Congratulations to Year 10 student Elinor Farrell, above, who was recently presented with a School Science Prize at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory – for 'outstanding effort and achievement in Year 9 Science'.
Around 30 schools from across the country were represented at the award ceremony, which was organised by the Oxfordshire Independent and State School Partnership (OISSP).
Elinor described the event as follows:
'I was pleased when I was nominated for the award. We went to the Rutherford Appleton Labs where we listened to some very interesting lectures. The first speaker talked about laser research and fusion energy. The second talked about space exploration and how in trying to reach their ultimate aims, they often come across discoveries such as the hole in the ozone layer. I then received my award and the group had several photos taken before we left. I am very grateful for the opportunity to visit this fascinating and pioneering research centre and I found the whole experience unforgettable.'
Our recent Year 7 and 8 trip to the Isle of Wight provided an opportunity for students to experience and enjoy a wide range of outdoor activities, while staying at the Kingswood Centre.
One of the main functions of the trip is to help new Year 7 students to get to know one another and cement their membership of the Leckford 'family' – as well as creating new relationships between Year 7 and Year 8 pupils. A residential trip helps pupils to move out of their comfort zone and fully embrace all aspects of being away from home whilst trying new activities.
... and these activities were numerous – including quad biking, climbing, fencing, nightline, orienteering, balance beam, caving, go-karting and archery. Pupils also took part in evening activities: the 'Scrap heap challenge'; a task to design and build a container that would protect a water balloon when dropped; and a Murder Mystery evening.
The trip was a huge success and all the students enjoyed themselves and were a credit to the school.
As part of the ongoing partnership between d'Overbroeck's College and Creation Theatre, we're delighted to announce that students, parents and staff at the College will receive a 25% discount on tickets for Creation's Christmas show: Beauty and the Beast.
How to book
The first of our special d'Overbroeck's Evenings will be Wednesday 2 December (we'll announce another date in future). So all d'Overbroeck's parents, pupils and staff will receive 25% off Premium and Band A tickets for that night.
To claim your discount, please telephone the Creation Theatre Box Office on 01865 766266 – and when you give your name, remember to say that you are from d'Overbroeck's.
Book early to guarantee a ticket – no later, please, than Friday 6 November.
The Spiegeltent, in which the performance will take place
More about Beauty and the Beast
This Christmas, join Creation for a fresh magical retelling of the timeless fairytale Beauty and the Beast. Forget cartoons, panto and Disney, this Beauty will engage you with magic, music and comedy in the amazing Spiegeltent at Oxford’s MINI Plant. Suitable for ages 6-96 years, you can also enjoy delicious gourmet crepes at your cabaret style table.
“This colourful slice of storytelling should hook both children and adults alike” (Oxford Mail)
“For two heart-melting hours, they banish all cares.” (The Daily Telegraph)
In celebration of National Book Week, pupils and staff came into school on Tuesday 6 October dressed as characters from fiction.
The costumes were impressive, and at break time all of the characters assembled for photographs in the Hall – with prizes awarded to some of the most imaginative creations.
On September 23, years 7 and 8 visited the hands-on science centre @Bristol. They explored and interacted with numerous science exhibits, as well as visiting the planaterium. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the visit, which was characterised by the concept of learning through ‘play’: @Bristol is a very special place, and really brings Science to life. Here are some of the comments made by the students:
Cole reports that ‘the journey was long, but luckily she had her friends to joke around with.’
Meelie says that ‘as soon as she walked into the building, she heard people already going wow.’ She would definitely go again and thought it was an amazing trip.
Anand was excited as he arrived at Bristol and ‘was rushing to get inside and use the amazing scientific equipment.’
James found that ‘the first thing most people went to was the water works. Here there were a series of handles, levers, cogs and tanks which played a vital part in keeping the water moving. If you didn’t, the big tank at the top overflowed. This was one of my favourite parts.’
Jesse says she really enjoyed it and particularly ‘liked the TV studio where you did some filming. Someone acted and other people were on the stage changing the background, adding music and writing captions. I also liked the mini tornado. You could walk through a tornado without getting blown away.’
Cassandra can recommend the ‘comfy seats in the Planetarium.’
Joseph thought that ‘the only problem was time. It would have been perfect if we were there for another 48 hours.’
