FOCUS - Moulsham High School...seen it, to take a look at Sir Dave Brailsford’s clip on Marginal...

Summer 2013

Jack Petchey Award Page 21

FOCUS on Moulsham High School

Specialising in English and Humanities

Summer 2013

AcademyStatus

Welcome to the summer edition of Focus magazine

Science with a foreign twist 6

SUMDOG Page 16

Iceland Page 19Plea for photographic equipmentPage 7

The Prince’s Trust – TagRugby Page 4

My day at the YMCA Page 21

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Moulsham High School

Dear Parents,

The end of another academic year is upon us once again and what a fabulous year it has been. Our GCSE results continue to improve and, according to certain measures, have placed us in the top 10 schools in the county; equally, our A-Level results have maintained their excellence and placed us in the top 100 schools nationally (Independent study). The predictions for the current Year 11 and Sixth Form students also look very promising and we eagerly await the August results for confirmation.

I have enjoyed leading the school once again this year, especially as there have been so many wonderful events, activities and achievements in relation to both the staff and students over the past 11 months. It seems fitting that we see out this year with our Sports Day (including the launch of our new House system), the inaugural Sports Awards Evening, the Years 7 & 8 and Years 9 & 10 Awards Evenings, Year 11 and Sixth Form Proms, and the Summer Concert, to name but a few events. I am looking forward to them all.

Visitors to the school throughout this term have, as previously, commented favourably about the school and have complimented our systems, resources and students. Indeed, some of the new resources seem to have had a very positive impact on the students’ learning and opportunities. We are delighted that the building of our new, state-of-the-art, 3G Astroturf pitch is now complete and I am sure students will enjoy using it in both their PE lessons and for their enrichment clubs during and after school. I can confirm that our swimming pool changing rooms will shortly be upgraded and new changing rooms will be erected by the 3G pitch in the autumn term. Over the summer holiday period, additional improvements to the site will also include the installation of more new windows. I shall continue to investigate ways to procure high-quality resources and facilities for our students to access.

It is, of course, a time of the year when, sadly, we must say goodbye to some staff and I would like to thank them for their time at, and contribution to, the school. Miss Bell (PRE) and Miss McGlew (History) leave after a short stay with us; Mr. Birch-Machin (ICT) is leaving to go travelling; Mr. Alford (Music) has been successful in obtaining a much-deserved Head of Music position and will be sorely missed; Mrs. Schultz (Maths) is retiring, after 5 years with us; Mrs. Clements (English) moves to a promoted post in Tendring; Mrs Harman (part-time Science) moves to a promoted position, leaving the Science department after 8 years at the school; Mrs. Milford (ICT) is retiring after 12 years within the ICT team; Ms. Yorke-Edwards (Learning Support Assistant) gained a promoted post at a local primary school earlier this term; Mr. Burdge (Learning Support Assistant) will be embarking on training to become a primary school teacher; and, finally, Mr. Petts, (Information Systems Manager) moves to a promoted post in Chigwell. We wish them all the best of luck for the future. In addition, two members of the PE team, Mrs. Johnson and Miss Scholey, will be on maternity leave.

Headteacher letterWe have been through a fairly long, but, thankfully, successful period of recruitment and I am enthused by the quality of new staff we have employed for September.

As always, I try to encourage you to help us assist students progress in their learning or life skills. I would not normally direct you to YouTube, however, on this occasion, I urge you, if you have not already seen it, to take a look at Sir Dave Brailsford’s clip on Marginal Gains, The Road to Glory. It demonstrates how Sir Dave focused on the small things that then brought about longer-term improvements on a major scale. Over the summer holidays, or even in respect to your child’s day-to-day learning in September, try to think about those small changes that will, or could, have a significant impact on his/her progress and life chances. Within the clip, it also talks about ‘Podium Coaches’ and that is what we are striving towards in relation to the quality and delivery of our teaching to all students – one of our main priorities for next year.

There are many areas of school life that we shall be focusing on next year and some of our key School Improvement Areas for 2013-14 include:

• Narrowing the gap in achievement for all groups of learners within the school.

• The quality of Teaching and Learning for all, with a particular focus on post-16.

• Student progress.• Leadership and Governance, including a long-term ‘Estates’

strategy. • Behaviour for Learning: clarity and progression on rewards and

sanctions.• Attendance and punctuality.

To conclude, I would like to thank parents and students for your continued support and I am, once again, genuinely excited by the prospect of what we will all achieve in the next academic year and beyond. With that in mind, our Open Evening for Prospective Parents will be on Thursday, 26th September; please feel free to spread the word that all are very welcome to come and join our family.

MR. FARMER, Headteacher

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Summer 2013

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The school’s Year 9 Young Leaders did a fantastic job when they helped out at Moulsham Infant School during their Health and Fitness week. The Young Leader role involved working with, and leading, Year 1 students through a range of multi sports and skills. The younger children were very keen and showed a huge amount of enthusiasm throughout. They responded well to our students, which was great to see.

The Year 9s were very professional in their dealings with staff and students alike and presented both themselves and the school very positively – numerous teachers commented on how well behaved they were and couldn’t believe they were only 13 and 14 years of age! Our students all enjoyed themselves and were reluctant to leave at the end of the event.

MISS SCHOLEY, PE

A helping hand during Health and Fitness Week

Track and field eventsEssex Schools ChampionshipsThe Essex School Championships took place on Saturday, 8th June and although only a few of our students had been selected to compete, owing to a clash with a school trip, those who did perform did themselves and the school proud.

It has been a while since a Moulsham student has been chosen to represent Mid-Essex in a field event and so we were delighted this year when Ellie Smith (Year 7) managed to qualify for the Long Jump. This was Ellie’s first experience of performance at such a high level and on the day she improved with each round to finish in 4th position and only 2cm from a bronze medal with a jump of 3.99m, which, for someone who, at the time, had only jumped a handful of times at school, is a remarkable achievement.

Elliot Wright (Year 11) qualified for the 100m final in an event he has competed in every year since joining Moulsham. Yet again, he put in an excellent performance and finished the final in bronze medal position with a time of 11.2seconds. Again, this is an amazing achievement for someone who has never trained with an athletics club, but has only ever represented his school.

Emma Perks (Year 9) always knew the 800m final was going to be a tough race as she was up against a girl who is ranked 6th in the Country. However, after running sensibly in the heat and qualifying for the final, she ran a strong race to finish in 2nd place. Emma’s main aim of the day, however, was to qualify for the English Schools Competition and a few days after the event she found out that she had been selected to represent Essex – quite a feat for someone who only took up the sport seriously last year! Emma is the school’s first female student to reach this level and we wish her every success in July.

Callum Charleston (Year 11) was competing in the 1500m, his fifth year in a row representing Mid-Essex. He was always in contention for the winning spot and after running a well-judged race he outsprinted his opponent with 100m to go and won by three seconds in a time of 4.04. This result was agonisingly close to the National standard of 4.03 and it is a reflection of the strength in depth of athletics in Essex that, unfortunately, he wasn’t picked for the English Schools competition.

Congratulations to all our athletes on their fantastic performances!

District AthleticsAt this year’s District Athletics Championships, the school enjoyed improved individual performances, but, at the time of writing, is still awaiting the team results.

Top performances on the field came from Jack Tavener who won the Year 10/11 boys’ Long Jump, Cameron James (Year 10) who finished 3rd in the Triple Jump, and Josh Marouane (Year 9) who finished 3rd in the Shot Putt.

Wins in the track events came from Maddie Archer (Year 7) 800m, Kate Etheridge (Year 8) 800m, Rachel Broome (Year 8) 1500m, Emma Perks (Year 9) 800m, Andrew Cockrell (Year 8) 300m, Elliot Wright (Year 11) 100m and the Year 10/11 boys relay team comprising Chris Watson, Jack Tavener, Cameron James and Elliot Wright. In addition, Emma Lewis (Year 9) put in a strong performance to finish 3rd in the 200m and Beth Harrington (Year 9) just missed out on being in the top 3 in the 1500m with a 4th place finish.

Congratulations on some excellent results!

MRS. WHITMARSH, PE

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The Prince’s Trust – Tag RugbyThe Prince’s Trust arranged for Southend Rugby Club coaches to come into school to train with George Thompson, Reece Kerr, Callum Murray, Jimmy Bownes, Jasmin Bobb-Semple and Shannon Rothwell. For 5 weeks, beginning at the end of February, the students were taught how to play tag rugby for between 1 and 2 hours per week and we all (that includes me and Mr. Smith!) trained in all weathers – even during the very cold spell in March! Everyone enjoyed the training and worked well with the coaches and in their teams.

