in business with btec - highcliffe school

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We were delighted to welcome a record number of students into the Sixth Form this year with an extra 50 students joining us in September. In addition Highcliffe is continuing its excellent tradition of progression to Oxbridge and Russell group universities. In the summer, our Year 13 students once again gained places at top universities. Jacob Brennan is currently reading French and Spanish at St John’s College, Oxford and Christopher Slade is reading Mathematics at Keble College, Oxford. Bradley Tombleson (Head Boy 2013-14) is reading Geography at Southampton and Holly Charlwood (Head Girl 2013-14) is reading Law at Surrey. We are committed to raising aspirations from an early age and take students on a wide variety of curriculum, careers and university visits to help enrich their knowledge and experience as well as guiding them on to the right pathways. September 2014 has seen the launch of our new ASPIRE project in the Sixth Form which is designed to enhance our positive aspirational ethos and further develop our students as effective, independent and aspirational learners. We have a strong focus on developing a growth mindset, encouraging resilience, providing an appropriate level of challenge for every student and enabling each individual to achieve their full potential. As part of this project, we are inviting in some of our former Sixth Form students to speak to students in assemblies, help raise their aspirations and inspire them to make the most of their opportunities in life. So far we have been delighted to welcome back Dan Davies who is currently doing a PhD in Chemistry at Bath University. Mr Prodomo, our Head of Biology, who also studied at Highcliffe Sixth Form, inspired the students by showing photos of all the interesting parts of the world he travelled to as part of his degree in Environmental Science. We are looking forward to welcoming back Emma Cavan later this month and hearing about her Masters and PhD in Marine Biology at Southampton University which have taken her all over the world, including marine turtle projects in Greece and Guatemala, a field trip in Bermuda, a summer school in Iceland and research cruises around Antarctica and off the coast of Guatemala. - Anna Karanja, Director of Sixth Form Highcliffe Newsletter H2U November 2014 Volume 15 - Issue 2 Volleyball Youth Parliament Page 11 Japan Exchange Trip Page 8 Page 4 A Growing Sixth Form Experience In Business with BTEC BTEC students in Years 12 and 13 have recently benefitted from external business representatives visiting the school. David Clark, Owner of Clark Financial, Chirstchurch shared with the students’ details about his business operations, security and ethics. Linda Ready, curator from the Red House Museum in Christchurch talked with the students about the organisation, its ownership, funding and the importance of its stakeholders. Finding external business sources that are prepared to give up some of their valuable time is always extremely welcome as it provides our students with another perspective than that offered in the classroom. We would like to thank both Dave and Jacqui for their valuable input and look forward to further developing our links in the future.

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Page 1: In Business with BTEC - Highcliffe School

We were delighted to welcome a record number of students into the Sixth Form this year with an extra 50 students joining us in September.

In addition Highcliffe is continuing its excellent tradition of progression to Oxbridge and Russell group universities. In the summer, our Year 13 students once again gained places at top universities. Jacob Brennan is currently reading French and Spanish at St John’s College, Oxford and Christopher Slade is reading Mathematics at Keble College, Oxford. Bradley Tombleson (Head Boy 2013-14) is reading Geography at Southampton and Holly Charlwood (Head Girl 2013-14) is reading Law at Surrey.

We are committed to raising aspirations from an early age and take students on a wide variety of curriculum, careers and university visits to help enrich their knowledge and experience as well as guiding them on to the right pathways. September 2014 has seen the launch of our new ASPIRE project in the Sixth Form which is designed to enhance our positive aspirational ethos and further develop our students as effective, independent and aspirational learners. We have a strong focus on developing a growth mindset, encouraging resilience, providing an appropriate level of challenge for every

student and enabling each individual to achieve their full potential.

