have a calmer

time!!! ...big mistake.We decided to support two local charities.

� The County Air Ambulance which covers an area of8000 sq miles and a population of 7.8 million andrelies entirely upon voluntary contributions to keep itgoing.

� The Teenage Cancer Care Rooms at WalsgraveHospital. We have visited these rooms and are hopingto raise funds to help refurbish them by buying quiltcovers, mirrors, hairdryers and vanity units to keep alltheir toiletries.

At present we have collected about £700 towardsthese two charities but are hoping to reach £1,000.

Alongside these we have raised £165 for UNICEF,who are focusing on providing clean water for thechildren of Vietnam and Ghana. £290 was sent to thepeople of Rwanda who are trying to re-build their livesand events are taking place to raise money to sendhelpers and lorries full of vital supplies out to Bosnia– this is still ongoing.

3P are continuing to support their adopted schoolin Zimbabwe and have raised £302 this year so far.

Shell H raised £50 by making and selling heart-shaped Valentines cookies for Birmingham Children’sHospital.

A group of hardy 6th Form boys gritted their teethand experienced the agony of having their legs waxed– making over £200 for good causes, while 2J raisedthe very impressive amount of £448.60 by holding asponsored silence - not an easy task for them!Macmillan Nurses will be very happy to receive thissum from them.

All this and the Phab Ball have meant another busytime; perhaps we will take it easy next term!

We could not of course reach any of these targetswithout the support of parents, staff and pupils, sowe would like to send a very big ‘Thank you’ for allyour support and of course your pennies. �

Mrs A Heath and Mrs P Goodwin

3P’s fund-raising efforts Charity news

CombinedCadet Force

AN AUDIENCE OF students, teachers and parentsfrom Bablake, King Henry VIII, Loughborough GSand Warwick enjoyed an evening of Classicalentertainment hosted again by Mr Swales andthe Bablake Classics Department.

After a satisfying feast of classical food,students from each of the schools representedpresented a mix of plays and readings thatproudly celebrated a love of the Classical World.The audience was treated, both in original Latin/Greek and translation, to, amongst others, theintrigues of slaves, Catullus’ love for Lesbia,Aristophanes’ parody of a court scene and theblinding of the Cyclops.

All of the above were eclipsed, however, by astirring rendition of YMCA set to Latin lyrics. Aselect number of our 6th Form Classical studentsand Miss James are now fearing the discovery ofvideo evidence of their performance!

Well done to those from all years, from 2ndsupwards, who performed! �

Box Clever Theatre workshop came toBablake on 3 February to present aspects of

Romeo and Juliet to 4th Form pupils andsome from the 5th Form.

Several scenes from the play were examinedand presented from different perspectives.

There was some excellent pupil participationfrom members of 5S. The Box Clever actorswere all young and seemed to strike up agood relationship with the audience. �

Mr W I Appleby

THIRTY AS AND A Level art students accompanied byMr Warner and Mrs Goodwin went on a fact-findingmission to gather information for both theircoursework and impending examination.

First stop was the V&A.This museum is probably the world’s greatest

museum of art and design and home to unparalleledcollections of artifacts spanning the world’s richestcultures. Once inside, the students were able to beginto collect information by taking photographs,sketching and writing about the exhibits thatinterested them. During the visit the pupils were ableto see a mini-retrospective celebrating the work ofOssie Clark from 1965 to 1974 when the designerdefined the high style of the 1960’s London.

Another exhibition which caught the eye of the 6thForm was entitled Brilliant.

There is light and there are lights. From themundane to the bizarre, the strictly functional to thewildly ostentatious, this exhibition showed a range ofproducts created by some of the world’s leadingdesigners in response to the desire for artificialillumination.

The 6th Form could see for themselves thepossibilities afforded by new materials and technol-ogies, and the lyrical potential of working with light,which gives designers endless scope for creativity.

In the afternoon we transferred our attention tothe modern, the Tate Modern to be precise.

VI FORM ARTISTS VISITTHE VICTORIA & ALBERT

MUSEUM AND TATEMODERN

This collection displays the work of artists of thelast hundred years through the interpretation of fourclassic themes: the nude, landscape, still life andhistory painting. The themes link historic works withcontemporary, and combine painting and sculpturewith film, video and photography.