At the end of the course, on Saturday, 20th April, the students competed in a tournament at Southend Rugby Club. The Rugby Club had kindly arranged transport for us to and from the venue and, luckily, it was one of the nicer days we have had weather-wise. The day was thoroughly enjoyable and the students who attended played very well with, and against, the junior rugby teams at the club. Jasmin won Girl of the Match and Callum won Boy of the Match and each received a trophy – we were very proud of our students.

After the tournament finished we were invited to stay and watch the First XV team play. The game was very exciting and the students, Mr. Smith and I thoroughly enjoyed the match. We were very well looked after by Southend Rugby Club and the students also had an opportunity to meet professional rugby player Kris Chesney.

MRS. FERNANDEZ, Senior LSA

The Students’ feedback“The coaches came from Southend Rugby Club into our school to do some training with us and it was organised by the Princes Trust. They trained us how to play Tag Rugby for a tournament that was going to be in Southend. Their names were Luke and Liam and they taught us how to defend, attack and different techniques about the game. During training it was very wet, cold and muddy. There were six of us on the team and I enjoyed it very much.” George Thompson.

“I really enjoyed the day out and I hadn’t played Tag rugby before. I will definitely play it again.” James Bownes.

Attendance matters!The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 state that, as from 1st September 2013, Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances and, if the leave is granted, should determine the number of school days a student may be away from school. The Regulations also remove references to family holiday and extended leave as well as the statutory threshold of ten school days.

We recognise that parents of students at Moulsham have worked hard to avoid term-time holidays and, therefore, this change will

affect very few of our students. We will continue to work with families to ensure that attendance in school is at the highest possible level and would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continuing support.

MR. MUGFORD, Deputy Headteacher

As from 1st September 2013, Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time

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Summer 2013

Las estrellasMusic For Youth FestivalIn March, Las Estrellas, the school’s 50-piece female choir, performed in the Music for Youth (MFY) National Regional Festival series for the second consecutive year, this time in Oxford, and, following very positive comments from the MFY Oxford Regional Festival Panel has been invited to showcase at the Birmingham National Festival later this year.

Las Estrellas, accompanied by Mr. Ryan Linham on the piano, delivered a varied programme – Bohemian Rhapsody, And So It Goes and Let The Sun Shine – that was filled with emotion, passion and energy and performed in front of a large audience as well as the judging panel. Soloists Phoebe Walsh, Rosie Hovell, Helena Wood and Hannah Collin, Isobel Smith, Katy Forkings and Gemma White all had an opportunity to showcase their individual talents in the choir’s own arrangement of the Queen classic. Gemma White, a regular soloist for Las Estrellas, then went on to take the lead role in Let The Sun Shine and was praised for her strong, stylish solo performance in the second half of the song.

Comments from the judges included: “Your arrangement of Bohemian Rhapsody was really punchy; you produced an exciting sound”. “The choir’s performance of And So It Goes was lovely; you performed the words with real feeling.” “Your final number, Let the Sun Shine, had bags of rhythm and energy.” “You all looked so professional and the pink theme is a wonderful addition that helps bring the group together and provide the choir with a unique identity.”

The choir has come such a long way since the Oxford regional festival last year and the girls have developed a unique style of performance that highlights their vocal ability and versatility as a group. The commitment they showed in the run up to this performance was outstanding, with rehearsals at lunchtimes, after school and at weekends since the beginning of the year. I am extremely proud of their achievements and look forward to performing alongside them in Birmingham later this term.

Radio StarsAt the end of April, 20 members of the girls’ choir Las Estrellas visited the BBC Essex studio to appear on the Mark Punter show. The choir had been invited by Mark to have a chat about their work

during the last 12 months and had an opportunity to tell him all about their performances on the national stage, working alongside and being coached by professionals within the music industry, and visiting local primary schools in Chelmsford to provide workshops and performance opportunities for the younger generation of singers.

Mark was interested to discover how the choir had been formed and the reasons why it had grown so quickly and he asked Gemma White (Year 10) how it made her feel to sing in the choir, to which she replied “To listen to it, it’s such a wonderful, uplifting thing. It’s really nice to have all the girls’ voices together; we have so many different harmonies and genres that we sing, and it brings it all together.”

Mark spoke to Hannah Collin in Year 10 about Las Estrellas’s involvement in the Music for Youth National Festival for the second year running, as well as about working with choral director Andrew Nunn, which Hannah described as “Intense!”. The interview went on to reveal that the girls are looking to maintain close links with Andrew and the choirs that he directs in Scotland.

The choir had a chance to serenade their Home County with extracts from two pieces they have recently been working on – the Bill Withers hit Lean on Me and Labrinth’s Let the Sun Shine. Both pieces had been selected by the choir following a visit from professional group ACM Gospel Choir back in October 2012 and the girls were keen to showcase their enjoyment for this style of music in their interview with Mark.

Finally, Lauren Newson (Year 10) and Katy Forkings (Year 8) were asked how often they were required to practise and Mark was astounded when they replied that they probably rehearsed more than 2/3 times a week, especially when leading up to a competition, and sometimes even on Saturdays!

Performing live on the radio to the whole of Essex was quite a daunting experience for the choir, but it didn’t seem to affect their voices as their melodies filled the airways.

MR. ALFORD, Music

– a choir with a real style of its own…

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Breakfast and booksBetween 21st March and 9th May we ran our first breakfast club, aimed at helping students in Year 7 who need extra support with their reading.

14 students met me and Mrs. Coupland in the school’s Conference Room every Tuesday and Thursday at 8.00am to enjoy a bowl of Coco Pops, hot chocolate, tea and toast. After breakfast, the students moved to the library to read on a one-to-one basis with a Sixth Form ‘buddy’ for half an hour. The Year 7s worked through a new reading scheme, called Rapid Plus, which introduced them to interesting, new books using a manageable, levelled process with clear, in-built progression. Best of all, the students had an opportunity to work with a group of excellent, highly-supportive Year 12s who have formed very good working relationships with the Year 7s.

At the end of the trial we asked the students to retake a reading test that they had first completed during an English lesson. After comparing the two, we were delighted to find that the average increase in reading age (measured in months) was 20 months, with two students moving forward 53 months! As a result, we have decided to run this scheme again, starting in the autumn term, with the new cohort of Year 7s.

The students were very enthusiastic about the scheme and comments included:• “My reading has improved”• “It’s helped me get higher levels”• “I read up to level 8”• “Reading with the Sixth Formers was good and helped me”• “The one-to-one tuition was good and I think it helped me a lot and

put me up a level”

Many thanks to all the students in Year 12 who helped – Ellie, Adam, Will, Izzy, Antony, Geraldine, Olivia, Becky, Ryan, Georgina, Molly, Konrad, Shamaila, Sarah, Katy, Emma and Caitlin – and a big thank you too to Mrs. Coupland for helping to feed the Year 7s and giving up the library early in the morning twice a week.

Hopefully, we’ll be reporting back next year on even more outstanding progress!

MR. BOUD, Head of Teaching & Learning/Whole-School Literacy Coordinator

Poetry LiveIn March, 45 Year 11s boarded a coach to the Dominion Theatre, London, for the Poetry Live event. Students had an opportunity to listen to poets perform their poetry and speak about the ideas and experiences that led to their work. The trip was offered to our Literature students as an enrichment activity and it was unfortunate that only a limited number of tickets were available.

The theatre was packed with schools from all over the UK. The atmosphere buzzed with excitement as the poets brought to life the poems Year 11 had been studying for their final English Literature examination. Some poets, such as John Agard, made us laugh; others, such as Grace Nichols, made us thoughtful, but in all cases the words leapt from the page and in the voices of their creators took on a tone and resonance that brought new meaning to the texts. Our students were exemplary in their behaviour and left the theatre singing The Charge of the Light Brigade with new vigour, having just heard John Agard recite the poem with added pace and pause at unexpected points in the poem, which had helped Year 11 grasp how different meanings in poetry are conveyed.

Many thanks to Mr. Harvey, Miss Reynolds and Mrs. Carabine who accompanied the Year 11s to London. We hope to run the trip again next year for the current Year 10, so please watch out for future announcements.

MS. CLEMENTS, English

Staying safe and healthyFrom 12th to 14th June, Year 9 students had a fantastic opportunity to take part in a Staying Safe and Healthy event in school. On the first day, visitors from Helen Rollason and I provided an interactive and yet poignant session on Cancer Awareness. Students also enjoyed a visit from the coaches at Chelsea FC who provided some excellent activities on developing communication skills. To finish off the day the YMCA organised a dynamic personal fitness quiz. The next day, MIND delivered an excellent session on a variety of mental health topics; representatives from WHCM (Women in Health Care Management) taught the students a variety of strategies to control stress levels, including breathing and visualisation exercises; and EYPDAS (Essex Young People Drug and Alcohol Service) provided detailed information on drug and alcohol abuse. On the final day, B-Eat provided a creative and interactive session on self-esteem and body confidence and we also welcomed Phoenix Health and Beauty who had us all thinking about personal grooming and personality types. The ICT department rounded off the event with a brilliant session on on-line safety. Students commented on how enjoyable and informative they found these three days and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the staff, students and, of course, the outside organisations who helped to make this such a successful event.

