There have been many achievements and events this term from Sixth Form Open Evening to Archery. Keep reading to find out more…
Congratulations Team Sus Buddies!
We started the Autumn term with some fantastic news involving four of our Year 13 students! Vienna Davies, Liv Kingswood, Tiree Dunn and Yolanda Mills were awarded third place in the British International Education Association (BIEA) Greening Cities STEM competition for their SUS project design for greener transport in Birmingham.
This was an international competition with entries from around the world (including China and India). The team entered the competition entirely independently of the school and we think this shows a real commitment to extending their academic interests beyond the classroom.
The girls’ were invited to the BIEA International Showcase and the Youth Forum on Climate Change at the Houses of Parliament in October.
The BIEA 2023 Youth STEM Competition gave young people “an opportunity to cast their minds into the future, and use creative foresight to help come up with ideas to ensure that humans of the future can live in harmony with the planet.”
In October, Team Sus Buddies received their awards at a ceremony at the London Docklands Museum and attended a showcase of submitted projects. There were representatives from Macau, Florida, Turkey, Croatia, France and Hong Kong. Our team were particularly impressed by the submissions from the Delhi Public School and the panel discussion on greening cities with a councillor from Hackney.
We are extremely proud of this achievement – congratulations again to Liv, Yolanda, Vienna and Tiree!
Why study Archaeology?
In September we were delighted to welcome back ex-student Max Vowles who is now studying Archaeology at Birmingham University. Max spoke to Sixth Form and Year 11 students about his course and what it involves, including the different areas of archaeology that you will study and the opportunity to take part in field work (he will be flying to Greece for two weeks as part of his studies). Max also talked about why archaeology is so important, and the variety of job opportunities available within the industry.
Jeans for Genes
Back in September our 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 £420 was raised for this brilliant cause!
Into Film Club
The ‘Into Film’ Club has continued to thrive this term; Year 13 student Immy organises and runs sessions for keen students in KS3 and KS4 every Wednesday in MS2. Mrs Edmunds tells us more about what they have been up to:
“We’ve started this year with a spot of early film history and a look at silent films. Students then created their own brilliant silent films with title cards and inter-titles. This was a great session! We’ve looked at science fiction, Disney and Jurassic World as we’ve celebrated historic centenaries in film this term. Recently students took a virtual trip to Pinewood Studios and behind the scenes on the impressive filming of the Netflix show ‘1899’. I am always keen for new Y12 and Y13 students with a passion for film to help run some of these sessions!”
Shooting to Success!
Year 12 student Alex Shehata-Morgan has had reason to celebrate this term as his passion for Archery has brought a number of fantastic achievements! Alex is a member of Evesham Archery Club and also a Junior Ambassador for Archery GB which is the national governing body for the sport of archery in the UK. Their ambassador programme aims to “encourage more people to get into archery, feel welcomed at clubs and develop a love for the sport”.
After watching his Dad compete at tournaments at an early age, Alex acquired his first bow at the age of 4 and has been competing as a recurve archer since the age of 10! Back in September Alex competed at the West Midlands Regional & Worcestershire County Junior Championships, he not only achieved first place for both the regional and county competitions but also took the trophy for the highest score for boys recurve (Olympic style) for all age groups. Since then Alex has received an invite from Archery GB to join the National Age Group (NAG) academy at Lilleshall National Sports Centre; this is an achievement in itself as the number of places available each year is very limited. Over the next few months Alex will be attending 5 weekend camps which will include coaching with an Archery GB Performance Pathway coach, fitness, and workshops on subjects such as sports science, sports medicine, nutrition and mental well being within the sport.
Cotswold Friends
In October we welcomed Julie Lawton from Cotswold Friends, a local charity which helps and supports older and vulnerable people. Julie spoke to a number of our students about the services the charity offers and 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.
Running for the Air Ambulance
Year 13 student Gracie along with other CCS students and ex-students ran the Oxford half marathon in October in just under 2h30m, which was her target for her first ever long distance run. On completing the marathon a staggering £162,000 of donations was released which had been pledged to support the work of the Midlands Air Ambulance and The Air Ambulance Service (Warwickshire, Northamptonshire and Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland). There was fantastic support on the day from many current and previous Chipping Campden students. A HUGE well done and congratulations to Gracie and everyone else that ran on the day as well as a big THANK YOU to everyone who donated, the money raised will no doubt help the Air Ambulance charities save countless lives.
Chipping Campden Rotary Club – Young Musician Final
On Monday 23rd October we had the finals of the Rotary Young Musician competition (having had heats earlier in the term). The Sixth Form was represented by Evelyn Berry on violin and George Swayne on clarinet. The judges commented on the high standard of all the finalists and that the top two were extremely close in standard. The eventual winner was George who goes on to represent the school next term in the regional finals. A massive well done to everyone who entered.
Helena Hesketh (Director of Music)
Huge congratulations to George!
BBC Question Time comes to Campden!
Over half term five students from Year 10 Film Studies and Year 12 and Year 13 Media and Digital Media were able to tour the set up and backstage, mobile studio as well as the camera and lighting rigs of the BBC Question Time show, which was broadcast live from the Cidermill Theatre in November. Students were able to see the huge amount of work that goes into preparing a mobile broadcast and even got to have a play with one of the cameras. It was great to watch the broadcast only a couple of hours later and spot the camera crew, boom operators, and the huge number of cuts between cameras having seen them being set up earlier that day.
