U14 Cricket v Kingham Hill Result

d’Overbroeck’s win by 21 runs.

d’Overbroeck’s batted first and after a shaky start which resulted in the score being 19 runs for the cost of 4 wickets after 6 overs, Kester McLennan and Alex White formed a resilient partnership which lasted until the end of the innings. Kester eventually made 27 runs and was ably supported by Alex making 6 runs. d’Overbroeck’s innings ended on 98 for 4.

'Howzat!' A Kingham Hill batsman is bowled out by Sasa Trkulja

d’Overbroeck’s bowlers were on fine form, bowling tight and aggressive lines for which Kingham Hill only made 77 runs for 8 wickets. The pick of the bowlers was Sasa Trkulja with 3 wickets. Well done to all the players in their first match of the season.

Martin Procter, Head of PE

Year 10 Geography Field Trip

Students arrive in sunny Somerset, unload their kit, get orientated and generally well prepared for the work ahead of them.

That afternoon we head down to a nearby stream to learn how to measure the characteristics of a river. Please note how much work Ethan is actually doing, one of life’s leaders that one.

Those that can, teach, those that can’t...

DAY TWO; River measurement proper begins, the weather at this time is not toooooo bad!

However, conditions soon deteriorate. Spirits remain stable, no student pulls a sicky, takes a dive or otherwise seeks to cop out!

Lunch is taken in surprisingly cosy surroundings.

Alarmingly, Local footpaths begin to disappear! Rain intensity has been increasing for some time!

Last year the river trickled out beneath this stone berm on Kilve beach! This part of the river was unmeasureable.

An African Adventure

Further to news regarding the forthcoming trip to Namibia (see Namibia 2012), the story has been featured in the Oxford Mail (see below).

As reported in the Oxford Mail. Click on the image to view a PDF of the original story.

A transcript of the story is as follows: 

Most children get a week abroad in Europe for their school trips. Not so for a group of pupils at an Oxford college who will be travelling to Africa to help revamp a deprived school.

A group of 20 sixth form and Year 11 pupils from d'Overbroeck's College in Banbury Road, will spend two weeks in Namibia in July including a week refurbishing classrooms and a playground. It is the kind of activity usually associated with pre-university gap years, but trip leader Johny Richards said there had been no shortage of interest

Mr Richards said: "The primary focus is a school in a deprived area of Namibia. We want our students to get more cultural awareness, find out a bit about themselves and find out what it's like for children in other parts of the world – and hopefully give something back."

The pupils at the fee-paying independent school have paid about £2,500 each to go on the trip, and are fundraising to collect about £5,000 between them to pay for building materials for the work.

In Africa, they will spend the first day sourcing materials before moving to the school they are helping for a week.

Mr Richards said: "It will be all hands to the pump to try and get as much as we possibly can done in a week. While we are there, we will be cooking for ourselves every night and camping all the time. They will be roughing it 24/7. It will be hard work both physically and mentally."

The youngsters have been split into different fundraising teams. One is approaching organisations to seek sponsorship and items which can be auctioned off in aid of the cause. Another will organise supermarket bagpacking, and other fundraising events in the pipeline including a school safari dress-up day and a cake sale.

Mr Richards said: "This is about giving back to a less fortunate community, and that is why most of them wanted to go."

The school organised a similar trip to Zambia in 2009.

Namibia 2012

Later this year, 20 of our Sixth Form and Year 11 students will be going to Namibia to work on improving the facilities of a local school by refurbishing classrooms and building playground areas. Our students will also help with activities and teaching whilst working with local pupils.

"Education is a high priority for Namibians, especially in the more remote regions where schools are more isolated. By working alongside communities to upgrade recreation and education facilities so to assist the daily education of Namibian pupils our education projects are intended to provide a meaningful and sustainable exchange for groups who wish to get closer to a rural community." according to 'Schools Worldwide'. The College organised a similar trip two years ago to Zambia which is featured in the photos.