MRS. MORRISH, Head of Citizenship

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Summer 2013

Continuing the legacy of the London 2012 Olympics, and following on from the success of last year’s Healthy Lifestyles Day, Year 8s were treated in May to an alternative timetable of activities focused on keeping fit and healthy.

With a strong partnership now developing between the school’s PE department and the Sports faculty at South East Essex College (affiliated to Essex University), Moulsham called on the services of Lecturers David Oliver, Jon Morrison and Rob Waldock, who turned up with a van full of expensive technology and equipment that is used every day in the delivery of further and higher education courses. Amongst the items we were privileged to have available to us was a set of timing gates that cost approximately £10,000 and a reaction board with a value of £8,000!

This year, the weather was not so kind to us and the rain descended relentlessly, forcing the activities indoors to the Sports Hall. Despite this, however, the event seemed to run even more smoothly than before and the close proximity of students to each other created a ripple effect of enthusiasm, resulting in a great atmosphere and, in some instances, students taking the competitive aspect very seriously!

Approximately 130 students experienced some of the fitness testing that professional sportsmen and women are subjected to during their training for events such as the London 2012 Olympics or the Premiership season. Once again, the onus of responsibility was placed firmly on the students to complete all ten tests within the specified time and if they completed all ten early they were then allowed to return to a station to try to improve their scores. At each station they were asked to give their opinion on what the test

was attempting to measure and why it would be useful to know the results to help improve their lifestyle.

Stations consisted of tests in Agility, Seated Rowers, Wingate Cycle Power, 30-second Press-Ups or Sit-Ups, 15m Sprint, Shuttle Run, Skipping, Reaction, Standing Long Jump and Standing Vertical Jump. Students were split into groups and awarded points for achieving particular scores in each event; individual points were then added to a whole-group score. Some students repeated the same tests several times, determined to beat their previous score or the score of their rivals. The day was extremely successful with every student putting in a great deal of effort to complete all ten stations. There were a lot of smiles and, although there was a competitive nature to the activities, fun was had by all.

A huge thank you goes out to the three lecturers from SEEC for giving up their time, allowing us to use their precious equipment and for running such an enjoyable educational programme once again. We have already been discussing how the event might be improved further, should we decide to repeat it again in 2014 and beyond, and some good ideas have already been thrown into the ring.

Moulsham PE department’s link with South East Essex College is already benefitting GCSE, BTEC and A-Level PE students with groups of each having had the opportunity to go to the Southend Campus and use the facilities to further enhance their studies. We look forward to continuing to work with the College in the future.

MR. JOHNSTON, PE

Healthy lifestyles day

Plea for photographic equipment Do you have a digital camera lurking in the back of a drawer of cupboard that you no longer use? Do you have any old digital photographic equipment that is sitting idle? If so we would love to hear from you as our Art department is looking for donations. Any equipment – including digital compacts, bridge and DSLR cameras, old lens filters, tripods and lighting – would be gratefully received. (Unfortunately, are set up for digital photography only and cannot, therefore, process film or wet photography).

If you can help, please contact the school and ask to speak to a member of the Art department. MR. HIGGINS, Head of Art

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As part of the school’s recent enrichment programme, Year 8 students were involved in a series of workshops within the Art department and looked at types of art across different world cultures. On offer were sessions on Portuguese folk art, Indian block printing, Indonesian shadow puppets and Egyptian mummification with a contemporary twist! Each workshop lasted an hour-and-a-half and allowed students the opportunity to explore and create unique works of art inspired by the cultures they were studying.

A great day was had by all, including the staff, and the excellent behaviour of the students and assistance from the Sixth Form helpers are to be commended.

Indian Block Printing Indian Block printing stems back as far as 3000 BC and is still used today to create fabric prints using repeat patterns and iconic motifs. Craftsmen take up to three months to carve the unique stamp blocks from which the fabrics are printed.

Our students had a lot less time, so using poly block they traced their designs from a template, impressed into it using a pen or pencil and then cut out the outline. Next they rolled ink onto the blocks and printed onto paper. The advantage of this method is that you can print many times to produce a repeat pattern or motif, e.g. one elephant turns into a whole parade! Some students then extended themselves by printing onto coloured washes of ink producing vibrant outcomes.

MR. HIGGINS, Head of Art

Mummification WorkshopStudents were taken back in time to Ancient Egypt for a ‘wrapping’ experience and, as part of the ‘Mummification’ workshop, were asked to think of something to preserve that was meaningful to them. Some wanted to preserve their families, pets and friends, but other ideas included religion, sport, chocolate, mobile phones and one person even chose a sunny day!

After selecting materials, the students busied themselves wrapping tightly, gently, lavishly and intricately.

5 group pieces of mummified objects were then put on ‘Private View’ on our very own ‘Pyramid Gallery’. Mr. Farmer and Mrs. Finnegan were both invited to our Gallery and listened intently as the students discussed their work – there were both sensitive and hilarious accounts of the process. Each item was then awarded a monetary value, although it transpired that, at the end of the day, many were just too valuable to be put up for sale.

MRS. PARROTT, Art

Students inspired by the art of different world cultures

World culture dayIndonesian Shadow PuppetsShadow puppet shows are historically important and continue to be incredibly popular in many countries. Shadow puppetry began thousands of years ago and is still used today to convey folk tales and legends of the past. In Indonesian shadow puppetry, the puppet master controls the puppets from behind a cotton screen that is illuminated by an oil or halogen lamp to create an effect that can be likened to animation. The puppets are animated through the movement of hands and the most skilled puppeteers can effectively show their puppets to be walking, dancing, fighting, nodding and laughing.

Year 8s had the opportunity to create their own shadow puppets, personalising their characters to include kings, princes, teachers, giants, gods, demons, and citizens. Paper doilies were used to create patterns enhanced with intricate designs using a variety of media. Cane sticks were attached vertically to the puppets for handling and manipulation and students lightly pressed them against a translucent screen with a bright light behind them to create the shadows. Students had the opportunity to be The Dalang (puppeteer/shadow master) with their own shadow puppets.

Year 8 students worked incredibly hard during the workshop with amazing results!

MISS CABA, Art

THE ROOSTER FROM BARCELOSVisiting artist Sonia Cruz, who moved from South Africa to Portugal as a child, introduced the students to the legend of the Galo de Barcelos and explained that the symbolic image of a rooster in Portugal stands for honesty, integrity, justice, trust and honour.

After a brief, but informative, PowerPoint demonstration showing the evolution of the Galo and many traditional and modern examples, the students designed their own Rooster from Barcelos using their personal interests as inspiration. They painted their designs onto laser-cut card shaped like the Galo.

The students then chose their favourites to be displayed at Nando’s in Chelmsford. Nando’s use this symbol as their logo and were very excited to have our lovely artwork up in store. The students really enjoyed creating their own personalised Galos and were keen to have their designs chosen.

The design that the staff from Nando’s, Chelmsford, finally chose as their favourite was that created by Molly Millen. Molly will receive a generous prize from the Nando’s team who say they really enjoyed seeing all the artwork.

MISS JOHNSTON, Art

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Summer 2013

L2L and year 6induction

Learn2Learn (L2L) lessons help students gain an understanding of how they learn best and acquire new skills for the future. We were set a task to put together a Learn2Learn lesson for the Year 6 induction day, focusing on one particular skill. For this task, we were split into groups each consisting of three people - in group one there was George Mayo, Vikki Sanderson and Eleanor Barker; we were the second group and in the third group there was Tom Fairchild, Matthew Foster and Danielle Lee.

Our lesson focused on memory. For this we had to prepare some resources – including blindfolds, colour cards, a video and pictures – to link the lesson together. Also, we needed to put together a PowerPoint that would help to explain our three activities. We discovered that we worked really well as a group and we all contributed as much as possible, as well as listening to the ideas put forward by others.

Some aspects of the task we found difficult, such as actually presenting to the Year 6s and also coming up with ideas for the lesson. However, other parts we found easy, like writing the script as we could base it around the PowerPoint.

Although the lessons ran really smoothly, we did have some minor hiccups and struggled slightly with the time each activity took to complete. We found that the Year 6s responded well with the questions we asked and gave feedback, but they could be a bit shy. We were pleased to hear some of the students say that they had enjoyed the lesson a lot and were able to understand how and why they learn best.

What we have all learnt from this experience is how to be confident in front of a class of people you don’t know and how to prepare a lesson by filling out a lesson plan. Overall, we had a really good time and have learnt a lot of new skills from this experience and hope that we will have the opportunity to do it again!

