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Clifton High School Highlights Issue 2 December 2012

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Issue 2, December 2012

Standing room only! It was wonderful to see so many members of the school community at our annual Carol Service at Clifton Cathedral in the final week of term. Over 1,000 pupils, staff, parents, members of the Council of Governors, former members of staff, alumni and other friends of the School filled the Cathedral to listen to the nine lessons and music from our various school choirs as well as join in some congregational carolling. I have received many messages of thanks and congratulations for the evening. What an excellent way to conclude a very busy first term of the year - which it has most certainly been; every week has been packed full of activity across the school, from action-packed lessons to fiercely fought sports fixtures; from a Seaside Concert to exciting science research right on our own doorstep (or rooftop!).

You will read inside about just some of the countless fantastic things that have happened this term. Special thanks must go to all the staff and parents who contribute so much time, energy and enthusiasm to making the learning and extra-curricular opportunities everything they are for the pupils of Clifton High. You know who you are and it would simply not happen without you - thank you.

To round the term off on a high note, we had the excellent news that the AQA examination board finally agreed to remark one English GCSE paper from the summer which had caused us academic concerns. This led to 80% of our pupils who took that paper receiving a higher mark and a formal apology from AQA which is a great result.

I have recently been fortunate enough to hear some excellent scholarship application presentations from some of our Year 11 students and I have been proud to hear them speaking so eloquently and passionately about their chosen subjects. Their ambitions, high expectations of themselves and their desires to make a difference with their futures are truly inspirational; they are excited and not daunted by challenges that lie ahead. We can all learn from our young people as we look forward into 2013 - like them, let us all embrace the future and dare to dream!

Mr Richards, Mr Cowper and I hope you all have a very happy Christmas and wish you every success for 2013. We look forward to welcoming everyone back to School on Tuesday 8th January.

Dr Alison Neill, Head of School Inside this issue:

Christmas Fabulous Busy Cosmic Sports House Performances Festivities Bees Clifton Roundup Points

Clifton Highlights

“The Clifton High Carol Service marks the true start of the festivities… now Christmas can begin!” *Message in a Christmas card from a guest following the service+


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Stunning seasonal performances The Sleepy Shepherd

The audience were held spellbound by the glittering performances of our Nursery and Reception children. The children were delighted to see family and friends in School and their happiness and enthusiasm were reflected in the performance they produced. The singing was beautiful, the children spoke with clarity and expression and danced with an exuberance that was enviable. Many thanks to the children, staff and parents of Nursery and Reception – a real team effort!


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Babushka

The Year 1 and 2 children’s beaming faces were testament to the pride they felt as they took their bow after a magnificent finale to a wonderful show. It beggared belief that children from 5-7 years of age could deliver such a sophisticated performance and hold an audience so enthralled. The costumes were spectacular but it was the maturity and endearing confidence of the performers that shone; they danced with vigour and panache, sang with passion and delivered their lines with heartfelt expression. Their joy was reflected in the faces of those in the audience. Congratulations and thanks to the children, staff and parents of Years 1 and 2 for a fantastic creation.


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Junior Concert

The children of the Juniors sang their hearts out and played their instruments beautifully as “A Christmas Welcome” brought to a close the Clifton High festive performances this year. Despite end-of-term weariness, they rose to the occasion and produced a heart-warming and invigorating evening of song and music. Congratulations to everyone involved and many thanks to all of the staff in the Junior School who inspire and motivate the children and whose energy and skill behind the scenes was truly remarkable. A marvellous team effort!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those parents who assisted with costumes, props and serving coffee and mince pies for all our Christmas performances; your support is much appreciated.

Starry Night

The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School’s production of “The Starry Night” came to Clifton High as an end of term treat. The performance told the Christmas story from the shepherds’ perspective and was a fusion of beautiful harmonies, instrumental pieces and wonderful storytelling. The audience, from Nursery to Y6, were enthralled by the spectacle and the almost pantomime feel to some scenes. It was an excellent addition to the festive calendar.


