December 2008

Spirit of Christmas

Writhlington School would like to invite you to celebrate Christmas by joining us in an evening of festive music, performances will be given by the bands, choirs and ensembles in the school including traditional music and carols. We would also like you to linger afterwards for mulled wine and mince pies, just to help you get in the Christmas mood! "Spirit of Christmas" will take place this year in the School Hall on Thursday 11th December at 7:30pm. We are issuing tickets for this years concert for a nominal fee of £1.00 per ticket, entrance will be strictly by ticket only. We look forward to seeing you there!

November 2008

History Trips

The History department would like to thank all the students and staff who participated in the year 7 trip to Chepstow Castle and the year 9’s visit to the Imperial War Museum, London. The students were a real credit to the school and we were very proud of their behaviour and interest in the subject. After the success of the castle making project, 100 year 7’s had the opportunity to visit a full scale version in April. They had a brilliant day out exploring Chepstow Castle and its features. Students learnt about the castle’s changes over 400 years and how the area had changed and developed as a result of the building. Ms Violante said ‘It was a lovely day out, great weather and the students were so well behaved – I enjoyed it that much I am going to take my own children there.’ As you can see from the pictures students and staff thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Well done year 7! Year 9 sstudents also had the opportunity to visit an excellent museum to enhance their current studies in World War Two and the Holocaust. The Imperial War Museum continues to grow and change with new exhibitions, which the students and staff found very interesting. Seeing the planes, tanks and artillery that were part of WW2 really inspired some students and the new Holocaust tour is remarkable giving an excellent insight into the treatment of the Jews under the Nazis regime. Once again Writhlington School was represented well and students showed a real maturity in their conduct around the museum. We are very proud of our all History students as their enjoyment and enthusiasm for the subject is really rewarding.

Football Academy Kicks Off In BANES

Aspiring young footballers are being presented with new opportunities this week as Bath City and Writhlington Business and Enterprise School open their doors to the authority’s first Football Academy. Quality young players will be able to further their careers in football and gain academic qualifications at the same time. Successful applicants will study 4 mornings per week at school on Advanced Level study, followed by football coaching with Bath City with an emphasis on improving high order skills and gaining qualification within the UEFA framework. Players will also be expected to be part of the club’s Under 18 squad, with the opportunity of playing at Conference level. Players who are taking GCSE examinations this summer who would like further information on this exciting scheme can telephone Paul Williams at Bath City FC ( Tel 01225 423087 ). Trials are expected to take place next month.

Writhlington School Podium Art Exhibition

Art students at Writhlington Business and Enterprise School are celebrating exceptional examination results in 2008 ( 80% A* and A grades) with an exhibition of their framed work at Bath Central Library in the Podium between 26th November and 5th December. The work is themed around a diverse range of subjects, artistic influences and approaches a wide range of media on display including self portraits, famous faces, dynamic Popart, an eclectic range of textiles and a broad range of mixed media. Members of the public are invited to view the students’ work in the gallery during normal Library opening hours. The success of the school’s Art students in external examinations follows closely on their national awards at the National Gallery in London earlier this year.

More Football!

With Olympic success fresh in our minds and the football season well underway is it time for us all to become a little more sporty? One man who certainly thinks so is Marcus Holmes. Marcus is the Football Development Officer at Writhlington Sports Centre and has set his sights on getting as many people as possible involved within the game of football.

He said “My aim is to increase football participation levels for all ages and to raise the standards of football within the area. Football is a great sport and everyone should have the chance to see for themselves just how enjoyable it is.”

Marcus has already implemented lunchtime leagues and after school girls football at Writhlington School which he hopes will go from strength to strength during the new term. Other initiatives include an FA ‘Ability’ centre, 7-11 girls’ football centre and team training opportunity

He said “I would like to see even more girls taking up football. Here at Writhlington our aim is to encourage as many girls as possible to try football and then work with local clubs to develop new girls’ teams in the area.

Marcus has come to Writhlington from the Somerset Activity and Sports Partnership where he was a senior Development Coach. The 31 year old has first hand experience of playing having played for the county and many local clubs including Yeovil Town and Wells City FC.

Anyone interested in getting involved within football in the local area or for more information on the football facilities at Writhlington please contact Marcus on 07939061229.

September 2008

GCSE September 2008 Results

Year 11 students at Writhlington School had their best ever set of GCSE results this week with 94% of the year group passing at least 5 subjects at grades A* - C and 62% achieving 5 A* - C passes including English and Mathematics. Major achievements include over 30% of the grades at A* or A for the whole year group and it is anticipated that these results will place the school in the top 5% of highest achieving schools nationally using the government's value added data.

Headteacher Marie Getheridge said: This is a remarkable set of results and is probably the best ever set of GCSE results achieved by any state school in Bath and North East Somerset. This year’s results reflect the continued hard work by staff and students. I am especially pleased that every single one of our Year 11 has obtained Level 2/GCSE qualifications and is able to pursue their career choices at Post 16 level. All of our students have really worked hard and thoroughly deserve their success She added We are particularly pleased as we expect that in 2009 our results will be even better!

A-Level Results

A Level students at Writhlington School had their best ever set of results with almost 45 per cent top A grades and 100 per cent pass rate for the fifth year running. The university points tally also topped 340 entrance points for the first time. The percentage of top A and B grades was over 64% . Well over three quarters of the students gained at least 1 A grade and twelve high flying Year 13 students scooped 3 or 4 top grades (Lydia Blake, Chloe Caddick, Charlotte Denning, Victoria Fielden, Sarah Hancock, Liz Hicks, Rebecca Long, Redmond Mitchard, Emma Osmond, April Parfitt, Sadie Parfitt and Kevin Yip.) Over 70 of the students will be continuing their studies at universities across the UK next month, including Kevin Yip who will be following up his four top A grades with a degree in Medicine at University College London.

