Clifton High School Highlights Issue 8 November 2014
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Issue 8, November 2014
Marquee and more... So far the Autumn Term has been truly action-packed with exciting activities for our pupils to enjoy. There have
been trips and visits to enhance classroom-based learning, charity events such as the Médecins Sans Frontières
Clothes and Toys Swap, fundraising activities linked to World Challenge, and extra-curricular successes in sport.
In October we welcomed the return of the Marquee to the lawn for a week. Marquee Week gave our girls and boys
the chance to perform, to explore, and to experience the talents of other pupils across the School. The Marquee is
about enrichment and aims to build our pupils’ confidence and to bring the Clifton High School community together
to celebrate what it is that is so different and in particular, special, about our School and our young people. The
Open Morning which took place as part of the week of celebrations brought many people into the School to
experience CHS at this vibrant time. The Open Morning was incredibly busy, and attendance was even greater than
last year. The children, staff and parents have had a truly outstanding term, and we are looking forward to all the
Christmas celebrations that are coming soon.
Inside this issue:
Sixth Form Open Evening
Clifton Highlights
Life
Skills
Shakespeare
Performances
Trips, Visits
And Activities
Sporting
Achievements
Clifton High School Highlights Issue 8 November 2014
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Shakespeare Performances Senior School ‘The Comedy of Errors’ Mrs Gill Malpass, Head
of Drama and Director.
The Senior School production of Shakespeare's “The Comedy
of Errors” made such an impact that the lead pupils involved
continue to receive superb feedback from pupils, staff and
parents alike. The pupils performed Shakespeare with fluency
and everyone loved the setting of a Greek port with the
audience in the round. Once through passport control, the
audience was treated to a great atmosphere of waiters coming
and going, and townspeople chatting to them whilst they leant
against the working fountain! What was particularly good to
see was they way in which the cast became an ensemble. As
one audience member put it ”even the smaller characters had
their moment and played their part in making this the most
successful production yet at Clifton High School”.
Year 6 ‘Macbeth’ Mrs Sarah Barker, Assistant to Deputy Head,
Years 3—6.
Outstanding! A word which was used during the appraisal of
the Year 6 Macbeth play performed in the Arnolfini. The
abridged version of this Shakespeare classic was performed as
part of the National Shakespeare Festival and Year 6 children
certainly stepped up to the mark, performing as if their lives
depended on it, with enthusiasm, real passion and a sound
knowledge of the meaning of the words. They shone and really
showed off their individual brilliance to an audience of
hundreds. Many congratulations to you all and thank you to
our directors Mrs Tabb and Mrs Bagnall. Year 6 also performed
a short version of their Macbeth production in the Marquee
and in assembly.
Well done to everyone concerned! Next stop the Royal
Shakespeare Company!
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Sporting Achievements
Oliver from Year 7 has had great success with his running.
Having taken part in the Midland Counties Road Relay Championships at Sutton Coldfield
with his team— North Somerset AC under 13 Boys —finishing fourth, he went on to
compete in the English National Road Relay Championships on Sunday 5th October.
Oliver’s team finished sixth overall from forty six teams with Oliver completing his 2.4
mile leg in fifteen minutes and one second.
Netball...
Boys and girls have excelled in their sporting commitments both in and out of School over this half term.
Year 7’s Eleanor completed the Bath Schools Biathlon time trial at Monkton
Combe School, finishing fifth out of 43 with a points tally of 2111. The biathlon consisted
of a 50 metre swim in which she achieved a personal best, followed by an 800 metre run.
Her aim is to qualify as one the top 160 athletes in the country and compete in the British
Schools' Modern Biathlon Championships next year at Olympic Park.
...Hockey
...Biathlon
Running...
Swimming...
Briony from Year 11 is one of about twenty athletes who have been selected for the South West
Regional Academy in netball. This is a step-up from the Avon County Academy, where she trained last year, and involves
training with other athletes from all around the region. There are nine Regional Academies in the country and they are part of
the England Netball performance pathway. For the lucky few, when they are older and better developed as athletes, this
culminates in selection for the National Academy/England squad. It is early days for Briony but she is looking forward to the
challenge of training at Regional level and developing her skills.