Within the Turbine Hall of the Tate there was aninteresting installation with a ‘weather’ theme. Pupilswere able to interact with this by walking around,standing or even lying down.

A productive day was had by all. �

Mr M D Warner

On Thursday 11 March, the Upper and Lower 6th Form

artists visited the Victoria and Albert Museum and the

Tate Modern in London.

ClassicalSymposium

BOXCLEVER

Bablake School4

Classics reading party – ‘Latin Camp’17-20 February 2004

Easter Termmusic

Debating and publicspeaking

The Lion | Spring 2004 5

THE 6TH FORM recital took place in February.There were some outstanding performances withJessica Ramus playing the 1st two movements ofthe Bruch Violin Concerto, Emily Biggins playingtwo movements of a Brahms clarinet sonata,Chris Parker playing Schubert’s ArpeggioneSonata on the viola, Edward Whitney playing acavatina by Saint-Säens on the trombone andsinging with Sarah Corrigan the Papageno-Papagena duet from Mozart’s Magic Flute, andArthur Keegan-Bole playing Satie’s Gnossienne.

The main concert of the term takes place onMarch 30th. It is a special Charity Concert in aidof Save The Children in memory of KrystynaBeech who died last year. She was a member ofBablake’s Choir, and came on a recent Music Tripwith us to Italy.

The Bablake Orchestra will play three piecesthat look back to the past. Petroushka byStravinsky looks back to pre-RevolutionaryRussia, Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier looksback to Vienna in the 18th century and Penny Laneby the Beatles looks back to Liverpool in the 50s.

Paul McCartney’s music features again in theChamber Choir’s offering, which has selectionsfrom the Liverpool Oratorio.

The Chorale will be singing somecontemporary songs and the Swing Band will playa couple of Jazz Classics.

A selection of the school’s fine soloists willdelight us with their expertise.

The concert is in the EDM Theatre. �

WE WERE GIVEN a map showing the village shop andthe swings/grass area, but not the all-important pubnext door!

That evening we were treated to our firstexperience of Mr and Mrs Swales’ cooking. The home-made casserole and chocolate cake were delicious andthere were no mishaps apart from Alex finding afragment of the youth hostel’s wooden spoon.

Our first study period took place that night and wehad four study periods every day from then on.Everyone learned new facts and revised their Greekand Latin set texts – ‘at Gnaeus Piso’ ...just beforelights out, Mr Swales read us all a ghost story, tomake sure that we had sweet dreams.

Each afternoon, we went on a healthy energeticwalk, and even visited the concrete cows – are theseMilton Keynes’ biggest attraction?

An informative and fun time was had by all. Theyouth hostel was very pleasant, with good facilitiesexcept for the cold showers! And we all expect babyRachel Swales to be saying her first (Latin) word anyday now. Thanks to Mr and Mrs Swales. �

Jemma Brown

IT HAS BEEN a successful term for debating and public speaking at Bablake, both in terms ofcompetition and expanding the activities. Most impressively, the 4th Form team, consisting ofLiam Collins-Mcintyre, Mark McKelvie and Matthew Galloway, became the Rotary Club PublicSpeaking Joint Champions of Coventry when they defeated several other secondary schools at theChrist Church Hall in Cheylesmore in February. As we go to press they are about to compete in thedistrict final at Arden School in Knowle.

Two 5th Form pairings – Conor Doherty and Amun Sachdev and Claire Laverick and CatherineBufton – were placed third and fourth respectively in the regional round of the Taylor Trophy, anannual competition held in honour of a former head of Bromsgrove School. They were narrowlydefeated by Wolverhampton GS and, unluckily, by the home team Old Swinford Hospital School.

Finally, a week after half-term the Lower 6th Form team of Jonathan Thompson and RichardBall took part in the Oxford Union Competition, which, for the first time, Bablake hosted. A totalof twenty one schools took part, travelling from as far away as Lincolnshire, and the evening was agreat success. �

Mr G L Park

We arrived at Bradwell Village Youth Hostel on Tuesday

afternoon. The noisy card games on the minibus were to

set a precedent for the rest of the trip.

