It has been a shorter term but we have still packed a lot in!

Sixth Form ‘Wow’!

Over the course of this term three of our Sixth Formers have been awarded with the whole school ‘Wow’ Award. Congratulations to Harriet, Julian, and Ollie.

Firstly, there was Harriet (Year 12) for her incredible Design Board and finished final product of a working lamp; all completed as part of her Product Design A-Level course.

The lamp project for Year 12 involved students working for 20 hours to research, design and construct the lamp; including any experimentation and investigations.

Harriet’s product was selected as the standout piece, from an incredibly strong field of submissions across the entire Creative Arts and DT faculty. Specifically, her experimentation of applying colour to plastic to create the cylindrical ‘shade’, in addition to the presentation board she created alongside the lamp, which included her inspiration, design ideas, experimentation, exploded diagrams, ideas for packaging and images of how her lamp would look in three different locations. Not all of this was required in the brief, yet Harriet went above and beyond!

Secondly was Julian (Year 12). At the beginning of this academic year, Julian enrolled on a 12-week online course focusing on Data Analysis in Mathematics. Offered to multiple students as part of the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme, this nationwide course aims to support students’ preparation for Higher Education in the fields of Mathematics and Data Analysis. It is a series of weekly online sessions, with tasks in between, and culminates with a practical and written assessment.

Lastly (but certainly not least) is Ollie (Year 13).

You may recall that in our Autumn Term Newsletter, we congratulated Ollie for his phenomenal charitable work across our school community in raising awareness and funds for the charity Movember – a charity that supports men’s physical and mental health.

Through Ollie’s leadership the school raised over £3,000 for the charity and Ollie was nominated by the charity for the ‘Rookie of the Year’ award, and invited to attend the national award ceremony, which took place last week in London; further details here.

We are delighted to share with you that Ollie won the award, beating seven other contenders in his category!

Ollie has increased awareness of the importance of the charity’s work, raised much needed funds to support the various global projects that Movember contributes towards, and has inspired our students by demonstrating what can be achieved with passion, willpower and a positive can-do attitude.

Huge congratulations Ollie!

Welcome Back!

This term we were delighted to welcome back three past students – Francesca, Abi and Isabel.

Francesca

Francesca left us in 2024 and is currently in her second year at Cardiff University studying History. She spoke to History students in Years 11, 12 and 13 about her experiences of university life, what the course is like, and her move from A Levels to Degree Level.

Abi

Abi left in 2019 and went on to study Archaeology & Anthropology at Durham University. After leaving University Abi worked in marketing and completed a part-time diploma in Journalism. She went on to secure a job as a freelance researcher for the BBC. She now works as a researcher and producer for the BBC foreign news desk. Abi spoke to our students about her journey from leaving Sixth Form to securing her job at the BBC and what her day to day life now looks like. She also spoke about the different routes into journalism as well as interview tips etc.

Isabel

Isabel left in 2022 and is currently on the Civil Service Fast Stream for Government Policy, having studied Politics, Biology and Chemistry at A Level. After graduating from Cardiff University she was successful at securing a place on the Civil Service Fast Stream, where she works on Government Policy. The scheme has her working in three different departments (The Ministry of Defence, The Home Office, The Ministry of Justice) over three years, to get a real understanding of being a civil servant.

Isabel is currently working in the Ministry of Justice where she works on transforming our justice system. It has led to incredible opportunities, from seeing and writing briefings to the deputy prime minister, tours of parliament and the treasury, all the way to taking crisis management courses provided by COBRA. Isabel shared all her experiences with our students and answered a lot of questions afterwards, including ‘Have you ever been inside No 10?’ Their curiosity was definitely piqued!

EPQ Market Place 2026

This term 24 of our Year 13 students led stalls in our Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) Marketplace.

The EPQ is an additional qualification that many of our sixth form students embark upon in Year 12 and complete in Year 13. The qualification allows them to select an area of interest and complete a project based on this. In addition to additional university admission points (UCAS points), the project is an excellent way of providing our students with an opportunity to further develop their research and presentation skills.

If you are interested to learn more, a selection of some of the project titles that this year’s students chose are included below.

Many congratulations to all of our students who completed the EPQ this year!

Holocaust Memorial Day – ‘Bridging Generations’

On Holocaust Memorial Day, we welcomed Barbara Warnock from the Wiener Holocaust Library to deliver a moving presentation about the Jewish Resistance to the Holocaust for our latest Tuesday Talk to our students.

Sir Ernest Ryder

Back in February we were delighted to welcome Sir Ernest Ryder, Master of Pembroke College, Oxford, University of Oxford, to Chipping Campden School. The visit marked an important step in reigniting the historic link between our two educational institutions, first established in the 17th century by one of our three benefactors, George Townsend. Our Head Prefects Seb and Hannah played a part in the visit by giving Sir Ernest a tour of the school, and as usual were a credit to us and the wider school community. We are looking forward to developing a closer working relationship with Sir Ernest and Pembroke College over the coming years.

Contemplate Cambridge!

A selection of students from Years 10 and 12 were able to attend a talk by Caz from Cambridge University. The aim of the session was to give an introduction to Cambridge and provide an insight into what it would be like to study there. Caz discussed expectations and also preconceptions about what it is like to attend Cambridge. She highlighted the different colleges that are available, what the accommodation is like, as well as the teaching styles that are used at Cambridge and Oxford. Caz also shared information and advice on the application process and what to expect if you are selected for an interview.

Biology Olympiad

Towards the end of last term, our Year 13 Biologists participated in the annual British Biology Olympiad.

The competition involved two 45‑minute, multiple‑choice papers, challenging students with unfamiliar topics that tested their problem‑solving abilities and grasp of core biological principles. This year, 18,800 students from 1,132 schools took part.

Congratulations to all our students who stepped forward to take on this challenge, with a special mention to the following:

Gold Award (Top 5% in the country)

• Daniel (Year 13 – Townsend House) Daniel is now invited to take part in International Biology Olympiad Team Selection.

Silver Award (Top 10% in the country)

• Agnes (Year 13 – Townsend House)
• Harry (Year 13 – Hicks House)
• Jamie (Year 13 – Fereby House)
• Rose (Year 13 – Townsend House)

Bronze Award (Top 15% in the country)

• Charlotte (Year 13 – Townsend House)

Life Learning – Gloucestershire Fire & Rescue Service