Festival for Science teachers

Members of staff from Leckford Place science department enjoyed an evening out in the University of Oxford Museum of Natural History. The event was a science teachers’ festival and there were tours, talks and displays on offer.

Deborah Hankins (our Science Technician) demonstrated 'Microscale Chemistry' alongside the likes of Oxford University Physics Department, the Association of Science Education and Science Oxford. She was able to show how chemical reactions can be carried out on a micro-scale and how to make a micro conductivity meter. There was lots of interest, especially in the latter as a fun piece of equipment to make in schools.

The festival was organised by the Oxfordshire Independent State Schools Partnership. It was great to meet up with some old friends, make new contacts and be inspired by science.

— Words by Anne-Marie Jones, Head of Science
Image is Creative Commons licensed by Mike Cugley

Our new 'Reading for Pleasure' library

As part of a 'Wider Reading Drive', the English Department have invested in a new range of fiction books aimed specifically at reading for pleasure. Such books include the Cherub Series, Elizabeth Laird and Mal Peet for younger readers, with the latest Orange Prize shortlist and a range of Booker winners alongside some classics for the more advanced.

Students are encouraged to take time selecting books for themselves and to discuss their choices both with their teachers and peers. To facilitate this, we have started a reading blog on Moodle called 'What's Worth Reading?'. This works as an interactive reading list — students can add books or comment on existing suggestions; this allows students to use the opinions of their peers to inform their private reading rather than those of parents and teachers who sadly rarely seem to have quite the same influence!

This has already raised the profile of 'reading for fun' around the school and it's been great to see girls and boys alike discussing fantastic fiction books as well as movies and computer games!

— Words and photo by Joanne Williams, English teacher

GCSE Geographers study Somerset river

We visited Nettlecombe court in North West Somerset to complete a river study for the students’ GCSE Geography Controlled Assessment.

Nettlecombe court is a long established FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) centre with considerable local field work expertise, helping us to collect data and learn to process that data with the most up to date methods available. GE Graph was one amazing tool that I learnt about for the first time!


Nettlecombe court is situated in a steep-sided, lush green valley with the considerable advantage of a limited cell phone network. Students were able to maintain their focus on the demands of the field trip without too much disturbance. As is normal on Geography fieldtrips, behaviour was excellent and much successful work was completed — even with the distractions offered to some of our boys by the presence of a local independent girls’ school…

Sadly for them, there was not too much time available for relaxation and socialising!

— Report by Paul Wheeler, Head of Geography

Love Languages Competition

Year 8 students of French and Spanish travelled to Surrey, back in February, to take part in the 'Love Languages' competition held by the City of London Freemen's School. Students performed a five minute piece in their chosen foreign language, in front of audience and judges.

Below is a short account by year 8 student Genevieve Reeves:

We had an amazing time at the Love Languages Competition. It took place at City of London Freemen's School in Surrey so the build-up was really exciting.



It was really fun making up our own script but it was hard to translate it into Spanish and French. The food we were given was great, particularly the huge doughnuts!



It was really nice to see other schools perform and listen to conversations in different languages.



Overall I think that the experience was fantastic and I can't wait until next year!

Interacting with Science at @Bristol

At the end of September the year 7s and 8s set off for their annual trip to the interactive science museum, @Bristol.


The two hour coach trip was justified by the fantastic experience of the huge range of activities on offer. Pupils ran on the hamster wheel to power a complex system of water ways, froze their own shadows, made stop frame animations and ran their own TV studio.


The shows on offer were equally impressive, with exploding hydrogen balloons and fizzy pop-rockets made from old film canisters. We relaxed for a while looking up at the autumn night sky in the planetarium and listening to ancient Greek tales. All agreed it was a great day of learning and fun and the year 7s are looking forward to their next trip.

– Words and photos by Natalie Vlachakis (Science teacher)

GCSE Results - 41% A/A* grades

2010 has been another super year for d’Overbroeck’s at Leckford Place.

We are proud that every one of our students gained at least 5 GCSE’s at A* to C – such an important benchmark for success. Over 40% of grades were at A*/A and almost 70% at A* to B.

Results Day was a wonderful occasion with many students celebrating success. Three students gained nine A*/A grades and another three clocked up eight each.

This year for the first time Year 10 joined us on Results Day to collect their results for History and Geography Modules. It looks as if 2011 could be a bumper year for top grades based on these early indications. An outstanding 75% of grades in History were A*/A, for example.