Bablake School6

THE GROUP COMPRISING Lower 6th pupils MarkEvans, Jo Carter, Ryan McIntyre and JonathanThompson continue to make excellent progressas they aim towards their assessment day at theNEC on 28 April. Set the problem of improvingtraffic flow outside school during peak hoursthey have come up with the highly originalsolution of adding an extra lane to the HolyheadRoad by the Aston Court Hotel traffic lights. Theirresearch and calculation support this as a cost-effective solution along with yellow boxjunctions outside the school entrance and exitgates. During their residential workshop atBirmingham University the group produced 3Dmodels, of their proposals to back up theirdetailed written report currently being compiled.On the 24th of this month the team are makingtheir first presentation of their ideas to oursponsor company, ARUP based in Solihull. Duringthe day, they will have a tour of the futuristicbuilding to see the wide cross-section of projectsARUP are currently undertaking followed by aworking lunch before making their presentationto a group of engineers. �

SENIOR QUIZ TEAM PROGRESS

The Senior Quiz Team of Chris Parker, Richard Bland,Amy Corrigan and Hannah Sheard, won their first tworounds earlier this term against Uppingham Schooland the Leys School, Cambridge 1020-160. This putthem in the semi-final where they played KimboltonSchool on Monday 8 March, winning 750-670, thoughonly being assured of victory in the final minutes ofthe match.They now go on to the regional final, against eitherWoodford School or Bishop’s Stortford School, andsuccess here would mean going on to the nationalcompetition against other regional finalists.

SUCCESS FOR CHEMISTRY QUIZ TEAM

The Bablake 4th and 5th Year Chemistry quiz team ofMark McKelvie, Aradhna Sachdev, Harish Sharma,Catherine Bufton and Amun Sachdev have beenenjoying great success as they progress through therounds of the West Midlands Chemistry Teachers’Centre Quiz. They beat St Martin’s School Solihull bythe impressive score of 131-35 and went on to a muchcloser second round result against King Edward VIHigh School for Girls in Birmingham. In this excitingand keenly fought contest, the lead changed handsseveral times. Bablake finally clinched their victorywith their excellent knowledge of famous scientists.The final score was 61-54 to Bablake and they go on tothe finals at the University of Birmingham. �

Name Award Project

Emily Bates Gold Linked Oscillators at University of Warwick

Rachel Taggart Gold Treatments for Morning Sickness at University of Warwick

Sarah Thomas Gold A Study into Treatment of Asthma at Allesley Pharmacy

Neetu Bhatti Gold ‘Dry Eyes’ & Treatments at EyeSite Opticians

Jayita Mallick & James Martin Gold DNA extraction techniques at University of Warwick

Thomas Carter Gold MALDI mass spectroscopy at University of Warwick

Daniel Jackson Gold Cancer research using viruses at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham

Jenny McKenzie Gold A Study into Asthma at Park Leys Medical Centre

Mark McKelvie Silver Natural Indicators

Claire Russell & Reena Panchal Bronze Natural Indicators

TOWARDS THE END of last term, nine 6th Formers and three 4th Formers took their CREST (Creativity in Science andTechnology) projects to the West Midlands CREST Celebration event at the Institute of Electrical Engineers inBirmingham. The 6th Form had all completed projects for a Gold award, which involved independent research inconjunction with Universities, Hospitals or GP practices. The standard of their work was very high and impressed thejudges. The 4th Form had carried out their projects in school at Chemistry Club. Two had been awarded a bronzecertificate, and one a silver certificate. Congratulations go to the 6th Form whose projects were all of a sufficientlyhigh standard to gain a Gold award. Mark McKelvie’s silver project on natural indicators was judged to be the bestin the West Midlands and he competed well in National CREST Final at the Royal Society in London on 9 February.

Success for Crest Awardparticipants

EngineeringEducationScheme

Right answers

U16 girls’indoorhockeysuccess

FOR THE FIRST time ever, a team from Bablake made itthrough to the Midlands region final of the nationalU16 indoor hockey tournament played at HamsteadHall School in Birmingham in January.

