AES Bulletin December 2014

AES Bulletin
News from the Anglo European School for pupils, their
families, staff, Governors and friends of the school
Issue 29
December 2014
Anglo European School, Willow Green, Ingatestone, Essex, CM4 0DJ
Telephone: 01277 354018 Fax: 01277 355623
Website: www.aesessex.co.uk
Email: [email protected]
National Citizen Service
Whether we refer to it
as community service,
Eco School
volunteering, service
above self, service
learning or just good
citizenship,
its
importance
is
the
same.
The idea of
giving time to others
plays an important role
in the education we
offer. As well as an
opportunity to express
our common humanity,
it provides young
people
with
opportunities
to
discover new talents, apply skills and knowledge
learned and add to a work experience profile that
strengthens their position in the employment market.
Indeed,
the school’s
commitment to work
experience for all Year 10 students and our
encouragement for them to undertake such
placements in the third sector (voluntary) or abroad
represents a further extension to the idea of service
learning.
The National Citizen Service is a national initiative
that has been met with much enthusiasm at the
Anglo. Promoted by the Citizenship Department, the
NCS complements our provision very well. It was an
initiative of the coalition government in 2013 and is
open to all 16 and 17 year olds (Year 11 and Lower
Sixth).
It involves a short time away from home and brings
together young people from different backgrounds to
develop a social action project to deal with a local
issue. Participants commit approximately 30 hours
putting the project into action.
The programme is intended to develop greater
confidence, self-awareness and responsibility as well
as encouraging personal and social development by
focussing on skills like leadership, teamwork and
communication. It also significantly enhances any
job application, CV or university application.
Since its inception in 2013, the Anglo has had 28
students participate. Amelia Nolan L6MG and Conor
Norrington L6LK ar e cur r ent par ticipants. They
have been involved in raising awareness about World
War 1. Amelia says “I feel it has helped me make a
difference” whilst Conor really enjoyed the 3 days in
Yorkshire where they
developed some of the
necessary skills like
team
work
and
communication.
We are also pleased to
say that former student,
Lewis Rosser, is the
local NCS Recruitment
Team Manager. Lewis
extolled the virtues of
the scheme;
NCS is a great way for
students to get out of
the classroom and get
some real experience in the wider world. The
experiences and skills they pick up during NCS will
be
a
platform to
not
only Shoebox Appeal
becoming
more
independent
but
also gives
them
a
massive
boost
in
their
confidence
when they step out of school and go it alone."
Thoughts of good citizenship abound at this time of
year. Christmas brings out the best in human
beings—despite the stresses and strains that it can
also bring. It also serves as a reminder of the value
of giving freely of one’s time and, when appropriate,
one’s wealth.
Perhaps, most importantly, it serves as a reminder of
how a successful society and its citizens should
conduct themselves throughout the year. It develops
that ‘social capital’ which is the cement that binds
societies and enables it to sustain itself and resist the
pressures that can challenge the fabric, well-being
and good order of any established society.
Visit the NCSyes site and sign up to receive more
information and details of how to get involved.
David Barrs and Jill Martin
AES Bulletin Issue 29
2
Recognising our Quality
The Anglo European School has
again been awarded the British
Council’s
prestigious
International School Award in
recognition of its work to bring
the world into the classroom.
The International School Award
recognises schools that do outstanding work in
international education, such as through links with
partner schools overseas. Fostering an international
dimension in the curriculum is at the heart of the
British Council’s work with schools, so that young
people gain the cultural understanding and skills they
need to live and work as global citizens.
Their assessors praised the school’s ‘ability to embed
internationalism into the curriculum in such an
apparently effortless manner (which) clearly
demonstrates your understanding of the principles and
mechanisms of international learning.’ The Council
went on to comment that: ‘It is refreshing and
encouraging to see the level of commitment and
passion that you have dedicated to your international
education programme’ and that the Anglo European
School is a ‘shining example of how to guide your
international work through clearly planned and
delivered activities across an extensive crosscurricular platform.’
The school has also been awarded
the highest level of achievement for
arts provision and practice in Art,
Drama, Music and Dance in
gaining Artsmark Gold. The award
is in recognition of excellence in
arts and cultural provision.
The assessor recognised that the distinctive
international ethos of the school provided students
with “an enriched and unique arts experience through
international arts exploration and study, leading to an
outstanding appreciation of cultural and linguistic
diversity amongst the student body” .
We have also been awarded a 2013 Good Schools
Guide for Excellence for boys taking Italian and
for girls taking IB Philosophy.
