Charismatic Public Speakers

Back in January, two teams represented Leckford Place at the Rotary ‘Youth Speaks’ public speaking competition. This was the local area competition Intermediate Section hosted by Cherwell School.

Team A (Year 8) consisted of Jesse Weeks (Proposer), James Lambert (Speaker) and Hovnan Eayrs (Chairman). James gave an animated and amusing talk entitled ‘Why do the Goodies Always Win?’



Year 7 was represented by Team B (above) comprising Sophia Saban (Speaker), William Nicholson (Chairman) and Jack Valentine (Proposer). Sophia entertained us with tales of her family Christmas spent with an eccentric relative.

Against some strong competition, Leckford Place stood out as having two equally impressive teams. Our speakers and supporters presented their own well prepared material in a confident and natural style.

Although they did not bring home one of the two prizes — and that must have been by the narrowest of margins — Sophia and James were given well-deserved praise by the judges for their confident presence on stage. They also won the spontaneous praise of several members of the audience.

— Writeup kindly provided by Lesley Lambert, parent

Autumn leaves and abstract images in Photography Club

Photo by Oliver Green (Year 9)

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)

Photo by Tom Leavey (Year 9)

Leckford Place Choir debuts at the Ashmolean

As Oxford celebrated the turning on of the city's Christmas Lights on Friday evening, the newly-formed Leckford Place Choir gave its debut performance – in the magnificent surroundings of the Ashmolean Museum.

To a crowd of onlookers who thronged multiple levels of the Ashmolean's atrium, the choir sang a selection of carols and Christmas songs. The occasion was all the more special as it also marked the 1st birthday of the Ashmolean's new building.


Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city, older students from the Sixth Form and International Study Centre performed in the d'Overbroeck's Dance Club on the main stage on Broad Street.


There will be another chance to see both groups in action: the Dance Club will perform at tonight's Sixth Form Winter Concert (Tuesday 30 November, 7pm at Leckford Place Hall), and the Leckford Place Choir will sing at the Leckford Place Winter Concert, the following week (Monday 13 December, 7pm at Leckford Place Hall). So please do come along!

From classroom to glacier

This winter, year 8 skier Alex White will be training alongside many national teams. He has his sights set on winning a place in the British team: competition is intense, but Alex has some impressive awards under his belt.

Last season, he was placed third in the Giant Slalom of the Anglo-Scottish Cup; third in the Slalom and 4th in the Giant Slalom of the British Schoolboys International Race; 4th in the Giant Slalom of the English Alpine Championships and 4th in the Super G of the British Land National Ski Championships – amongst numerous other impressive placings.

We wish Alex all the best in his training.

Fiction becomes reality during National Book Week

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.

Below is a gallery of photos from the day.



See the Book Day photos on Flickr

Interacting with Science at @Bristol

At the end of September the year 7s and 8s set off for their annual trip to the interactive science museum, @Bristol.


The two hour coach trip was justified by the fantastic experience of the huge range of activities on offer. Pupils ran on the hamster wheel to power a complex system of water ways, froze their own shadows, made stop frame animations and ran their own TV studio.


The shows on offer were equally impressive, with exploding hydrogen balloons and fizzy pop-rockets made from old film canisters. We relaxed for a while looking up at the autumn night sky in the planetarium and listening to ancient Greek tales. All agreed it was a great day of learning and fun and the year 7s are looking forward to their next trip.

– Words and photos by Natalie Vlachakis (Science teacher)

Close call netball

Here's a report from our recent, hard-fought Under 13 Netball match against the Cherwell School.

In the first quarter, Cherwell got the first point – but Leckford Place quickly came back to equalise, with Christina Zamura (GS) scoring, set up by Genevieve Reeves. This set the tone for an extremely well-matched game.

Quick plays from Martha Carrdus (WA) and Cassie Senn (C) through the center third meant that we were in Cherwell's third for most of the first quarter. In the second quarter, we took the lead thanks to a goal from Jessie Weeks (GA) – but Cherwell was determined to equalise, and had some quick plays up the court resulting in 2 more points.

Our third quarter was our best, with two more points set up by Jessie for Christina to score. Emily Rudaz (WA) made some great movements on the court (her opposition could not keep up!); meanwhile, Sophia Saban and Sulma Ali (WD) put up an excellent defence.

Early on in the fourth quarter, Cherwell had scored two points; we had taken one more. Our defence held up brilliantly as both Helene Asbjornsen and Morgan Lee battled to keep the ball out of the D. Thanks to their efforts, the score ended on 5-4 to Cherwell.

Player of the match went to Morgan Lee for her outstanding defending.

Comment from Sophia Saban:
'Although we didn't win, I really enjoyed it. It was my first netball match and it was great to put the skills we learn in PE into practice. I also really enjoyed the competition.'

Team: Jessie Weeks (Capt), Genevieve Reeves, Sophia Saban, Emily Rudaz, Cassie Senn, Helene Asbjornsen, Martha Carrdus, Morgan Lee, Cristina Zamura, Sulma Ali

– Words by Jo Kalies (Sport & Activities Coordinator)