written notebook, theory, vocal and performance. .... OPM and Olympian, Tom Daley, visited Plymouth College in January t
Spring Newsletter 2018
Ten Tors - article page 11
www.plymouthcollege.com
Plymouth College And St Dunstan’s Abbey Schools Charity Registration Number 1105544
Academic Cambridge Offer
After a challenging process, including three interviews and a written test, Ben Gittins has been offered a place to study Mathematics at Robinson College, Cambridge. Founded in 1977, Robinson is the newest of the Cambridge colleges and, as both a keen musician and sportsman, Ben will be looking forward to making the most of his university experience. He has the small matter of achieving A*, A* A at A Level in this summer’s examinations to confirm his place. Ben has an enviable academic record having already achieved an A* in A Level Mathematics and a Gold and Silver medal in the Maths Challenge and Physics Olympiad respectively. In addition, he has 11A* grades at GCSE level; this is a measure of the academic standards expected to gain a place at Cambridge. With extensive support in school through the Early Applicants programme and the Mathematics department, we are delighted that Ben’s passion and commitment to his subject has been rewarded.
RAF Visit
Plymouth College recently hosted the RAF Engineering Education roadshow where all of Year 8 and Year 9 took part in a presentation and activities to demonstrate the physics of flight. The presentation featured a drone, a VR rollercoaster and a small jet engine, which made an incredible noise that shook the walls of the MK Hall.
Biology & Physics Olympiads
Upper Sixth pupil, Gabby Ward, achieved a Bronze award in the Biology Olympiad, putting her in the top 18% of candidates that took the national competition. Catherine Bishop, also in the Upper Sixth, was a mere mark away from achieving the same accolade. Ben Gittins and George Modica-Cliff recently sat the British Physics Olympiad papers, a national competition challenging young physicists’ problem-solving skills and knowledge at the top end of A level. Ben achieved a Silver and George a Commendation. This means Ben was in the top 150-300 students nationally. Ben has since attempted the Astronomy and Astrophysics competition, an even more demanding paper, and achieved a Bronze.
Plymouth College tops the table once again
It was very pleasing to note that when the school league tables were published by the Department of Education at the end of January, they once again confirmed Plymouth College’s top position for value added in the local area at A level. With a score of 0.29 above average and with an overall average grade of B-. The two scores illustrate the excellent nature of academic achievement at Plymouth College. Once again, I would like to congratulate students who performed so well last summer and the staff for their excellent teaching and pastoral care. This places us above all three local grammar schools and significantly above our local independent competitor, Mount Kelly. Please note that the GCSE tables are of limited value as the Secretary of State decided that iGCSEs would not be included in these statistics. Subject has been rewarded.
STEM Club
The Physics and DT departments are currently collaborating with some Lower Sixth students on a new STEM project. The students are building a drone from an electronics-based kit and hope to take part in the Airgineers drone racing tournament later in the year.They recently got the drone airborne on the school field. The next task is to work on the VR goggles so a First Person View link can be established from the drone’s camera. Pictured with the semiconstructed drone are Tom Beagley, Tommy Osrin and Sam Agnew. Max Symes is also part of the team.
Maths Challenge
On Thursday 1st February, thirty-one pupils inYears 9 and 10 sat the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge. This is a twenty-five question multiple-choice paper that requires participants to use their initiative to solve unfamiliar problems. Zoe Lancaster (Year 10) and Daniel Coles (Year 9) were the top performing students in their year groups, with Daniel and Jenson Giles both qualifying for the follow on round for Year 9.
School
Progress Score & Description
Average Result
Plymouth College
Above Average 0.29
B-
Devonport High School for Girls
Average 0.07
B-
Devonport High School for Boys
Average 0.06
B-
Mount Kelly
Average 0.04
C
Plymouth High School for Girls
Below Average -0.15
C+
Year 10 Business Studies Langage Farm
After the successful launch of the Year 9 Langage Farm Enterprise Challenge last year, this year’s first cohort of Year 9s have visited the factory where they learnt about the firm’s production methods, branding, quality assurance and design mix. Split into groups, students have conducted market research as part of a hands-on process of creating their own bespoke ice cream concept. The photo shows Mr Summons’ class alongside Langage Director and OPM, Ben Harvey, following their Dragon Den-esque pitches. The winning team will be announced in the summer term. As with last year’s Tiger Trouble winning entry, this year’s winning flavour will be sold at the end of year Speech Day on 30th June.
Sixth Form Sixth Form PHSE
On Wednesday 31st January, our Sixth Form students enjoyed taking part in some stress management techniques as part of their PSHE programme. This included participating in Mindfulness and Zumba, both of which are designed to help them deal with the demands of their academic studies and life in general.
Financial Services
Miss Lilley (Economics) has very successfully run two courses in the Sixth Form for Financial Studies. These have resulted in some students gaining lower offers for their degree courses. One of the opportunities the courses offered was the chance for students to get onto an apprenticeship scheme within the banking sector post A-level studies.
A Level Religious Studies Masterclass
After a cold early morning start in February, we left Plymouth College eager to revise some well discussed theological topics. Upper Sixth Religious Studies students were attending an Academy Conference at King’s School Taunton to hear from some of the foremost philosophical thinkers. Initially, we were treated to an inspiring lecture comparing Kant’s absolutist moral approach with the more relativistic and situational ethics of Jeremy Bentham. We were also challenged to question whether everyday human language, in an impermanent world, could meaningfully be applied to a God that is seen to be all loving, all knowing and all powerful.