As part of this project, we are inviting in some of our former Sixth Form students to speak to students in assemblies, help raise their aspirations and inspire them to make the most of their opportunities in life. So far we have been delighted to welcome back Dan Davies who is currently doing a PhD in Chemistry at Bath University. Mr Prodomo, our Head of Biology, who also studied at Highcliffe Sixth Form, inspired the students by showing photos of all the interesting parts of the world he travelled to as part of his degree in Environmental Science. We are looking forward to welcoming back Emma Cavan later this month and hearing about her Masters and PhD in Marine Biology at Southampton University which have taken her all over the world, including marine turtle projects in Greece and Guatemala, a field trip in Bermuda, a summer school in Iceland and research cruises around Antarctica and off the coast of Guatemala. - Anna Karanja, Director of Sixth Form

Highcliffe NewsletterH2U November 2014 Volume 15 - Issue 2

VolleyballYouth Parliament

Page 11

Japan Exchange Trip

Page 8 Page 4

A Growing Sixth Form Experience

In Business with BTECBTEC students in Years 12 and 13 have recently benefitted from external business representatives visiting the school.

David Clark, Owner of Clark Financial, Chirstchurch shared with the students’ details about his business operations, security and ethics.

Linda Ready, curator from the Red House Museum in Christchurch talked with the students about the organisation, its ownership, funding and the importance of its stakeholders.

Finding external business sources that are prepared to give up some of their valuable time is always extremely welcome as it provides our students with another perspective than that offered in the classroom.

We would like to thank both Dave and Jacqui for their valuable input and look forward to further developing our links in the future.

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November 2014 Volume 15 - Issue 2

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After an informative welcome talk about what the university has to offer, we participated in the workshop entitled ‘Before America’s War in Vietnam: Colonial Conflict in Indochina’. We were given a variety of primary sources collected form the archives to reflect on and discuss how and why the USA became involved in the tragic struggle over Vietnam and to consider whether there could have been any different decisions and policies taken by the American government at the time. This workshop directly links to the units covered in the AS and A2 History syllabus and was very useful in terms of content and discussion points.

After an enjoyable lunch and a short tour of the campus we attended the afternoon lecture on the varieties of anarchism, understanding that anarchism is NOT the embrace of chaos and disorder but the envisaging of a social order without the coercive agents of the state. The lecture was both engaging and informative about a topic that many of the students had no previous knowledge.

Here are some quotes from the students:

Anna Braiden: ‘ I was fascinated by the lecture on

anarchism – I want to find out more.’

TEAtime lecture at Southampton University

Futures

A small group of Year 12 and 13 History students were invited to attend a workshop and lecture at Southampton University on 2nd October.

Sian Butt: ‘I enjoyed the lecture on anarchism because

it is something I had little knowledge of before’.

Dan Green: ‘I really enjoyed the lecture. It was a very interesting topic and I am keen to learn more about

political philosophy’.

Olivia Boddy: ‘I loved the workshop it was really relevant to the Cold War

unit and the unit on the US containment of communism we

have studied in History’.

Zoe Irwin: ‘I really enjoyed the workshop as it was

relevant and interesting’.

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The day gave them a good insight into what the Catering and Hospitality trade is really like. The day was great fun with the students taking part in a number of activities, each one both interactive and skilful.

The first activity was the restaurant tour, followed by the tray relay race. During the race Jess Mills won a gold duck, the gold duck system is the reward system The Chewton Glen have for their staff. After receiving 3 golden ducks they receive a gold duck pin to represent how hard they work. Then we made coffee in the coffee art demo. After that the team laid tables in groups and we then experienced cocktail making. Following this they watched serviette folding and then finished a number of activities

on the sensory station - this is a mixture of touching, smelling and TASTING!

The favourite activity was coffee-making, especially grinding the beans and using such hi-tech machines. Also greatly enjoyable was the cocktail making because it was fun and informative and the barman gave a good insight into his job. Surprisingly interesting was the serviette folding, it gave the students an idea of how the little things can make a big difference to the customers’ experience. After seeing the demonstrations, the group enjoyed a buffet lunch and Q&A session which made them realise that you can have a rewarding career in the Hospitality trade if you are willing to put in the hard work.

On the 24th of September some Catering students were lucky enough to be invited with Mrs Rowe to the Chewton Glen Hotel for International Waiters’ Day

Curriculum

Electric Micro ScootersMr Simmons and Mr Nicholls are currently running an extra-curricular club to convert micro scooters to be electric.