By Maddie Archer, Joe Groom and Andrew Bibby (Year 7)

What we have all learnt from this experience is how to be confident in front of a class of people you don’t know and how to prepare a lesson by filling out a lesson plan

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University of Essex – ‘Getting In’ ConferenceIn March, a group of Sixth Formers journeyed to the University of Essex to attend a Getting In conference that gave us an insight into the application process for university. The talks ranged from those by the Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Oxford University to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Essex. We also heard from some student representatives about each of their university experiences.

A campus tour was also included in the day and this gave us a helpful insight into what life on a university campus is like, from features of Freshers’ Week to self-sustainability of the campus itself. We learnt that one of the most appealing benefits to life on campus is that your residence is never too far from your lecture hall so getting up late and going straight to your lecture (still in your pyjamas) appears quite acceptable!

Back at the lecture theatre, much of the day focused on giving us invaluable information on how to choose, and apply to, a university. For some of us the application process was quite daunting and we felt that we didn’t quite know where to start, especially when people say things like “This is the first step of the rest of your life”. Attending this event, however, has given us all a clearer understanding of what applying and going to university involves, from finances to applications, where to go and what course to choose. Learning that there are some 51,116 degree courses on offer – including Computer Games Programming and Zoology – it became clear that university is what you make of it and there is something available for everyone.

Hatty Jeffrey (Year 12)

University choices and financial planning

Stall holders at school summer fêteDespite what the bleak weather at the time might have suggested, Saturday, 18th May was reserved for the Moulsham Infant School Summer Fête. With a large number of different activities going on, the parents and children of the Infant School had a busy day ahead of them and were delighted to receive offers of help from members of Moulsham High’s Sixth Form.

A variety of different stalls were set up by our students including raffles run by Martin Hiskey, Tim Shannon and Henry Cooper, Football Shooting run by Ryan Schweitzer and Matt Draper, a ‘Tin-Can-Ally’ run by Vihaar Patel and Will Morrell, an Ice Cream stand run by Carrie Young and Lois Olding, and a Face Painting stall run by Becki Felton and Sarah Cashman. Even Mr. Greenaway, Head of Sixth Form, was involved, running the barbeque and serving customers with the help of Adam Mitchell and Lewis Mitchell.

The most popular of all the stalls, however, was definitely the

Queen Mary UniversityUniversity choices and financial planning were the key themes of the day for 40 Year 10 students who visited Queen Mary University, London, in May.

The first task of the day involved students in creating their own university. They had to look at all of options already available and consider which universities offered the best provision, explaining the reasons behind their decisions. Students then listened to a university-style lecture on the options available to them, how to apply to university and how to ensure they made the best choice of university. They were then tasked with planning a budget for a university student so that they could gain an idea of the cost of life in higher education, should they choose this route after their A-Levels. To finish off the visit, everyone enjoyed a tour of the campus with current university students, giving a real taste of university life from those that know it best.

After leaving Queen Mary University, students had the opportunity to take a flight on the London Eye – a fantastic experience that had us identifying all the sights of London from on high.

Students commented that the trip was extremely enjoyable and one from which they learnt a lot.

MRS. MORRISH, Head of Citizenship

Students had the opportunity to take a flight on the London Eye – a fantastic experience

Hair Spraying stall run by Emily Eisenberg, Rosie Eisenberg and Josh Jardine with almost all of the children, and many of the Sixth Formers, becoming the proud owners of extravagant, vibrantly-coloured hair.

After the children and their parents had left, our Sixth Formers remained well past the time they were expected to to ensure that the day’s events were cleared up, everything was put back in the right place and that the site was left in the same condition as it had been in when we arrived.

The fête was a great success and a good fundraiser and I would like to thank all our willing volunteers for their much-appreciated contribution to the day – our students were a credit to the school, ensuring that customers were met by polite, friendly and helpful individuals, providing an excellent service.

MR. GREENAWAY, Head of Sixth Form

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Summer 2013

Challenging independent learning skillsThe Geography Gifted and Talented students in Years 7 to 10 have been hard at work recently producing pieces of work to challenge their independent learning skills. The aim of the task was to educate others about ways to prevent future damage to our planet by showing how we can make a difference through living in a more ecological and sustainable manner. Students demonstrated an enormous variety of style of presentation, including an educational poster (Olivia Adams 7HG), a huge fabric collage (Alex Clarke 10CG), a brilliant beach model (Maya Morgan 8MG), a filmed news report (Sam Rowling 9SB), an informative website (Thorfinn Laagus 8HB: http://nevermi66.wix.com/help-save-the-earth) and even a podcast (Ollie Grint 9MB)! The standard of work produced by everyone was fantastic and clearly a huge amount of effort and creativity went into each piece of work. Their work has now been entered into a national competition and we’re all keeping our fingers crossed for the competition results in the coming weeks. Good luck everyone!

MISS FREISLICH, Geography

The Wolves in the Walls

Over two nights in the Drama studio, the Year 7 Dramarama group gave its debut performance with an adaption of Neil Gaiman’s story The Wolves in the Walls. Each night was a sell out and we had to bring in extra chairs to accommodate the audience! The students were fantastic, from assisting with designing the set, managing the front of house, taking on responsibility for stage management, operating the sound and music to the designing of masks and costumes – they really took ownership of the project and were integral to the performance. Chloe Regan and Molly Ling, complete with old-style hair rollers, both got to grips with the role of Mrs. West and the snarling wolves sustained their roles, despite the fur coats and very hot stage lights.

The Dramarama group is about to embark on its next project so, watch this space!

MRS. HIGGINS, Drama

Water aid updateWell done to students in Years 7, 8 and 9 who have raised in excess of £150 this year for the Lower School sponsored charity Water Aid, an international, non-governmental organisation whose mission is to transform lives by improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in the world’s poorest communities. Students have been creative in their fund raising and activities have included sponsored silences, cake sales, lucky dips and raffles. We are hoping that the students’ enthusiasm for this worthy cause will continue and that we will be able to double our sponsorship next year.

MR. PITTS, Head of Lower School

HELPING THOSE LESS FORTUNATE THAN OURSELVES The school is proud of the charity work undertaken by students of all ages who have been raising money for a number of worthy causes.

As their chosen charity, Lower School students are supporting WaterAid, an international, non-governmental organisation whose mission is to transform lives by improving access to

safe water, hygiene and sanitation in the world's poorest communities. The students have already made their first donation and are now thinking of ways to ensure that the support continues – watch out for further updates. Further information on the work of WaterAid can be found at www.wateraid.org. MR. PITTS, Head of Lower School

Year 10 students raised an impressive £378.15 for local and national charities when they took part in the Giving Nation Challenge, a yearly event that takes place in the run-up to Christmas. All Year 10 Citizenship classes participated in the

challenge and the students were split into groups of their choice before identifying a charity that they would like to support. The aim was then to come up with an enterprising way of raising money for charity and activities this year included sponsored silences, cake sales, raffles and many other Christmas-themed events. Well done to Year 10 on their excellent achievements! MRS. MORRISH, Head of Citizenship

With the help of Sixth Form students, I held a cake sale and managed to raise £59.80 for the Icthyosis Support Group. This charity isn’t well known as it is very rare for someone to have this skin condition, or even know about it, and I chose this charity as I thought it would be good to make people more aware of its existence. Icthyosis can vary in its severity and some people have Harlequins Condition, which you may have heard about and which is life-threatening as the skin of those

affected grows much faster and they have lots and lots of layers of skin that will slowly destroy their organs if they don’t take care of it. The money raised will go directly to the charity and will help many people who suffer with this condition. Courteney White-Hale, Year 8

Sixth Formers recently held a Coloured Tights/Tie Day and organised an Open Mic Night in aid of B-eat – a charity that provides helplines, online support and a network of UK-wide self-help groups to help adults and young people in the UK beat their eating disorders. Students raised an impressive £170.20 in total and would like to thank everyone who helped

support this worthy cause. For more information on B-eat visit www.b-eat.co.uk. MR. GREENAWAY, Head of Sixth Form

Well done to The Gentlemen of Moulsham – or should that be Mo’sham? – who joined together to grow hair on their top lip in aid of men’s health. Messrs. Wilson, Groves, Stephens, Petts, Wood, Higgins, Jeffery, Muttock.

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Ski tripAn acrostic poem written by the students and staff who went on the ski trip to America at Easter.

M any laughs came out of this tripO ur cool instructor led the way on the mountainsU nder the bridge from San Francisco to TahoeL ocked out of the room on more than one occasion!S kiing down the slopes is so much funH aving the time of our livesA n amazing rep – her name was Jemma SalmonM y skiing instructor helped me out throughout the week

S un, rain, snow, sleet, all in one weekK icking off your boots is heavenly after a hard day skiingI magine the beauty of the Lake

T urning around on the chair lift to see the mountainsR acing down the slippery slopesI ce blue Lake TahoeP ier 39, cruise and views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Angel Island

L ots of food at the self-service buffetA lcatraz, a trip to rememberK ing of the hill, speeding downE ating at Bubba Gump’s on Pier 39

T wenty eight travellers to the USAA iming for the bottom of the slopeH itting the floor on many occasionsO nly one accident, at the end of the weekE leanor Coggins visited us on Thursday… yeah!