University Choices
The Upper Sixth are currently in the midst of making their final decisions regarding university study. Despite some universities making students wait, some students have replied to offers already with some unconditional offers too – mirroring a trend in a slight rise for these offers nationally. As always, students need to continue to focus on getting the best possible grades, be it following the A-Level or Sports Baccalaureate courses. Our Upper Sixth have applied for a range of courses in numerous disciplines, with a range of courses including politics, languages, humanities, economics, sciences and creative arts subjects.The range of courses is as varied and vibrant as our Sixth Form and the buzz of excitement is palpable in the Sixth Form, set alongside a normal amount of nerves as exams approach. A number of our students are also considering gap years, going into employment or applying abroad – notably to the USA, Hong Kong and universities in Europe.
Dr Timothy Mawson and Dr Keith Ward, pre-eminent Oxford philosophers, debated whether it was rational to believe in the existence of a God at all. Is belief in God contingent upon an ‘Indiana Jones’ type leap of faith as Kierkegaard stated or, given that our world is full of objects and beings requiring causal explanation, is the universe itself best explained by some creating power? Finally, we were asked to compare the sexual ethics of secular theories like Utilitarianism with its emphasis on the ‘greatest happiness of the greatest number,’ with the implications of Richard Dawkin’s extension of evolutionary theory and St Thomas Aquinas’ attempt to reconcile faith and reason. This was a stimulating day, raising fascinating questions fundamental to our moral and spiritual lives. Students were given different perspectives and ideas based on topics they had already studied, revision and new thinking going hand in hand.
Young Enterprise
The school has been actively involved in Young Enterprise for a number of years. Below are the thoughts and feedback from the current Lower Sixth team, Apex. Tom Cosby: The bulk of Apex work has occurred in our Tuesday after-school meetings, where we have been able to sit down as a group of shareholders and all contribute our thoughts about the direction of our business and how we planned on reaching to our desired goal. This has resulted in Apex becoming a wellfunctioning team, which has consequently resulted in our success so far in the process. Throughout the process, our various sub teams have collaborated well. One example is our various product development teams, who have been extremely active in order to improve our diverse product portfolio. Whether it be small and constant improvements made to our hot chocolate via tasting panels in order to produce our best possible product for our customers, or improvements made to our final product through long hours in the DT department on coming up with a winning design for our unique product.The experience has led to a great deal of lessons being learnt, whether it be small things like business administration for our secretary, or lessons, in personnel management and leadership from our Managing Directors and HR Director. Moreover, I believe that the process has been a great lesson in Teamwork and collaboration for the entire team, in a challenging and unfamiliar environment of business.All in all though, it is certain that the Young Enterprise process has mean that every member of the team has learnt something and developed their character as part of an interdependent team. Victoria Vincent: About two months ago, Apex decided to participate in the Plympton Christmas market. We headed out in high spirits and managed to obtain equally high profits after selling numerous amounts of Christmas decorations, with our best seller being the “Make your own baubles” stand. The fact that we were earning high amounts of cash meant that we could afford to invest in other ideas which could potentially provide us with a continuous and stable income. This led to the development of selling Hot Chocolate at school during lunch and break times on the cold, winter days.This taught us that blue skies thinking should always be used when coming up with new ideas as the idea of selling hot chocolate has not only increased our income due to being a monopoly within the school, but has also boosted our
confidence heading into the production stage of our final product. James Wood: Reflecting on the last few months, there have been many highlights during our experiences of working together, as a ‘Young Enterprise’ group. The most memorable and enthralling event so far has been the Christmas Fair.The joy was twofold! Firstly, to see the little children so happy making their baubles heavily impacted on the whole team. This was evident in how we all felt, not just individually at times during the night but also as a collective group. The experience allowed us to contemplate and reflect on how well we work as a team and moreover, what we can do to work even better as a team in the future. We were immensely proud of our efforts and very pleased with the business that we achieved throughout the night.There have, of course, been many other distinctive events such as the ‘Hot-Chocolate Making’ during school times, in order to raise the funds needed for further development of the product. After the initial challenge of setting up, getting ourselves organised, and familiarising ourselves to the new environment, the buzz of selling the hot chocolate kicked in. It immediately captured a range of interests from many students who enthusiastically grabbed a warm piquant Apex-Branded Hot Chocolate juxtaposed to the frosty gusty environs of the MK Hall. Challenges Mae C. Jemison once said, “The biggest challenge we all face is to learn about ourselves and to understand our strengths and weaknesses. We need to utilize our strengths, but not so much that we don’t work on our weaknesses”. There have indeed been challenges, as with any group, mostly evident during our initial months that have worked in parallel with our highlights. Needless to say, as a group, we have effectively and efficiently overcome these obstacles through regular discussion and constructive re- evaluation, as well as an abundance of self-refection, critical evaluation, exploring both positive and negative feedback from all. Lessons well learnt for future team experiences and challenges.
Charity Sydney Wood
On Friday 2nd February, Lower Sixth pupil, Sydney Wood, travelled to London to assist with fundraising and to provide backstage support at the National Young Voices event held in the O2 arena. Young Voices is an annual event that involves many up and coming young performers backed by a choir of over 7700 school children. As an ambassador and volunteer for the Teenage Cancer Trust, Sydney helped to collect donations, raising just over £4000 for the charity.