This involves students engineering their own solutions to mounting and controlling the drive system, developing a more effective braking system and insuring that the scooter is structurally sound.

Rechargeable electric drills/drivers are an excellent source of high torque motors for this activity and can also sometimes supply the motor controller to allow a variable speed to be output by the motor for smooth acceleration.

If anyone has an old drill at home that may have a defunct battery but a sound motor perhaps you could consider donating it to school for disassembly and recycling.

International Waiters’ Day

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‘Recently I represented England in the NEVZA U17 (Northern European Volleyball Zonal Association) Championships held in Kettering, England. We finished 4th, losing to Sweden in the 3rd/4th playoff. This is the best finish England U17s have ever achieved which brings a sense of accomplishment after our unfortunate loss.

Our first match was against Finland, who ended up winning the competition. Although we played hard we were out powered by the older Finland players and lost 3-0.

Our second match was against Denmark, who ended up second in the competition. We managed to take Denmark through a 5 set thriller but ended up losing 15-10 in the fifth set.

Our third match was against Norway in the Quarter Finals. Although we finished bottom of the group in the first stage, we still had this opportunity to play a Quarter Final. The opportunity paid off as we beat them 3-1.

This put us through to the Semi Final where we once again faced Finland. We put up a better fight in this match but were once again out powered and still lost 3-0. Losing this match put us through to the 3rd/4th playoff where we faced Sweden. Sweden out-played us and converted more opportunities. Although we took a set, we ended up losing the match 3-1.

The experience of playing in this competition was amazing and having it at a home venue added to the atmosphere and support.’

Curriculum

Representing his Country! Here is Ed van Wingerden’s report of his experience playing for the national age group volleyball squad.

They are liaising with their clients frequently and are developing innovative and truly marketable solutions to the problems they identified earlier in the year. Megan Thurston is developing a wine cooler for a restaurant in Lymington. Fletcher Clay is working with a DIY chain to create a charging station and amplifier, to be used within a domestic environment for socialising at BBQ’s etc. Elliot Marsh is working in tandem with a supermarket chain to develop

a convenient and stable way of helping people to re-stock higher shelves in the shop.

To further assist them in this process they are now timetabled into lower school Product Design lessons to support their own study as well as that of other students. They are getting to practice and teach others and therefore consolidate their own learning much more effectively.

Extending Learning in Product DesignYear 13 Product Designers are now well into the design of their final, commercial product.

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The students built up their knowledge of teaching and learning and successfully planned and delivered a Year 7 lesson in French, German, Italian or Spanish. The students also helped out with numerous languages events, such as the Primary Languages Festival. They have really contributed to the younger students’ desire to learn languages.

Well done to: Jamie Adams, Kate Barry, Annastasia Braiden, Tom Drewett, Noah Gurden, Thomas Harvey, Joshua Killengray, Max Lacaze, Nina Rajska, Lily Waltham, Sam White, Hannah Murphy.

Our 2014 AS and A2 results were either in line with or exceeded national results and six A*s were awarded across the four languages – an outstanding achievement by the students.

Furthermore, our recruitment onto A Level courses is flourishing. Currently, we have over 50 students studying AS and A2 languages against a national background of languages really struggling in some schools.

Many Highcliffe Sixth Form leavers have also chosen to continue with their language studies at university:

Jacob Brennan – St John’s College, Oxford (French and Spanish)

Julia Donaldson – University of Hertfordshire (Italian)

Holly Charlwood – University of Surrey (French)

Ornella O’Brien – Queen Mary’s University, London (French)

They join the many students from Highcliffe who have gone on to study languages at university. We wish them all the best and hope they will come back soon to visit our current A Level students.

We are also delighted to be welcoming our new foreign language assistants for the year:

Ana Cano (Spanish assistant from Andalucía)

Kevin Bruneau (French assistant from Tahiti)

Mrs Trent also continues to support the Italian A Level students.

Bucking The Trend!

Sixth Form Languages continue to flourish at Highcliffe School.

