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FOX NEWS
ISSUE 10 - AUTUMN 2014
BEST SEASON EVER IN CROSS COUNTRY
Even by our very high standards the cross country
season has been incredible. No other school in the
In the English Schools Cup we recorded some great
results in Round 1 and all four teams qualified for
Round 2 - a feat no other school in the whole of Southern England could match.
In Round 2 every team ran as well as they could and
they could not have given any more on the day. We
were incredibly proud of the Inter Boys who qualified
for the Final, but equally proud of all four teams for
even qualifying for this stage.
Inter Boys - 3rd, Junior Girls - 5th, Junior Boys - 6th,
Inter Girls - 10th
In the Final at Newquay Tretheras School the Boys did
South West of England had four teams qualify for
Round 2 of the English Schools Cross-Country Cup.
Already this year we have won two major trophies in
the County. At the area championship we won more
team and individual awards than any other school in
West Dorset put together.
For the majority of the cross-country team the season
began two weeks before the start of the academic
year. This involved blowing off the summer cobwebs
and learning how to feel the pain of running whilst being out of breath again. Since then training has taken
place at 9am every Sunday and on a Wednesday after
school when we have not had races; success is not
easy and to sustain and repeat it is even harder.
We have
entered two relay
races so far,
Leweston and
Shaftesbury, and
won both of them
by over one
minute (Leweston
nearly two
minutes). Oliva Willmore achieved the fastest lap and
was followed by Dulcie Gatehouse who achieved the
second fastest lap.
the school very proud and squeezed out every bit of
energy available in what was a most gruelling racecourse. We finished 20th and although we were hoping for slightly higher, we were the 20th best team in
the Country and that is absolutely fantastic!
The Area League is important to us as a school and it
is important to experience success in the Area if we are
going to claim to be a school with a strong running reputation. Over the three races we more than demonstrated that our reputation is one that we deserve and
our results back this up.
See our results tables on page 11
Success is definitely not easy and our success is down
to commitment, resilience, teamwork, a genuine passion to run and a desire to improve and be the best we
can be.
House News
TORO
HINOMARU
Report by Mrs Chudley
Report by Mr Preston
We have had a great start to our House Cup campaign by winning the inter house cross country event.
We had many students taking part in this event which
helped to secure the victory and after special thanks
to Hannah Noonan our sports captain who made sure
so many took part.
Children in Need Day at Colfox was a loud and colourful event with a range of different stalls being organised and run by students from Hinomaru House.
The students had worked independently to come up
with ideas for the stall which included skittles, ‗guess
the number of sweets in the bottle‘, homemade
bracelets and cake sales as well as face painting
and even a Lucky Dip. The School was also entertained by our musical busking group made up of
James Wilkinson, James Mountford and Oliver
Bretherton.
The house has an effective buddying system and it is
pleasing to see so many of the older and younger
students having weekly conversations and getting to
know each other. This year we have the largest
amount of buddies ever! The house is continuing to
work at improving attendance and we have set ourselves a high percentage figure to achieve this year,
so we need everyone in school, every day!!
Student Successes - Aiden Cooper at
the British Championships
Highlights of the Hinomaru Term
This has been a great term for Hinomaru and it started with wonderful examples of teamwork at Hooke
Court by our Year 7 students, who continued their
success throughout the annual Tug of War event.
Our Year 10 girls have won the interhouse netball
competition for four years in a row, and their motivation to win next year so they can claim the title for
each year of their school life.
Teamwork really has been a theme for Hinomaru this
term and this is reflected in two of our community‘s
many successes. Miss Parson‘s Year 8 tutor group
gave an impressive assembly about Children in
Need and this gave Hinomaru House the context for
their fundraising for this academic year. Our community had been given the task of raising funds for
this national charity and it was a challenge the
House was happy to accept. Special mention
must go to the Year 10 team of Jenny Hallett, Cara
Lennon, Jude Appleton-Scott and Ruby Vincent.
Who performed well at the Madhatters Tea Party
sewing bee.
