Blue School Newsletter Spring 2016

www.theblueschoolwells.co.uk

Rotary Young Chef of the Year Competition Kara Pick and Rebecca Gould, both Y13 BTEC/VRQ catering students, took part in the Rotary Young Chef of the Year Competition 2016 in January at the Blue School where we host the local round.

They both cooked their socks off and against some good competition Kara came first and Becky sec-ond.

Kara goes on to the district round in Weymouth.

Charlie Chambers Catering tutor

Some of the competitors and judges during the afternoon.

Winner Kara (second from the left) and

second place Becky (first on the left)

receiving their certificates with all the

brilliant competitors.

Blue School Newsletter Spring 2016

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Sport Relief 2016 — £7204.17. Here’s how we did it !

Amount Raised Who did What

67.42 Zoe Pao 7CST & Nia Harris 7VMC - sponsored silence

13.00 Issy Page, 8RSF, sold flapjacks

30.00 George Laurie, 8RSF, sold his own eggs

141.38 Zumba—whole school staff and students

136.69 Football— whole school staff and students

196.75 Kennion Cake Sale

241.89 Milton Cake Sale

36.50 Lucy Peters, 8RSF, sold cakes around her village

243.71 Netball match

10.00 Harry Waterman, 8RSF, donation

198.54 6th form assembly

11.22 7CDO collected money

380.59 Challenge a teacher!

8.00 Tia Bartlett, 8SWR, sponsored silence

6.20 Courtney Cox, 11RWI, sponsored silence

40.00 Governors’ donations

19.51 Toyrn Long-Thatcher, 7ASH, sponsored silence

143.00 Rosa and Joe Cowell, 8IRM, sponsored silence

4.00 Donation

20.00 Donation from Y12 &13 catering students’ Restaurant Day

10.95 Scarlett Fowler, 7EJA, sold hairbraids she had made

480.40 Dodgeball—whole school staff and students

12.50 2 students from 9HST—sponsored silence

5.75 Riley Hill, 7ASH, sponsored silence

24.85 Sam Jordan & Sam Boobyer, 7VMC & Poppy Gregory, 7CBU, cake sale

37.00 Anees Khan & Ash Stephens-Raven, 7ASH, 5 mile run

Blue School Newsletter Spring 2016

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12.85 Dubhghall Blair, 7ASH, sponsored silence

13.10 Mackenzie Sharp & Katie Bowen, 7SAE, sponsored silence

41.35 Tami Parker, 8SWR, sponsored silence

39.47 Jemma Shaw, 8SWR, sponsored silence

184.47 All of 7VMC 1 mile conga

13.04 Lola Murray Pugh, 8GCA, sponsored silence and three legged mile

1658.79 Mufti day—whole school

33.31 Library

7.00 Abby Hewitt, 9JAD, sponsored silence

173.72 6th form bucket collection

61.76 8 legged race - Lola Cellen Jones & Lucinda Wylie 7SAE; Rosemary Jevons, Ella

Love & Olivia Simmons 7CBU; Phoebe Lang & Ellie Chivers 7ASH.

15.26 Mr Salvidge Y7 DT group - 7b/DXT worked in silence

1689.09 Mile— whole school staff and students

8.70 Ali Tanbir, 9PCR, and Idris Ali, 9JHL.

74.04 Mrs Harris tutor group, 13AHL

5.00 Daniel Clarke, 9PCR

114.06 Kacie Woods & Jade Wilton 9AMC, Jessica Collins 9SDU, sponsored silence

13.73 Mia Carter-Hughes, 7ABA, sold cakes

22.45 Pippa Sydall, Emily Eaglesome, Tyga Robson-Browne, Gabi Creed, 7ABA, Easter

egg raffle tickets

22.25 Mylie Cole, 7CBU, sold items she made

262.94 Fancy dress 6 formers tin

2.45 Joel Blatchford-Brown, 8SWR, sponsored silence

24.50 Ashley Floyd, 8SWR, sponsored silence

38.00 Emily Wilerton, 9HST, sponsored silence

57.36 Fundraising team

20.51 Emma James cheese jokes

418.91 Charlotte Clissold sponsored silence

11.60 7GDA sponsored silence

4.16 Julian Tucker pen sales

40.45 Spanish Exchange mile

67.37 Tia Black, Lauren Tamea and Tehya Sheppard Swim

ming a mile

Blue School Newsletter Spring 2016

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Battlefield Trip—2016 On Friday 5 February a group of Y9 students headed off on a coach trip to visit the First World War battlefields

of France and Belgium.