Curriculum

Students Leading Language Learning

Congratulations to the twelve Highcliffe Sixth Formers who have successfully completed the Foreign Language Leader Award

French Student Exchange 2014At the end of June Year 9

students from Highcliffe and

Ballard Schools took part in the

twelfth annual French Exchange

with Collège Trémolières in

Cholet, south-west France.

Students had been in contact with their French penfriends by various social media since Easter and were looking forward to meeting them and their families in person. It was, as usual, an extremely busy week with activities including a day trip to Paris on the TGV, a visit to the phenomenal ‘Puy du Fou’ theme park, taking part in ‘Trémosports’ (their annual sports day in fancy dress!) spending a day in school (experiencing French canteen food), shopping, skating and swimming in the town and enjoying the ‘Fête de la Musique’ on the evening of our arrival. The picture below shows the students with their French partners after competing in an orienteering activity at Parc du Moine, where one lucky group found hidden treasure. Recruitment for the 2015 Exchange is currently taking place!

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An International Sixth FormThis year Highcliffe has expanded even further its programme of inviting students from other European countries to come and study A levels at the school.

Extending

On Monday 29th September the year 12 Geographers headed to Bucklers Hard for a chance to study the Beaulieu River.

Beaulieu River Study Day

Living next to a National Park, we are lucky to be able to study some of the best environments in the country. The students took to canoes in order to study the river from a unique perspective. The river is an excellent example of a lowland river, with a mix of fresh and sea water.

We were lucky to canoe up to Beaulieu village with the help of the incoming tide and then head back to Bucklers Hard using the rivers current. Meanders, slip off slopes, tributaries, tidal range, bedload, helicoidal flow were all discussed and enjoyed.

This year we have a number of students from Italy and Spain choosing to follow the Sixth Form curriculum at the school for the next two years. Here are some initial impressions of the school, and the British education system, from two of the students.

‘First and foremost, I have to say that I am really thankful for all the staff support and warm welcome these first weeks. Particularly, what I have enjoyed the most during these days has been all the support that I have been given by teachers, classmates and other members of staff. Without a doubt, my introduction to the school has been almost perfect. Personally, I am sure that these two years in Sixth Form will be both essential and unforgettable in my entire life. Although this has been a hard choice, it will be worthwhile in the end. I am totally sure the whole school community will aid me to reach my full potential as an individual. I have come here not only to learn skills that I am going to put into practice in the foreseeable future, but to admire a culture from a very different point of view and get accustomed to it so I become a part of it in due course of time. I would say that in life it is not so much about being the best in a specialised area of knowledge but

rather about being better than you were yesterday.’

Alberto Arevalo-Delgado

‘ASTONISHING! This is the first word that came up to my mind when, after a while spent in the Sixth Form, my host family asked me how I find the school so far. I arrived just a short while ago from Italy, where I attended a High School which differed in many aspects from the Highcliffe Sixth Form. From the first day, I was surprised by the efficiency of the teachers and the staff. Throughout my life I’ve been to several schools, but I have never seen this level of organization of Sixth Form which provides different spaces for the students; from study halls for independent and group learning to a café for socializing. I immediately realized that, when students enter the Sixth Form, they must find a way to conciliate both study and social life.

I am amazed by the passion teachers use during the lessons. Since teachers come very much prepared to classes and know how to develop the lesson in an interesting and interactive way, they expect from us the same attitude and to do our homework properly, including further research and wider reading. Here I have found a fine atmosphere, tutors that care about your scholastic life and will help you when needed. Beyond the language barrier, there are classes to be enjoyed and knowledge to be enriched, listening to the other people’s opinion in order to be able to express mine. I am making the most of this experience and of the efficient material the school provides.’- Tessa Rizzoli

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This mathematical project required students to collect and bring in 2400 business cards collected from friends, family and local businesses. These were then folded and constructed into 400 cubes, 20 of which create a Level 1 Menger Sponge, and 20 of these created the final Level 2 Menger Sponge. Classes across all year groups got involved, from year 7 up to year 13 to create this fantastic fractal.

