Welcome to our Autumn Term Newsletter!
We began this term by welcoming our new Year 12 students! They have settled in brilliantly over the last few weeks, and we look forward to working with them further next term.
Samaritans
We started the term with a visit from the Samaritans who spoke to our students about a range of issues affecting young people today, as well as, how they can seek advice and help should they ever need to.
Jeans 4 Genes
On the 19th September, Sixth Form students donned their jeans to raise money for Jeans for Genes. The Jeans for Genes campaign raises awareness of the daily challenges faced by those living with a genetic condition and raises money to fund projects that make a tangible difference to the lives of those affected. A total of £360 was raised for this brilliant cause.
Cotswold Friends
Julie from Cotswold Friends visited us this term to talk to students about the volunteering opportunities they offer. Cotswold Friends is a local charity which helps and supports older and vulnerable people. Julie spoke about the services the charity provides, in particular their Young Befriender Programme which aims to provide friendship and company to elderly residents. As well as helping to combat loneliness and improve mental well-being for the residents, the programme provides excellent experience for the young people involved, which in turn can be used on CV’s and in University interviews. The young volunteers can also have the opportunity to shadow staff members such as the nursing team and also access a variety of training courses including First Aid training and Safeguarding.
Daniel Morden
This term we were delighted to welcome author Daniel Morden to CCS. Daniel is a Welsh storyteller in the oral tradition and a children’s writer. He retells traditional stories from various cultures, in particular the Celtic and the ancient Greek. Daniel kindly met with some of our Sixth Formers pictured below:
CCS ‘Question Time!’
In October our Head Prefect Seb was given the opportunity to interview Sean Woodcock who is the Labour MP for Banbury. Politics student Seb quizzed Mr Woodcock on a variety of issues in front of a live student audience! Following the interview Mr Woodcock kindly did a Q&A; Mr Dove (Head of History and Politics) was very impressed with the questions put to Mr Woodcock by some of the students in the audience.
Bienvenue Kate!
Year 10 to Year 13 MFL students had the fantastic opportunity to work with Kate Lofthouse, a successful blogger and creative translator. Kate shared how she has used her French language skills throughout her career and offered valuable insights and inspiration to our budding linguists.
‘Pretty in Pink’
On the 24th October the whole school came together for Pink Day which raises money for Cancer Research. This year was particularly special as it marked the 10th anniversary of this charity event. Students and staff dressed in pink and donated £1 to raise money; a particular highlight of the day was during Break 2 when several very brave teachers took part in ‘Brave the Shave’ with a little help (and some wax strips!) from our Sixth Form volunteers. All together the whole school raised a whopping £1879.00!
Remembrance 2025
‘To commemorate Remembrance 2025, Year 13 History students led the school Remembrance Assemblies. Their theme was Casualties of War, and they chose to focus on historical evidence e.g. diaries, documents, art, photos etc, to show that ‘casualty’ is a larger concept than the death toll. Their case studies ranged from a Girl Guide recounting training about how to attack a tank in case of Nazi invasion, to a young man suffering from shell shock who was court-marshalled for cowardice in the First World War. They also highlighted the origins of the poppy appeal and how the funding is used today, encouraging students to donate. I am very proud of their thoughtful research and how students pushed themselves out of their comfort zones to speak in assemblies across the entire school’. Mrs Kingswood (Director of Learning: Social Sciences)
As part of the Remembrance Services, our Head Prefects Hannah and Seb represented the school at the Remembrance Parade in Chipping Campden. Our Deputy Head Prefects Harry and Holly represented the school at the service in Broadway.
Pass Plus Success!
Back in the summer we launched our Safer Driving Scheme with our Year 12 students. In partnership with the Chipping Campden Community Trust we were able to offer 10 students (in the first instance) the opportunity to access a fully funded place on a Pass Plus Advanced Driving course. The response from students was incredibly positive and this term Year 13 student Emily became one of the first to successfully complete the course after passing her driving test. Here, Emily tells us a little bit more about her experience on the course, congratulations Emily!