On Saturday we went to visit Langamark and Essex Farm Cemeteries. At Essex farm there was a grave of a

fifteen year old boy and the thought of this was quite emotional as that could have been any of us. The ceme-

teries were extremely big and at Langamark we learned that 44,000 people were buried there, thinking that all

of the graves represented somebody’s son, brother, father or husband was very difficult to comprehend. At

the end of the day we went to the Menin Gate for the Last Post Ceremony where the atmosphere was very

sombre as people from many nations remembered the fallen.

On Sunday we visited the Somme, this year it is celebrating its centenary. Personally I found this day the most

moving of all. In the Devonshire Cemetery an entire Regiment is buried together because they all fell there on

the 1 July 1916. We also visited several other cemeteries which were all far larger than this one. Before

lunch we visited Lochnagar Crater which is a huge crater that was created by the detonation of a 60,000lbs

mine that had been placed underneath the German trenches through tunnelling by British soldiers.

The trip has really improved our French speaking skills, as well as completing a French questionnaire with the

French public and we were also encouraged to speak in French throughout. Miss Woodley read to us lots of

different war poems and the one I connected to the most was “Last Post” as it really put into perspective the

size of the Great War.

Now I have had time to think about what I have seen I feel very humbled by their sacrifice as my day to day

troubles are nothing compared to what these great men faced. I think everybody should be able to visit such

important places as they hold such a key part in the shaping of the modern world we live in today.

Tom Manship Y9

Langamark

Menin Gate

Blue School Newsletter Spring 2016

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From the 5 to the 8 of February, we visited French and Belgian battlefields and cemeteries. We learnt a lot

about the history of the First World War, and practiced our French whilst there. We met at Milton Turning Cir-

cle very early in the morning on Friday at around six o'clock to get onto our coach, and then travelled to Dover.

Crossing the Channel was uneventful and we arrived safely in Rue later that day in time to eat some food and

start doing some work to prepare for the following day.

Saturday was a fascinating day, and we left in the morning to travel to Ypres. We visited several different ceme-

teries, including Essex Farm Cemetery, Langemarck Cemetery and Tyne Cot Cemetery (the largest Common-

wealth military cemetery in the world). We also saw places such as Vancouver Corner and the Hooge Crater

Museum, where we had lunch. After this, we had some free time in Ypres when most students bought Belgian

chocolate. We had dinner at a restaurant and headed to the Menin Gate for the Last Post Ceremony, where

two of the students laid a wreath to commemorate some of the soldiers who had died in the war, before driv-

ing back to the Chateau. The day was long, but very interesting and educational, and really helped us to start to

understand the sheer number of people who died for their country, and what it was like for them at the time.

On Sunday, we went to the Somme to look at what had happened there during the war. We visited Beaumont

Hamel, and got to walk around the trenches and learn a little more about some of the men that were fighting

there. We also went to some more cemeteries, such as Devonshire Cemetery and Pozieres Cemetery. We got to

see Lochnagar Crater, which was incredible because of the sheer size and amount of damage done to the land.

Thiepval Memorial was another one of our stops, which was amazing to see as it opened our eyes to just how

many bodies were never recovered. When we got back to the Chateau, we ate dinner and had a 'Chateau Olym-

pics', which was very fun. We continued working on our projects and looked at the questionnaire we had pre-

pared for Monday.

Monday was mostly spent travelling back, but we got to go to a shopping centre and ask some of the French-

speaking locals some questions. It was a bit difficult finding somebody who was willing to talk to us, but it was a

great opportunity to practice our French and find out more about the area at the same time. We also got to do

some shopping whilst there. The drive to Calais was fine, but the ferry crossing was incredibly choppy due to

Storm Imogen. A lot of students felt very ill, but we all made it back without anything too major happening and

were only delayed by a couple of hours (which was much better than we were expecting). We drove back

across England and arrived at Milton Turning Circle

before ten o'clock. We were all very tired but felt it

had been a really wonderful experience, and we all

still managed to remain cheerful despite the bad

weather on the journey home! The trip was educa-

tional and interesting, and we all had a great time.