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Chance! - an original musical

One true highlight of this term must not go without mention when we are talking about stunning performances; Chance!, performed in November, was a triumph for the Senior School and congratulations are due to every single one of the 80+ members of the cast, band, backstage crew, technical team, choreographers and other helpers. The show was written by our very own Mrs Gill Malpass and Mrs Jill Pritchard with bespoke music composed by parent, Mr Mike Smith and was a great success.

The many accolades that we have received pay testament to the incredible hard work, commitment and teamwork shown by our senior pupils, sixth form students, parents and staff. Thanks and congratulations to all the staff and parents who contributed so much time and energy to help to make the production happen.

Carol Service at the Cathedral

As mentioned on the front page, the annual Carol Service was an incredibly well-attended event with pupils, staff, parents, members of the Council of Governors, former members of staff, alumni and other friends of the School all coming together for the occasion. The school choirs sang a selection of beautiful music and all the lesson readers spoke very well indeed. An evening of which to be proud.


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Christmas at Clifton High! The last couple of weeks have been full of seasonal cheer and activity. As you can see, besides all the wonderful

performances, we have enjoyed a lovely lunch, a fantastic Fair, some brilliant baubles, delightful decorations,

tremendous trees, wonderful wreath-making, cracking cards, grand grottos, super Shrek and much merriment!

Y10 Textiles stocking project Junior Christmas parties Christmas lunch

Gift shopping at the Christmas Fair The tree arrives Painted nails at the Fair Making wreaths

Pulling crackers at lunch Christmas jumpers… Too much Christmas lunch? Donations accumulate for the Foodbank

Reception deliver their Christmas cards Year 8 bring their contributions to the Foodbank trolley More crackers!

Final assembly prizes Shrek and shopping in London Pompom sheep baubles ‘figure 6’ make a surprise appearance!

Santa’s visiting grotto Concentration at the craft activity table at the Fair More Christmas jumpers!


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Brilliant Baubles The Parents’ Association ran a competition at the Christmas Fair for pupils to design and make a Christmas tree decoration. There were some wonderful entries and Mr Richards had a lot of fun judging them! The winners were:

Early Years joint winners: Jack and Imogen Burch Juniors winner: Hettie D’Ammassa Runner up: Sam Bond Runner up: Jasmine Thresher

Overall prize for the most creative decoration: Charlie Duncan

Congratulations, everyone and our thanks to the PA for all their support for the School this term!


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Busy CHS Bees We have been busy – pun intended – as bees with the

bees and it has been really exciting. At the beginning of

term our bees were still flying as they wanted stores of

honey to feed on over the winter. Now, however, they are

very quiet and clustered together for warmth. We have

moved them from the roof to special winter quarters to

protect them from the wind and cold. Having taken their

honey, we have been feeding them with syrup and have

left some bakers’ fondant (stiff icing sugar) in the hive as a

readily accessible food source over Christmas. We

collected 43lbs of honey which was a pleasant surprise

given the poor summer. The honey is delicious with a

lovely clear finish and a distinct lime flavour– no wonder it

sold out at the Christmas Fair!

Now we are working on some exciting ideas such as a wi-fi

microphone and thermometer or a camera on the

entrance to the hive to enable the children to observe the

bees more closely. One of the frames of honey is now in

the Biology Department so you can ask to see it. Our

gardener Mr Cooper is planting lots of bee-friendly flowers

and plants and Mr Cowper is preparing for launching a Bee

Club next spring.

Fingers crossed for the bees to

make a guest appearance at

the next Summer Fair!

Uniform suppliers Following some concerns raised by parents and

subsequent research and discussions, the decision

has been made to use another uniform supplier.

There will be no fundamental change to our uniform

and existing items will not need to be replaced. We

have seen samples and are satisfied that the look

and quality will not be compromised, rather that

many aspects will be improved.

From September 2013 our school uniform will be

supplied by Schoolblazer rather than Ikon.

Schoolblazer have a simple to use, bespoke website

page for each school they supply and an added

advantage that name tags are sewn into each

garment free of charge and they come highly

recommended by other Bristol parents and schools.

Detailed information about ordering and purchasing

from Schoolblazer will be provided soon.

Until the end of March, Ikon will continue to be our

uniform supplier but it is recommended that you

phone them before going to the shop as some sizes

of garment might be unavailable.