Individual Successes
On Saturday 8th November 2014 I went to Reading
with my mum, stepdad and three little brothers. I went
there to enter the British Championship and was in the
sparring category. I am a red stripe belt, and had to
spar against red belts, deputy black belts and second
black belts which are all higher than me. It was very
tough but I won 2nd place, taking home a silver trophy. I have been with the Matt Fiddes School of Martial Arts for 3 years and am very proud of how far I
have come.
Of course, a community is only as strong as the
individuals within it who bring a diversity of skills and
ambitions to the House. Whether it is Molly Gay
successfully winning the Year 8 X - Factor award or
Charlie Lawson for the massive conger eel he
caught. Serena Knollman in Year 11 has helped
with Rock Challenge, along with her responsibilities
as Head Student of House. Some of our students
have become involved in the Lions Young Leaders in
Service. Rosey Botwright is one of our Anti Bullying Ambassadors .and is doing a great job supporting other students.
House News
ADLER
FLEUR DE LYS
Report by Mr Midworth
Report by Ms Andrews
An excellent start to the school year has been
achieved by all in Adler House. I have been impressed by the ‗togetherness‘ within the house since
my arrival at the Sir John Colfox School. This was
portrayed by the huge number of students who arrived to cheer on the house in the final of the tug - of war competition in my first week here. They were
rewarded with a huge effort from our team which resulted in the first house event win. We were also
successful in the cross country house event with special mention to Dane James for his outstanding performance on a tricky course, we finished third overall.
That sense of belonging and willingness to create a
team ethos was amazing to see and huge congratulations must go to all involved. I hope that Adler students from all years participate in as many diverse
activities as possible, take responsibility for their actions and continue the great start to the year.
The students in Fleur de Lys house have reflected on
this very busy Autumn Term in all manner of ways.
Adler’s Charity Extravaganza
On Friday 24th October Adler House held their yearly
charity day. The students again chose to support
Julia‘s House which is a local charity and the only
children‘s hospice charity in Dorset dedicated to helping life-limited children and their families across the
county. A range of activities were designed by the
tutor groups and included things such as a tombola,
crossbar challenge and
even the waxing of the male
year 11 leadership teams‘
legs! All of the
house were
excellent in
their organisation, support
and fund raising. We raised
a large amount
of money that
has been
greatly received by the
charity. Well done Adler!
(Cleo Laurence sold the once in a lifetime
opportunity to have a photo taken with Niall from
One Direction!)
For the new Year 7 group tutored by Dr.Edwards it
has meant the excitement of a new school with new
subjects and lots of different teachers alongside a
range of clubs, competitions and events.
Katie Dubra gave a notable performance in the Xfactor competition representing Fleur de Lys and
Shannon Kennedy was
the winner of the ‗Most
Colourful Hat‘ award in the
Madhatter‘s Tea Party
themed sewing bee held in
November.
For many of the boys in
F7RRE the highlight of the
term was winning the Year
7 Inter-house rugby on 3rd
December with Taelor
Hopgood and Nathan McMaster each scoring more
than one try to win the game. It was described by the
team as a ‗cracking game‘.
Special mention must go to several of the Year 9‘s
who have thrown themselves into so many activities
this term – Freya Gosney and Katie Meek in F9EC
enjoyed their hat-making day in the Sewing Bee as
did Megan Hartley and Halla Pinkett in F9AR. Jack
Luscombe also represented the house in this event
making a dinosaur hat. For both the Year 9 tutor
groups in Fleur de Lys, house the enthusiasm for
sporting events both in and out of school continues
with both Ceri Edwards and Sydney March winning
the Area junior girls Cross Country alongside the rest
of their team and Thai Chant competing in the National Cross Country finals.
A very big well done to both Sydney March and Eve
Appleton-Scott in
F9AR for winning
the X-factor competition for Fleur
de Lys with their
rendition of the
song ‗Home‘ –
originally by the
artist Edward
Sharp and the
Magnetic Zeros.
Trips And Visits
London Art Trip
Report Ms Mcllroy
All the students had a fabulous time and really enjoyed the match day experience. It was made even
better thanks to the fact that England won 26-13 - we
On October 23rd ,
48 Art students
from the Sir John
Colfox School travelled to London to
view the retrospective exhibition of
German Expressionist, Anselm
Kiefer at the Royal
Academy of Arts,
followed by a visit
to Tate Modern.