And – neatly summing up a most successful trip – Katie simply tells us that she ‘had a fantastic time.’
Another year; another Drama competition. This annual event, where each English group selects and performs part of a text that they have studied during the year, was a celebration of enthusiasm and team effort. The presentations included excerpts from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, Animal Farm, Much Ado about Nothing, Pygmalion, The Importance of being Earnest, A View from the Bridge and a play called Orphans, which started with a speech by Pip from Great Expectations.
As you can see, we were treated to a wide range of material. The pupils rose to the occasion.
With only two weeks of English lessons devoted to perfecting their performances, the students worked hard, deciding on their roles, learning lines and creating props. We were lucky to secure the services of two members of the Creation Theatre Company: Connor McReynolds came to give valuable advice on performance, during the dress rehearsals, and Jessica Bridge judged the competition, giving detailed and most encouraging comments in her adjudication.
The winners were a year 10 group, who performed a couple of extracts from Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge – a text they studied for GCSE coursework. Particularly memorable were the performances of Will Cronk as Eddie, the troubled Brooklyn longshoreman; his almost too realistic fight with Rodolpho (aka Humza); Vinay Bahl’s demonstration of physical dominance as he lifted a chair with one hand, from the base of one leg (try it – it’s far more difficult than it seems) and really convincing performances from the rest of the cast.
The winner of the contemporary presentation was a year 8 group, who performed their own version of Animal Farm. Although based largely on the novel, they added a contemporary touch of dance, music and humour. The overall effect, however, was extremely chilling and gave a real insight into the dangers of the abuse of political power.
Both year 7 groups won the Shakespeare award for their lovely interpretations of different sections of The Dream. The judge was very impressed by the understanding which under-pinned the delivery of quite difficult lines. They also conveyed the humour of the play.
There were many other individual commendations and prizes, but the biggest reward was a day of real entertainment and enrichment.
Towards the end of term, a thronged Leckford Place hall was treated to the jamboree of performing arts that is the Summer Soiree.
Guitar, recorder, euphonium, viola … Leckford’s instrumentalists showed off their skills – and the range of genres was similarly eclectic: from baroque to britpop, soul to showtunes. Many of the musical performances were clearly pupil-led – testament to the fertile school music scene.
And what a variety of voices! Whether it was Lydia Hassan’s captivatingly pared-down delivery of her own song, Skinny Jeans, Tal Fineman’s assured cover-versions of classic rock numbers, or Flora McGivan’s strikingly intense performance of All That Jazz, it was a pleasure to hear so many different styles and interpretations.
The whole evening was shot through with doses of comic surrealism, meanwhile, thanks to a series of year 9 performances – imaginative pieces that demonstrated the expressive possibilities of puppetry.
We held another very successful Careers Advice Evening on 30 June for Years 9 and 10.
Nine parents very kindly gave up their time to come and talk about their careers – from Business Architect to Lecturer, Physician to Lawyer, a wide variety of roles and sectors was covered.
The event certainly gave the students plenty to think about for the future – and, with such an enterprising group of parents, it is little wonder that we have such talented children!
On the last Monday of term Oliver and Anne organised for the male staff to take 67 boys up to the woods in Culham to play Lasertag. As you can imagine, this trip was taken very seriously indeed by both staff and pupils alike!
Split into two teams, we crawled through the woods with our laser rifles and snipers, trying to pick off members of the opposing team. Unfortunately the Camou team proved much more proficient at this than the Desert team, ably assisted by Paul and Martin, and a terrible massacre ensued in a range of different missions.
Clearly some of the boys had considerable experience under their belts already!
Fortunately there were no lasting injuries and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, especially Mark. We even found time to do some useful team building exercises and no doubt we will be back...