Bikes for Africa
A bike provides many impoverished people in parts of
Africa with an efficient mode of transport and will
drastically improve their lives. You can make a
difference by giving us YOUR old bikes. Bring your old
bikes to school on the 9th January and they will be
collected, repaired and sent out to Africa. The bike must
not be rusted or beyond repair but it doesn’t have to be
perfect.
C Block Open!
Our long-awaited new C Block is open with modern
high tech facilities for the Humanities and Technology.
It includes our Enterprise Suite which is the home to
Economics and Business Studies. The suite has a
classroom, business-standard seminar room and our
Global Communications room with facilities for videoconferencing. It will open up new possibilities for
linking with partner schools and staff training.
These facilities are available for hire; — any local
business or organisation interested should contact
Nicola Pulford via [email protected]
Unfortunately, the old C Block stands empty. It has
been de-commissioned but we have yet to secure
funding to demolish it, such are the vagaries of
education funding!
Where are they now?
Jane Colquhoun (1979-1986) now works as a
Trade Adviser for the British Consulate General
in Munich. [email protected]
Victoria Harvey (née Lethbr idge) (1985-1992)
works for St Joseph’s College, Ipswich as the
Head of Creative and Performing Arts Faculty.
[email protected]
Emily Graves (2004-2011) is currently Station
Manager and Drivetime Presenter on Chelmsford
Community Radio [email protected]
Ian Coldwell wor ks for 3-LS as the Creative
Director and lives in Washington, USA
[email protected]
Joseph Sturdy (2006-2008) is now a reporter for
the Brentwood Gazette [email protected]
3
AES Bulletin Issue 29
Student News
Congratulations
to
Rebecca Budgen 11S
who was placed 2nd in a
‘Young Photographer of
the Year’ competition in
the Practical Photography
magazine (Nov 2014). Her
piece is called “Keeping
the Doctor Away” and is based on a Goldsworthy art
project that she was set over the summer holidays.
Oliver Payne 8A is pr oving to be a ver y skilled sailor .
He and his helm, Lucy, came 13th overall (5th GBR
boat) in the World Cadet Championships in Weymouth.
48 boats from around the world took part.
Debating matters …
Kevin Pearce L6TP, Fraser McCall U6DB, Ally Iciek
U6AK, Robin O’Connor U6MG and Ryan McGee L6HJ
have won the Essex qualifying round of the toughest
debating competition in the country – The Institute of
Ideas Debating Matters Competition. They debated the
three-person IVF technique and whether Britain should
stay in the EU. The school came out as overall winners,
narrowly beating The Coopers’ Company and Coborn
School to a place in the regional final in the spring.
Another debating competition hosted by Gepp & Sons
(lawyers) saw Polina Harris U6DB, Robin O’Connor
U6MG, Billy Roche U6HJ and Hannah Ruschen U6SW
taking part. The team won their first round speaking in
support of the proposition “This house believes that
defendants of sexual crimes should be afforded
anonymity” but, after facing some tricky follow up
questions from a distinguished panel of real judges,
including the Honorary Recorder of Chelmsford, His
Honour Judge Gratwicke, they did not pr ogress to the
final.
Thirteen gifted Year 9
pupils visited County
Chambers
in
Chelmsford as part of
Local
Democracy
Week.
They met
representatives from
schools around the
county who had also
shown an interest in
democracy and took part in local government budgeting
exercises and the Q&A with county councillors.
Tune in to Sean Trigwell 11S,
Wednesday 6-7pm on Chelmsford
Community Radio where he hosts
his own show. Occasionally, he has
been joined by other Anglo students.
chelmsfordcommunityradio.com
Student News (cont)
In Year 8 Religious Studies, students went on a
visit to Bhaktivedanta Manor Hindu Temple.
This involved them
learning about the
Hindu way of life,
seeing
how
the
temple cares for
cows, taking a ride
on a bullock cart,
dressing up as Hindu
gods
and
in
traditional
Indian
clothing and having
their faces painted.
An
enlightening
experience!
Students and staff braved the rain to attend the
annual UN Flag Raising. 3 sixth form students,
Nikita Smith L6MG, Ddin Mokuena L6EF and
Anyta Davidescu L6HJ r ead the UN Pr eamble
after which the UN flag was raised. The event
was organised by the Lower Sixth International
Relations CAS group.
Congratulations to Amelia Nolan L6MG who has
won her seat as the Young Essex Assembly
representative for Brentwood.
Anglo in the Community
Another successful Winter Fayre was organised by
the School Association. Thanks to all those who
attended, helped out or contributed to the evening.