In hockey news, the Year 3 girls were
involved in their first ever hockey fixture away against
Badminton School on Wednesday 1st October. Despite only
having had four practices, the girls demonstrated some
excellent skills and sheer determination. Jessica bravely
volunteered herself to go in goal and easily cleared some direct
shots from the Badminton team. There were some exceptional
runs with the ball from Alice, Lucy and Ines. The fantastic effort
from all of the girls secured a thrilling 3-1 victory to CHS! Since
this fixture the girls have also played Clifton College, Redmaid’s
and Badminton School. They are bonding as a team and their
skills are improving match-on-match.
Eleanor with Mhairi Spence, (British Modern Pentathlete, competitor in the 2012 Olympics)
Last but definitely not least, Year 9’s Isabelle competed in the Multi Regional Synchronised
Swimming Age Group Championships. She managed achieve a fantastic result within the 13-14 year age group, she was second
in the first individual event, swam her routine and managed to jump into first place, she also achieved first place in the duet
and team events. She won the South West Regional title in solo, duet and team and also the overall Southern Champion in all
three events. Isabelle flew to Scotland for the Scottish Nationals at the end of term.
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Pupils’ Studies Come Alive! Nursery to Year 2 Music On Wednesday 5th November,
children in Nursery School to Year 2 were visited by Celso
Paco, a musician and storyteller from Mozambique. We have
established a successful link with a school in Beira,
Mozambique since 2007. Celso’s visit helped give our children
a greater understanding of the Mozambican culture and of
beat and dance. Celso involved the children in his music and
stories. They loved participating in the rhythms and sounds of
Africa.
Year 2 English At the end of their
poetry unit ‘Patterns on a page’ 2S
were treated to a poetry recital by
Susanna’s mother—who is a poet by
profession! As well as reading us
several of her own poems including
one about Susanna’s guinea pig, Ms Cato had written a poem
especially for 2S called ‘Sixes and Sevens’.
Here are the first two lines..
It’s hard to be grown up when your belly’s in a knot.
It’s hard to grown up when Mrs Sutcliffe says you’re a clot!’
Year 2 History Year 2 enjoyed a visit from King Arthur (a.k.a.
Mr Arthur), who taught the children more about knights,
supporting their History work. He told the children about the
long training involved to become a knight, explained knights’
main roles and their code of conduct. The children had the
chance to ask him questions after. Also, four new Year 2 pupils
were knighted by King Arthur.
Year 2 Topic Year 2 travelled
to Berkeley Castle on
September 22nd to explore
the castle as part of their
Topic learning. They looked
up at the ‘murder hole’,
avoided the trip steps,
performed a medieval dance
in the Great Hall and dressed
up as knights and ladies.
Finally they finished off their
adventure with a stroll
through the amazingly
colourful butterfly house.
Year 4 Topic Year 4 were lucky enough to visit the City
Museum to support their work on the Egyptians. Walking
down to the museum, the children were thinking about their
recent Egyptian Topic and were excited at the prospect of
seeing actual objects and artefacts from that period in time.
They were not disappointed! They were amazed at the array
of coffins and sarcophagus; a child’s death mask; mummified
cats; marble friezes. This was such an exciting way of rounding
off their Egyptian Topic in class by consolidating their learning
in an active and hands-on way!
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Year 2 Topic Year 2 finished off their Castles Topic studies with a Medieval Feast! Everyone got dressed up in Medieval outfits
and enjoyed themed activities and food.
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Year 3 Science On Tuesday 18th November, Year 3 went to
visit Dr Camacho’s Science lab in the Senior School. This was
exciting enough for many of the Year 3’s but then they
enjoyed fun, interactive experiments too! The children looked
at different types of magnets, where magnets occur, magnetic
fields and creating electricity.
Year 9 Religious Studies On Thursday 6th November, Year 9
visited Bristol’s Amitabha Buddhist centre. Here are the pupils’
experiences of the trip in their own words.
We all learnt lots of new things from the experience and it
really helped us realise that what we are learning in class is
reality. We learnt that there is no god that Buddhists worship
but instead they respect Buddha, who is a real person.