We also have a good stock of items in our second

hand uniform shop, run by the School Nurses and

housed next to the medical room. Opening hours

are 8.30am – 4pm, Mon-Fri. We do not anticipate

there being a shortage of many items as Ikon are

holding a considerable amount of stock.

It is our intention to hold a uniform sale in the

Spring Term—look out for details of this soon.

Please alert us to any concerns you have during this

transition and we will discuss these with Ikon.


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Exciting international physics research at CHS! Have you been wondering what the grey car-roof boxes are doing on the roof?! Here is a brilliantly seasonal introduction written by the clever sixth form students working on this new and very exciting project - look out for a proper news report in January. In the meantime, if you are too curious to wait, visit www.bris.ac.uk/physics/research/particle/hisparc/ to find out more...

Cosmic Clifton Once upon a time CHS decided to take part in a European

Research project called HiSparc. This little song may illuminate:

to be sung to the tune of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’...

On the first day of Cosmic, HiSparc gave to me,

A Dutch physicist and Mr Caddy,

On the second day of Cosmic, HiSparc gave to me,

Two high energy particle detectors,

With a Dutch physicist and Mr Caddy,

On the third day of Cosmic, HiSparc gave to me,

Three crazy Camachos,



On the fourth day of Cosmic, HiSparc gave to me,

Four optical devices,




On the fifth day of Cosmic, HiSparc gave to me,

Five cosmic rays,





On the sixth day of Cosmic, HiSparc gave to me,

Six rolls of insulation tape,

Five cosmic rays,





On the seventh day we tested it and we saw that it was good.

The Cosmic ray detectors are now on the roof. We used drills,

photomultipliers, scintillators and waveguides to get them

there. No one got hurt, although Tom reports he has optical

cement on his shoe.

A fond farewell Mrs Hanmer-Lloyd is

leaving CHS at the end of

this term, having

supported many children

as a member of the

Learning Support

Department. For over

twelve years, Mrs

Hanmer-Lloyd has helped

individuals overcome

challenges and has helped them grow in confidence

and self-esteem. Her dedication to the children has

been unquestionable and many children and

parents are greatly indebted to her.

We wish her every success and happiness in future

years and hope to meet up with her at CHS events in

the future. Au revoir and every best wish to you,

Mrs Hanmer-Lloyd.

http://doodle.com/r?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bris.ac.uk%2Fphysics%2Fresearch%2Fparticle%2Fhisparc%2F

http://doodle.com/r?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bris.ac.uk%2Fphysics%2Fresearch%2Fparticle%2Fhisparc%2F


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It has been an exciting term for sport - from rugby to synchronised swimming via a hugely successful Malta tour. A big well done to all our players; you have truly excelled and made CHS proud!

Rugby and Football

This term, the boys from Y3 to Y10 have taken part in more sports fixtures than ever before at CHS . Highlights in Y3 were great draws against Clifton College and QEH. Y4 experienced the expert coaching of Mr Salter with their hard work culminating in a 9-9 draw against Tockington Manor. Y5 finished their season on a high by putting in an excellent display against Clifton College, narrowly losing 10-7. Y6 have also continued to improve with the aid of coach Mr Rees. They narrowly lost to Tockington Manor 21-19 despite Charlie Turner’s last minute drop goal! In football, Y6 achieved a fantastic 14-nil win against Colston’s Primary.

The senior boys have also had a hugely successful term of rugby. The Y7/8 team achieved an outstanding 57-0 victory against Beechen Cliff School in Bath and a hugely deserved 15-15 draw vs. QEH. Y9/10 ended the season with an excellent team performance against Bristol Cathedral School which they won 24-19!

Hockey

The 1st team have been spiritedly led by Captain Vikki Jones this season, notably succeeding in retaining the Challenge Shield against Royal High, Bath. The U15s had the best county tournament and have won every inter-school match since September! The alumni match was a fantastic spectacle which eventually resulted in a victory for the Old Girls despite a

dynamic School team effort.

