J U L Y 2 0 1 4

The Piggott School

Twyford Road, Wargrave

Berkshire RG10 8DS

Tel: 0118 9402357

Email: office@piggott.wokingham.sch.uk

Website: www.piggott.wokingham.sch.uk

Head Teacher: Mrs. Hilary Winter P

iggott News

W W 1 D AY

During the Great War of 1914-18 261 people from the

Twyford area enlisted to fight.

Not all of them returned but their efforts are remembered by

a memorial plaque that is currently housed in the Twyford

Men’s Club or the Snooker Club opposite the bowling

green. This building is in quite a bad state and is in

desperate need of refurbishment if it is to continue.

We have been trying to raise awareness of this worthy

cause and so on Friday 4th July we hosted a WW1 Day in

school.

This involved students and the History Department dressing

in fancy dress or wearing a red/white/blue theme.

During the course of events there was also an extremely

busy cake sale during break and lunch and a very popular

assault course for pupils to take part in.

All in all it was a great day and one that allowed pupils to

reflect on the importance of why we should never forget.

——————-

In order to commemorate 100 years since the outbreak of

the First World War and also 70 years since the D Day

Landings, the year 12 History students scattered poppy

seeds outside the front of the School on the afternoon of

Monday 2nd of June.

The group gathered in remembrance of those who gave their

lives and fought in World War One and other conflicts since

then. We hope that the poppies will

bloom in time for Remembrance Day on the 11th November.

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G R E E N A W A Y S H A D O W I N G C O N F E R E N C E

On Thursday 19th June, 42 Year 7

students from The Piggott School, The

Holt and Forest Schools took part in a

Greenaway Shadowing Conference

where they hosted their own book

awards.

The conference was the culmination of

6 weeks work following the national

Kate Greenaway shortlist.

All three schools read the seven books

on the shortlist and worked towards

forming an opinion on which book they

thought deserved to win the national

accolade.

Founded in 1936, the Kate Greenaway

awards aim to recognise children’s

texts for their ‘outstanding’ illustration.

The awards are presented by the

Chartered Institute of Library and

Information Professionals and each

winner also receives £500 worth of

books to donate to a library of their

choice.

This year’s Greenaway award was

given to ‘This Is Not My Hat’, illustrated

by John Klassen, despite the

overwhelming majority of students on

the day deciding that ‘The Day The

Crayons Quit’ by Drew Daywalt and

Oliver Jeffers deserved to win.

The conference itself consisted of

students working in groups to create

their own picture book, loosely based

on one of the shortlisted texts. With the

help of some year 10 assistants the

students produced some fantastic

texts including; ‘The Day My Toys Quit’

and a ‘sequel’ to the shortlisted text

‘Oliver’.

Overall, the students thoroughly

enjoyed the afternoon and the

teachers from the other schools

commented on how “professional and

creative” they were.

It really was a brilliant event and I truly

believe the students gained a lot from

working with other schools on texts

that they could be enthusiastic about.

Mr McGinnity

Special Interest Group

This term a number of

departments have launched

special interest groups aimed

at more able and gifted and

talented students. The groups

are giving students the

opportunity to get involved in a

wide range of projects with the

aim of challenging them to

widen their experience and

pursue interests beyond the

curriculum.

Some of the new topics being

introduced are:

MFL – similarities and

differences between two

languages, History –

commemorative activities for

the 100 year anniversary of

WW1, RE – I think therefore I

am, Geography – production

of geographical newsletter/

blog / website.

Look out for more news about

our special interest groups

next term. Mrs V Hunt

A T H L E T I C S

The senior boys and girls athletics squad

had a fantastic season this year. Both

teams were competing in the Reading &

District Athletics Competition. This

competition consisted of 2 qualifying

rounds and then a final. Both teams

qualified for the finals and were to face

many a rival school. In a very tense and

competitive final, both teams

demonstrated excellent attitude and

motivation. The boys team finished 3rd

overall and the girls team finished 6th

respectively. A special mention must go

out to Seb Squire, Ben Corless, Max

Corless, Alex Hodgson, Esther Adipke

and Katie Edwards.

Overall, I would like to thank all the

students who were part of the senior

athletics squads this year. They showed

a strong commitment to training and

gave some excellent performances

throughout the competition.

Mr Kenneally

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B R I T I S H S C H O O L S C Y C L I N G A S S O C I A T I O N R A C E

Edward Giles has represented Piggott at

the British Schools

Cycling Association

National Circuit Race

Championships which

were held at Darley

Moor in Derbyshire.