The works of Anselm Kiefer complement the GCSE unit ‗Layers‘ and
students researched this work prior to the visit, using
mixed media within their own work and exploring the
concept of matter and meaning.
This was an extremely special event as Kiefer‘s work
has not been exhibited collectively in the UK before;
for it to coincide so favourably was too opportune to
miss.
Students appreciated seeing the work ‗in the flesh‘
and were surprised at the vast scale of his works.
They were also able to view smaller works and
sketch books which offered an intimacy sometimes
lost with permanent exhibitions of work.
Tate Modern offered an opportunity for students to
explore freely, gathering inspiration and ideas for
their Art mock exam which will constitute their third
unit of course work.
All in all a fantastic day!
Rugby Trip 2014
England v Australia at Twickenham
Report Mr Littlechild
On Saturday 29th November twenty seven boys from
across all years boarded the minibus and set off on a
trip to watch England play Australia at Twickenham.
This was an unbelievable opportunity to go and see
two of the top teams play against each other, as usually these are not the type of games made available
to schools.
After setting off at 9.00 am we eventually arrived at
the ground for 1.30 pm, with kick - off one hour later.
The boys spent some time soaking up the atmosphere, and for many of these it was their first time at
Twickenham – a truly daunting experience with
82,000 other fans wandering around as well.
were so close to the action that the players even gave
us the thumbs up when the boys were shouting their
name! We even made it on to the jumbo screen before the match started!
The students themselves were outstanding on the
day. It was fantastic to be on a trip where such a
large number of students behaved so impeccably in
what is a wonderful, but difficult experience.
Well done to everyone involved!
New York 2016
We are very excited to be able to offer the opportunity
for Joint 6th Form students
to participate in a trip to
New York City during the
February half term holiday
of 2016!! This trip is open
to all students who are
currently studying in Years
12 and 11 and who will be
members of the Joint 6th
Form next academic year
We plan to spend four or
five days in the centre of
New York, as close as
possible to all the sights this fantastic city has to offer.
While in New York, we will see as many of the sights
as possible including the Empire State Building, the
Statue of Liberty, the Guggenheim Museum and
Times Square. We will also attend either an ice hockey game or a basketball. and we will obviously have
some time to shop!
Places are limited so if you are interested in this trip
or would like more information, please see Mrs.
Schantz.
News
Rights Respecting Schools Group
Report by Mr Middleton
Last year a Rights Respecting Schools group was
formed to review the current Charter that we have in
school and at the end of the summer term this group
met with Mrs Taylor and put forward an action plan
that they would like to implement throughout this
coming school year. As part of this action plan, they
asked if they could deliver a workshop on the Rights
of the Child to all staff at one of the recent staff training days at the start of the new term. This they did
on Tuesday 4th September and during this session
they asked staff to consider what a Rights Respecting School should look like and what 4 key Rights
they felt applied to our school. The workshop was
really successful; and as one student said ―It was
great to see teachers putting their hands up to answer our questions!‖
The student
group is now
going to take
the 4 Rights
that staff identified and consider these
with the Rights
that our students have
also identified to produce some activities for tutors to
use in Tutor time. Other activities this group has
planned are to organise a ―Rights Respecting Day‖ in
the Spring Term.
Staff comments about the day include…...
―The students spoke really well and you got the impression that they clearly knew their subject and
were passionate about it!‖
―The students prepared thoroughly for the workshop
and delivered it extremely well! ―
The Young Leaders In Service Award
Report By Mr Middleton
The Young Leaders Award was launched
in assemblies across the school in late
September and already many students
have registered to take part. These Awards recognise young people who provide significant levels of
service to the communities and are awarded on two
levels.
The Silver Seal Award – for young people who provide at least 50 hours of service to the community
over a 12 month period.