Year 7 Fundraising for Cancer Research
This academic year,Year 7 pupils have chosen to support the charity Cancer Research. They have been set the challenge of coming up with ideas to raise money and have been organising their own events either in or outside of school. The first in-school event was a Cake Sale and Hockey fest organised by Lydia Lambie and Estella Rowlands. The Hockey Fest took place on a glorious sunny afternoon after-school: there were mixed teams of 5 who shared goalies; each player contributed £2 to play and sticks were provided. The combined events raised £157.37 for Cancer Research. “It was great seeing everyone smile and taking part”, said Lydia and Estella, “and thanks to Year 11 pupils Ella Bean and Gabby Williams for umpiring, Miss Fisher for time-keeping and to Mr Palmer (Head of Lower School) and Mr Fenwick (Head of Hockey) for assisting with the organisation on the day”. Other Year 7 fund-raising efforts have been undertaken by Ben Nott (who raised £5 selling sweets); Darcey Friendship, Evangeline Piper, Ruby McGinly, Caitlin Carwithen,Tilly and Mary Cox raised £22 from selling slime; Darcey also sold hand-warmers and raised £38. Zak Drake-Norris, Sonny Courtman and James Hunter-Campbell gave up a Saturday to wash cars and were rewarded with £18 for their efforts. So far, the collective total for Cancer Research is £240.37 and the fund-raising continues. Well done to all.
Volunteering
The winter terms have seen several groups of Year 10 students volunteering at the Age UK Plymouth centre at Mount Gould hospital. The groups of students led by Ben Tucker and Evan Lin have spent time with the elderly guests and joining in with activities such as indoor curling, baking and musical performances. The conduct of all students involved has been mature and highly impressive with the key focus on simply being there for a chat, and to offer some company to these elderly people who often have stories that are highly engaging and interesting to hear about.
Achievements Herald Sports Awards
Congratulations to Pete Barrett, Head of Fencing at Plymouth College, for winning Coach of the Year at The Herald’s Sports Personality of the Year Awards 2017. The awards ceremony, which took place at the end of January, recognises the city’s sporting people and celebrates their achievements, hard work and dedication. Pete’s tireless work in local schools to bring fencing to a wide variety of people, his technical and tactical knowledge, his dedication, as well as his development of talented young fencers from Plymouth who now compete on the international stage, are just a few of the reasons why he was chosen as the worthy winner for this category. Former student Henry Slade also won Champagne Moment of the Year for his kick, described as ‘one of the great kicks of all time’, which got Exeter Chiefs into the Premiership final. Well done to all of our current and former students and members of staff who were also shortlisted this year, including Ben Andrews, Gemma Kerr, Georgina Mitchell,Tom Daley, Ben Proud and Netball Coach, Karen Dent.
LAMDA
The past few months have seen great successes for our LAMDA Speech, Drama and Musical Theatre students trained by Zoe Vigus. At the Plymouth Festival of Speech & Drama Year 8 pupil Rafi Rudge collected a special award and was named as Most Promising Speech student age 12-18! The adjudicator, Eleanor Mcleod, was most impressed with Rafi’s reading from the book Artemis Fowl. James Webb (Year 7) went on to impress her also and scooped first place in Bible Reading. The success continued as Year 10 pupil Poppy Vernon took the winning cup in Shakespeare Acting for her portrayal of Juliet taking the Vial. Georgia Trathen and Megan Shorey ((both in Year 9) together won the Duologue Acting class. Another Year 9 pupil,Thomas Wynne took the silver medal with one point in it for performing the verse I am. In recent LAMDA exams Freya Waters in Year 10 gained a very rare, exceptional result of 100% in her Grade 4 Acting. Joshua Thomas-North in Year 8, achieved a score of 96 in his Grade 4 Verse & Prose exam. Megan Shorey gained 95 in Grade 2 Musical Theatre and Year 7 pupil Henry Kagan achieved 93 in his Grade 2 Verse & Prose. In addition to these incredible achievements some students performed at two care homes in Cornwall: Poppy Vernon, Georgia Trathen and Megan Harmse, entertained and chatted to elderly residents absolutely making their day.
Music & Drama Gala Concert
We were delighted to host a Gala Concert in conjunction with the renowned St Dennis Brass Band, at Emmanuel Church, Plymouth on the 26th January.The concert featured a mix of soloists, as well as the massed voices of Year 7 and Year 8, the School Choir and staff. “The evening allowed us to showcase the breadth of music that our students engage in and we are extremely grateful to the St Dennis Band for giving up their time to join us,” said Director of Music, David Green. “Undoubtedly, the highlight of the evening was the opportunity for the students to listen to, and perform with, a band of national standing.” It was a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining evening for all.
Piano Evening
The Piano Evening held in early February was a great success. Pupils from both the Senior and Prep schools gave impressive individual performances and the standard of playing during the evening was as high as ever with some very expressive playing and fantastic technical ability on show. One of the traditions of the evening is when Mr Green and Mr Hawken “invite” (drag) members of the audience up to the pianos to take part in an improvised group performance. These performances were enjoyed by both performers and audience alike! The audience were treated to members of the Music Department staff performing ‘La Vie Breve’ by Falla and the evening was rounded off with group ensemble, ‘Pizzicato Polka’ by Strauss, with all members of the audience having experienced an aural treat.