However we don’t want to stop there. The next step is to construct a Level 3 Menger Sponge. This will require over 48,000 business cards, and weigh over 40kg! We aim to finish the next stage by summer next year, so if you have any spare business cards lying around at home, be sure to bring them in for this Magnificent Menger Sponge.

Participating

Menger Sponge MadnessDuring the final week of half term, Highcliffe School was a part of building the world’s biggest distributed fractal – a ‘Menger Sponge’.

International Day of LanguagesOn Thursday 25 of September Highcliffe School celebrated the International Day of Languages.

This day was the occasion for us to remind ourselves about the linguistic diversity of the world in which we live and the importance of being able to communicate in order to live in a peaceful world.

Different curriculum areas across the school included an international touch to their lesson and were able to make this day special. For example, in PE students were introduced to Kabbadi and some Mathematics lessons were taught in French.

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Standing up, making it count!Last year I was given the opportunity to stand in election for the Dorset

Member of Youth Parliament, representing Dorset nationwide.

With the help of the school and in particular with Ms Kennedy, who introduced me to the Youth parliament I managed to be elected to the parliament, as representative for the young people of Dorset. Since then I have been involved in campaigns such as Votes at sixteen, youth consultations like Make Your Mark and now I have been given the chance to debate in the House of Commons with 300 other Members of the UK Youth Parliament. With the Speaker of the House of Commons, Rt Hon John Bercow MP, chairing we will spend the day of 14th November 2014 debating on the top five issues young people voted for in the youth consultation Make Your Mark.

This year, we broke the record for the amount of votes cast for this consultation, hitting

865,000- an 81% increase on the 478,000 votes cast in 2013. This gives more young people than ever before the opportunity to have a say on what we debate on in the House of Commons. Overall, the top five issues voted on this year, which we will take to a debate in the House of Commons are:

• Votes at 16. Give 16 and 17 year olds the right to vote in elections and referendums.

• Everyone should be paid at least the ‘Living Wage’ of £7.65 per hour (£8.80 in London). Anyone who works, regardless of age, should have a decent standard of living.

• Mental health services should be improved with our help. We should

all learn about common mental health issues at school and negative stereotypes should be challenged.

• Work Experience. We should have the chance to do at least a week’s placement, at a place of our choosing. We should have access to professionals who inspire us.

• Bring back exam resits in Maths and English in English schools, and help us achieve our potential.

If you are interested in watching me and other MYPs in action in the House of Commons on 14th November, it will be broadcast live on BBC Democracy Live. Feel free to tune in!’ - Cerys Pumphrey (Year 12)

“I started Highcliffe School as a terrified Year 7 in 2004. Having just moved from London, I knew no-one; the first walk through the Covered Way amongst a sea of purple seemed so daunting, however I was made to feel safe, happy and secure throughout my school years.

During my GCSEs I particularly enjoyed my separate science classes, which led me to select the A level subjects of Biology, Chemistry and Physics. After encouragement

from the Sixth Form, I took and passed a scholarship entrance exam to Aberystwyth University where I studied Zoology BSc (Hons).

During my time at Aberystwyth, I worked with research staff in animal behaviour, parasitology and immunology; my dissertation looked at the prevalence of zoonotic viruses in rodents around the UK.

Upon my graduation from Aberystwyth in

July 2014, I was offered a Studentship to University of Aberdeen, where I am currently working towards a Zoology Ph.D with a focus on fish immunology.

I am wholeheartedly convinced that none of this could have been made possible without the dedicated, warm and inspiring staff present during my time at this school.Highcliffe is an extremely special place to grow up; I shall carry it with my whether I go.”

From Highcliffe to AberdeenWe have just received word from another former student, Rachel Chance, letting us know what she has been up to since Highcliffe days. Here is the news in her own words.

Inspiring

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highcliffeschool.com

9Inspiring

I’d been given some incredible opportunities and made some amazing friends, many of whom I’m still in close contact with over four years down the line. However, it was time to move on and with four As at A-level under my belt I was ready to start my chemistry degree at The University of Bath.