Earlier this term, all year 7 and 8 Leckford Place students launched an attack on Warwick Castle. We stormed the barbican, overcame the garrison and occupied the castle. Some of us ended up in the dungeons but most of us had a really good time! Here's what some of the students had to say:
“When we got there, the castle looked huge. We went in and went up each tower and walked along the wall walk” (Michael)
“We learned about the amazing scale and architecture of the castle and walls. We learned about why they made circular and octagonal turrets” (Truman)
“Firstly we visited the prison which has an ‘oubliette’, French for ‘forgotten’. This is a very small stone prison with no windows that they chuck you in and forget about you until you starve to death” (Tim)
“Next was the scary dungeon tour round dark rooms with the possibility that someone could jump out and frighten you” (Laura)
“It was the scariest, most frightening and thrilling thing I have ever done, but I won’t tell you what’s there because it will spoil the surprise when you go” (Charlie C)
“The dungeon was really fun and scary at the same time. It showed us that the doctors ripped out the guts and other things of a person who died from plague” (Will)
“We encountered …an executioner who cut off a fellow classmate’s ear (although … it had grown back by the end of the tour)” (Olaf)
“After lunch we headed for the trebuchet which fired a stone ball which we then chased after; we picked it up….and it felt quite heavy which surprised us because it flew so far and looked lighter” (Charlie)
… and that’s just a small flavour of what we were up to. Eagles, baby ducklings, tree clambering and archery all featured in an action packed, fun filled day.
All of year 10 went on work experience placements for a week in May – seemingly with great success. Feedback from employers was most positive with fifteen students achieving 'excellent' grading in every one of the categories assessed.
Several students have been offered holiday jobs and all have certainly benefited from being in an adult environment for a week. Each student was visited by a member of staff, and several employers mentioned that they were impressed with the school contact, as this is not something that they normally experience.
This is the third year that we have operated this scheme and we shall certainly continue with this in the future, as it seems to have a great positive impact on the students.
This weekend, Leckford Place School will metamorphose into an art gallery containing an exciting, diverse array of work by Sixth Form and Leckford Place students, as well as parents, staff and local artists.
We'll also be showing the winning entries to our Primary School Art Competition.
Having already seen some of the work that'll be on show, we're eagerly anticipating a superb exhibition. And we'd be delighted if you'd come along. The show will be open from 10am to 4pm on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 May – and entry is, of course, free to all. See location on Google Maps.
On Saturday, Summertown in North Oxford was alive with colour and sound – thanks to the street festival organised as part of Artweeks.
The joint d'Overbroeck's Sixth Form and Leckford Place School stand offered younger children the opportunity to contribute to a giant collaborative piece of art:
... Whilst Sixth Former Steve Litherland entertained onlookers with an impressive display of juggling.
Musical accompaniment, meanwhile, was provided by Evie Oswald, Sarah Pearson and Kathryn Poon.
Many thanks to the students and staff who gave up their time to help make the street festival such a great success – and to those friends of the College who came along to visit our stall.
Year 9 pupils at Leckford Place have been hard at work painting canvases for display at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
Drawing inspiration from Action painting, the Colourists and the American Expressionists – principally, artists such as Joan Miro, Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman and Basquiat – each student has created a piece. Photographed reproductions of the finished work will soon be on permanent display at the John Radcliffe Hospital, in conjunction with the Occupational Health Unit.
The students have had the chance to experiment with various media – ink, paint, tissue paper collage, pastels and chalks – and with creating different moods within their work. In the knowledge that the canvases would be exhibited together, the students felt that their work should share common themes and use similar colouring. The finished canvases bear out this approach.
Oxfordshire's largest visual arts festival, Artweeks consists of around 400 stunning exhibitions. We’re delighted once again to be main sponsors of the festival.
For three weeks each year, Oxfordshire's artists and craftspeople throw open their homes and studios, and a vast array of work in every style and medium imaginable is put on show.
Artweeks enables us to catch a glimpse of the creative process itself: to smell the fresh paint and the drying clay; and to meet the artists in their own space, surrounded by their tools and materials, and often also by their own favourite sources of inspiration.
Preparations are well underway for summer's festival. As well as being main sponsors, we are also hosting our own show, which will feature work by current students, parents and staff alike. As with all Artweeks shows, entry will be free to all.
Our exhibition will be at Leckford Place School on 16-17 May – and we'd love you to come along. Entry is free to all, and the exhibition will be open 10am to 4pm. Please telephone us (01865 302620) for details.
Last term's performance of 1920s farce Not in Front of the Waiter – featuring students from both Leckford Place and d'Overbroeck's Sixth Form – was a great success. The following writeup appears in the Oxford Times Education Directory 2009, with this week's paper.
Students from Leckford Place School and d'Overbroeck's Sixth Form took a different approach to their winter production with the comedy operetta and tribute to Offenbach, ‘Not in Front of the Waiter.’ The audience were as much part of the production as the players and singers, as the vaulted school hall was transformed into a 1920’s cabaret club for the evening. Friends, family and guests, most of whom were elegantly attired in period dress, settled themselves at candlelit tables as the action took place around them.