The first Community Forum held on 19th November
brought new members of the community into the
school and agreed to work towards achieving Fair
Trade status for Ingatestone and the school – a great
opportunity for collaborative working.
The Upper 6th CAS group once again hosted our
annual Senior Citizens’ Party. This was a great
success and enjoyed by all who came, the live
music being the highlight of the event.
The School Chamber Choir performed to an
appreciative audience of local Probus members at
the Mount Avenue Banqueting Suite in Shenfield.
The performances ranged from traditional
Christmas carols to two outstanding solos by Lois
Brisley U6LK (violin) and Thalia Youe U6SW
(voice). The choir continues to grow in size
following recent successful performances at the
Winter Arts Festival, the Winter Fayre and the
Christmas Concert held in the Chur ch of St
Mary and St Edmond, Church in Ingatestone.
AES Bulletin Issue 29
Visitors to the School
Nixiwaka,
an
indigenous
tribesman from
the Amazonian
region of Brazil,
visited the school
to speak with year
9 pupils who are
currently studying
rainforests
in
Geography.
Nixiwaka is in the
UK as part of his
work
with
Survival
International, a
charity which works to protect tribal people around the
world. Nixiwaka presented insights into the Yawanawá
tribe’s way of life and their intimate relationship with
the Amazon rainforest. He also talked about some of
Brazil’s most threatened tribes and how Survival
International
is
helping
to
prevent
their
annihilation. For the pupils it was an opportunity to
hear first-hand about the experiences of someone who
lives in that region and they also took part in
workshops considering differing viewpoints on the
future of the rainforest.
4
Fundraising
The Amnesty Youth Group organised a very
successful volleyball tournament raising £140 For
Amnesty International.
Thank you for all the donations we have had to our
Rotary Shoebox Appeal. We have never had so
many donations and we were overwhelmed with the
quality of gifts we have been sent. (See photo on
front page).
£350.78 was raised for MacMillan Cancer Support
charity by the organisation of a coffee morning in the
Ingatestone & Fryerning Community Hall by a CAS
group.
The Upper 6 CAS students organised the annual
Winter Arts Festival with all the pr oceeds going
to Jessie’s Fund, a charity that uses music to help
children with complex needs. The event raised over
£800. The evening was a highly enjoyable evening
with a wealth of new and established talent
entertaining a packed audience.
Sophie Ashitaka 9M said “I have learnt a lot about
what the rainforest is supporting, not only animals but
over 240 tribes.” Gordon Massey 9M said “ I liked
meeting him because he gave another view from a
different culture. He was very open to our questions
and told us about his culture and how the problems
affect them.”
Dr Marianna Koli fr om the Economics depar tment
at the New College of the Humanities gave a lecture
about how we can use Economics to examine everyday
dilemmas.
Year 8 students took part in a drugs awareness day as
part of their citizenship studies. External speakers
PCSO Matthew Grimwood and Paul Hannaford
delivered very powerful and moving sessions. The
students took part in a carousel of lessons on topics
such as the danger of legal highs.
Our annual Careers Convention involved over 40
contributors from the world of work, training
organisations and representatives from Further and
Higher Education including Ernst & Young, Essex
Enquirer, the University of East Anglia, Writtle &
Havering Colleges. Students could explore the
interactive Apprenticeship Pod and test their skills on
the wind tunnel brought along by E2V who helped
guide the Rosetta space probe to comet 67P earlier this
year.
Staff Update
We say goodbye to the following teaching staff this
term: Michaela Nuzzo (RS), Karim Manji (Citizenship)
Mohammed Iqbal (Chemistr y), Sabine Michalewski
(German), David Kitchingman (Technology).
We also say goodbye to the following professional
support staff and wish them well in the future: Jane
Wilkinson (Exams), Marie Chapman (LSA), Siobhan
O’Dwyer (Pastor al Manager ), Paul Thompson and
Sara Jewell (Midday Super visor s).
We have three teachers beginning their maternity leave:
Jenny Box, Michelle Ibbotson and Jo Follett. We
wish them all the best with their new babies.
Joining us in January are: Miriam Storrs-Fox (Subject
Leader Mandarin), Catherine Peeters (Subject Leader
German), Mark Parker (IT Assistant), Sarah Bird
(English teacher), Laura Pepper (Geography teacher)
and Warren Palmer (Citizenship teacher ). We also
welcome back, temporarily, two staff members to cover
extra classes Mike Adcock (Physics) and Tim
Brockington (Chemistr y).
Please see aesessex.co.uk for more news