Dux award schemeThe Dux Award Scheme aims to recognise and reward top

performing students in Year 9 and the prize is a visit to a Russell

Group university for the students and their teacher, funded by

the Department for Education (DfE). ‘Dux’ is the Latin word for

leader and the award is designed to encourage students to consider

applying for a place at a top university.

Russell Group (Delivering Excellence) universities are committed

to the highest levels of academic excellence in both teaching and

research. The universities are to be found in every major city of the

UK and have a strong role and influence within their regional and

local community. Students can choose from a wide range of courses

- from medical, biological and physical sciences to business, social

sciences and the humanities. Through their outstanding research

and teaching, unrivalled links with businesses and a commitment to

civic responsibility, Russell Group universities make an enormous

impact on the economic, social and cultural wellbeing of the UK.

Florence Hammersley and Ollie Grint received the Dux Award at

Moulsham and visited Imperial College London, accompanied by Mr.

Pitts and Mrs. Crane. This is what the students had to say about

their day:

“We drove to Imperial College London, which specialises in science,

business, medicine, engineering, technology and maths. The journey took

about two-and-a-half hours, but it didn’t feel as long as we travelled in a

nice Mercedes taxi and there was lots to see.

When we arrived we had a briefing on the day’s activities. First of all

we went to the main lecture hall for an hour’s lecture on ‘When Science

Attacks’, which included a gunpowder recipe, hadron colliders and

magnets. Then we had a talk on maths at university. After this we had a

campus tour, which gave us the chance to see the various departments

and accommodation the university offers. The tour guide told us that the

university was the site where Queen had their first gig. We then learnt

about carbon capture and storage in a chemistry demonstration and

then had an opportunity to carry out a shrinking bottle experiment which

is where you add dry ice to water and create CO2 then add amines and

this causes the bottle to shrink! At the end of the day, we all met up in

the main lecture room for a de-brief and evaluation of the day.

We found the day interesting and beneficial and it gave us an insight to

what universities are like. We now feel inspired to go to a Russell Group

university.”

MR. PITTS, Head of Lower School

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Summer 2013

Ski trip

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Get Ahead, the National Forum for Graduates with Disabilities, offers a unique opportunity to experience what it is like to study at a Further Education College and at University and helps students make an informed decision about continuing their studies after finishing school.

The Get Ahead day involved students travelling to colleges and universities in Colchester and Southend and was a wonderful way for them to experience a variety of aspects of life in further education. The day provided real inspiration and gave meaning to the students’ current learning at school and the importance of achieving good grades and having a positive learning attitude. Of particular enjoyment was the Peter Jones Enterprise Activity and the tour of the extensive site at Colchester University.

MRS. EAST, Senior LSA

This is what the boys involved had to say about their experiences…

Colchester University“I went on the trip and enjoyed it especially seeing what accommodation was available and what facilities I could use there. My parents attended the second day and they thought it was very useful to learn what can be available to support students like myself. The visit made me think about taking University more seriously.” Joseph Radford

“Overall I thought it was a fun day. I enjoyed the team building the most as it helped me to learn to communicate and use everyone in a group to a unique advantage. I think I will go to university when I’m older, but don’t know what exactly for yet, and this has helped me to make a decision about my future.” Matthew Clements

Southend University“I enjoyed my trip to the college and university. I hope I could do it all again.” Guy Illingworth

“I liked the business activity as we had to do a lot of persuading.” Ewan Macivor

“I thought it was very useful to go to the university. I enjoyed the business part where we had to make a tower using materials such as newspapers and cardboards. I would give the trip 9.5 out of 10.” Kajan Balachandran

“I loved the food on the first day – I had a burger, cake and a Rossi ice cream. We learnt about networks and a game with sweets which was about negotiating.” Martin Young

Get Ahead! GCSE drama showcase

For the final unit of their GCSE Drama course, Year 11 students were required to work in groups to rehearse and present a 30-minute performance in front of a visiting examiner. A week before the final exam all the groups were show-ready and presented a showcase of their exam work to an audience of relations and peers.

All the groups had been given published plays to work with, so when the process began in January there was much feverish editing in order to whittle down full-length plays to the 30-minute maximum. Team Drama really rose to the challenge and worked highly independently on a very diverse range of texts, including three plays by John Godber, Bouncers, Shakers and Teechers (sic) that had our guys devising fast-paced, high-energy pieces where they had to play multiple roles; Daisy Pulls it Off, which had our girls flexing their jolly hockey sticks, A Midsummer Night’s Dream with real sword fighting that really impressed; and a tour de force version of Waiting for Godot that demonstrated some excellent comic timing. Students were keen to compete against the standards set by last year’s cohort and their hard work paid off, especially for the girls who presented the play Find Me and achieved such a high standard that they were all awarded full marks.

This year’s cohort was a delight to work with; levels of commitment and imagination were sky-high. Stand-out performances included Ellie Harris’s impassioned monologue about school life in Teechers, Chris Gray’s supremely vacant and put-upon Lucky in Godot and Katie Morton’s energetic public school girl with the world’s longest scream in Daisy Pulls it Off. Respect must also be paid to Abigail Watson, who soldiered on despite her poorly eye, and Will Zulu for his most excellent dancing!

See for yourself how brilliant they all were on the day by going to youtube.com/MoulshamPerfArts and look for the GCSE Drama Unit 3 2013 playlist.

Go Team Drama!

MR. WILSON, Head of Drama

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Summer 2013

On Friday, 24th May, 45 musicians, comprising Las Estrellas, The Reed Group and the Boys’ Vocal Group, set off for a week-long music tour to Lake Garda in northern Italy. Whilst away the ensembles performed to Italian audiences at three amazing concert venues.

Courtyard of the Rocca – at the most northern tip of Lake Garda, in Riva del Garda. The musicians performed an extensive programme in beautiful surroundings with wonderful acoustics. Our students’ performances were part of a two-day, annual music festival held in the town every May. That evening, the audience was wowed by the three tour soloists – Hannah Collin, Katy Forkings and Gemma White.

Villa Ducale, Dolo – this beautiful converted villa is situated near Venice and is now a hotel. Our musicians were situated in the main hall throughout the evening and performed an extensive and varied selection of pieces from their repertoire, ranging from Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody to the Wallace and Gromit theme tune.

Piazza Carducci, Sirmione. On the final night of the tour Moulsham’s musicians played to a large audience in the main piazza of Sirmione, south of Lake Garda. It was a very enjoyable, relaxed evening of music making as the ensembles were surrounded by

Music tour to Lake Garda, Italyrestaurants and passers-by, in stark contrast to the previous two, more formal evenings. As the musicians were leaving the piazza to return to their hotel at the end of the performance, the Italian audience applauded them out of the town – a wonderful moment that we will all remember for years to come!

During the tour, the students spent their days enjoying the beauty of Italy and taking in the sights – including visiting Venice, taking a boat trip along Lake Garda, a 1760m ascent in a cable car to the top of Monte Baldo and a day’s excursion to Italy’s largest, and most popular theme park, ‘Gardaland’ – alongside time spent relaxing by the hotel pool.

‘It was a really memorable experience. One I will never forget’. Year 10 student

It was a fantastic week and we all had the opportunity to not only enjoy the wonders of northern Italy, but also to give three outstanding concert performances! I am very proud of all the students, who worked so hard to prepare for this trip. Thank you to all the students and staff that made the trip such a success and a truly unforgettable experience.

MR. ALFORD, Music

Science with a foreign twistAs part of the programme of enrichment days, some Year 7 students completed Science lessons with a difference – they were taught in French and German! Students were given the chance to learn new words and carry out experiments in another language and finished up making little rockets to launch!

Here is what two of the students had to say about their sessions.

“We did lots of experiments, but we had to do them in German! It was really fun and I learnt lots of new words such as Schutzbrille (goggles) and Behalter (container). We worked in pairs, which was enjoyable, and if we got stuck we had Sixth Formers on our table to help. We had competitions – one was the best rocket design and I won! It was a very fun day and I would 100% do it again.” Jessica Hardy

“First of all we had to learn a few german words, like zerkleinert which means crushed. We also looked at a few space rockets – most were in Russia and America and one in Germany. Then we did an experiment. In the experiment we got some Alka-Seltzer, put it in a container, filled it up with water, then we put the lid on and waited for about 15 seconds and

the lid flew off. It was the gas rising to the top and running out of space that caused it to explode. After that we started building rockets out of coloured paper, using an outline that we folded and stuck together.” Alex Holloway.