This lavish production was served up in a series of delicious courses of songs of the era and the main performance. For Hors d’Oeuvres, the pearl-like voices of Pankaew Saksornchai and Chanita Seedaket got the audience’s attention as they sang about Gershwin’s treacherous ‘Lorelei,’ a provocative performance, enhanced by the young singers’ abundance of feathers and fans.
For Entrée the truly scrumptious Olivia Fraser-Smith melted hearts with her husky rendition of Iving Berlin’s classic, ‘What’ll I do?’ Even compere Will Cronk struggled to keep a dry eye as he presented, for Viandes, the marvellous Ben Pugsley, Captain of d’Overbroeck’s rugby first XV, who gave a faultless performance of Denza’s ‘Funiculi Funicula.’ Dessert drew the musical prelude to a close with the opulent Fleur Rampton, who carried the audience away on her ‘Stairway to Paradise.’
A break for dinner followed as guests were lavishly served by waitresses Louisa Goodfellow and Eva Rorsman, and then onto the Plat du Jour, ‘Not in Front of the Waiter’ ….
This comedy operetta was first performed in the 1960’s as a tribute to Jacques Offenbach. The Leckford Place School players, with the help of a large aspidistra, brought it to life fabulously. The story starts with waiter Block (Will Cronk) preparing to receive his guests in the private room of a Paris restaurant. Solange (Zanni Cohen) and Prosper (Matt Thorns) enter and take a table next to an enormous aspidistra. The audience learns that they are both married, though not to each other, and out to enjoy a clandestine meeting. Moments later, Hortense (Rosie Cohen) and Aristide (Gidon Fineman) arrive at an adjoining table. They are bent on a similar amorous escapade and are indeed the wife and husband of the first couple. It is not long before all is discovered; the young ladies humorously exaggerating astonishment then indignity and a quarrel ensues. The waiter intervenes to reveal that from a strawberry mark on the ladies' shoulders, he recognises them as the daughters he shamelessly abandoned in childhood. The four listen with incredulity, then the ladies rejoice in having each found a father, a sister and also a brother-in-law. Reconciliation abounds, and all join in a song in praise of family trees.
The five players gave their all with a performance that is worthy of any professional stage. Zanni and her Sixth-Form sister Rosie Cohen, whilst their casting of siblings in the play was fortuitous, are clearly very talented young ladies. They carried their roles with precision comic timing, faultless singing and the wild emotions that drew the appropriate gasps of awe and shock from the audience. Their respective partners brilliantly played roles above their years; Matt Thorns convincingly projecting his ulterior motive with the delectable Solange, becoming the confused husband in the face of too much information to take in at once. Sixth-Former Gidon Fineman was icily cool as the highbrow Aristide, clearly a man who just wanted a quiet life, and proved himself as an actor who could effortlessly handle slapstick along with the smooth. It is worthy of note that Gidon was the recent winner of Oxfordshire County Council's first ever Young Composer competition.
These four wonderful performances were brought together with great aplomb by Will Cronk with his hilarious rendition of Block the waiter, demonstrating his talent as a comic performer with a natural instinct for timing and delivery. Very polished, he won the audience’s sympathy as the luckless Block, a man who has paid royally for his misdemeanours, only to be rewarded by this coincidental reunion.
Alongside the excellent teaching, support and coaching she provides to d'Overbroeck's students, Jo also works as a volunteer at Summertown Stars AFC, the largest youth football club in Oxfordshire. There, she not only manages and coaches the girls' under 12 team, but has also set up a visually impaired football team.
'This season, Jo's Summertown team are in the under 14 league. The players play for fun and the team spirit and friendship they have is amazing. They lose more matches than they win, but the players turn up every week as keen as mustard to play. At Christmas they all donned Santa outfits and ran around Oxford as a team, raising nearly £300 for Helen and Douglas House.'
'Jo has helped girls' football grow at the club, and Summertown now has over 50 girls playing regular football. Jo is a likable individual, an excellent coach, and she would be a worth winner.'
– Paul Chamberlain, Summertown Stars AFC
Congratulations to Jo on her richly deserved nomination.
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