I knew an MChem degree wasn’t going to be easy, but why should that stop me? It was a great challenge to rise to and gave me the chance to do an industry placement for a year, developing cutting edge materials for electronics. As a break from the academic work, I got involved with many other activities such as becoming a Freshers’ Week Captain and the Chairman of the Life Saving Club.

At the end of my four years as an undergraduate, I received my first class honours degree and decided that I loved Bath and chemistry so much that I would

spend another four years here and embark on a PhD. I’m now part of the Doctoral Training Centre for Sustainable Chemical Technologies and am synthesizing new materials for hydrogen storage, which will be vital for future clean energy solutions. It’s really motivating working on something that you can see will make a real difference.

I am so thankful to all those at Highcliffe for all the support I received, giving me the very best chance to pursue a career as a scientist and, believe it or not, every time I enter the lab I still proudly don the lab coat (now slightly dirty and a little tighter round the middle) that I have been wearing since year twelve.

Dan Davies

Highcliffe student cleaning up the world! There’s no doubt that I was gutted to be leaving Highcliffe School and Sixth Form after a highly enjoyable and rewarding seven years

Emma makes us jealous!

Emma Cavan looks back on her time at Highcliffe School with very fond memories

“My closest and dearest friends are the ones I made at school. The excellent teaching and facilities at Highcliffe set me up perfectly for higher education, even today as a visiting PhD student at the University of Liverpool I’m using chemistry I haven’t used since Highcliffe, and I still remember most of it!

Since I left in 2007 I’ve travelled the world, for fun and with work, obtained a Masters of Marine Biology from the University of Southampton and now am a 2nd year PhD student, also at Southampton. Before university I took a gap year participating in a marine conservation project in Fiji and backpacking around Australia, both were incredible. Since then I’ve been in two marine turtle projects, in Greece and Guatemala, a field trip in Bermuda, a summer school in Iceland and sailed on a research ship around Antarctica! My next adventure will see me off the coast of Guatemala for over 6 weeks on another research cruise in the beginning of 2014. Once I’ve completed my PhD I hope to be able to continue in scientific research and academia in the UK and beyond. Highcliffe School has certainly had a large role to play in the success I’ve had since I left.”

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Bonnie gurgles, coos, fusses and cries (very loudly) whilst also demanding to be fed, winded, have her nappy changed or rocked to sleep depending on what setting has been selected. Bonnie is the second simulated baby that we have welcomed to Highcliffe, after the demise of Ellie Mae following 7 years of continual service. Bonnie, although similar in appearance to Ellie, has a sophisticated computer programme that not only is able to detect if the required care needs are met but also monitors whether the student has changed her clothing in response to the air temperature. The way in which a student handles Bonnie is also recorded,

such as supporting her head during feed and then calculated into the student’s overall score.

All the students have arrived very tired on Monday morning, although enjoying the time with Bonnie they have found that even going to the toilet can be fraught with difficulties. At the end of the experience the students are given a printout which list the times and dates of any missed care needs, their care rating and overall score. They are also given a certificate to put into their progress files to say they have completed and survived the Real Care Baby Experience.

Over the years Ellie Mai and now Bonnie have given the child development students an insight into the demanding role of being a parent. Students have learnt not only what the care needs of a new born are but how society views a young mother. The reaction of some members of the public has been quite an eye-opener with offensive remarks, tut-tuting and shaking of the head.

I would like to thank the parents for their understanding and the odd night’s lost sleep but most importantly the students for their enthusiasm and fantastic care they have shown to our newest arrival.

Making Learning ‘Real’ in Childcare

I would like to introduce you to Miss Bonnie Amelia Highcliffe who was delivered on the 18 November, a healthy 7 lbs, with a fully functioning computer programme designed to test the most patient of students.