Robyn Whitaker Y9

Battlefield Trip—2016

Pozieres Cemetery

Blue School Newsletter Spring 2016

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Spanish Exchange 2016—Granada This year’s Spanish exchange to the beautiful city of Granada was a great success with many students even

stating that they didn’t want to come home!

Upon arrival in Granada, there were some nerves as the bus pulled up and students had to put their Spanish

into action as they were greeted by their host families for the week. However, with this first hurdle successfully

navigated, students headed off for some traditional Spanish lunch and before too long were out exploring the

streets of Granada with their exchange partners.

Whilst on the exchange, the students were lucky enough to take part in several day trips to places of cultural

and historic interest as well as having the opportunity to learn alongside their Spanish counterparts in a special-

ly prepared joint lesson. There were also several opportunities for students to stop and reflect upon their expe-

riences and fill in their exchange diaries, using their command of the language to do so. We were pleased to see

students integrating with the exchange group, and trying their best to converse in Spanish (even though the

Spaniards were keen to talk in English!).

A full commentary on our daily activities can be found at www.blueschoolspanishexchange.wordpress.com, but

below is a brief summary:

Monday: the students completed a questionnaire in the Plaza Bib-Rambla which involved them interviewing

locals, and in the evening they went ice-skating with their partners which helped to break the ice.

Tuesday: a trip to The Alhambra, a World Heritage Site since 1984 and an absolutely glorious reminder of the

turbulent history of Granada and surrounding area.

Wednesday: A day-trip to Cordoba for a tour of the city, a visit to an archaeological museum built on the site of

a former Roman theatre and a tour around the stunning Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba.

Thursday: A tour on foot of the Albaicin, affording impeccable views of The Alhambra, plenty of photo opportu-

nities as well as chances to converse in Spanish to buy lunch and souvenirs.

Friday: A day-trip with exchange partners to some impressive caves at Nerja before a visit to the beach to com-

plete our Sport Relief activity and grab an ice cream in the afternoon sun!

Overall, the students behaved extremely well, learned lots of Spanish and represented the school brilliantly.

This was my first exchange, and I’m sure that all the students will join me in thanking the MFL Department and

Ms Stacey for her superb organisation and leadership on the exchange; without hours of hard work it wouldn’t

have been the success that it

was.

Mr Jacks

Blue School Newsletter Spring 2016

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Mock Referendum—23 June 2016

As some of you will have spotted, David Cameron recently announced that citizens of the UK will be giv-

en the opportunity to decide (through a referendum) whether they want Britain to remain as a member

of the European Union or to leave the European Union.

Following the successful school Mock Election in May 2015, in which the Blue School accurately predict-

ed the outcome with a Conservative victory, students will have the opportunity to take part in their

very own ‘mock referendum’ on the same day as Britain goes to the polls!

There will be activities relating to this topic as the event draws closer for students to get involved in

during registration as well as a series of assemblies. We are hoping as many students will get involved

as possible and learn lots about this potentially life-changing event in the process. Let’s see if The Blue

can accurately predict the national outcome once more!

Please see Mr Jacks or Dr Jamieson if you are interested in forming a campaign team for either side;

there will be more information about this nearer the time.

Blue School Newsletter Spring 2016

www.theblueschoolwells.co.uk

Chepstow Castle—Y7

On Tuesday 26, Wednesday 27 and Thursday the 28 of January 2016 Y7 visited Chepstow Castle in Wales.

Despite the cold and wet weather we managed to explore the castle and learn about the changes made in

the medieval times. During the visit we had opportunities to see murder holes; climb the towers and walls to

see the view of the surrounding area; and look at the oldest surviving castle gate in Europe.