MISS JUDGE, Modern Foreign Languages

SUMDOG – a resounding success!Earlier in the year, the school bought into the concept of SUMDOG – entertaining maths revision software for Year 7 students. The aim of this online resource is to help develop students’ confidence and competency with mental arithmetic and it covers may areas of maths/numeracy, including multiplication, divisions, fractions and percentages. Without a doubt this has proved popular with the students and regular participation appears to have significantly developed their skills. The average number of questions attempted by students last term was well over 2000 each and most of these were completed by students during breaks or lunchtimes at school or at home in the evenings and weekends.

The real strength of the software is its ability to constantly monitor the speed as well as the accuracy of each student’s response and from this build a detailed picture of individual strengths and weaknesses and instantly set appropriately-levelled questions. It also allows students, parents and teachers to monitor the progress being made at any time and areas of weakness that need further practise can be selected.

There are a number of school-based tasks and competitions that students will be encouraged to complete during the summer holiday and we look forward to your support with this.

If you have any questions about how to make the most of this free resource, please do not hesitate to either check the school website or contact the school.

MR. BUNN, Head of Teaching & Learning


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Summer 2013

17

Murder at seaYear 9 English students have been working on a creative writing Unit this term, developing the opening to their own detective story. The following work by Josh Bird is a very strong piece that shows skill and ambition with its crafting of language for effect and a confident grasp of the convention of the genre.

MURDER AT SEA, By Josh Bird (Year 9)Everything stopped. Everyone stopped. It was the engines; the notorious, continuous roar and rumble had swiftly been replaced by an ominous silence. Immediately the passengers realised what had happened, as they stood in the ship’s stationary lobby.

A cacophonous voice belonging to Harold Arthur broke the silence.

“Why on earth are the goddamn engines stopped?!” his voice echoed.

What followed could only be described as panic and hysteria. The assembled group broke into fear. For all they knew, they were stranded. Yet in the shadowed corner of the elaborate lobby, stood a lone man, who remained perfectly calm. His name was Ethan Blake. A man of mystery, both his intriguing personality and his profession. Instantly he felt the urge to investigate the occurrence; there must be an explanation. His mind knew exactly where to begin.

The words “authorised personnel” were ignored, and the hatch was swiftly swung open. An iron staircase was revealed, yet at the top, the door was slightly ajar. Echoes of Ethan’s carefully placed footsteps emanated around the low corridor, gradually working towards the 6-inch strong, steel door. Behind that door lay the most vital room aboard the entire boat, the ship’s controls.

Death was something Blake often met with; shock, however, was not.

The captain’s body was sprawled on the floor like a discarded rag, his limbs at inhuman angles. Most distinguishable were his two eyes, now gateways to hell; like lava from the apocalypse itself, blood poured out of his neck. His white, carefully pressed, soft silk suit

was now saturated with blood. Death, though, seemed to give Detective Blake an odd sense of liveliness. Adrenaline.

“Ey Captain! Is there a problem with the engines or summin’?” Simon Trye shouted, his words ending as abruptly as they had begun. The pair stood in shock, realising the severity of the situation. As a professional detective, Ethan was used to corpses, however Simon being a ship’s mate, had little experience. Outside, cumulus clouds gathered devilishly, casting the room in a hellish shadow.

“Sir, may I ask you to send an SOS; there is a murderer on board and the Captain is dead,” Ethan stated boldly, his eyes boring into Simon’s.

“Uh, will do Detective,” stuttered the first mate, still unsure of his instructions.

Detective Blake and Simon Trye, returned to the lobby. The presence of Simon’s uniform instantly drawing attention to the grim faced duo, almost mirroring each other as they descended the stairs like two marching troops. Their duty, was to inform the passengers of this hellish event. Ethan felt the power, all curious eyes glued to him, and he embraced it. His malcophonous voice broke the silence and became the one sound on board the entire ship.

“The Captain of this vessel has been,” he paused purposely for effect, “murdered.”

All around the passengers gasped in shock. This was Ethan’s chance; he scanned the passengers, looking for the smallest of reactions. From the twenty or so people there, three stood out. One, an elderly lady, rich from a glance, impeccably manicured, who obviously missed the joys of youth. Her clothes belonged to a teenager, as did her make-up. Make-up! His mind shot backwards to the body; the foundation marks on the arm of the white suit. They had been in contact. Suspect!

UKMT mathematics challenge winnersOnce again, the top sets in Year 7 and Year 8 Mathematics were entered in the UKMT Maths Challenge and achieved some excellent results. The questions certainly stretched even the most able mathematicians and everyone who took part was a credit to the school. Well done! Special congratulations go to Alexander Hulme for being the only student to receive a Gold Award and also for getting the best result in the school.

YEAR 7 RESULTSSilver Award Matthew Foster and Adam Frost.Bronze Award Alex Thompson, Ethan Hovell, Tom Fairchild, Katie Passfield, Evie Quazi, Maddie Archer, Olivia Adams,

Megan Gasson, Finlay Ramjane, Maxime Bacon, Oliver Middleton, Amber Stacey, Athish Thayalan, Lizzy Quaye and Erin Graves.

YEAR 8 RESULTS Gold Award and Best in School Alexander Hulme.Silver Award Rosie Higgins, Katherine Maxwell, Alice Ronn, Stanley West and Caitlin Green.Bronze Award Emma Fairhurst, Edward Bonney, Ryan Mogford, Amy Frost, Cara Jordan, Alfie Falltrick, Iona Webber, Danielle Rollins, Emily Foster, Freya Cave, Chloe Kemp, Phoebe Walsh, Jasmine Hulbert and Shengul Seymert

MRS. SCHULTZ, Key Stage 3 Mathematics Coordinator

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Speaking in foreign tonguesOnce again, Moulsham High School contributed to the International Week at Moulsham Infant School and our students and staff delivered taster sessions in various languages that would not usually be taught to children of this age.

• Emini and Safia taught Italian and said that “The children were enthusiastic and it was fun!”

• Ciara and Tilly taught themselves some Turkish words prior to helping out and thought it was great fun.

• Bonnie, Hannah, Gemma, Reiss, Matt, Tom and Louise all had “A very enjoyable time” teaching French to Reception and Year 1 children.

• Wiktoria, Katie, Julia and Kealy, some of our Year 7 students, taught Polish and comments about their experience included: “I think we were a bit nervous when we had our first class, but we soon got the hang of it … one group was a little quiet, but I soon fixed that”!

• Fahmida and Lelyn taught German and said that “The children were extremely well behaved. Overall, we had a great time and we hope the kids did too”.

• Ms. Kotzé was kind enough to contribute her cultural knowledge of South Africa to this event and led the children in various activities.

All the students, apart from those in Year 7, were also involved in our Language Ambassadors programme and visited Moulsham Infant School weekly between October and May to teach French to Year 2 children. The students were enthusiastic and inventive and a real credit to the school again this year. Well done to you all!

MRS. BRADLEY, Head of French

The school run quizThe school was recently invited to take part in the BBC Essex School Run Quiz broadcast live on Mark Punter’s afternoon show. Each day for a week teachers and students competed against each other on their chosen specialist subjects and amassed a combined total of 22 points (14 points for the teachers and 8 points for the students) We are hoping that our score will see Moulsham through to the next round of the competition later in the year. Well done to everyone involved!

Day 1: First up was Mr. Mugford, Teacher of Geography and Deputy Headteacher, specialist subject Physical Geography of Essex, against Jacob Charles in Year 8, specialist subject Antarctica and China. After three easy questions for Mr. Mugford and three difficult questions for Jacob, the score was 3-2 to the teachers.

Day 2: Mr. Alford, Teacher of Music, specialist subject Eastenders, against Katy Forkings in Year 8, specialist subject Glee. After three difficult questions for both Mr. Alford and Katy, the score was 5-3 to the teachers.

Day 3: Miss Bell, Teacher of PRE (Philosophy, Religion and Ethics), specialist subject TV Programme Friends, against Lily Camblin-Smith in Year 9, specialist subject The movie Mean Girls. After three reasonable questions for Miss Bell and three hard questions for Lily, the score was 8-4 to the teachers.

Day 4: Mr. Wilson, Teacher of Drama, specialist subject Star Wars Films, against Amber Campbell in Sixth Form, specialist subject The Kardashians. After Mr Wilson caused a stir by questioning the answer to 1 of his 3 questions, Amber had three difficult questions to answer, the score was 11-5 to the teachers.

Day 5: Mr. O’Leary, Teacher of English, specialist subject Irish Politicians, against Zöe Nicholson Head Girl, specialist subject Olly Murs. After three hard questions for Mr. O’Leary and three difficult questions for Zoe, the final score was 14-8 to the teachers.

The questions and answers in full can be found on the Media Gallery page on the school’s website www.moulshamhigh.org/124/audio-gallery.