Hopes were high for success with the incentivebeing the top two teams qualifying for the nationalfinals. After the first match optimism ran even higherfollowing a 2-1 victory over last year’s regionalwinners Sharnbrook before a complete reversal ofform resulting in a defeat to Alice Ottley School 3-0.Such is the nature of the fast free-flowing indoorgame that the team found themselves 3 goals downin four minutes. Although determination broughtBablake back into the game, chances could not beconverted. However, other results contrived to keepthe tournament wide open and the match againstPrincethorpe, who we had defeated in an earlierround, would prove crucial. Although we dominated,chances were again wasted and we eventually

succumbed to a killer blow and lost 1-0. Our finalmatch against favourites The Grove School showedhow fickle indoor hockey can be. Right from the pushback we took the game to them, had a ‘goal’disallowed before two defensive errors saw usdefeated 2-0 and this after we had two more effortsdisallowed. Disappointment amongst the squad waspalpable at the end; we had come so close andeveryone had run themselves into exhaustion. Nonemore so than Jodie Kirk in goal who had beenoutstanding throughout, and this after she hadstepped up from the U14’s at short notice. All thesquad deserve recognition and the benefits to theiroutdoor game have also been significant.

Squad: Jodie Kirk, Lucy Breedon (Capt), StacieMcDermott, Amy Kavanagh, Jane Tse, Sarah Mills,Jenna Hastings, Jenna Thompson and Lois Burton. �

Mr C R West

U13 GIRLS’ HOCKEY

The U13 team have also reached the final of the Warwickshire tournament afterwinning their section. Goals came from six different players in the squad and theywon every game, 2-0 against Kenilworth, 3-0 against King Henry VIII (three goalsscored in less than five minutes), 1-0 against Twycross House and finally 2-0 againstPrincethorpe.

In February Bablake invited eight other schools to a seven-a-side hockeytournament for the U13 team in preparation for the Warwickshire competition.Bablake won their section convincingly, beating Twycross House, Kenilworth and TileHill Wood before beating King’s High 3-0 in the semi-final. With an impregnabledefence, the girls faced Princethorpe College in the final. Two excellent goals wereenough to win the competition and the team completed the tournament withoutconceding a goal. Congratulations to the squad of J Neale, R Ziaie, L Boon, L Horn, H Payne, C Weaver, I Kleine, S Brindley, L Carpenter, and L Kaziow.

The U13 Warwickshire Mini Hockey Tournament took place. This competition isopen to both schools and clubs in Warwickshire. Bablake had a competitive firstmatch against Princethorpe College, but a fine goal from Charlotte Weaver twominutes before full time, got Bablake off to a promising start.

Excellent teamwork enabled Bablake to win their section and comfortably beatOlton in the quarter final 4-0. In the semi-final Bablake stuck to their game plan andscored 3 goals with Jodie Neale, the goalkeeper, continuing to keep a clean sheet.

King’s High School beat Sutton Hockey Club on penalty strokes in the othersemi-final and was to play Bablake in the final. It was an exciting match. After fiveminutes Bablake scored, a goal from Lauren Boon by the left hand post. King’s Highreplied with a goal from a penalty corner. It was a close contest that was clinchedwith seconds to go by a reverse hit shot from Holly Payne for Bablake School. Bablakenow go through to the Midlands Round of this National competition next month.

Bablake squad – Lauren Boon, Samantha Brindley, Lauren Carpenter, LucyHorn, Ira Kleine, Jodie Neale, Holly Payne, Charlotte Weaver, and Roxana Ziaie.

WEST MIDLANDS NETBALL TOURNAMENT

On 24 January, both the U14 and U16 netball teams took part in the West MidlandsFinals at Solihull.

The U14s played well throughout the day winning five of their section matches.They lost two of their games and as a result were placed third in their section sonarrowly missed qualifying for the semi-finals.

U14 squad – L Dean, L Shorrocks, L Morris, L Bird, R Stuart, M Walton, M Nicely, L Boon, A White, and A Ladbury.

