Year 9 sent down the mine ...

Have you ever wondered what an explosion feels like in the pitch dark, below ground in a coal mine? Our year 9 can now tell you having visited the Black Country Museum last Thursday. We were kitted out with helmets and lamps, and headed off into the mine, watching our heads on the very low beams. Our guide explained to us the true horrors of working down there from the age of about 6 or 7 for many hours a day.

Glad to return to the sunshine and daylight we then 'went to school'. Perhaps the mines would have been preferable to life in the school room, chanting tables, writing on squeaky slates and trying to avoid the wrath of our cane waving teacher. Mark's group were late arriving at their lesson so their leader deservedly got the cane.



Margaret shouldn't have laughed so much, though, as she was then caned for wearing nail varnish; Flo, Sophie and Lucy were also summoned to the front of the class for this vanity and referred to as 'Jezebels' and 'circus girls'. Flo's scream when caned could have won her an Oscar!

Thoroughly chastened, we were keen to leave the class when Robbie rang the bell, and hurried off for a lunch of first rate fish and chips – 'succulent', as Felicity called it. The traditional sweet shop provided more to eat in the form of gob stoppers and boiled sweets with wonderful flavours like 'rhubarb and custard'.

Then it was into more mines but this time by canal boat. Despite drips of water falling on our heads, many reckoned this was the highlight of the trip; “it was fun and interesting” (Peter), “it was relaxing and they explained how the rocks were formed” (Laura).

Our final activity was a trip to the Victorian fairground. For Jacob, this was the best bit of the day, especially the carousel. As it gathered speed, Leckford students could be seen hanging on for dear life as they whirled round and round and up and down. If that was a little too energetic for some the swing boats and helter skelter offered more sedate options. A number of students also left the rifle range clutching prizes!



All in all, it was a great day out and a wonderful, interactive way to learn about work and life around Dudley at the turn of the last century.

Writeup by Margaret Horton

Artweeks Exhibition 2010

d'Overbroeck's College doesn't just sponsor Artweeks; we also host our own exhibition. This year's took place over the weekend just passed. As those of you who came along will attest, there was a fantastic array of work: everything from intricately detailed miniatures to gigantic cardboard sculpture; oils to watercolours; sketching to photography.

Here's a slideshow of photos taken at the Private View of our exhibition, on the evening of Friday 14 May.

Artweeks Artist and d'Overbroeck's Parent

Yesterday we paid a visit to Kevin Wooding, who is the father of Year 9 student Lucy Arque. Kevin is exhibiting a selection of his art as part of the Oxfordshire Artweeks festival – currently in full swing.

[On which note, a quick reminder that our own exhibition – featuring work by students, parents and staff of the College, as well as local artists – will be open this weekend. Please do come along! More details here (pdf)]

Artweeks entails a host of Oxfordshire artists throwing open their studios, galleries and homes to the public. In this spirit, we pitched up at Kevin's exhibition, video camera in hand, to find out a little bit about his art. To find out more, watch the interview:



If you'd like to see Kevin's work in the flesh, the opening hours for his exhibition are on the Artweeks website. Alternatively, send Kevin an email to book a viewing.

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.

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.’

Sports Day at Leckford Place

Leckford Place School held its sports day on Thursday. There were many outstanding performances by pupils, and the day was characterised by an atmosphere of competition – but also of enthusiasm and sportsmanship.

View a gallery of more photos on Flickr

The final results by House were as follows:

1. Evenlode
2. Thame
3. Windrush
4. Isis