‘When pass plus was introduced to our year, I initially saw that the biggest advantage would be saving a few pennies on my insurance. However in the midst of my experience, I realised it had offered much more. After completing the six hours of driving with an instructor, I found my confidence behind the wheel had risen. The experience benefitted me most because living in the Cotswolds as a student, I never really needed to commute on motorways. Yet having the skills to be able to drive on the motorway with ease in only a few hours is reassuring.’ Emily Bray, Year 13
Sixth Form Open Evening
On Thursday 6th November we opened our doors to prospective sixth form students and their families for our annual open evening. We welcomed Year 11 students currently at CCS as well as many students from other schools. The evening consisted of welcome presentations by Mr Elmes, as well as subject information sessions delivered by our teaching staff and student subject ambassadors.
Life Learning – Finance Talk
As part of our Life Learning programme, we welcomed Keri and Jess from Wren Sterling Financial Planning. They provided our Sixth Form students with lots of information and advice from understanding pay slips to saving money, pensions, and credit cards.
And the winner is…
Two of our Sixth Formers were celebrating receiving the prestigious ‘Work of the Week’ award this term! As part of their A-Level Psychology course, Emily and Joe both achieved 100% in their HiveMind assessments in each of the previous six weeks. The assessments involved them spending 30 minutes every day (four days per week) learning key Psychology concepts and then responding to questions about this using a concept known as ‘spaced repetition’. Huge congratulations to Joe and Emily!
Tuesday Talks
Over the course of the term our ‘Tuesday Talk’ programme has welcomed a wide variety of speakers to inspire and encourage our students. Below is an insight into some of the fantastic speakers we have welcomed to CCS since September.
Rebecca Fogarty
Rebecca is a recruitment consultant who spoke to students about Degree Apprenticeships including salary, benefits, working/study pattern, partner universities, the interview and selection process, as well as CV advice and next steps.
Jeremy Houghton
CCS Alumni – Jake and Abi
Emma Goodman
JLR – Procurement Apprentice
United We ‘Mo’
Year 13 student Ollie Lewis has been on a ‘Mo Mission’ this term! Back in October he launched his Movember Fundraiser with staff; Movember are the leading charity changing the face of men’s health, they aim to raise awareness on mental health, suicide prevention and prostate and testicular cancer. Ollie headed a number of events throughout November, one of these was the Movember ‘Pub Quiz’ which was held in the PAC. Ten teams of six came together (staff and students) to have their celebrity, movie, music and general knowledge tested!
To find out more or to make a donation please use the QR Code below. We would like to extend a big thank you and congratulations to Ollie for all his hard work with this. Well done Ollie!
Welcome back!
We are always thrilled when past students come back to visit and share their experiences with our current students. This term we welcomed back Faye and Aimee who have both pursued careers within the healthcare sector.
Faye now works as an occupational therapist, and along with her colleague Sian (who is a mental health nurse), they spoke to students about their jobs, what it’s like working in mental health, physical health and schools as well as working in mental health services in general.
Aimee is a first year medical student at Worcester University; after leaving Sixth Form she went on to complete a degree in adult nursing before securing her place studying medicine. Aimee and her peer from Worcester Uni Olivia, spoke about how they applied and what the course involves including content, workload and placements.
They also touched on applying for competitive courses (such as medicine and dentistry) in general; Aimee was keen to impress on our students the importance of perseverance as she was unsuccessful the first time she applied to study medicine so sought an alternative way by completing her nursing degree first.
Congratulations Oli!
News of another alumni also came to our attention this term! Oli left us in 2024 but since leaving has kept in touch with his former tutor Mr Morland. On the 3rd December Mr Morland was delighted to attend Oliver’s graduation from RAF Halton, along with Oli’s mother and sister. He will now progress to RAF Cosford to train as an aircraft mechanic. We would like to wish Oli many congratulations!
Christmas Jumper Day 2025
It was our annual #christmasjumperday this term; all donations will go to Save the Children. We would like to say a big thank you to all the students and staff that donated.
Finally, the Sixth Form Team would like to take this opportunity to wish all our readers a very Happy Christmas and New Year!