School of Rock
At the end of the Autumn term Plymouth College rocked! With a live band and some stand out performances from the likes of Lex Irish, Megan Shorey and Freya Waters this year’s whole school production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “School of Rock” was a roaring success. The cast sang, danced and played with energy and enthusiasm, getting better and better with every performance and proving themselves to be worthy of their place in the “band”!
Drama Evening
The Year 9-11 performance evening gave pupils the chance to showcase their class work. Year 9 and 10 shocked their audiences with some very hard-hitting and highly creative devised pieces inspired by Artaud and his “Theatre of Cruelty”. The second half saw a change of mood, as Year 11 took to the stage to perform excerpts from their scripted examination work. As part of the evening, the audience were also treated to the sight of Year 11 pupil, David Petty, complete with wig and high heels, in the role of Aunt Dahlia from Jeeves & Wooster, and Freya Waters (Year 10) put in an accomplished performance of the Evil Queen.
Boarding
Clay Art
On Sunday 21st January some boarders went to the Clay Art studio on the Barbican, Plymouth to demonstrate their artistic flair on a range of items of pottery.The pottery was subsequently fired and glazed.
Snow Day!
The boarders took advantage of the recent snow to have a snowball fight on the field. For some of our overseas pupils, it was the first time they had experienced the phenomenon!
Boarding
International Evening
Boarders go Climbing!
As part of the on-going Sunday activities programme, our boarders visited the indoor climbing wall at the Plymouth Life Centre. They learnt how to tie a figure of eight knot and how to belay their partner, before having a go at climbing different routes up the wall. Some also progressed on to the higher routes, whilst everyone honed their problem-solving skills in the bouldering area. Great fun was had by all!
On a cold, snowy day – Thursday 1st March, St David’s Day (Wales) – the boarders celebrated our international diversity by sharing an evening meal with dishes from the five continents, provided by the school caterers. The event was made special by the numerous boarders who, throughout the meal, presented short introductions to their countries, their lives, favourite national foods and music. Items included a group of African countries, a group representing different regions of Germany and a group of Eastern European countries. Individual presentations included a song from Hong Kong, witty remarks about Turkey, an insight in to life in Pakistan and a well-researched and delivered presentation on the Republic of Ireland.Thanks to Dr Taylor who organized the event, compared the evening and presented prizes to the participants.
News School Council
The School Council continue to provide an excellent voice on behalf of the student body that elected them.They have a challenging and varied brief, ranging from deciding which charities the school will support and how, to effecting policy and change within the school. Last year the Council helped to create the new Plymouth College Principles which are embedding really well this academic year.They were also integral in devising the midweek digital detox which sees our community refrain from phone and tablet use during the school day on Wednesdays. This year the Council have led a working party of students tasked with designing the redevelopment of the library area and their ideas are extremely well thought out and progressive. Food is always a hot topic for School Councils and this year thanks to the impetus and drive of this group, sees the formation of a termly food forum where nominated students from each year group have a chance to feedback directly to the catering manager Rob Burford.
Plymouth College CCF Contingent Dinner Night
Drake Society
Just after half-term, the Plymouth College Drake Society welcomed the Rt. Hon MP for South East Cornwall, Ms Sheryll Murray. The talk formed part of a Q&A open to students from all year groups with topics of conversation ranging from Brexit through to domestic issues such as Education and the NHS. Hosted by Mr Hawken, Ms Murray subsequently talked exclusively to the Drake Society members with more in depth political conversations. Mr Hawken, commented,“It was pleasing to see so many representatives from across all year groups engaging in current affairs and we are very grateful to Ms Murray for giving up her valuable time”.
The Plymouth College CCF dinner night was another great success with over 80 cadets and staff attending as well as guests from the College Board of Governors, Cadet Training Teams and senior representatives from local reserve units. The food and service provided by the College dining room staff was again outstanding and thanks are also offered to the senior cadets and staff who worked hard to set up the evening. The occasion sadly marked the departure of the Contingent Commander and the Headmaster thanked Lt Col Lewis for his 8 years’ service to the College and wished him all the best for the future. Normally an annual event, this year the CCF will hold another dinner night in commemoration of the end of World War 1.
News Outdoor Discoverers’ (Years 7-10)
The Outdoor Discoverers’ Club (Years 7-10) visited Swildon’s Hole, Mendip in January, on a caving trip. “It was a long, but thoroughly worthwhile day out for the Discoverers’ Club,” Mr Rees, Head of Outdoor Education, explained. “We explored the entrance series of Swildon’s Hole. It was a touch wetter than we had anticipated, so rather than heading to the abseil, we climbed up and around the dry routes. Superb effort, particularly by those who had not been caving before!”
Ten Tors annual trip to the seaside
Ten Tors training has continued this term with a variety of walks of varying lengths and endurance. On 3rd February, the annual trip to the seaside took place and participants were blessed with a dazzling day of sunshine but with biting winds for their trip to the South Cornish Coast. The teams clocked up an impressive mileage and height ascent, and everyone enjoyed a ferry ride. Fantastic, but with a few tired legs the next day!
RAF Flying
On the 8th February eight RAF cadets had the opportunity to go flying at MOD Boscombe Down, Wiltshire. On arrival the cadets settled into the crew room and were given a safety brief. This includes an evacuation drill which is needed in the unlikely event of having to abandon the aircraft. After the brief each cadet had to demonstrate that they could perform this drill in the simulator, otherwise they would not be able to fly. Once they had passed, each cadet was kitted out with a flying suit, gloves, helmet and parachute. The cadets each received a 40 minute flight where they were able to learn about the controls of the aircraft and their effect on the aircraft. Cadets also had the opportunity to take control of the aircraft and experience some aerobatics. All cadets had a thoroughly enjoyable day and are looking forward to their next flight at the end of March.