The U16 team won all but one of the matches in their section and consequentlyqualified for the semi-finals. They were unfortunate to face the eventual winners ofthe final, Fairfax, and despite an excellent team performance lost by one goal, 9-10.Fairfax finished runners up in the National Finals, which indicates the high standardthe Bablake U16 team has achieved this season.

U16 squad – J Thompson, J Hastings, S McDermott, J Tse, S Mills, E Fuller, A Bull, H Reed, H Davies, A Taberer, J Thompson, and J Mitchell.

COVENTRY SCHOOLS’ NETBALL TOURNAMENTS

The U15 Bablake ‘A’ team put on an excellent display of netball winning theirsection, beating Stoke Park 17-1 in the semi-final and then beating King Henry VIII15-3 in the final. Hannah Reed, the captain, collected the trophy and the rest of theteam received medals.

Team – H Reed, H Davies, J Mitchell, J Payne, J Thompson, L Rouse, and A Taberer.

The ‘B’ team played in a triangular with Blue Coat and King Henry VIII. Theybeat Blue Coat and finished runners up to King Henry VIII.

Team – S Marks, R Healy, K Juj, C Bland, E Charlesworth, E Stansfield, E Boardman, J Elen, and L Treharne.

The U12 Bablake ‘A’ team won their section to qualify for the semi-final. Theydefeated Cardinal Newman 4-1 to progress to the final against Finham Park. After aclosely contested match Bablake lost 3-4 goals to finish as runners up of theirtournament.

A team – B Hushon, E Jackson, J Elliott, U Venkata Raman, R Hollinrake, A Harwood, and D Smith.

In the ‘B’ team tournament Bablake reached the semi-final as runners up oftheir section. They defeated Coundon Court 4-3 to qualify for the final againstFinham Park. The early stages of the match saw Bablake take the lead and a finalscore of 5-1 meant Bablake were winners of the tournament.

B team – R Ziaie, R Dale, R Blakemore, H Carter, S Makam, K Mulhern, E Burns, A Shirley, and A Quinn. �

U13 WARWICKSHIRE MINI HOCKEY TOURNAMENT

Bablake again entered this tournament on Sunday 7 March with very inexperiencedplayers, most of whom had not played a competitive hockey match before, but theyput in an exceptionally good performance, having the better of a 0-0 draw withWarwick A, who went through to the semi-finals, only losing to Coventry & NorthWarwick in the last minute (they were also in the finals), drawing 0-0 in an evencontest with Old Silhillians and beating Olton (who had some good players) 2-0,Tom Costello and Daniel Martin scoring the goals. The following players made upthe team: Thomas Hine (capt), Tom Costello, Luke Jackson-Miller, Daniel Martin,Tejinder Kalsi, Gurdeep Uppal, Luke Horvath, Chris Carlson, Sam Sharples and LeePaplauskas (Goalkeeper).

U15 BOYS’ HOCKEY REPORT

The U15 Boys’ Hockey team have had a reasonably good term beating King Edward’sBirmingham and Princethorpe, losing narrowly to Warwick and drawing LawrenceSherriff despite having the majority of the play. The season closes with a matchagainst Queen Mary’s Walsall and the Coventry Trophy.

ENGLAND HOCKEY

We were delighted to receive an invitation to support the Active Sport U14 and U15Hockey Tournaments at Warwick University on Thursday 6 November. It was a seven-a-side format and ten teams attended the boy’s section, so a five pool, all-play-all wascontrived and nearly two hours of non-stop action enjoyed by all. It was a Festivalwith no final, no winners, no medals — just a thoroughly good occasion. It providedmuch-desired competition and short games on a half pitch proved a winner.

Our U14s and U15s both topped their pools with records of won three anddrawn one whilst the girls went one better – won all four ( goals for 16, againstnone!) Well done everybody!