The Gold Seal Award – for those who provide at least
100 hours of service over a 12 month period. Many of
our students unselfishly volunteer to help others within
the local community and
the Lions award offers an
opportunity for these to
be recognised by an international organisation
Over 80 of our students
have completed a registration form and asked
parents/carers to sign to endorse their involvement,
these forms are now being sent to the local Bridport
Lions Club and log books will be issued to all the students so that they can keep a record of the voluntary
work they have completed. Regular meetings will be
held throughout the year to support students to
achieve their goal.
Science In The Future
Report by Mr David
Year 10 and 11 students were treated to an insightful
and inspiring talk from Professor David Wilson who
was visiting as part of
the Speakers for
Schools Programme.
Professor Wilson lectured on a range of
topics linked to human
genetics and stem
cells, areas that are
tested in the GCSE
science modules. He
was also keen to discuss the ethics of
such research.
Professor Wilson was appointed to the Chair of Human Developmental Genetics in 2000. He has been
Divisional Director of Human Genetics at Southampton University and co-founded the Centre for Human
Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration. He
helped establish the University‘s integrated PhD programme in Stem Cells and is currently Deputy Director
for Research (Faculty of Medicine).
He finished his lecture with an inspiring talk about how
it is possible for any student to do what he does, as
long as they are prepared to work hard. He left his
comprehensive school with very average GCSE
grades but was given the opportunity to study at Oxford University after achieving better grades in his A
Levels. From there he went on to complete a PhD at
Newcastle University and this was the start of what
has become a hugely successful career.
News
Girl Power
Report By Mr David
The first career speed-network event held at the
Sir John Colfox School proved to be a huge success with over ninety girls from years 10, 11 and
the Joint Sixth Form, attending a wonderful
evening.
The event was organised in conjunction with the
Inspiring the Future: Inspiring Women Campaign
which aims to see 15,000 women from a range
of occupations visit 250,000 young women in
state education across the Country.
utive Directors in FTSE 100 companies are
women, and only 3% are CEO‘s. Her key message is to always aim high and to develop the
skills that will allow them to be adaptable to the
ever - changing and ever-unpredictable work
place.
The evening was opened by special key-note
speaker, Professor Jo Gill, who is the Principal
of Exeter University. She delivered a very powerful message about how women can often be
stereotyped into specific jobs and that there is
very good evidence to suggest that by the age of
14, critical decisions on academic pathways
have been made and many young people have
already accepted the ‗status quo‘ of gender stereotyped jobs. In 2010, women accounted for
47% of the UK labour force yet only 6% of Exec-
The girls then spent ten minutes with each guest
speaker to hear about their individual lives and
the choices they had made along the way. Charlotte Sanctuary, who is a Governor at the school
and helped organise the event said, ―I am delighted this was such a success. It was a unique
careers event to give girls the opportunity to chat
to a variety of women, which has hopefully inspired and helped them make some initial decisions about their career path.‖
This was a fantastic opportunity for the students
to meet and talk to a diverse range of successful
women from a wide range of professions and it
is very rare for a school outside London to host
this kind of event with such a prestigious guest
list. The girls were provided with a lot of excel-
News
womankind!‖
The Sir John Colfox School would like to thank
our ten guests, in particular Professor Jo Gill for
delivering an inspiring presentation and Charlotte
Sanctuary for her support with the event as well
as the Inspiring Women Campaign for promoting
the event
nationally.
lent advice and there is little doubt that many
were inspired to pursue their dreams or to discover a pathway that they had never even considered.
Our Head girl, Amy Van Zyl who took part said:
―It was clear from the laughter that everyone really enjoyed themselves! The friendly atmosphere made it easy to listen to, and ask questions about the careers of so many diverse and
successful speakers. I left feeling very inspired,
and also rather proud of being a member of
A final thank
you must go
to all those
girls who
attended the
evening and
I know they
left feeling inspired and positive about what they
could achieve with hard work and self-belief.
The guest speakers were from a range of backgrounds and professions and included:
Charlotte Sanctuary - Director, KPMG LLP,
Dr Debbie Attrill - GP and Director of The Hive
Lucy Chant – Director of A P Chant
Julie Breakwell – Senior Manager at KPMG
Dr Francesca Mikola – Dental Practitioner
Kay Taylor – Headteacher
Gemma Scott – Landlady of The Crown
Professor Jo Gill – Associate Professor at
Exeter University
Pamela Sibley – Veterinary Surgeon
Linda Whitney – Journalist
News
Motivational Speaker
Report By Mr David
The Sir John Colfox School was delighted to welcome back the chairman of F4 Group and selfconfessed entrepreneur Stanley Jackson for the second time.