Alp 2500 Ski Trip February 2018
Our biannual ski trip has finally come and gone with a great time had by all! This year we spent the week in La Molina, part of the Alp 2500 resort in Spain. With a huge dump of fresh snow just before our departure, snow conditions were perfect and paved the way for a great week of skiing for 50 students and 6 members of staff. Through the week all of the students got to ski right across the resort and explore all that it had to offer, with lots of gentle runs for the beginners and plenty of steep and faster runs for the more experienced. Students set an exceptional standard in their skiing and the instructors were thoroughly impressed with their rapid progress and high level of ability by the end of the week, especially those that did not have a great deal of experience. Everybody took part in the range of après ski activities including Bowling, Tubing, an evening in a local pizzeria and crepes on the last afternoon. On the last night we had a presentation evening and this really emphasised the high level of our students integrity, congratulated by their instructors for their perseverance when the going got tough and praised by the local restaurateurs for their manners and community based spirit on our local culinary outing. We left with a group of largely inexperienced students, but through their curiosity and aspiration we returned with a group of very tired, yet happy skiers. We look forward to the next ski trip in 2020 and hope that you will join us! Thanks to all involved for such a great week. Mr Wesley
Sport Football
After a very successful 2017 season for Football at Plymouth College with sixteen wins, two draws and one loss the 2018 season has been badly disrupted by the weather with fixtures and training cancelled due to waterlogged pitches. The Year 7s are showing plenty of promise and with more time spent on the training ground will continue to make a marked improvement.The Year 8s started where they finished off last year with a 8-2 victory at Shebbear. A big mention and congratulations to Megan Bishop who is the first girl to represent Plymouth College at Football. The Year 9s and 10s have unfortunately been limited to playing one game each due to bad weather. The first X1, who were unbeaten last year, started with a draw at Shebbear in very difficult conditions and a 7-0 home win against Mount Kelly.
Netball
It has been a busy term for Netball starting against Shebbear, where there were some incredibly hard-fought matches in each age group, with a number of wins, and in almost every case, a very close game. A number of development games took place early in the term, including those against Ivybridge and Bramdean, followed by a full match card of fixtures against Mount Kelly, again with a mixed bag of results, with nothing between the teams on most occasions. A block fixture against Truro proved a real challenge and enabled us to identify which aspects of our netball we need to improve on, with all the opposing teams playing clinical, fast netball and demonstrating that training all year certainly works. The term also included fixtures against PHSG, Heles, DHSG and Exeter School, along with house matches and the highly anticipated staff versus pupil 1st team charity match for Sports Relief. Netball in Plymouth is strong, with over 47 junior teams and many schools entering the Plymouth & District Netball League which improves the overall standard of play, meaning that we do not have to travel far for some healthy competition. With more pupils accessing netball at club level, we have seen a higher standard of play amongst the teams which, alongside good attendance afterschool practices has helped to improve both skills and match-play.
Netball – Plymouth Satellite Academy
Following rigorous trials, two Plymouth College pupils, Alice Patterson and Izzy Page, both Year 8, were selected for the Plymouth Satellite Netball Academy for the 2017-18 season. This programme is the first stage of the England Netball Pathway and incorporates strength and conditioning, training and festivals where they play against other Satellite Academies throughout Devon and Cornwall, with the possibility of County or Regional Academy selection and beyond. The Satellite and Regional Academies both take place at Plymouth College and are run by our very own netball coach, Karen Dent, along with Lauren Dent, a former Team Bath Superleague player. Charlotte Harris, Year 10, currently plays for the U16 Regional squad. Lauren Miller, Lower Sixth pupil, has also previously enjoyed success as an U16 Regional squad member. Hopefully Izzy and Alice will follow in their footsteps!