The race was run over

ten laps of a 1.5 mile

circuit and Ed was one

of a group of five who

went clear of the field at the half way

stage.

Ed tried to escape the group half a

dozen times, but was

repeatedly caught and

the race inevitably

ended in a sprint finish

in which Ed came a

close second.

Next stop is likely to be

the National Hill Climb

Championships in

Petersfield at the end of

the month.

Mr Kenneally

The National Schools' Regatta is the

largest regatta for juniors in Great Britain.

Held annually in May, the three day regatta

offers events for junior rowers between J14

and J18. The regatta first started in the

Thames Valley in 1947. The event was

repeated annually at a number of locations

in the Thames Valley. With the growth of

the Regatta and the addition of many more

events for junior crews, the Regatta

changed its name to "The National

Schools' Regatta" in 1964. In 1973 the

Regatta moved to its current home at

Holme Pierrepont, and the ability to hold

six lane racing means that they can get the

races over quicker. The Regatta has

remained in Nottingham ever since.

I row for Henley Rowing Club, which was

founded in 1839. This year there was

racing from Friday 23rd May morning till

Sunday 25th May in the evening. I was

coxing a J14 coxed quad in the Canterbury

cup on Friday. After getting through to the

final with ease, with the fastest time of the

day in the semifinal, we raced again and

came second in the final, with Radley RC

narrowly coming out on top. We were all

delighted with our silver medals!

On Saturday in dreadful weather, the boys

from the J16 squad raced in a coxless

quad. They had a fantastic semifinal going

through to the final. Despite a good race

they were just beaten into 4th position.

This boat was crewed by Aly Roy, Alex

Meyer-O’Kane, Harry Farley and Charlie

Rollet-Manus.

The J15 coxed quad that I coxed on the

Sunday got through to the semi-final, when

the wind picked up, sweeping across the

course. In the end after an amazing race

over 2000M, we came 4th. The members of

the crew are: Charlie Rollet-Manus, Tom

Frost, Sim Sandhu and Seb Meyer-O’kane.

As a club, we were the most successful

club in the history of the Regatta, winning 7

gold’s and 3 silver’s.

By Lachlan Reid

T H E N A T I O N A L S C H O O L S R E G A T T A 2 0 1 4

Spanish

Exchange

The exchange was probably the best thing I could have done to improve my Spanish. Not only was it a great learning experience, I know I have made true friends. The week they visited the UK flew past but we made sure we had something planned every night and when the time came to say goodbye there wasn't anyone who didn't want them to stay.

Betty Solomon

Here is a picture of all of the people who attended the

event from Piggott, on the back row left to right,

Harry Farley, Sim Sandhu, Aly Roy, Tom Frost, Lachlan

Reid(x1 silver medal),

on the front, Lily Stimpson(x2 gold medals), Iona

McNab(x1 gold medal) and Katie Beale(x1 gold medal).

PIGGOTT

SUCCESS

The PE Department would like to congratulate Alex Halmkan on his selection for the South of England Basketball Team.

This is a fantastic achievement and we wish him the best of luck in any future games.

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C H I N E S E C U L T U R E D A Y

Following a very successful Chinese

Immersion Summer Camp attended by

pupils from some of our cluster

primaries, the Piggott School was able

to apply to the British Council for some

additional funding. The funding was to

be used to give more pupils the

opportunity to experience the Chinese

culture.

Last month Year 6 pupils from Robert

Piggott Junior School, Colleton Primary

School and Polehampton Junior School

were invited to spend the day at Charvil

Piggott Primary School for a Chinese

Culture Day. A carousel of activities

including Tai Chi, Chinese dancing,

Chinese language and calligraphy were

led by Chinese teachers from Reading

University and the Piggott School’s own

Chinese language teacher Mrs Forrer.

Each of these activities was supported

by Year 9 students from the Piggott

School who have now been studying

Mandarin Chinese for 3 years with Mrs

Forrer and have already started their

GCSE course.

The highlight of the day was the lion

dancing. Northern Dragons visited the

School, bringing a number of small lion

heads plus their main lion costume

which they use to perform at

competitions and Chinese celebrations.

Groups of students were able to either

be part of the lion or to play drums and

percussion instruments that accompany

the lion dance.

At the end of the day the Northern

Dragons Team performed a lion dance

much to the delight of the pupils,

although some of the reception children

found the lion a little bit intimidating.