Stanley is a well known motivational speaker who
has enjoyed two successful careers to date; the first
in financial services where he was a leading authority
on the use of private sector occupational pension
schemes; the second in corporate entertainment.
The company he set
up and now chairs
developed from modest beginnings into an
international business
that supplies leading
keynote speakers and
moderators from the
world of politics, sport
and the media to a
variety of major events
around the world.
Stanley started off by
delivering a presentation to the new Year 7 Talented,
Able, Ambitious and Gifted Group who came together for the very first time. His key message was to try
everything at a young age and not to focus on one
thing as you will never know what else you could be
good at.
help students who are feeling lonely or unhappy. They
also learn about cyber bullying and discussed Mushi
Monsters and were introduced to the woodland characters of ‗Woodfer‘. The students left armed with resources and drop-in boxes.
A Soldier’s View
Report by Mr David
The Royal Marines took time to visit the Sir John Colfox
School on 11th November which was a poignant day
with people around the World paying tribute to the work
of our Armed Forces and remembering those who have
been affected in all conflicts.
In the morning students were given a careers presentation with a Q & A session at the end which allowed the
In his second presentation, entitled ‗The Entrepreneurial Spirit‘, Stanley delivered the key message to
the 6th form audience that they can achieve anything
they put their minds to and, if they really want something, they should go for it.
Once again we are very grateful to him for taking the
time to come down to speak to us and we look forward to seeing him again next year.
Anti - Bullying Ambassadors
Report By Mrs Chudley
On Friday 14th November the Sir John Colfox AntiBullying Ambassadors held its first primary school
anti-bullying training session, which 4 local
primary schools attended, Thorners, Burton Bradstock, St Mary‘s and Powerstock. The Ambassadors
told the students about how they have developed
since their initial training a year ago and some of the
activities they have been involved with. The training
includes understanding what bullying is and how to
group to ask some really provocative questions. In the
afternoon the students were divided into two groups
and they were given tasks that were designed to challenge their ability to think quickly and work together as
a team. Finally they were put through a gruelling fitness challenge that tested their basic fitness levels and
more importantly their attitude and resilience. We would
like to thank the Bournemouth team for organising this
and providing our students with an excellent insight into
the life of a Royal Marine.
Sixth Form News
Report by Mr Herbert
It has been a very busy term in the 6th Form. Year 13
have worked incredibly hard at getting their UCAS
applications completed and sent away early. The results have been absolutely tremendous and it is an
exciting time with news of offers and interviews coming in on a daily basis. The applications range from
medicine to archaeology, from engineering to teaching, from history to modern foreign languages and lots
more in between. It really is very exciting looking at
the map and plotting where students from Colfox will
be taking their talents next year. Good luck to all of
them!
The 6th Form has had a very busy term and the newly
named ‗Colfox Union of Students‘ have been brilliant
in developing their own leadership committees: Sport,
RAG, Amnesty International, Politics/Current Affairs
and of course the all - important Social Committee. A
group of 6th formers are currently planning a democracy day in celebration of the 800th anniversary of the
signing of the Magna Carta. The Joint 6th Football
team are still basking in the glory of beating The
Thomas Hardye School 5-2 in their recent football
match and are busily planning new fixtures, well done
boys! As you read this we are in the throes of RAG
week and the students are looking forward to their well
-deserved Xmas Party at the rugby club!!
They have made a great start to 6th form life and look
set to do very well this summer. We are all delighted
that for the second year in a row the results of our A
level students has been externally validated as being
‗outstanding‘ for the progress they have made. This
is a wonderful achievement.
School Sharpens Scriptwriting Skills!
Report By Mr Teasdale
Students from Beaminster and Colfox School took
part in a script-writing project this week.