Cricket
The winter months have seen an enormous amount of work carried out within the cricket program. The start of the academic year saw the formalising of the cricket scholar mentor program whereby the College’s year round cricketers meet as a tutor group every Thursday morning to discuss amongst other things goal setting, both from an academic and cricket perspective, building a successful culture within the sport at the College as well as field placings and fixtures.This group, made up of students from years 9-12, have also continued the College’s participation in the adult Derriford Indoor league every Sunday throughout the winter months learning some valuable lessons and producing some excellent victories over amongst other sides Cornwood and an outstanding performance from year 9 student Ciaran Gray with the bat when the boys ran Devon Premier League side Plymouth very close in a 5 run defeat. The competition provides the boys with weekly opportunities to put into practice the skills and tactics worked on during the week. Individual and small group winter training has been a characteristic of the program for many years and through the boys hard work several cricketers have been included in representative squads both at West Devon and Devon level.The February half term saw three Year 10 cricketers learning and playing cricket as part of Devon and Somerset tours to South Africa and Sri Lanka. All three Under 15 tourists returned from their travels having had wonderful experiences both on and off the field. Will Scott-Munden won the best batsmen award on the Somerset trip, Ben Beaumont managed to score two fifties in one game in South Africa and Elliot Hamilton has come back with his bowling and fielding developing at a rate that means he is a genuine all round prospect. All boys should be very proud of their efforts and how they represented themselves and the College. The junior cricketers in Years 8, 9 and 10 have been training very hard on Thursday lunchtimes in preparation for their Sri Lanka tour in February 2019; with games at Test match venues, white water rafting and several other unforgettable excursions excitement is building already. With coaching taking place 7 days a week here at the College site over the winter months, there is always a session available irrespective of ability or experience for both boys and girls. A cricket skills unit has also become a feature of the PE curriculum program with boys and girls increasing their confidence in terms of both skills and the laws and tactics of the game; the outdoor fixtures for the summer term are being organised and as always will be posted on the plymouthcollegesport.com website. For those interested in keeping up with the work being done by the College’s cricketers the following twitter account provides up to date information and pictures - @PlymCollCricket
Sport Megan Shorey
Year 9 pupil Megan Shorey spent the first six weeks of the Spring Term in Italy training with the British Ski Academy and has recently taken part in the English National Championships. At the English Alpine Championships held in Bormio, Megan competed in the National Super Giant Slalom and was placed 13th in a highly competitive field of 45 entrants in the U14’s. Her achievement was quite remarkable as she had never raced Super Giant Slalom prior to this. The following day she competed in the National Giant Slalom and placed 14th. Again this was an amazing achievement in a very competitive field of seasoned racers. Representing Plymouth College, Megan also won silver in Slalom and Giant Slalom at the British Independent Ski School races in Pila which took place at the end of February.
Diving
Madeline Coquoz attended the ‘Open German Diving Championship’ where she competed at senior level. Madeline gained an impressive two double places. This also means that she has now qualified for the Senior European Championship in Edinburgh in August in the 3m synchronised women’s dive. Congratulations Madeline.
Devon Emerging Players Programme
Year 10 cricketer, Elliot Hamilton, has been selected to participate in the Devon Emerging Players programme for 2017/18. The Emerging Players programme targets junior players who Devon Cricket Board believe have the potential to play Minor Counties and possibly First Class cricket at a professional level. Talented with both bat and ball, this is due recognition for a young man who works tirelessly throughout the winter and summer months perfecting his game. Elliot is a regular member of Plympton First XI and is an example of a hugely determined and focused member of the school community.
Table Tennis
Year 10 pupil, Gemma Kerr, was victorious in the U16 Devon Schools’ Individual Table Tennis Championships yesterday. Gemma, who is currently third on the U15 English ranking list, beat her opponent in 3 straight sets, thereby progressing to the finals in Wolverhampton in April. A fantastic achievement!
Devon Rugby
Three Plymouth College Under 15 Rugby players have been selected into the Devon Rugby squad. Owen Martin, Hamish Harris and George Barnes were selected from over 140 triallists to be part of a 60 strong Devon Under 15s squad. The boys will now attend Devon training and seek to gain selection to the A and B sides that are scheduled to play their Somerset equivalents.
Modern Pentathlon
National Junior Indoor Rowing Championships
Year 10 pupil, Poppy Vernon, has been selected to represent the school in the National Junior Indoor Championships in March. This event is held at the Lee Valley Athletics Centre, London. Poppy started rowing with Plymouth Rowing Club last autumn, where she trains three times a week - a combination of fitness, circuits, and indoor and outdoor rowing. The competition, for pupils in Years 7-U6, consists of both team and individual competitions. We wish Poppy every success in this, her first rowing competition.
In January, Georgina Mitchell and Annabel Denton competed in National Youth Selection#1 at University of Bath. Both pupils competed well across all events (fencing, swimming and laser-run) with Annabel finishing 3rd overall and Georgina close behind her in 4th. Both girls then competed in National Youth Selection #2 in February, hosted once again at the University of Bath.This time a strong British field was joined by the German youth team making for a challenging day for all athletes. Georgina and Annabel had more strong performances and finished in 7th and 9th overall and as the 4th and 6th best placed British athletes. These two great performances leave them in a strong position to finish in the top 4 on the British youth rankings after the third and final ranking competition taking place at Whitgift School in Croydon. Successful qualification will earn both athletes the opportunity to compete on the international stage at the U19 European and World Championships. Director of Modern Pentathlon, Fencing & Multi-Sport Robert Flack spent 5 days in Szekesfehervar, Hungary, successfully completing his UIPM Level 3 Senior Coach certification making him one of only 13 coaches in the world to receive this accreditation.
CARIFTA 2018 Swimming Championships
Congratulations to Year 10 pupil, Luke Haywood, who has been selected for Turks & Caicos Islands National Team to represent them at the CARIFTA International Swim Competition in Jamaica during the Easter break.
Trampolining
Ben Miller (Year 10) competed in the Cascais Beach Cup in Portugal during February half-term in an international field with trampolinists from Portugal, Spain, Poland, Scotland and England. His category had over 70 entries and a three year age range of 15-17. Ben, in his first year in this age category, qualified for the 12 person final and ultimately finished third. This was an excellent performance under pressure in his first overseas competition. He also competed in the same age category in Double Mini Trampoline. Placed 4th, Ben was the top British competitor in that age group. Congratulations Ben.