Everyone enjoyed it greatly, and meeting Buddhists was very
interesting seeing how they live and transferring our
knowledge from the classroom into reality. It was really great
also because we could learn from them and understand more
their way of life and what Buddhism is about. We really
appreciated the trip, and so thanks to all the teachers who
took us and helped organise this trip. Laura and Charlotte
Our trip to the Bristol Buddhist Centre was a very enlightening
trip. I say enlightening because we got to see how some
people lived, in silence, (in several ways) solitude, and in a
community. Though in some ways this may seem boring, I saw
that there was peace in this house. The people were nice,
inviting and willing to give us an insight into the life of a
Buddhist monk/nun. These people were pleasant to be around
and they showed us their way of living and what they worship.
From this trip, I now know how a huge percentage of people
in the world live; in peace, serenity, and in acceptance. Though
I will probably never become a Buddhist, I can take away the
lessons I learnt there and apply it to my life. Django
I appreciated it when the nuns taught us to meditate. I
experienced a peaceful mind. Leah
I really enjoyed seeing the different statues of the male and
female Buddhas. I also liked meditating and learning more
about Buddhism. Rachel
I really enjoyed this trip. The women who were at the Centre
were very devoted to their religion, which made the trip
factual and fun. Anon
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I really enjoyed
doing
meditation. It
was an
experience I
would love to
continue with. I
loved learning
about Buddhism
in general and I
learned that there can be more than one Buddha. Rosie
It was fun and informative. The women had a certain style that
we all loved. Barney, Charlotte and Jemima
Thank you so much for arranging and taking us on the trip to
the Buddhist Centre. Before I went I had very little idea about
how Buddhists live, but now I have a much better insight into
how they live their life. Not only did I learn about meditating
myself, I found this very benefiting and feel the trip taught me
a lot and has inspired me. Anon
Year 9 Spanish On Tuesday 30th September the Year 9s had a
surprise dance class for their Spanish lesson! The class was
taught by Señorita Roman and Señorita Sobey and students
were instructed solely in Spanish. They managed to learn a
choreographed dance then finished with a limbo competition.
Both the boys and girls really enjoyed this lesson, being active
and learning about Latin American dance.
Year 10 and 11 Life Skills This year both Year 10 and 11 are
following the new Life Skills programme which has been
introduced by Mr Goldsmith and Miss Sobey. The students
have enjoyed learning a wide range of skills which have been
taught by specialists in areas such as money and finance,
kinesiology and
alternative
medicines, study
techniques and how
to best prepare for
exams,
communication for
business, and
international
relations. In the
second half of the Autumn Term students embark on options
that they have chosen. These units will again be taught by
experts in that field and include photography, Duke of
Edinburgh preparation, Chinese, journalism, first aid, Italian,
ceramics, communication skills and food hygiene, amongst
others. For most of these courses pupils will be able to achieve
a qualification which can then be added to their national
curriculum.
Year 12 Spanish The Year 12 Spanish class had a very special
lesson on Tuesday 21st of October as Señorita Sobey took the
group to the Tomatina restaurant on Park Street to try out a
number of Spanish tapas and practise their Spanish with the
waiting staff. A great opportunity to use their Spanish in an
authentic situation here in Bristol.
Year 12 and 13 Spanish A fantastic evening was had on
Monday 10th of November at Clifton College where our Sixth
Form Spanish students took part in debates against Clifton
College and Badminton School. The debates where closely
contested and the students came away feeling confident in
their speaking ability and a great time was had by all.
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Don’t forget….
Friday 28th November
Christmas Fair Mufti Day
Wednesday 3rd December
Reception-Year 2 sing at Christ
Church Senior Lunch Club
Thursday 4th December
Reception-Year 2 Christmas
Performance
Saturday 6th December
Christmas Fair
Wednesday 10th December
Nursery School Christmas
Performance
Please be aware that this is a
change of date.
Thursday 11th December
Year 3-6 Christmas Performance
Friday 12th-Wednesday 17th
December
Year 6-11 Ski Trip to Les Deux Alps
Monday 15th December
Carol Service
Thursday 16th December
Term Ends
Contact us:
Tel: 0117 973 0201
Email: [email protected]
To report an absence: [email protected]
www.cliftonhigh.bristol.sch.uk
Visit our Facebook page
at: facebook.com/
CliftonHighSchoolBristol
The Sixth Form Open Evening took place on the 11th November and was a great success. The Rose Theatre was filled with
interested students and their families. We hope that all of Year 11s enjoyed their Taster Day and the Open Evening and are
now looking forward to choosing their A levels and the challenges and excitement the CHS Sixth Form has to offer.
Sixth Form Open Evening
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