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Summer 2013

Day 1It all began at 6.30am on Friday morning when 23 students met at school bound for Iceland, the land of Fire and Ice!!! Upon arrival, we were whisked to the Blue Lagoon where we all enjoyed a swim in the geothermal spa. It was quite bizarre to be swimming in water that was kept warm naturally at 35-40°C! After a short transfer to our hostel in Reykjavik, we received an introduction to Icelandic history, culture and learnt how to pronounce ‘Eyjafjallajökull’ - yes, it is as hard as it looks!

Day 2After breakfast, we were introduced to our guide, Olaf, who accompanied us around this magnificent country for the duration of our trip. First stop, Eyjafjallajökull flood plain where we were able to see the path the glacial floods had taken during the 2010 volcanic eruption. On our approach, Olaf suggested we climbed Stori-Dimon Volcano, which stood high up in the middle of the flat landscape and we just laughed, but there was a path and we went climbing and, wow, the view from the top was simply breathtaking! We then moved onto Seljalandfloss, a waterfall that, as a result of isostatic rebound, we could walk behind, giving us a unique outlook on the waterfall and the surrounding landscape. Next stop was Skogafloss, where we were greeted by a magical waterfall with a complete rainbow framing the falls and this made for one of many fantastic photo opportunities! Late afternoon we were kitted up with an axe and crampons and enjoyed a glacier walk on Solheimajokull, one of Iceland’s many ice caps. To round off the day we were fortunate enough to witness the Northern Lights.

Day 3In the morning we spent some time studying the coastal landscape at Reynishverfi, which is constantly evolving, forming caves, arches and blowholes. We then moved onto the small town of Vik where we were able to buy souvenirs, learn about some of the local culture and the boys even enjoyed a snowball fight on the beach! In the afternoon we visited Thorvaldseyri visitor centre and watched a fascinating video of how the inhabitants of a small farm witnessed the Eyjafjallajokull eruption in 2010 unfold in their back yard!

Day 4The day began with a visit to the town Hveragerdi, which was literally steaming – it was weird to see the largest banana plantation in Europe in a town just south of the Arctic Circle and learn that restaurants here cooked and made all of their electricity using the heat of the earth! We were warned at the hot springs not to step on white patches on the grounds under any circumstances or we might fall straight through the earth and into the boiling mud below! We then boiled eggs in the geothermal water and experienced a feast of geothermal bread with geothermal egg-yum before continuing our tour past Kerid volcanic crater lake to the Great Geyser, which erupts every 5-10 minutes and managed to shower the teachers! Next stop was Gullfloss, a two-tier waterfall carving the landscape and creating a 2km long valley downstream!

Iceland - The land of fire and iceFinal stop of the day was the Mid-Atlantic ridge and Thingvellir, the Viking parliament of Iceland, with its many weird and wonderful traditions, before returning to Reykjavík to complete our trip.

Day 5 Sadly, our tour was coming to an end and, after a quick morning’s shopping in downtown Reykjavik, it was time to return to the airport for our return flight home. It was amazing to see for ourselves a country that is so beautiful, yet has the capability to be so problematic – it is anticipated that Katla will erupt this year, with an explosion four times bigger than that of Eyjafjallajökull in 2010 – so keep your eyes peeled! A massive thanks must go to Mrs. Cummings, Mr. McKoewn and Mr. Muttock who made this trip possible and to everyone who shared such a fantastic experience!

By Matt Grint (Year 11)

Matt standing on the edge of a tectonic plate

☞

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NormandyBetween 7th and 10th June, 150 Year 8 students spent their time in Normandy, France, and had the chance to try some new activities (and new food!) and experience a new culture. A lot of fun was had by all and we are already looking forward to next year’s trip!

The Normandy Trip is open to all current Year 7 students and offers students a chance to enhance their learning outside of the classroom. The trip next year will take place from Friday, 13th June to Monday, 16th June. For more information see the letter on the school’s website or speak.

MISS JUDGE, Modern Foreign Languages

Four students give their account of the trip:On 7th June 2013 we set off on for Normandy. The coach journey was very long, but there was plenty to keep us occupied, even watching the 1980s movie Labyrinth! Once we arrived we went straight to the auberge for dinner and this was followed by an activity – passport of the world.

The next day we had to wake up at 6.45am and get ready for breakfast. Once we had had our breakfast we headed off for a morning activity which was trapeze and team challenge. Then we went to Mont St Michel where we had to climb over 1000 steps to reach a church at the top of the island. When we had finished our tour of the church we had an hour to visit the shops and buy some souvenirs. Once we got back to the chateau we had our dinner and then joined the PGL staff around a camp fire.

The following day we were up at 6.45am again! After we had all had our croissants we headed off to Fougères for a tour of the castle and town trail, finishing at a park to eat our lunch. We headed back home to the chateau for our afternoon activities, which included archery and wall climbing. We then had dinner at the chateau followed by ‘crêpe night’; sadly I dropped the egg and the other egg was dropped in the bowl so our crêpes were inedible! Being our final night at the chateau, we enjoyed a Diablo (a strawberry-flavoured, carbonated French drink) and a game of football, which our team won. The next morning we were up nice and early for croissants for breakfast before leaving the chateau.

By Alfie Probert and Kieran Livermore

The Normandy Trip is open to all current Year 7 students and offers students a chance to enhance their learning outside of the classroom

On 7th June, most of Year 8 went to Normandy in France. We stayed in Château du Tertre for 3 nights. The rooms were quite small, but cosy.

On the first day, we went up and found our rooms, put our bags down and were given a tour by our coach leader Chris. We were shown all the buildings, including the basketball court and the ‘magic’ tree. We then took part in an activity in the chateau for which we were given a sheet of questions and went around looking for signs to the answers; it was fun! We then went off to dinner and I had breaded fish with vegetables. We had some free time after that so we went to the ‘magic tree’ with our friends and played some games. We had to be in by 10.00pm for the teachers to check our rooms and we had to have lights off at 10.30pm.

Next morning we woke up at about 6 o’clock so we could all have a shower and get ready. We then went down to have breakfast, had a bit of free time, and then went on the coach to a big ancient castle and had a look around – it was old and ridged, but very cool. We looked around all the bits of the castle – there were water falls as well and they were gorgeous. We went around in groups of no less than 4 and had a nice time. We then were given a sheet of questions and went around in our groups with a leader and walked up a big hill to find the answers. After that, we sat on the grass and ate our lunch – there was an amazing view and lots of pictures were taken. We then went back to have dinner.

By Holly Wingham and Sophie Spooner

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Summer 2013

The Jack Petchey Award recognises the achievement of our students in the following categories: academic achievement, school community involvement, outside school community involvement and extra-curricular achievement. A student committee considers all the nominations and then decides on a winner to receive £200 to spend as he/she chooses in school.

Congratulations to our winners this year:• Aydin Saribal, Year 11, for carrying out emergency first aid. • Nicole Du Preez, Year 13, for her work with the

Homework Club.• Alice Preston, Year 13, for her contributions to the

Music department.• Ellie Smit, Year 13, for her contributions to the

Music department.• Courtney White-Hale, Year 8, for organising and running a

charity bake sale.• Bethan Radcliffe, Year 12, for outstanding A-level Art work.• Tim Smith, Year 10, for dedication to basketball at Moulsham.• Emily French, Year 13, for her work at the Hearing Impaired

Unit, Mildmay Junior School.• Soman Iqbal, Year 10, for academic achievement in ICT.

Our Award winners have chosen to purchase the following items for the school:• Javelin, basketball and cricket equipment. • Photographic equipment and gouache paint. • Science Clever Catch balls. • Business Studies resource packs for GCSE and A-level. • Music keyboards. • German audio books. • Finch Robots for ICT.

Jack Petchey AwardWe are also delighted to report that Abbie Bauckham received the Jack Petchey Award in June from the Young Essex Assembly (YEA). Abbie explained, “I won the Jack Petchey Award for my outstanding effort in the YEA and the ideas that I have contributed. I was voted for by my peers and I feel blessed to have won the Award and that my effort has been recognised within the YEA. I am spending my money on the prize for the drama competition to raise awareness of bullying and why it shouldn’t happen in schools or around Essex”.

MRS. BACON, Jack Petchey Coordinator

SPEAK OUT CHALLENGE UPDATEIn the spring term edition of Focus, I informed you of the forthcoming regional competition at St. John Payne School for the Jack Petchey Speak Out Challenge, a competition in which public speaking skills are put to the test in the search for a speaker to represent the Central Essex area at the Grand Final.

Hazel Ellender and Sarah Cramp were chosen from our many eloquent speakers in Year 10 to represent Moulsham High School. The Regional Final was, indeed, a very tough competition, with speeches on the subject of space, dancing and even your oral health! Hazel delivered an enthralling speech about time and asked the audience, “How do you spend it?” Unfortunately, despite how moving Hazel’s words were, the winning entry proved to be a highly-entertaining speech about door etiquette.