Sport Devon County Championships
A number of Plymouth College swimmers competed at the Devon County Championships held at Plymouth Life Centre across three weekends in January and February.The swimmers performed brilliantly and achieved some dominant results, with a total medal tally of: 58 golds, 44 silvers and 36 bronze medals! The Prep School swimmers also did a fantastic job achieving 8 golds, 3 silvers and 2 bronze medals over the course of the three weekends. Assistant Director of Swimming, Roberto Pavoni, commented “all our swimmers were professional, focused and determined when it came to their races and made their coaches and the school very proud”.
Commonwealth Games
The forthcoming Commonwealth Games, taking place on the Gold Coast, Australia, will include four current pupils who have been selected to represent their respective countries in the swimming pool - an impressive achievement for pupils so young in this sport. Katie Kyle, age 15, will swim for St Lucia, Makaela Holowchak, age 17, for Antigua, with Erico Cuna and Stefano Mitchell, both 18, representing Mozambique and Antigua respectively. A further four former pupils have been selected to represent England, all of whom left the school in the last 5 years. World Champion and British record holder, Ben Proud, is aiming for double gold on the Gold Coast, as he competes in the 50m freestyle and fly. He is joined on the national team by Laura Stephens, age 18, who only left the school in 2017, who is looking to add to the medal she won in the European Championships after being crowned British Champion in Sheffield in December 2017. Jessica Jackson and Tom Fannon, silver medallist at the British Championships last year, along with Charlotte Atkinson representing the Isle of Man, complete the line up in the pool. Also on the England team is Plymouth-born former Plymouth College pupil, World Champion, Olympic medallist and FINA male diver of 2017, Tom Daley. In addition, OPMs from elsewhere in the Commonwealth will join their former classmates from countries all over the world.
Cornwall County Swimming Championships
Congratulations to Ruby Griffiths in Year 7 who trains with RAG1 and has just won the Cornwall County Championships 12 year age group on FINA points. To achieve this she competed over three weekends and swam 14 events. Ruby won an impressive 9 golds, 4 silvers and 1 bronze. Twelve of these times were Regional qualifying and the other 2 were consideration times. Given that she did not swim in her two favourite events at these Championships (as she already had these Regional times), this is a superb result – well done .Ruby.
Prep Dance
Year 4 pupil, Charu Sharma, has just passed her Grade 1 of Bharatnatyam with Distinction. This is an Indian classical form of Dance. The examination was held in Exeter and included completing a written notebook, theory, vocal and performance. She now moves on to Grade 2. Congratulations Charu.
Skiing
Molly Shorey (Year 6) competed in the Welsh National Giant Slalom U12s, held in Les Crosets in Switzerland on the weekend of 27th January. Molly came 6th in a class of 23 (picture 1). Molly also competed at the Alpine English Championships in Bormio during half term. Bormio is a thriving little town at the top of the Valtellina valley in the Lombardy region of Northern Italy. She raced in the National Giant Slalom and achieved an incredible 10th place in a very competitive field with 52 entrants! Well Done Molly!
Fencing
The Leon Paul Junior Series fencing competition took place in Truro on Saturday 10th February. Sebastian Bennett and Mali Ratumaiwai took part in the Under 9’s category both fencing in their first competition. Both boys put on a great display of fencing with Seb ending up 5th narrowly missing a medal position in an exciting 7-10 defeat in the quarter finals. Mali got a bronze medal after a slim defeat to one of his peers at Plymouth Fencing Club. Sebastian and Mali enjoyed the event and learned plenty to take forward to their next event.
Year 2 visit to Greenbank Fire Station
Year 2 were invited to Greenbank Fire Station in relation to their topic ‘People Who Help Us’. They toured the Fire Station, tried on the Firefighters’ protective clothing and even had a chance to use the water hoses! A big thank you to Red Watch for their hospitality!
Prep Piano Success
Bryony Wannell in Year 6 recently took part in the Saltash Festival. The category was the ‘11 years and under set piece’ and Bryony came first with a mark of 86 (Commended). Bryony pictured with her Winner’s Shield!
Plymouth Festival
Year 4 pupil, Maggie Haffenden is pictured with her gold medal and The Sally Russell Memorial Cup for first place in her poetry class at the Plymouth Festival. She also won a second cup, The Lorna Griggs Memorial Trophy, where the adjudicator chose her from all the week’s contestants as having the best comedy timing. The poem she performed was ‘Strict’ by Michael Rosen.
Skipathon
On 9th February the whole of the Prep School took part in a Skipathon to raise funds for the Children’s Happy Hospital Fund. All children gathered sponsors, and was each given a minute to skip as many times as they could within that time. Pre-School and Reception children were timed on how many jumps they could achieve.
Little Princess Trust
Dixie Turner-Moore in Year 4 donated her hair just before Christmas to the charity The Little Princess Trust who make wigs for children. Dixie had given it much thought and wanted to help some children who sadly, because of severe illness causing a loss of hair, may be in need of a wig. So her Mum chopped off her hair and they sent it to the Princess Trust. It is a great charity for anyone who is considering cutting their hair as they only need a minimum of 7 inches. Well done Dixie.
This Fund is a registered charity, supporting the Children andYoung People’s Health Directorate at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth. They also support the Community Nursing team, Children’s Theatres and other Paediatric areas within Derriford Hospital. Over £1700 in sponsorship and donation monies were raised. The parents who organised the event are hoping to receive Match Funding from one of the local banks taking the funds raised to almost £3500!
