End of term Lasertag

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...

Conquering Warwick Castle

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.

Another successful round of work experience placements

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.

Come along to our art exhibition

by Emmie van Biervliet

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.

We hope to see you there!

by Paul Amey

Artweeks Carnival: Music, Art and Juggling

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.

Below, a slideshow of photos from the event:

Pupil art to brighten hospital walls

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.

Click the following link to view an interactive gallery of the canvases (click on each image to zoom in and out)

... or browse the work on Flickr

Diving into Artweeks

Detail from 'The Diver' by Flo Amey, Upper Sixth

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.