INTER-SCHOOL FRIENDLIES

Following a term of intensive coaching from our professional (Greg Wade O W) thesquad has had a busy term gaining match experience. We generally find ourselvesplaying schools who start hockey earlier and some contain players who are veryadvanced and therefore extremely influential on the pitch! It is hard for our lads toencounter sides who will invariably beat them whatever brave performance theyachieve. Three defeats, a draw and a victory have been registered so far, but we feelwe are on the right track and the squad are improving. Our home fixture withLoughborough was cancelled owing to a frosty pitch; we lost 3-0 to KE Birmingham(away), 2-17 at home to Queen Mary’s Walsall, lost 5-0 to Warwick (away), drew 1-1with KE Camp Hill (away), but our latest match provided a pleasing 3-1 victory away toStratford GS.

We face Solihull school next and then complete our season with a seven-a-sidetournament for Coventry Schools for the Neville Key Trophy.

The squad wish to thank coach Greg Wade for all his patience, and supportstaff Messrs Park, McDermot and Patchett.

REPRESENTATIVE CRICKET SELECTION

Cricket in winter? Yes! The County selectors work months in advance these days:schools and clubs are asked for the nominations of their best players in Septemberand trials then commence. We are delighted to announce that Paul Best has beenselected to join Warwickshire’s U14/15 Development of Excellence squad for weeklytop-class coaching at Edgbaston Indoor School. Not only is it an honour for Pauland Bablake to achieve this selection but it emphasises his potential has beenrecognised and the selectors are keen to fast-track him to an older age-group. He isalready an impressive left-hand opening bat, useful left-arm over seamer and aknowlegeable captain. We wish him well for the winter sessions.

David Buckeridge, an opening bat and wicket-keeper is also selected for theU15 Development Squad and could catch the eye over the winter. His team-mateRichard Wells, a highly-promising leg-spinner and batsman has been selected tojoin Coventry’s District Squad indoor nets so he has a further chance to gainCounty selection through that route at Whitsun. If all three work hard and listen toadvice they might be playing in the same XI in the summer.

U15 GIRLS’ HOCKEY

The U15s have enjoyed a successful season and have recently won the CoventrySchools tournament after beating King Henry VIII 6-1 in the final. Goals came fromJade Payne (3), Jo Mitchell (2) and Jessica Thompson (1).

They have also qualified for the final of the Warwickshire tournament afterbeating Twycross 3-0, Kenilworth School 1-0, Rugby High 4-0 and drawing 1-1 withPrincethorpe.

The Lion | Spring 2004 7

Sporting Achievements

Mr M D Warner (Head of Art) has been appointedto a similar post at Shrewsbury High School forGirls.

Mr N P Meynell (Business Studies and Economics)has been appointed Head of Department at KingHenry VIII.

At the end of last term Mr P R C Wood (Biology)retired owing to ill health and at the end of theSummer term Mrs F S Bunney (Geography) willretire.

In their places, Mr A Hall (Biology) and Mr SEnstone (Geography) have been appointed to thestaff with effect from September. Mr Hall is aFormer Pupil (1983-89) and is currently Head ofScience at Coleshill School and Mr Enstone iscurrently on a PGCE course at Bath Universityfollowing a degree in Geography from SwanseaUniversity and several years in IndustrialManagement. Replacements for Mr Warner andMr Meynell will be announced in the nextnewsletter. �

EXAMINATIONS AT A level are now modular,which means that students take a series ofexaminations spread throughout the two yearsand do not have to wait until the end of the Alevel course. It also means that they know,throughout the two years, exactly how they aredoing and what grade they are on course toachieve. Earlier this term modular exams weretaken in nearly all the A level subjects offered atboth AS (Lower 6th) and A2 (Upper 6th) level. It ispleasing to report that, as expected, there havebeen some excellent results. As the students canretake these modules again if they wish to(hopefully) improve their grades it is anticipatedthat there will be even better news in Augustwhen the full A level results are published.

The majority of the Upper 6th now haveconditional offers from universities and knowwhat grades they have to achieve to proceedthere later this year or next year following a GapYear. One of the benefits of the A level modularsystem is that all the Upper 6th know exactlywhat they have attained so far, what grades theyare in line to achieve and whether these are likelyto be sufficient to meet the offers from theirchosen universities. It is now up to eachindividual to put in the extra effort to makecertain they do not fall below expectations. Therewill be very little time in the summer term beforethe 5th and 6th Form year groups go on studyleave and start their public examinations. TheEaster break has to be used for a significantamount of revision. �

ONCE AGAIN WE stagger to the end of term and Ican hardly believe how much we have packedinto the last twelve weeks. The term has seen afull and diverse range of activities take place,from field trips, concerts, theatre visits, publicexams, parent consultation evenings to the usualround of sports games. It has been a busy andfull period and I continue to be amazed at thestamina and energy of both staff and pupils. Asthe reports and pictures in this latest newslettershow, we have again met with considerablesuccess both in and out of the classroom. Thesesuccesses are just reward for all the effort andcommitment shown by everyone in the school.

