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It is somehow fitting that, as I write, England are in the process of skittling out the Aussies at Lords, Chris Froome is on his way to winning the Tour de France and Andy Murray is reigning Wimbledon man’s champion. All this makes perfect sense in the year when – at long last – The Ecclesbourne School gained a state of the art Sports Centre for our students. The year began with Olympic and Paralympic euphoria and we even took the whole school out on to Wirksworth Road to witness the Tour of Britain cycle by in September. We endured one of the coldest ever winters and all the while work went on to transform our school by building the sports centre and then our new Music, Drama and dining facilities, which are well on their way to being ready in September. If all this were not sufficient to send us into the summer holiday with a spring in our step, the country is enjoying a heat wave.
Sports day this year was a spectacular success with our competitors and Sixth Form House Captains putting on a show to remember. We coped well with the searing temperatures and the speed and efficiency with which the House Captains built our “gazebo city” so that spectators would have sufficient shade was one of the sights of the year. After missing out last year due to the waterlogged athletics field we enjoyed the event all the more. Sports day is an important part of the rich diet of opportunities our students enjoy. As a school we are committed to developing all of our students’ potential and there is something for everyone in our extra-curricular and academic provision. In the same way that our athletes had their chance to shine and be celebrated this last week in the annual Sports Award ceremony, our musicians and actors excelled in the superlative production of “Hello Dolly!”
As ever, we have a busy programme of summer works on site to improve our school facilities and students will return in September to a new Refectory, an improved dining experience and quicker, more efficient service using cashless payments. In amongst the building work, we look forward to examination results which are published for A Level on 15th August and for GCSE on 22nd August. Details are to be found on our website. Finally, it remains for me to wish you all a relaxing and restorative summer break. I look forward to seeing you all in September – re-charged and ready for another exciting year at Ecclesbourne. |
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Putting their statistical minds to the test, a team of four Year 10 students won the 2013 Win at School competition. |
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Having qualified for the event in an online quiz, the team joined eleven other schools in a close-fought contest at the Royal Statistical Society’s headquarters in London.
The team, consisting of Sam Pover, Beth Gossling, Natalie Carter and Chris Harris (pictured below) finished the first round in joint third, progressing into the second round of twelve more difficult questions. The group continued to excel and at the end of the round were level at the top with two other teams. A nail biting tie-breaker question resulted in Ecclesbourne giving the correct answer, winning the event by nine seconds.
The prize was £2500 for the school to spend, while the team enjoyed the rest of their day in London with Mrs Cotton. By Chris Harris |
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This year, students in Year 7 have taken part in a weekly “Maths Challenge” through which they have solved many unusual and challenging mathematical puzzles. Having not missed a challenge all year and after a lot of fantastic problem solving, this year’s winner, with an amazing 74 points is Joe Leckie (7N) pictured below, closely followed by James Bungay (7S) with 62 points. Well done! The weekly challenge will be back next year for Year 7 and 8 students. |
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In addition to this, the University of Liverpool ran a national “Half-Term Challenge” competition in February to keep our mathematicians busy during their holidays. Several of our students grasped the opportunity to take part with great results. We had success in both the senior and junior categories with 3rd place for Natalie Carter (10H) in the senior competition and 3rd place for George Henshaw (7S) in the junior competition. A fantastic achievement!
In March, a team was entered into the UKMT Maths Challenge Regional Finals at Swanwick Hall School. The team consisted of Lauren Davidson (9E), Hannah Edwards (9N), Maddy Hobbs (8L) and Ben Davies (8L). The team competed against approximately 30 schools and the competition consisted of four rounds: a quiz, a cross-number, a head-to-head and a relay. The students had a fantastic day and were a credit to the school. |
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Derbyshire Reading Challenge |
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On the afternoon of Wednesday 22nd May, which was a beautiful summer’s day, Mr Mason accompanied four Year 8 students on a trip to compete in this year’s Derbyshire Reading Challenge. Together, James Antonov, Oscar Rummery, Gabriel Sibthorp-Quarmby and Henry Tompkinson formed the ‘Quiz RATS’ (the name incorporating the boys’ surname initials). In the auspicious surrounds of Tupton Hall School, located in leafy Tupton, Chesterfield, the boys acquitted themselves admirably and against eighteen other challenging schools, our Ecclesbourne students set the pace in the early going, achieving maximum marks in Round One! Throughout the competition, the boys remained on the top-half of the leader-board before finally succumbing to the difficulties posed by the male gender bias within the team, faltering slightly in a picture round which focused considerably on writers like Jacqueline Wilson and Cathy Cassidy. The Quiz RATS finished a creditable eleventh, surpassing a two-thirds success rate with their responses to the ninety questions. HIGHFIELDS’ Bibliophiles were ultimately victorious and prizes were presented by Liverpool poet, Terry Caffrey. Thanks must go to Janet Pickering who helped to organised the whole event, as well as Ecclesbourne’s own librarian, Mrs Lin Smith, who helped to provide this valuable opportunity to the students, along with English teacher, Mr Mason. Overall, the day went perfectly, the boys behaved impeccably and an enjoyable experience was had by all. Below is a picture of the Quiz RATS: (reading from left to right – Henry Tompkinson, James Antonov, Mr Mason, Oscar Rummery and Gabriel Sibthorp-Quarmby): |
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