JUNIOR MATHS

CHALLENGE

Pupils from Year 7 & 8 achieved 6 golds, 32 silvers and 22 bronzes in this year’s UKMT Junior Maths Challenge.

Over 240,000 pupils from across the UK sat the Junior Maths Challenge with roughly the top 6% receiving a gold certificate, the next 13% silver and the next 21% bronze.

Ciara Anderson was the top scorer from yr. 7

Sean Gleeson (yr.8) achieved Best in School, qualifying for a follow-on competition, the Junior Mathematical Olympiad.”

Twyford

Parish Council

has a vacancy for a

Park Warden If you like being outside and enjoy talking to people then please consider this role.

The job entails patrolling the Council’s open spaces promoting observance of the Council’s bylaws and inspecting and reporting on the play equipment.

Hours are 10 a week on a flexible basis (to include weekends), pay £8.30 per hour.

For a job description and application form please

contact Mrs Lucy Moffatt at

twyfordpc@btconnect.com

Page 55

Euan Woods has been playing cricket

since he could walk. When your front

garden is a cricket pitch what else is

there to do?! He played his first game

for Wargrave Colts when he was about

5! He was selected to play for Berkshire

aged 9 and scored his first 50 aged 10

against Warwickshire and at 11 scored

his first century against

Buckinghamshire.

He continues to

play for Berkshire,

but also plays for

Surrey after being

recommended to

them by former

England captain &

wicketkeeper, Alec

Stewart! Last year

he was selected to

train with the South

& West regional squad and this year has

been selected to represent them at The

Bunbury Festival, a cricket festival for

the top 50 Under 15's in the country.

From the Bunbury E.S.C.A.

Festivals 62 boys have gone on to play

for England; the ultimate honour and

366 into first-class cricket.

This year it is being held at Oakham

School,

Leicestershire 21-

25th July; Euan

also plays regularly

for Wargrave 1st

X1 on Saturdays.

The Piggott School

would like to

congratulate Euan

on his success.

P I G G O T T C R I C K E T S U C C E S S FRENCH

BREAKFAST The Piggott School would like to invite you to a French breakfast to celebrate Bastille Day on Tuesday 15th July in French style.

Breakfast will be served from 7.45 a.m. to 8.45 a.m. in the French Style Café in the School canteen. You will be served by French waiters and waitresses (Year 7 pupils) who will be happy to converse with you in French.

The cost of our French breakfast will be £3:00 per person. If you would like to participate in this please bring the money to Mrs Amor who will provide you with a ticket.

H A R R I E T R I D D E L L V I S I T

On Tuesday the 3rd of June, Harriet

Riddell, a textile performance artist was

visiting the Piggott School. The students

noticed her standing in the middle of the

playground with a few hula hoops.

It was amazing! One, two, three hula

hoops! She was spinning them around

and around her hips with ease as if it

was an everyday thing! She kept going

and going with up to six hula hoops!

She had one around her neck, one on

each arm and four on her hips. She

swung the hula hoop around from one

arm to another without failing to impress

people and without even one mistake!

We had a textiles lesson next and

expected it to be a normal lesson,

carrying on with our Year 10 controlled

assessments.

Miss Riddell was in the classroom and

introduced herself by telling us how she

is a professional hula-hooper, and she

sews portraits of people using a sewing

machine. She gave us a demonstration

of her skills. Miss Foxton was asked to

be a model and to sit in front of her in a

natural position and we were asking

questions about Miss Riddell’s life.

It was a fantastic lesson not only getting

a break from our controlled

assessments but to get to know Miss

Riddell a bit better and to see how

remarkable it was to be able to sew like

that for a living.

She showed us pictures of her travels to

India and also pieces of art work she

made while out there. She talked about

her future travels which included Spain

where she would be going on the

following Monday.

By Ella

Harriet Riddell is a Performance Mixed

Media Artist, specialising in

observational drawings in stitch. Her

artwork responds to and interprets the

transient world on to a permanent

tapestry. Harriet encourages interaction;

experimenting with the location and

subjects she chooses to stitch.

Page 66

Through the Holocaust Education Trust,

two students from schools around the

South East were given the opportunity to

go through a four stage course based on

“Learning Lessons from Auschwitz”.

The first stage was the orientation

seminar which involved preparing for the

Auschwitz trip and discussing themes and

ideas relating to the day. The discussions,

in smaller groups of 20, opened our eyes

to a different perspective on the motives

for going to visit the concentration camp.