Acclaimed scriptwriter Paul Dodgson worked with 4
students from each school, writing and recording two
short radio plays. Starting with a simple story idea
(based on Little Red Riding Hood), the students developed the plot and characters of the story.
Paul, who has directed and produced more than 400
programmes for BBC radio, and whose screenwriting
credits include 18 months as part of the BBC
Eastenders writing team, said ―It has been really exciting to work with a group of talented young people
with no preconceptions about radio drama. hey have
been imaginative, creative and quick to learn. In reimagining Little Red Riding Hood, the participants
found what was at the heart of the story and made it
their own."
Our geographers have enjoyed a very productive field
trip to Leeson House and our artists have been brushing up on their life drawing skills with a visit to studios
in Abbotsbury. Our chemists have been busy at Bristol University and our PE students are eagerly anticipating their visit to the sports science laboratories at
Bath University (some strenuous testing awaits them!).
Our Year 12 have been excellent in getting their work
experience placements sorted for the summer term.
Head of English Adam Teasdale said, ‗This is a fantastic opportunity for students to experience writing
as a truly collaborative venture. They have been writing for a real audience, and producing work that will
be made available to anyone who wants to listen.
The skills that the students have been refining with
Paul are useful across the curriculum. I can‘t wait to
hear the results.‘
The plays are currently being edited. If you want to
hear an updated, 21st century take on Little Red Riding Hood, podcasts will be made available on the
schools‘ websites and at http://www.bridportarts.com.
Sports News
Report By Mr Littlechild
Boys Rugby has continued to develop, with five teams
from Y7 –11 being put out this year. Every team was
entered into the Dorset School Games for this region
Attendance has been excellent and Michael Dronyk,
better known to the players as ‗Coach D‘, is very
pleased with the progress and commitment of all who
attend.
which were held at Dorchester Rugby Club. All teams
performed well finishing no lower than 5th, but the Y
11 team put in a great performance to finish joint third
for the Dorset West area.
Sports Leaders have been busy organising primary
events; a quicksticks hockey festival for Y5 & 6 lead by
our hockey club students, Y1 & 2 multiskills festivals
with year 8 leaders and the area High 5 primary netball
tournament, officiated by netball club students and
sports ambassadors. Year 9 PE students also officiated
at the Y7-9 area badminton tournament as part of their
GCSE PE course. The commitment and enthusiasm of
leaders is very much appreciated in the wider community, they do a fantastic job, well done to them all.
Girls extra - curricular sport has received a real boost
this year. We have Girls Yr7 and 8 netball, and also
hockey across all year groups. Fixtures have been
played against other local schools and all the students
involved have shown great dedication and enthusiasm
to the sports.
We have received praise from all the other schools we
have played for the levels of performance shown by
the girls in
such a short
space of time,
with many of
them thinking
we are going
to be real
challengers
for the School
Games Netball tournaments that
take place in
January.
BTEC PE Level 3 Trip
It has been a very positive year so far—we are all
looking forward to 2015.
On the 13th November Emily, Bronwyn, Ellie, Brooke,
Olivia, Skyler, Rosie and Hannah all took part in the
U13 Girls Cup Tournament at Yeovil. In some very wet
and windy conditions they played four games against
Budmouth, Woodroffe, Heathfeld and Kings College.
The girls played extremely well but unfortunately did not
qualify for the semi-finals, drawing one, winning one,
and losing two.
Basketball
Report by Mrs Fairley
The Autumn term has seen the introduction of a new
afterschool basketball academy, on a Tuesday evening, linked to The South Coast Tigers Basketball Club.
Report By Mrs Chudley
On 4th November the Year 13 BTEC students went to
Bridport Hospital Physiotherapy department where they
had a talk from Sue Jones the head Physiotherapist.
Sue outlined the role of a physiotherapist and all the
treatments they use in sports rehabilitation. The students had previously devised scenarios of sports injuries they had been studying and Sue kindly gave them
some exercises and treatments to help them write a
physiotherapy plan as part of their coursework.