I am delighted to find, as I read all the interimreports that go to parents, an overwhelmingmajority that are very positive and demonstrateyour children’s energy, enthusiasm andcommitment – qualities which will all combine tobring them great success when it comes to thehard-edged public examinations which will soonbe upon us when we return for the Summer Term.I am also very aware that those few students whoare struggling to find the motivation andcommitment they need, receive support andgreat understanding in addition to the push thatall of us may need from time-to-time.

One of the many aspects of life at Bablakewhich impress visitors is the willingness of ourpupils to become involved in raising money forcharity. It is very pleasing to be able to report, asthe article in this newsletter outlines, that wehave raised so much for various charities thisterm.

On behalf of the staff and governors I wouldlike to wish you and all your family a very happy Easter. �

Congratulations go to the following:

� The 51 pupils in the 3rd and 4th Years who gainedGold (6), Silver (18) and Bronze (27) awards in theIntermediate Mathematics Challenge 2004. Particularcongratulations go to Joe Bristow, David Buckeridge,Matthew Francis, Lee Harrison, Alex Raison and AlexOwens on gaining gold awards. Both Alex Raison andAlex Owens have been invited to the national final.

� The U15 A Netball team on winning the CoventrySchools’ Netball Championships and the U15 B teamon being runners-up in their age group.

� The U14 and U16 Netball teams for their sterlingperformances in the West Midlands Finals, inparticular the U16 team who lost by one goal in thesemifinals to the eventual winners.

� The U16 Girls’ Hockey team for winning through tothe Midlands Indoor Finals, the first time a team fromBablake has reached this stage of the competition.

� All pupils taking part in the various Debatingcompetitions and in particular Matthew Galloway,Liam Collins-McIntyre and Mark McKelvie onwinning the Rotary Club Youthspeakers Competition.

� Maniel Bains on being selected to take part in theLTA National Training Camp in Florida.

� Gary Holmes on his selection to the England U18Rugby squad.

� Clara Ross on being selected to Captain theScotland U18 Sabre Fencing team in the homeinternational series.

� The Senior Quiz team of Richard Bland, AmyCorrigan, Chris Parker and Hannah Sheard on theirvictories in the National Quiz Competition.

� The Chess A team on retaining the Chess leaguetitle and also winning the final of the Coventry ChessCompetition.

� Clare Barry on her very generous donation of herChristmas money to the Snowball appeal.

� All the pupils who raised money to provide mincepies for distribution to British people serving in Iraq.

� Melissa Walton on her successful audition for theCarlton Television series The A to Z of Everything andon being chosen to be a member of their Workshop.

� All the Upper 6th Form who have now receivedoffers from a wide range of Universities, including alarge number from the Russell Group Universities thatare generally regarded as the ‘top’ institutions.

� Ruth Hibbert (Natural Sciences, Cambridge), DanielJackson (Mathematics, Cambridge), Sarah Potter(Modern and Medieval Languages, Cambridge) andRachel Taggart (Medicine, Oxford) on their offers. �

Bablake School8

SCHOOL SHOP OPENING TIMES: EASTER HOLIDAY 2004

Open Thursday 1 April 10.00am-5.00pmFriday 2 April 10.00am-5.00pmSaturday 3 April 10.00am-1.00pm

Closed Monday 5 AprilThursday 8 AprilFriday 9 AprilSaturday 10 AprilMonday 12 April

Open Thursday 15 April 10.00am-5.00pmFriday 16 April 10.00am-5.00pmSaturday 17 April 10.00am-1.00pmMonday 19 April 10.00am-5.00pm

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