I would like to congratulate Hazel, on her brilliant effort at the competition, and Sarah, who took part in the workshop, and say a special thank you to their fellow Year 10s who came along to support them.

MISS REYNOLDS, English

The YMCA representative started the day with a story about how this organisation is involved with helping children in more disadvantaged country’s than our own, such as Africa. The youth worker told us about how the YMCA supports these people through aid workers and the funding they raise for them in charity events. The realisation of the day-to-day hardships that the children and adults were faced with was truly humbling.

We then moved on to our first activity for which we were tasked with creating a shopping list according to what we thought would be appropriate for a particular scenario using the budget that was given to us. Once we had finished planning we gave a short presentation on what we would spend the money on and the reasons for our choices.

My day at the YMCA When all the groups were finished we proceeded to have lunch before moving onto the most eventful part of the day which was trying to pitch our ideas for protecting eggs to a Dragons Den-style panel. The judges consisted of Ms. Howes, Mr. Veitch and Mrs. Crane, who all had their own individual way of judging the contest.

Ms. Howes adopted an educational approach, while Mr. Veitch performed his role as Lord Alan Sugar in a rather humorous way; Mrs. Crane seemed to thrive on criticising our sales pitches and picking our ideas to bits and, although she was very harsh with the groups, she kept the other students entertained with her witty and sometimes brutal comments.

All the groups had a most enjoyable day and some or our inventions actually worked!

By Thomas Seaman (Year 9)

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Cue Moulsham Pedal power in the curriculumSince the success of the London Olympics, the sport of cycling has really taken off! We are delighted to inform you, therefore, that a partnership has been established between our PE department and British Cycling and, as a consequence, some of our Key Stage 3 students were fortunate enough to receive some first-class cycling tuition from Mark Wyer, a British Cycling coach in the Eastern Region.

Mark has previously coached the likes of Alex Dowsett (currently rides for Movistar and recently won the Time Trial Stage at the Giro D’Italia) and Jo Rowsell (recently won the British National Time Trial Race). His main role within British Cycling is the development and promotion of this exciting sport and he is currently working with schools and clubs, as well as running holiday programmes. Mark visited Moulsham over a 6-week period and educated and coached our students in a range of cycling skills.

During the sessions our students were taught about track cycling races – Team Sprint, Team Pursuit, Keirin, and The Elimination Race – and in the final week of the course Mark ran a competition for the students, combining the Elimination Race and the Keirin into a mini Omnium (along the lines of the Heptathlon or Decathlon in athletics). There was some fierce competition, particularly amongst the Year 8 boys whose race was won by Harvey Jennings, followed by Charlie Wren in 2nd place and Joe Scott in 3rd place.

Students also learnt about braking, gear change, riding with others and navigating around corners and cones. All those involved enjoyed the experience and were engaged by this different activity within their curriculum.

We are grateful to Mark Wyer for his time and effort and look forward to some more cycling in the future.

MR. SAWTELL, Head of Boys’ PE

Common room The Sixth Form Council decided that one of their aims for this year would be to refurbish the Common Room and, having taken a vote on colours and sought volunteers in assembly, that is precisely what they did over the course of a weekend. The new colour scheme has made everything look bigger and brighter. A huge thank you must go to Hugh Pickering-Carter and Anham Riasat, Leaders of the Student Council, who organised non-uniform days to raise the money that made the project possible. Also, thank you to everyone who came into school to help paint – the Common Room looks fantastic!

Hatty Jeffrey (Year 12)

In September, with support from the WPBSA (World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association), Moulsham High School will be launching a Functional Snooker programme and will develop its own Cue Zone, using six-foot snooker tables. Members of staff will be trained as WPBSA World Snooker Coaches and will help students develop their skills on the green baize. Functional Snooker aims to support and develop the literacy and numeracy skills of young people at the same time as they learn to play snooker and uses a system whereby red balls and coloured balls are all given different values. It is also designed to encourage involvement in snooker before and after school and during lunch breaks, as well as during English, Maths and sports lessons. The scheme has already been used in schools in China with positive educational results.

This exciting initiative will allow Moulsham to be one of the first schools in Essex to offer an onsite snooker club and students who take part regularly will be given an opportunity in the future to take part in a school-wide tournament hosted by Steve Davis (6 times World Snooker Champion).

MR. BUNN, Head of Teaching and Learning

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Summer 2013

3G football pitch add to Moulsham’s facilitiesOn 28th May, the state-of-the art, all-weather, 3G football pitch was officially handed over to Moulsham High School and its opening was celebrated with a Football Tournament and Family Fun Day at the beginning of July.

The flood-lit pitch is constructed from synthetic grass carpet and far exceeds earlier generations in terms of performance and durability. First generation synthetic turf pitch was constructed of polypropylene and was officially known as AstroTurf; it was less expensive and more comfortable than natural grass and offered less risk of player injury. Second generation synthetic grass had widely spaced, longer tufts that provided increased firmness and stability; its construction also gave players better ball control. The 1970s saw widespread use of sand infill on artificial pitches, but there were always concerns regarding friction burns and blisters. By the late 1990s, a less abrasive polythene turf had been introduced with a soft rubber infill. Today’s 3G pitch uses a scientifically advanced combination of quartz sand and rubber granule layered onto the surface and provides enhanced protection and additional impact absorption.

The flexibility of the pitch layout allows the full-size pitch to be utilised for 11- and 9-a-side matches or 3 smaller pitches which can be separated by netting for 7-a-side matches and training sessions. A viewing area has been provided alongside the pitch and planning permission has been granted for a new sports pavilion building. The 3G pitch is now available for use by the school, partner clubs and other appropriate users.

Q: What footwear should I wear on the pitch?A: Studded football boots are best – no blades or trainers are allowed.

Q: Are there changing facilities? A: Work on the new sports pavilion building is scheduled to start before the end of the year.

Q: Who do I contact to find out more about hiring this facility? A: Matt Kimber (Facilities Manager) e: [email protected] t: 01245 504502 or Barry Poulteney (Finance & HR Assistant) t: 01245 504533

MR. KIMBER, Facilities Manager

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One of the highest commendations at Moulsham High School is an invitation to sign the Headteacher’s Book for achievement in and out of school. The following students received this honour during the autumn term. Well done to:

Name Reason for signing:

Alfie Howard For achieving 150 Merits in an academic year

Billy Humberstone For achieving 150 Merits in an academic year

Andrew Munro For excellent effort and improvement in Numeracy

Szymon Stupek For continued and excellent effort and achievement in Numeracy

Gemma White For writing and recording an excellent song about the Doppler Effect in Physics

Leanne Young For writing and recording an excellent song about the Doppler Effect in Physics

Harry Brown For his successful audition for a part in a London play

Maddie Cowie For hard work and excellent achievement in English

Paige Ingram For her excellent attitude whilst on Work Experience at the Essex Chronicle, writing a detailed and well considered feature that was published in Go!, the entertainment section of the paper

Tom Reader For his outstanding illustrations and contribution to the Horizon Young Enterprise Children’s Book

Georgina Salmons For support, continued enthusiasm and mentoring skills in a Year 10 Drama class

Rebecca Brewer For commitment and enthusiasm in her role as mentor to Year 11 Drama students

Jen Clark For going to the rescue of a panicked Year 7 student who was having a coughing fit and struggling to breathe

Sarah Morris For assisting in the Library throughout her time in the Sixth Form, showing real commitment and reliability and regularly giving up her lunchtimes and free lessons

Tilly Morton For representing the school on the Lessons from Auschwitz course, run by the Holocaust Educational Trust, and for the interesting follow-up work planned

Tristan Morton For outstanding achievement in his five A2 Maths modules

Hugh Pickering-Carter For representing the school on the Lessons from Auschwitz course, run by the Holocaust Educational Trust, and for the interesting follow-up work planned

Alice Preston For outstanding contribution to the extra-curricular life of the Music department

Ellie Smit For outstanding contribution to the extra-curricular life of the Music Department

The Headteacher’s Book

Moulsham High School Senior Sixth 2012/2013:

Oliver Smith (Head Boy), Zöe Nicholson (Head Girl)

Joe Dexter, Ben Garland, Michael Glassock, Ben Park (Deputy Head Boys)

Daisy Anderson, Rebecca Brewer, Bethan Johnson, Ellie Smit (Deputy Head Girls)

Hugh Pickering-Carter, Anham Riasat (Leaders of the Student Council)

Harley Yavuz, Amber Campbell (Sports Captains)

Libby Fletcher (Liaison Officer), Emily Murfitt (Publicity Officer)

Anastasija Majakovaite, Heather Matthews, Victoria Marven (Charities Coordination Team)

FOCUS - Moulsham High School...seen it, to take a look at Sir Dave Brailsford’s clip on Marginal...

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