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Eighty people filled the foyer of our Da Vinci building at 6pm to be welcomed by various staff from the Mathematics and Art departments and the Head Teacher, Mr Patrick Earnshaw. Parents and children were served refreshments and then they were invited to listen to a short introduction about the Gifted & Talented programme at Highcliffe School by Vivian Dedman. This was followed by an explanation of the Fibonacci Sequence by Mr Steven Cooper. Pupils were asked to think of number sequences and write them on their mini whiteboards. The ‘Golden Ratio’ was then introduced and how it plays its part in the world around us. Mrs Zara Saganic then linked this with Art using the work of Jasper Johns to highlight the similarities between Fibonacci and patterns in art. Mr James Elliott and Ms Kathryn Boothroyd also from the Art department were on hand to assist as well.

The audience was divided into 3 classrooms where families worked together to produce their interpretation of numbers and spiral patterns using pastel crayons. There was a hive of activity and the evening drew to a close at 8pm when everybody was invited back into the foyer to show off their masterpieces. As with all lessons at Highcliffe students are encouraged to critique their work and so we had some pupils give praise and target comments on pieces of work.

Student helpers were on hand too offering their expert guidance and encouragement along the way throughout the evening. Our thanks go to; Lucas Theis, Daniel Corbin, Flynn Baines and Michael Devlin.

The students attended our partner school, Johoku High School for Boys. Here they attended lessons as well as taking part in activities, including volleyball and learning how to put on a kimono. The students stayed with families who had children at the school.

In addition to this, students also went sightseeing to Miyajima, a world-famous beauty spot and visited the Peace Memorial Museum where they learned about the aftermath of the atomic bombing as well as

how it was made and the reasons for its use.

The students had an amazing time not just learning about a different culture, but also making good friends with students from the school and building relationships with their host families. All in all, it was a valuable experience – and we look forward to hosting the boys of Johoku School when they come to see us in March. If you think you might like to host one of the boys, please let Mr Bryden know.

Japan Exchange TripDuring the half-term period a delegation of eight students spent 10 days in Japan.

Partnerships

Gifted and Talented Art & Mathematics Evening

On Wednesday 15th October Da Vinci opened its doors to 36 Year 5 pupils from our feeder primary schools, and their parents to participate in an interactive evening combining Mathematics and Art.

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Making Learning ‘Real’ in Childcare

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As part of the BTEC Music Technology coursework our Year 10 and 11 music students are launching the school record label with the release of 6 mix CDs containing the students’ own compositions. These will be sold on the week of Children in Need 2014 and all profits will go to the charity.

Highcliffe School Music Tech is a label set up to publish artists working on the BTEC Music Technology and A level Music Technology courses. This is part of the process of fulfilling the vocational aims of the BTEC course, with students learning to be Composers, Producers, Managers and Promoters.

The BTEC Music Technology course provides both opportunity and invaluable experience when studying how to succeed in the industry. Students develop their personal business and entrepreneurship skills as well as music skills and aptitudes through the development, promotion and management of a music product. The emergence of the role of the self-employed producer, performer and promoter in the modern industry requires a more practical and hands-on approach for each stage of the music-making process in

education. Highcliffe School Music Tech is a vehicle for demonstrating relevant skills and learning in preparation for a future career in music.

Some of these students will go on to become successful producers so why not ask them to sign a copy before you purchase – it may be worth a lot of money one day!

Find samples of the music on www.numu.org.uk/HighcliffeSchoolMusicTech

The BIG LAUNCH……of the Highcliffe School Music Tech record label

Dare to Care at ChristmasAs you may or may not be aware, Macmillan Caring Locally is a small local Charity that supports the Macmillan Unit at Christchurch Hospital.

Even though it has the Macmillan name, the charity is in fact not connected in any way to the national Charity Macmillan Cancer Support. What it does do is raise money locally which it then donates to care for patients at the Macmillan Unit. Thanks to the generosity of the local community, in 2013/14 Macmillan Caring Locally will provide more than £1.5 million to support the provision of the services.

Though it may seem too early to mention Christmas one of the key fundraising events of the charity takes place at Christmas. The Macmillan White Christmas Dip on Christmas morning is an event not to be missed. The spectacle of hundreds of people running into the sea in fancy dress is a sight to be seen. The dip is all over in under an hour and it certainly gives participants an appetite for Christmas lunch. If you would like to be

involved in the event this year, or simply want to know more about it then visit www.whitechristmasdip.co.uk