“I enjoyed seeing the gatehouse because of the different defensive techniques like the portcullis, arrow slits

and murder holes. The Great Hall was also good because it was mainly intact, but it was very cold inside

which was surprising.” Hannah

“The visit to Chepstow was really good fun! The best thing was going up to the towers and looking over the

river and the whole castle. It was also great when you could actually go inside and see the crafts that they

did inside.” Alex

“I found it interesting that they had arrow slits in the front/all around the castle, so when they would have a

battle it was easier to shoot but harder to shoot straight into them (arrow slits). When I first saw the castle I

thought it was quite big. I loved it when we walked around and saw the rooms and chambers.” Emily

Blue School Newsletter Spring 2016

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Phoenix Group—Online draw prize winner Georgina Nolan 9MDI entered an online draw after Phoenix Club had performed at The Blue School.

Georgina won a framed copy of their new album with the original lyric sheet. The school are working with

the band now to arrange another lunchtime gig with a workshop attached.

Folk Group's Gig at Wookey Hole Here are some photos from the folk group's gig at

Wookey Hole, they played entrance music for a prima-

ry schools project!

Gabriel Donaghue, Jack Cooper, Orlando Borodale, Sam Gibbs, Niamh Burke and Harvey Williams.

Blue School Newsletter Spring 2016

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Y7 Boys’ Football Well done to all the boys from Y7 that have represented the school football team during this school year. The attitude and effort in all during training and matches has been excellent. Please keep an eye out for information about future fixtures outside the changing rooms as I have arranged at least one more friendly. Everyone who has attended training regularly will get a game this year.

The team have been involved in some great matches and played with great spirit and sportsmanship.

After a fantastic effort in all the league matches, the boys qualified for the League Final against the winners of the parallel league where they faced Millfield Prep school.

Wells Blue Vs Millfield Prep; Mid-Somerset League Cup Final Under 12s

Wells Blue produced their best performance of the league season to defeat a strong Millfield side 2-0. Wells dominated the game from start to finish, but had to be patient in their search to break the deadlock due to some resolute defending from the opposition. Kai Murrell had several efforts from range which just missed the target and Max Ambrosini was unlucky not to score, seeing his header from a corner come back off the frame of the goal. Louis Thomas then had a further effort cleared off the line and Sam Stone went close twice, denied by excellent goalkeeping on both occasions. As the first half wore on, Millfield grew into the game and a long ball over the top forced Ross Tanner into making an excellent save to deny them taking the lead. The Wells back three of Liam Ford, Jack Padfield and James Ascott held firm and kept a high line ensuring that the score was 0-0 at half time.

The second half continued in the same fashion, with Wells dominating possession and creating several chances. Kai Murrell continued to boss the midfield, linking well on several occasions with Sam Stone and the tenacious Harvey Knock before shooting wide. Max Ambrosini dropped into centre back and his composure and strength snuffed out each and every Millfield attack. Wells were beginning to force the issue with some excellent linking down the left hand side between Jack Padfield and Sam Stone but the Millfield keeper was in fine form to deny Callum Witcombe’ s header and shot from close range. Eventually, Wells’ patience paid off when Callum Witcombe’ s turn and shot found the top corner after some clever passing on the edge of the box; the goal was well deserved. Wells went on to grab a second soon after to settle any nerves (mainly of the staff and parents on the touchline!) after Kai Murrell’s long range shot came back off the bar and Louis Thomas was on hand, fol-lowing in, to find the roof of the net. Wes Higgins came off the bench soon after to provide some much needed energy and Wells were able to see out the game comfortably. The unanimous decision for Man of The Match was Kai Murrell; but everyone played an equal part in achieving victory! Congratulations to all the boys involved in the final, but also to those who played any of the league matches which got us there (over 20 different stu-dents); you’ve all done yourselves, the year group and the school very proud!

Mr Jacks and Ed Jackson (Y12)

Comp. Match Result Man of the Match

League Fairlands (A) W 2-1 Kai Murrell (7ABA)

Friendly Whitstone (A) W 8-3 Max Ambrosini (7CDO)

Friendly Whitstone ‘B’ (A) W 4-1 Harvey Knock (7ASH)

League Hugh Sexeys (H) W 4-1 Callum Witcombe (7VMC)

League St Dunstans (A) W 13-1 Barney Pridmore (7GDA)

League Crispin (H) L 3-4 Sam Stone (7AMK)

Friendly Millfield Prep ‘B’ (H) W 4-1 James Ascott (7ABA)