Other results highlights

There were outstanding subject results too. 60% of Art grades were at A*/A with no-one gaining less than a B. 100% of English Literature grades were A* to C, a huge achievement. And an amazing 77% of French grades were at A*/A.

Many congratulations to all our Year 11 (and Year 10) students on their achievement.

Maths Challenge success for Year 7 & 8 students

Congratulations to Javier Gadea in Year 8 (photographed above) who won Best In School in this year's Junior UKMT Maths Challenge – along with a Silver Certificate.

Joseph Anderson, Andrew Small and Eve Martin also won Silver Certificates, while Jackson Poindexter, Cassie Pearce, Chloe Townsend, Ethan Clay and Gabriel O'Toole gained Bronze.

The Maths Challenge is about more than winning certificates, though – it is a wonderful opportunity to spend quality time puzzling over intriguing problems. So well done to all those in Year 7 and Year 8 who took part.

Next year we plan to start a UKMT Maths Challenge mentoring scheme, continuing to look out for opportunities to enjoy challenging maths.

Student art on show at Museum of Natural History

This Thursday (6 May 2010), artwork by a number of Leckford Place students will be on display at the Natural History Museum in Oxford, as part of the 'Young Art Oxford' exhibition in aid of Cancer Research.

The students listed below had their work chosen from a field of over 1,000 entries, so all have done very well in being selected.

• Joseph Anderson
• Lucy Arqué (highly commended)
• Laura Bossom
• Barney Cremin
• Robbie Dorey
• Hamza Khan
• Flo Rifat
• Aidan Robbins
• Alex Robertson McWillam
• Chloe Townsend
• Peter Wood

The exhibition will feature work from children at 24 Oxfordshire schools, and opens on Thursday 6 May at 3pm. Postcards and the works of art are for sale and all money raised is in aid of Cancer Research UK – specifically, going towards research into the genetic causes of cancer in children.

Was Hitler guilty of starting World War 2?

Not according to year 11 History students from Leckford Place.

Last term, all the History students attended a ‘courtroom drama’ performed by professional actors in which Hitler was put on trial on the charge of having started World War II. After hearing the statements of many witnesses including Mussolini, Stalin, Roosevelt and others, our students were asked to be the jury and decide if they thought Hitler was innocent or guilty of the charge. They decided that the proof was not irrefutable and therefore he must be found innocent.

Hitler did not escape, however, as an enraged victim of the war then leapt onto the stage and shot him dead!

It was an entertaining and thought provoking performance, helping our students to have a more rounded perspective on the causes of World War II. Combined with a valuable exam workshop on how to answer source based exam questions it made for a worthwhile afternoon. The students gained a lot from the workshop and, as ever, were a pleasure to take out.

Here’s hoping that what they learned will pay off in their exams!

Words by Margaret Horton, Head of History

Taking up the Maths Challenge

Last term Leckford Place competed for the second time in the prestigious Regional Team Maths Challenge, held at the Oxford University Exam Schools on the High Street.

Forty-three schools, from the independent and state sectors, took part in a day of challenging and interesting maths tasks. There is a strong emphasis on team work, each team comprising two year 8 and two year 9 students. Junhui Li and Edith Scott, from year 8, along with Charlie Baskerville and Ben Elwell from year 9, represented Leckford Place.

Throughout the day there were four different rounds, concluding with the frenetic Relay Race, in which the teams split apart across the large hall, alternately answering questions then running with the next question for the opposite pair. There was an atmosphere of fun throughout, but with some serious maths being done, and emotions running high!

Our team competed well in all four rounds, never giving up when things became difficult – their confidence bolstered by plenty of training done throughout the year at our Tuesday lunchtime Maths Challenge Club. In the end, Leckford Place finished a respectable 37th. Well done to Junhui, Edith, Charlie and Ben!

Words by Graham Hope, Maths teacher

How Economics can help you retire rich

Why do we need money? What are the hidden dangers of storecards? Why is it smart to start saving for your retirement as soon as you get your first job? These were just a few of the questions raised in today's assembly – in which Simon Harrison (Head of Economics at the Sixth Form) gave a whistlestop tour of some fundamental economic issues and how they affect us all.

In the short video clip below, you can watch Simon giving an illustration of the principle of compound interest – explaining how much benefit there is in starting to save from the earliest possible age.



(You can also watch via Vimeo or YouTube)

Simon's assembly was the latest in a series given by teachers from the Sixth Form – which offer Leckford Place students an insight into subjects they might decide to study when they come to choose their own A levels.

School Science Prize awarded to Elinor Farrell

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.'

Trip to @Bristol: getting hands-on with Science

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.’