OPM Update James Heale
Recent leaver, James Heale, writes to update us on his first few months at Notthingham. Since leaving Plymouth College in June 2017 I have started my first year at Nottingham Vet School. The course is extremely engaging with a relatively large proportion of an average week being spent in practical or working through real life clinical cases. This and the societies that I have joined have really helped me to cope with the intensity of the course. So far, I have joined the campus rugby team and the Agrics Society. Both of these provide something different from studies with travelling at the weekends for rugby matches and visiting different farms and agricultural events with Agrics. At the beginning of the year each first year vet (little vet) is assigned a second year vet (big vet) on the basis of individual interests. This system has worked really well and my big vet has been very supportive through my exams and life at vet school. I am currently studying the cardiorespiratory system and will be moving on to neurology before I spend two weeks lambing in Wales in my Easter holidays. Highlights of the year so far include a visit to the National Animal Defence Centre,Vet Ball, a social to Ascot and (thankfully) passing my first vet school exams. It is a brilliant course and I am grateful to Plymouth College for helping me on my way to becoming a vet.
Ten Tors
We were delighted to hear from OPM John Owen who kindly sent us the framed 45 Mile Ten Tors Certificate from 1974. “Until that time”, he writes, “the College’s history in this event had been pretty dire”. With the backing of the then Headmaster, J L Goddard, the boys’ embarked on their training and completed their 45 mile route on the day at around mid-day (pretty good going!). He believes this heralded a turning point for the school and represented the start of a very proud Ten Tors tradition which continues to this day. We will be displaying the certificate in school as it represents a valuable piece of school history.
OPM RFC v Plymouth Argaum RFC
Continuing the 90-year Boxing Day tradition, OPM Rugby hosted their friends and old rivals Plymouth Argaum on a rather wet and windy Boxing Day.The game was full of tries and end-to-end ruby well refereed to ensure there was lots of advantage and that the game flowed. It was nice to see some recent leavers turn out for OPMs and all in all around 35 players took to the field during the course of the match. Plymouth Argaum emerged from the mud as winners by 32-27. The OPM Suite made everyone very welcome following the conclusion of the game. Many thanks to Plymouth College for the use of the pitch.
Modern Pentathlon
Congratulations to OPMs Kerenza Bryson and former Head Boy Myles Pillage who after successful Senior ranking competitions, secured places on the Great Britain team to compete in World Cup 1 in Cairo.
OPM Tom Daley
OPM and Olympian,Tom Daley, visited Plymouth College in January to open the newly refurbished Strength and Conditioning Gym. A World Champion diver and awarded FINA Diver of the Year 2017,Tom studied at Plymouth College between 2009 – 2013, combining his education alongside an intense training schedule. The Headmaster said, “We were delighted to welcome Tom Daley back to Plymouth College and would like to thank him for opening our new gym and sharing his thoughts and experiences so articulately with our students. His presentation inspired many and his visit was thoroughly enjoyed by our students, staff and parents.” Reflecting on his time whilst studying here,Tom spoke highly of the support that he received throughout and the opportunities that Plymouth College provided him. He then revisited areas of the school that meant a lot to him and fielded questions from our High Performance Athletes,Year 11, Sixth Form and parents, as part of a question and answer session. We hope Tom will visit the school again in the not too distant future.
House House Quiz
The House quiz event took place in the last week of the Autumn Term. The teams were divided into 3 age groups – Junior, Intermediate and Senior. The Quiz Master, Mr Irish, invited answers to 10 questions in each of the following seven categories: 1. It happened in 2017 2. History 3. Science & Nature 4. Sport 5. Christmas 6. Geography 7. Music round – Spot the Intro
House Rowing Competition
Once again this was a very popular event for competitors and spectators with the concept rower race projected live on the big screen in the MK Hall. Sargents came out on top thanks to a very strong turn out across all age groups and particularly three record beating winners who scored bonus points: Isla Page (Year 11), Ali Reza (10) and Sophie Watson (9). Other record-breaking winners were Will Cane (L6) and Zak DrakeNorris (7) for Dales, and Vienna Whittaker (10) for Chaytors. The overall scores were Palmers 19, Chaytors 29, Dales 37 and Sargents 46. Well done Sargents!
The overall winners were Palmers with 19 points, who pipped Sargents by one point, followed by Dales on 14 and Chaytors with 9.
House Music
At the end of the Autumn Term, in fully festive mode, the House Music competition took place. House Captains were charged with organising their own members to participate. The competition consisted of four sections which compromise a Group instrumental ensemble with a minimum of four performers. A percussion ensemble (which must have at least eight performers) gave the House a chance to create their own homemade instruments.The whole House then came together for the singing element of the competition where they performed two pieces.The first piece was a festive track of their own choice which they could perform with a live backing or with a backing track.The second piece was the school song which had to be sung from memory.This proved very useful at the end of term Christmas assembly as the words were omitted from the order of service yet the school still raised the roof in Church, much to the delight of the Headmaster. Whilst the judges were adding up the numbers and making their final decisions, the audience was treated to a rendition of “Last Christmas” by the staff band, made up of teaching and support staff.The final order was 1st Dales, 2nd Palmers, 3rd Sargents and 4th Chaytors.
Parents’ Association
The Parents’ Association are having a regular monthly social get together on a Thursday evening in the Hyde Park Pub on Mutley Plain.The inaugural one proved a very jolly and enjoyable event and we encourage you to look out for the notification email and come along.
Keep in touch
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Plymouth College, Ford Park, Plymouth, Devon PL4 6RN Tel: 01752 505100
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