Vicki Edmunds (Head of Media Studies)
Sixth Form Open Evening
On Thursday 9th 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 Burton and Mr Elmes, as well as subject information sessions delivered by our teaching staff and student subject ambassadors.
Remembrance
As part of the Remembrance Services, our Head Boy Tom and Head Girl Olivia represented the school at the service in Chipping Campden on Friday 10th November..
Welcome back Rosie!
On Friday 10th November ex Campden student Rosie Tyack visited the Art department to talk to our Year 12 and 13 Art students, and Design and Textiles Year 10, 11 and 12 students about her exciting career as an assistant costume designer in the film and television industry. Rosie was with us between 2002 and 2009, taking A-levels in Art, Textiles and Maths. She left to study Costume with Performance Design at the Arts University of Bournemouth. Whilst at college, she was heavily involved in creating costume and set designs for student and local theatre productions, which ultimately led her to a career as an assistant costume designer. She spoke about her experience at college, and the collaborative nature of the work produced during this time. She then spoke about the television and film industry in general, detailing the many creative roles that work together to create films and program content. Finally, she shared work from some of the projects she has been a part of, including ‘His Dark Materials’, ‘Sex Education’, ‘Father Brown’ and ‘The Outlaws’. It was truly fascinating to learn about the many decisions that go into every facet of a character’s clothing and look, and to hear Rosie talk with such passion and knowledge about her industry.
The students gained a great deal from the experience, learning about how Art and Design can feed into an exciting creative career, about the role of an assistant costume designer and the work they have to undertake, and about the wider world of film and television production. It was also a complete privilege for me to see a past student achieving such success and so humbly giving her time to encourage and inspire a new generation of creative individuals.
Rob Grover (Head of Art)
Boost Programme
We were delighted to launch the ‘Boost Programme’ again this year which is run by Gloucestershire Constabulary. The aim of the programme is to “provide a flexible transformational self-leadership and empowerment programme that equips young people with the essential life skills they need to deal with challenges now and in the future.”
Boost leader Imogen spoke to a group of Year 12 students all interested in volunteering for the programme which focusses on helping and improving mental health in young people. The Sixth Form volunteers will be trained as mentors who can then deliver the programme to Year 7 pupils. There are 5 key parts to the course which are: Emotional Regulation, Self-Compassion, Self-Care, Building Relationships, and Resilience.
To find out more about ‘Boost’ please follow the link below:
Screenology Workshop
On Friday 8th December the Year 12 and Year 13 Digital Media students were given the opportunity to hear from Matt from the film school Screenology, based near Bristol. The students took part in some creative workshops which helped them to think about how stories, both real and fictional, are constructed. The Year 13 students were treated to an advertising workshop which will be especially useful as they head into January, when they will be working on some coursework based around advertising; the Year 12’s then undertook a creative pitching workshop. Overall, the sessions gave them lots of ideas for possible future study and a further insight into the creative careers available.
Vicki Edmunds (Head of Media Studies)
What’s it like to be a PCSO?
Ex-Campden students Hannah Croxson and Becky Sear returned to CCS in a different kind of uniform this term to talk to a number of our Sixth Formers, all interested in potentially joining the police. Hannah who left us in 2022 and Becky who left in 2015 are both currently Police Community Support Officers (PCSO’s) with Warwickshire Police. They discussed their background and journey leading up to applying to become a PCSO, as well as the application & recruitment process, the training that is undertaken, and the role of PCSO’s within the community. Finally, they talked through alternative routes into the police such as becoming a special constable or through a degree apprenticeship.
Twelfth Night
The whole school production of ‘Twelfth Night’ took place in the Cider Mill Theatre last week with three performances over three consecutive nights. William Shakespeare’s comedy was reimagined against the glamorous backdrop of 1920s London; many of our Sixth Formers were involved and the entire cast did a fantastic job. Year 12 student Georgina Jackson played the part of Viola, here she tells us what it was like to take part:
My name is Georgina Jackson and I played the part of Viola. We did a total of three performances at the beginning of December and all of them went amazingly! Behind the scenes we had costume, lighting technicians, the music and drama departments, and of course the entire cast to make up the production that all of us enjoyed taking part in. For me, theatre and acting is one of my greatest passions and being able to be part of the hectic and yet infectious energy that takes hold of anyone and everyone backstage is nothing like I’ve ever felt before!
Georgina Jackson Year 12
Well done to all the staff and students involved!
Reverse Advent Calendar
Students in 12CRY organised a reverse advent calendar competition in order to raise donations for the local food banks. This year they collected over 800 donations as a school! A fantastic achievement, well done 12CRY!
Christmas Jumper Day 2023
It was our annual #christmasjumperday this term; over £200 was raised which the charity committee decided this year would go to Campden Home Nursing. Campden Home Nursing is a local charity that provides free high-quality nursing in the homes of those facing life-limiting illnesses. At their base in Chipping Campden, they provide a number of services to help patients live well with an advanced or terminal illness as well as providing free bereavement counselling for families and carers. The money raised by our student donations could go towards the cost of providing nursing care for one night (£276) or a number of bereavement counselling sessions which cost £35 per hour. We would like to thank the charity committee for all their hard work this term and all the students who donated to this worthy cause.
Finally, the Sixth Form Team would like to take this opportunity to wish all our readers a very Happy Christmas and New Year!