To raise money for the materials to be used in Namibia, students have organised several events over the next few weeks, including two cake sales, a 'Safari Day' and Quiz Night. More information on these will be posted in due course.

Alongside these, a number of other social events have been planned for the term ahead, including:

• a trip to the Oxford University v The Army rugby match at the University sports ground on 7th February
• an ice skating disco at the Oxford Ice Rink on 24 February
• d'Overbroeck's Got Talent in March

Christmas Fair 2011

It may seem that Christmas is still some way away, but it's coming early to d'Overbroeck's College! On Saturday 26th November, between 11am and 2pm, you are warmly invited to join us at Leckford Place for our annual Christmas Fair. There will be an array of stalls and games for adults and children - the perfect place to snap up a few presents - with refreshments available, including mince pies and mulled wine. All money raised will go to local children's charities.

There is also the opportunity for you to have your own stall or to help with the running of the fair, so if you'd like to be involved or would like more information then please contact anne.brooks@doverbroecks.com.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Summer cooking and inspired teaching

The following article was first published in the Oxford Times Educational Supplement on September 15th 2011.

Sami Cohen, the Principal of d'Overbroeck's, reflects on the essential ingredients that make for outstanding teaching and learning.

Not an avid TV watcher, I was nonetheless captivated by Jamie Oliver’s recent programme on summer cooking. Working outdoors with no kitchen in sight, it was fascinating to watch him crush fresh ripe avocadoes till they oozed through his fingers, squeeze juicy lemons with great gusto, turn a holey old bucket into a serviceable fish smoker and whip up a cake out of hastily cooked pancakes and the enthusiasm of a bunch of three-year olds. With the most makeshift of equipment and the minimum of pretension – but with passion, flair, a deft touch and plenty of joie de vivre, he was able to bring the best out of his ingredients and to turn out exquisitely succulent results.

It struck me that good teaching had much in common with this. Good teaching comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes; there is no single recipe for it. Nevertheless it seems to me that the best teachers are often not those who revel in convoluted teaching strategies or who aspire to create beautifully conceived model lesson plans. The best teachers are those who have a rich reservoir of energy and passion, who enjoy their subject and love to communicate it; those who make a point of really getting to know each and every one of their students and who aspire to kindle in each of them a combination of inquisitiveness, enthusiasm and a desire to think for themselves to want to know more.

Such teachers are often passionate, driven people who are motivated by a desire to inspire and to draw the best out of every one of their students. The result is usually a very special kind of ‘dedication’; a dedication that is shared by both students and teacher – and, where the alchemy really works, such dedication need by no means be earnest or sanctimonious. It is usually more robust and runs deeper than that. ‘Where there’s laughter, there’s learning’, as our founder was fond of saying. When students are comfortable and at ease, that is when they are most prone to be receptive and engaged. And the benefits are mutual: students can bring the best out of their teachers, just as much as teachers can bring the best out of their students.

Every school has to have, and to publish, a ‘statement of aims and ethos’. You are most welcome to find ours on our website. It starts as follows: ‘We aim to maintain a lively, close-knit yet relatively liberal community in which pupils feel engaged, happy and at ease with themselves and with their school environment; in which the relationships between staff and students are ‘comfortable’ and built more on mutual respect than on imposed formality; in which pupils are encouraged and stimulated to develop academically and personally, and to grow into themselves as confident, thoughtful and considerate people who are ready to move on to the next stage of their lives.’

In my view, outstanding teaching sits at the very core of this and none of the rest would be possible without it.

Click here to read more articles on our 'In the Media' page.

Creative Courses 2011

Here at Leckford Place, we very much enjoyed the summer's Creative Courses; all the children were wonderful and really made the most of the week. Next year we'll be running the courses again and are very much hoping to add to the spectrum of activities that we offer; one course we're hoping to run is Hip Hop dance, but more information will be available in due course. If you haven't already, subscribe to the Leckford Place blog to keep up to date with this and all that's going on at Leckford Place.

In the meantime, below are a number of photographs taken during our busy and creative week!