Y5 competed in the Badminton Tournament where they made great progress throughout and were ultimately drawn with the eventual winner and runner up. The U11 team played against Cathedral School from Llandaff which was a welcome new fixture, especially as they won 5-0.The U10 girls lost to Red Maids’ but put on an impressive display against Cathedral winning 4-0.

An excellent turnout of 21 CHS girls trained with the Avon County JDC squad and 13 have been selected into the JAC squad. Oliver Valentine from Y9 has also been selected for U14 boys’ hockey. All these pupils will go on to play matches for Avon next term - a wonderful achievement!

Netball

The season got off to a very busy start. The U11 and U9 teams had convincing wins against Red Maids’ while the 1st VII played valiantly against an older more experienced team in the annual alumni match. To date, the most successful teams have been Y8 A and B teams, both of whom remain undefeated! The U15 and U14 teams won trophies on the sports tour to Malta and the Y9 team played in the Avon County preliminary tournament where they narrowly missed qualifying for the finals by one point.

Congratulations to five girls from Y6 to Y9 who have been selected for the Avon Netball development squad from trials in the summer.

Swimming

All our swimmers have performed superbly this term; especially the Y4 and 6 teams who are unbeaten!

End of Term Sports Report


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Highlights include the open team beating Red Maids’, Y8 beating Clifton College, Y7 beating BGS and the Juniors coming 22nd out of 52 in the South West relay competition against strong opposition. Thanks to Clemmie Beaham-Powell, Saskia Dedman and Emma Wood for captaining the various teams and to Ishbel McLaren and Laura Ashurst for officiating at galas.

Special mention to Isabelle Thorpe who is building an impressive stash of medals for her national level synchronised swimming!

Trampolining

Six CHS pupils took part in the South West Regional Schools Trampoline Championships at City Academy this term. After weeks of preparation, they performed superbly well with final results as follows: 6th place for the U11 Girls’ Novice Team, 7th place to U11 Boys’ Novice Maxime Dubois and 14th place to Olivia Tonkin in the U19 Girls’ Novice category in which Megan Beer also competed. Excellent achievements!

Individual achievements

Well done to all those pupils who have had individual success in other sports this term too. We know there are many, but a few that we have had reports of who deserve special mention include: Harry Miles who won a bronze medal in the U15 England badminton tournament, Bethan Evans-Brain who became County Badminton Champion -another title and trophy for her collection, Charlotte Gardner for winning a place in the National David Lloyd U10 tennis final and Isobel Press for winning gold at her first Wellington Age Groups U13 Girls’ Sabre fencing competition. Well done to them all!

House Sport

Due to the ever-unpredictable British weather, the House Sport results will have to be delayed until next term as some teams have not had a chance to play yet due to poor conditions. We look forward to some thrilling matches in the New Year!


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Don’t forget 8th January

Start of Spring Term

19th and 26th January

Entrance Examinations

1st February

Parents’ Association Ceilidh

11th - 15th February

Half Term

Remember to check the school

calendars and website regularly

for more details plus all the

latest news, events, fixtures

and important dates!

Copies of all letters home are

also stored on the website. The

School Office can give you log in

details to access the parents’

area.

We are greatly indebted to

all our parents, staff and

friends for your support of

the School this term.

HAVE A VERY MERRY

CHRISTMAS AND A

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

See you in 2013...

Contact us:

Tel: 0117 973 0201

Email: [email protected]

To report an absence: [email protected]

www.cliftonhigh.bristol.sch.uk

House points update... Following a busy first term of House activity collecting merit points, sporting wins and raising an incredible £2,767.14 for lots of different charities (including Children in Need, Make a Wish, Jeans for Genes, MacMillan and Pears’ and Percival’s charity days), the House Points ‘Totalizer Rose’ looks like this:

Percival: 2970 (23%) Pears: 3167 (25%) Winkworth: 3383 (26%) Wollaston: 3729 (27%)

Well done, Wollaston, but remember there are two terms still to go and anyone could still win. We look forward to seeing you all working hard in the Spring Term to chase more points for your House through school merits, sporting achievements and fundraising!

House Charities:

Wallace & Gromit’s Children’s Foundation Help for Heroes Penny Brohn Cancer Care Bristol Sailability

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