Questions were put forward, such as:

‘Should photography be allowed in

Auschwitz?’ which prompted in-depth

debates throughout our group.

This was followed a week later by a one

day visit to Poland, which would include

guided tours of Auschwitz I and

Auschwitz Birkenau. The day started at

3am and finished at 1am the next day,

which, when coupled with the emotional

events of the day, was both physically

and mentally draining.

There were 3 parts to the day, the first

part was a visit to Oświęcim, a small

Polish town, later called Auschwitz after

the German invasion. Here we learnt

about pre-war Jewish life, which gave us

a background to the Jewish faith and its

teachings.

The next part was Auschwitz I, the main

camp. This was where many prisoners

were kept, and where most of the

organisation for the surrounding camps

was carried out. Most of the blocks had

been turned into museum-like exhibits

that preserved

some of the

evidence left by

the Nazis. The

tour was

conducted in a

very respectful

manner by a

knowledgeable

tour guide, who

led us through

every aspect of the camp.

The final part was the death camp,

Auschwitz Birkenau. When we first

arrived at the gates, the most staggering

element was not being able to see the

end of the camp in any direction. This

was scary to some extent, as was the fact

that the camp could hold up to 90,000

prisoners at one time.

This was arguably the most moving part

of the day as it was much less touristic

and was preserved as it was left.

Everything was so vast and raw; it is hard

to put into words. As we went around the

camp in our group, various extracts of

poems or eye witness accounts were

read out to help us reflect upon the

experiences.

There was a final ceremony, led by Rabbi

Barry Marcus to draw the day to a close.

As a personal act of remembrance, all

200 students on the trip placed an

individual lit candle on the seemingly

endless train track running through the

middle of the camp.

After having time to reflect individually, we

met again for a follow-up seminar. This

allowed us to discuss our thoughts and

feelings with other people who had had

the same experience. In our groups we

also talked through possible ideas for our

Next Steps Project; a task to help us

spread our experiences to the wider

community. This is the fourth stage of the

course, which we have yet to carry out

but look forward to completing in the near

future.

Rachel Grice and

Matthew Laverty

T H E A U S C H W I T Z E X P E R I E N C E

Page 76

Local businesses

can sponsor the PSA

The PSA has a ‘Sponsors’ page on the

School’s Website: http://

www.piggott.wokingham.sch.uk/

sch_PSA_Sponsors.html. Adverts can be

place here for £20 per annum (September

to September). If you would like to place a

‘business card’ here please contact

PSA@piggott.wokingham.sch.uk

Recent Fundraising Activities

The scrap metal collection on 28th June

raised over £200; many thanks to

everyone who donated items. As the

metal collections have been successful

this year, raising over £550 in total, we

plan to hold collections twice a year.

These will probably be held in January

and June, but unfortunately we will no

longer be able to accept fridge/ freezers.

The PSA raised close to £65 on their bric-

a-brac and second hand book stall at the

RNLI car boot sale on 22nd June - many

thanks for all donations.

The very popular Quiz Night in May

raised around £1,800.

Rag Bag

A reminder that there is a Rag Bag

collection bin in the School’s Car Park

which raises a significant amount of

money each year. We can accept all

men’s, ladies and children’s clothing;

paired shoes (tied together); handbags,

bags, ties & belts; household linen &

towels. We cannot accept duvets, pillows,

cushions, carpets, rugs, soiled or wet

clothing, uniforms or work wear, shredded

or mutilated textile material, textile off

cuts, yarns or threaded material.

All items go to a good cause: good quality

clothing is transported to Africa and other

developing nations where your old clothes

are re-used. Any low grade textiles are

made into industrial wiping cloths,

carpets, underlay and mattress linings.

The PSA e-Store

http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/

causes/piggottschool/

We have raised close to £1,170 in

commission this year from parents and

staff using our easyfundraising e-store.

There are hundreds of retailers who

support this scheme – you can search by

retail sector or alphabetically.

The PSA on Facebook and Twitter

The PSA has a relatively new Facebook

page https://www.facebook.com/

PiggottSchoolAssociation and Twitter

account @PiggottSchAssoc where they

will post information related to their

fundraising activities.

If you would like to get involved, in any

way, please come along to our next

meeting on Wednesday 17th Sept at

6.30 p.m. in the 6th form block and you

will be warmly welcomed!

The PSA AGM is on Wednesday 15th

October at 7p.m. Refreshments will be

served prior to the meeting, more

details will follow next term.

P S A N E W S

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