Sports Day 2010 - in words and photos

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.

View a slideshow of more photographs from Sports Day

— Words by Martin Procter; photos by Oliver Stone and Tom Parnell

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

The Tempest: an interview with the director

This week sees the long-awaited College performance of the Tempest. To whet your appetites, we caught up with Joe Swarbrick – drama teacher and the play's director for a short interview.

In the video below, Joe describes the play's aesthetic – inspired by gigantic heaps of discarded machinery – and how a 400 year-old text can tell us something today about the interplay between knowledge and power.

The video features original music written and recorded by Joe.

(Details on how to book after the video.)



If you'd like to come and see the play, hurry and book your tickets now, as we still have some seats on both nights:

Thursday 1 & Friday 2 July, 7pm
Leckford Place Hall
Tickets £10 (adult), £6 (student/concession)

Please e-mail Emily Brooke if you would like a ticket.

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.

Zambian school under construction - with our help

Today, a quick update from Zambia. Last summer, a group of d'Overbroeck's College students (from both Leckford Place and the Sixth Form) travelled to the country and – as well as scaling mountains and swimming under waterfalls – they engaged in charitable work, teaching at a village school and visiting victims of AIDS, malaria and TB.

We recently received an update from one of the Zambian charities to which we donated at the end of the trip, letting us know that some of the funds had gone towards the construction of a new school for children affected by (or themselves suffering from) AIDS.

The building is still unfinished – but they sent the photograph above to show us the progress so far.

The Tempest: this term's dramatic highlight

This term's dramatic highlight will be a d'Overbroeck's College production of the Tempest. Shakespeare's last play – a dark, brooding comedy about power, cruelty, love and magic – has been relocated to a technological junk heap in the middle of the Pacific. On this pile of discarded motherboards, monitors and technological detritus sits Prospera, usurped Duchess of Milan, and her daughter Miranda.

Caliban, their slave, the man who built the island with his mother Sycorax, plots his revenge on Prospera, while Prospera herself spies her former enemies on a passing ship. Summoning a storm with her sprite Ariel, the ship is wrecked on the shore of the island and its occupants scattered. As they all try to make sense of their new situation, they realise the island is not what it seems and that someone is controlling their every move.

A thought-provoking and visceral new interpretation of a complex and fascinating play, students from across the d'Overbroeck's family combine video, physical theatre, a cutting-edge soundtrack and exciting visual effects to bring you Shakespeare like you've never seen it before. Intense, energetic, funny and tragic by turn, this promises to be a spectacular theatrical event.

Thursday 1 & Friday 2 July, 7pm
Leckford Place Hall
Tickets £10 (adult), £6 (student/concession)

To book your tickets, please contact the Leckford Place Office: 01865 302620 / leckfordplace@doverbroecks.com

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.