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
The Oxford Shakespeare Company, fresh from performing their A Comedy of Errors in London, happily agreed to open their Oxford summer season a day early especially for Leckford students and parents!
Reviewed by The Guardian as 'an exuberant outdoor production — faultless performances, a toe-tapping, heart-warming hoot', a wonderful summer’s afternoon was enjoyed by all! Against the beautiful backdrop of the Wadham College gardens, we were treated to a musical and modern interpretation of one of Shakespeare’s lesser-known comedies.
The performance retained the puns and slapstick style typical of Shakespeare’s comedies with more modern twists and audience interaction making the play more engaging and easy to follow than is often the case with Shakespeare productions. A huge thank you to those parents who came along to share the day!
— Words and photo by Joanne Williams, English teacher
Red Nose Day was celebrated in style at Leckford, with staff and pupils alike donning red to raise money for this fantastic cause!
The Year 8s took the lead in organising a brilliant range of events for the day, kicking off with a very popular Cake Sale in the Social Area at break. Lunch was extended, and the hall in Leckford was transformed into a carnival with a great selection of stalls and stands, including a Shooting Gallery, Pin-the-Nose, and a Hot Dog stall — all of which was accompanied by an Open Mic stand. A good number of pupils chose to sing and perform, as well as home-grown talent in the form of staff JP and James Holburn.
All would agree, however, that the highlight (perhaps not for those on the receiving end!) was the Staff Sponging. Head Mark gamely took the lead in the stocks, followed by staff including Maths teacher Frank and the English department's Jo Williams.
At the final fund-count, the grand total came to a fantastic £551.50, a sum that all the school can be very justly proud of. Well done to the Year 8 group that planned the day, and to all who gave so generously throughout!
Each term, Leckford Place students take part in a variety of clubs and extracurricular activities – and every so often we'll give an insight into what the children have been up to by profiling a particular activity. So today we have a report from the Photography Club, which meets on a Wednesday afternoon each week.
This term we have considered more subjects than ever before and some truly wonderful shots have been taken by our group – a couple of which are featured in this post. We have looked at the landscape, macro, portraits, movement and creating abstract images. We have spent a lot of time looking at trees, particularly because the autumn colours have been so special this year.
A few of our keener students have even upgraded their gear, having developed a very healthy interest. I do hope they will continue to observe the world around them during the holidays.
— Report by Oliver Stone (Club leader & Head of Spanish)
Earlier this term, pupils and staff once again dressed up as literary characters to celebrate National Book Week and raise money for charity. There were some really imaginative ideas, and £60 was raised for Helen and Douglas House.
Prizes for the best costumes went to Jesse Weeks, Hamza Khan, Emily Rudaz, Hugh Nicolson and Joe Wolfensohn.
This term’s imaginative and daring reimagination of The Tempest saw Shakespeare’s last, great play relocated to a technological scrapheap in the Pacific.
The Tempest is, famously, a play that sits uncomfortably within its ‘comedy’ genre: falsehood, betrayal, absolute power and impending death are woven into its fabric. Fittingly, the d’Overbroeck’s production (directed by Drama teacher Joe Swarbrick) accentuated the text’s unsettling ambivalence.
There were moments of huge dramatic impact – as harpies writhed and shrieked, and ships were torn apart in raging seas – but also times of quiet introspection.
Lydia Hassan dominated the play with an extraordinarily nuanced rendition of Prospera, veering from rage to exhultation to troubled introspection. The resulting performance was powerfully compelling – all the more remarkable when you consider the fact that this is a role typically wrestled with by professional actors as they near the end of their career.
Tal Fineman and Will Cronk’s treacherous plotting was suitably distasteful, Felicity Hughes’ Miranda and Joe Wolfensohn’s Ferdinand enacted a haltingly tender courtship, and a troupe of shimmering Ariels were in turn impish and cacophanous.
Meanwhile, the drunken ramblings of Stephano (Sam Rigal) and Trinculo (Daisy Jordan) were hilarious – offset by the disturbing presence of Sixth Former Emma Gonnella’s brilliantly played Caliban.
Tuesday 29 June saw friends and family flocking to the school hall for the annual Leckford Place Summer Soiree. In what is now the Soiree’s fourth year, the audience was treated to an incredibly diverse range of items. From beginners to experienced performers, the night was an excellent chance for students to showcase their musical talents and gain valuable performing experience.
Solo items – ranging from piano, violin, recorder and drum items to vocal performances – were presented by Charlie Baskerville, Edith-Rose Scott, Hamza Khan, Lucy Arque, Gabriel O’Toole, Tal Fineman, Tim Howard, Sam Rigal, Meelie Smith, Joseph Kenyon-Gewirtz, James Lambert, Felix Clarke, Cole Thornicroft, Eve Martin, Felicity Hughes, and Clifford Carr.
Jazz Club (above) strutted their stuff with renditions of Van Morrison’s ‘Moondance’ and ‘My Funny Valentine’ by Rogers & Hart, and Vocal Group showed off their talents, following up a performance of a Latin hymn with ‘Rhythm of Life’ from the musical Sweet Charity, by Cy Coleman. The strength of Leckford young composers was also on show, with original pieces performed by Caleb Pakeman, Will Finnerty and Lydia Hassan. GCSE Music students’ composition coursework also provided incidental music before the concert.
A Year 10 band including Will Gildea, Will Finnerty and Olivia Frazer-Smith performed pieces by Muse and AC/DC, whilst the concert concluded with strains of Motorhead from Tal Fineman, Harry Bridge and Will Goodfellow.
Well done to all performers! We look forward to seeing you at the Winter Concert in December.
25 June 2010 saw the annual Leckford Place Athletics Sports Day, held at Tilsley Park in Abingdon.
It was a glorious day for a fun-packed festival of sporting talent – appreciated by a sizeable crowd of spectators. The morning focused on field events, with competitors taking part in the javelin, shot putt, discus, high and long jump. There were many outstanding performances; special mentions must go to Sam Gillingham with a throw of 37.5m in the Year 8 Javelin, and Ben Elwell throwing 11.21m in the discus.
The track events took place in the afternoon and saw some very competitive races at each distance.
Outstanding students of the day were Tess O’Shea receiving 4 gold medals, Cassandra Pearce receiving 5 gold medals, and Sam Gillingham receiving 5 gold medals. The victorious House, meanwhile, was Windrush.
Congratulations to all who took part in the competition, and thanks to all staff who helped officiate and to parents for coming to spectate.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
These were the familiar words that introduced Tuesday evening's performance of Cupid's Labyrinth at Leckford Place – an evening overflowing with musical ardour.
We were treated to a programme of solos, duets, trios and quartets that brought together songs by Purcell and Handel, operatic arias by Verdi and Mozart and extracts from the more modern operettas of Offenbach and Gilbert & Sullivan – all unified by the theme of love.
So we witnessed seduction …
… silent adoration …
… amorous competition …
… illicit liaison …
… and more. The quality of the singing was unfailingly excellent, with a talented cast of performers – from Year 7 to Sixth Form – proving themselves more than equal to some extremely demanding classical repertoire.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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