Girls Football
Report By Mrs Chudley
Sports Results
Cross Country Results
English Schools Cup
Junior Boys
Junior Girls
Inter Boys
Inter Girls
Round 1
2nd
2nd
1st
3rd
Round 2
6th
5th
3rd
10th
Area League
Position
Individual Position
Year 7 Girls
Overall Champions
Maddy Herbert - Champion
Year 7 Boys
Overall Champions
Zakjohn Ousley - Champion
Junior Boys
Overall Champions
Tom Crabtree - Champion
Junior Girls
Overall Champions
Livvy Willmore - Runner Up
Inter Boys
Joint Champions
Dane James - Champion
Inter Girls
Runners Up
Olivia Symes - Runner Up
NETBALL
Position
HOCKEY
Year 7 v St Osmunds
Lost 13 - 5
Year 7/8 v Beaminster
Won 2 - 1
Year 7 v St Osmunds
Lost 9 -7
Year 9/10 v Beaminster
Won 3 - 1
Year 8 v All Saints
Won 23 - 4
Year 8 v St Osmunds
Lost 15 - 9
Year 8 v St Osmunds
Lost 9 -7
Position
RUGBY
Year 7 Boys
6th
Year 8 Boys
6th
Year 9 Boys
5th
Year 11 Boys
3rd
News
Schools Will Rock You - Get Your
Tickets Now
Report by Miss Pearce
This January, The Sir John Colfox School is presenting ‗Schools Will Rock You‘ as our school play. For
those of you who have never seen this, it is an adaptation of the
smash hit West
End Musical ‗We
Will Rock You‘.
It is a tale of lost
music being resurrected by
songs from the
band Queen and
is suitable for all
ages.
We have a host of GaGa kids, those brainwashed by
the evil Killer Queen, from the lower school and our
rebel Bohemians are from the upper school. We are
in the midst of rehearsals as we speak getting ready
for a fantastic performance January 15th and 16th. We
have stars on stage and many stars trying to hide.
This year has seen an incredible amount of offers to
help with set, costumes, lighting, sound, directing and
stage management. Many of these pupils are coming
from Expressive Arts backgrounds and are looking to
pursue their chosen sector into university, while others just want to lend a hand. All of them have been a
great asset.
Hopefully many of you will get to see all of the effort,
hard work and dedication that all of these pupils have
put in when you come in to watch. Wish them all to
‗Break a leg‘.
Rock Challenge
Report by Miss Pearce
A Sir John Colfox School tradition is once more upon
us, the Rock Challenge! It is phenomenon known
throughout schools in the UK and worshipped, whispered about, and deliberated upon for months before
it appears. For those of you new to this tradition,
Rock Challenge is a national dance competition which
we have attended for countless years.
In previous years we have often won awards, last
year for example, we gained Best Soundtrack and the
Health and Fitness awards. Previously we have also
be assigned Best Student Lead Production and have
even won the overall competition. Here at the Sir
John Colfox School we pride ourselves that a commit-
tee of older pupils choreographs, designs and teaches the entire
dance with
minimal support from
staff. It is a
great way to
cultivate our
leaders and
give everyone
an overwhelming sense of pride after the performance that
this was all down to them! They deserve the praise
which follows.
Once again we are off to the competition, this time
with a brilliant period piece based upon the prohibition
and the 1920‘s.
Leading the Way
One of our teachers, Miss Lucy James, Head of History, has been working with the PiXL
Club in order to provide support and
training for other
teachers in the United Kingdom. The
PiXL Club, Partners
in Excellence, works
with over 1000 secondary schools, focusing on raising
standards at GCSE and A level. PiXL aims to support
the promotion of excellence for pupils through improved educational achievement and enhanced selfesteem in order to connect them to worthy progression routes in the next stage of their education. Miss
James has become a member of the History Executive Group for PiXL and now contributes to the creation of a range of resources to support the raising of
standards in History for a variety of schools across
the UK.
On 25th November, Miss James took this a step further by helping to lead the PiXL History Conference in
London. The conference was attended by over 560
history teachers from across the country. She delivered an inspiring session as a key note speaker
based on her experiences of improving literacy within
history and she also supported other key members of
the executive group at the conference. This was very
well received, and she has been asked to continue
this work with PiXL and lead conferences in the
future.