Headteacher Marie Getheridge said : I am delighted with the success of our Year 13 students. The 100% pass rate and the extremely high percentage of A and B grades is a reflection of the hard work and diligence of both students and staff at the school.

August 2008

YEAR 11 AIM HIGHER UNIVERSITY SUMMER SCHOOL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER

In July six students were fortunate enough to be accepted on various University Summer Schools where they had the opportunity to meet other young university hopefuls and discover what being at university was like. Here is an account by Guy Solomon, who with Chevy Bidwell spent a fun time at Exeter University. Mid- July saw two Writhlington student take part in a summer residential at Exeter University, where they participated in a number of University style lectures and received a taste of university social life along with information sessions on support and services available for university students. The course was absolutely superb and recommended for any student trying to decide whether to attend university. The students also lived in the University halls, ate in the university facilities and were able to make use of many of the facilities located on campus, with freedom to what they wished outside of the planned activities, which included socialising with student mentors in the evening, whilst taking part in pool tournaments, going bowling and the entire group going out to a restaurant for dinner. Students also participated in the Exeter challenge- a five hour event where the residents were asked to provide photographic evidence of performing certain challenges, including fitting the entire group into a taxi, and retrieving specified items, such as a boiled egg, in teams. The residential was an excellent opportunity to get a taste of university life and consider whether this is a prospect for the future. And whilst the course-style lectures and workshops were interesting the social aspect of the week was definitely the highlight of the trip.

June 2008

Summer Holiday Activities

Writhlington Sports Centre offers an exceptional range of holiday activities for children from 5 to 12 years.

All day Kids Club

Available from 8am – 4.30pm everyday from as little as £1.50 per hour!!!!!!!!!!!!

Children are supervised throughout the day by qualified and experienced coaches and staff on a ratio of 1 member of staff per 8 children. Children are separated into 2 groups, a 5 – 7year old group and an 8 – 12year old group. Please note brothers and sisters can be kept in the same group if requested. Activities are then tailored to the age of the children.

Each group will experience a number of different sports and activities throughout the day depending on their age including

• Trampolining
• Gymnastics
• Football
• Messy Cooking
• Dance Mats
• Sports Walls
• Team Challenges
• Arts and Crafts
• Bouncy Castle
• Laser Combat
• Fire Engine and Police car visits
• And much, much more

Drinks will be provided throughout the day. Children will need to bring a packed lunch and snacks with them as these are not provided.

The Centre’s child care policies and procedures are available to parents on request. These include Equal Opportunities, Behaviour and Child Protection amongst others.

Cost:      Full Day 8am – 4.30pm                     MemberPlus Members       £2.50 per day

Members                               £12.00 per day    

Non Members                      £15.00 per day

Students Work Alongside World Renowned Artist In Art Workshop

12 Yr 10 students were selected to participate in an art workshop day with the world renowned artist Ray Smith. Ray was born in London in 1949 and educated at Southend High School and Trinity Hall Cambridge. He has shown widely in group and solo exhibitions in Britain and abroad.

Ray Smith's awards include: a Linbury Trust Artists Award, the Deutscher Jugendbuchprels, and a Major Award in the Sainsbury's 'Images for Today' competition and in the 7th Cleveland (UK) International Drawing Biennale. He was a prize winner in the John Moore’s Liverpool Exhibition 16 (1989-90) and received a Royal Society of Arts: Art for Architecture Award in 1993. He won the Rouse Kent Public Art Award for 1995-6. His work is represented in many public collections, including the Arts Council of Great Britain, Eastern Arts, Southern Arts, Contemporary Arts Society, Contemporary Arts Society of Wales, the Linbury Trust, Stadt Nurnberg, Manchester City Art Gallery, City Art Gallery Southampton, the University of Southampton and the Cleveland County Museum. For more information about Ray visit his website at: www.raysmithartist.com

The endeavour of the art workshop was to produce a Writhlington School banner. This completed banner will then be used to block off student access to the construction site of the new school building until it is ready.

The Students discussed with Ray how they could manipulate the shapes of the letters and how they could apply abstract patterns or more pictorial designs. Each student produced their own plan for their chosen letter which they discussed with Ray before starting the vinyl work. They were given a selection of bright vinyl colours to work with but had to consider which tones of colour would make their letter design eye catching and easy to read. Although some of the patterns may look simple, each student spent the day, measuring carefully, lining up, cutting and sticking down their design.

It was clearly a much enjoyed and successful day that will need additional time to finish off the words in school.

Drama Opportunities

Like drama? Get bored during the long summer holiday? Want to sharpen up your acting skills and maybe be in a play?

For few months now a small group of Writhlington students (year 9) who live in Peasedown have been working on drama activities and script devising with professional playwright and theatre director Shaun McCarthy, who is working on arts project in the area.

We are now holding a youth theatre drama summer school for one week in the summer holidays. We are going to meet from Monday August 18 to Friday 22nd, from 10am to 5pm in the Youth Centre in Peasedown St John. We hope to create a show to be performed locally in September but what actually happens during the week will depend on who turns up and how things develop.

It's fun, friendly and free! But we are working to proper theatre standards, so you turn up for calls and be prepared to push yourself to make things special.

Shaun has directed youth theatre plays at Bath Theatre Royal and currently directs student productions at Oxford and Bristol universities. His own play SAFE, set in a youth prison and based on time he spent working with prisoners on a show in a high security prison, opens in London in the autumn.

This project is supported by Peasedown Opportunity Group & funded by an “Awards for All grant”.

Major Art Achievement – MALL GALLERIES, LONDON

Students’ works of art were picked for the second year running for a top London Exhibition.

Talented Writhlington School artists Rebecca Long, Emma Bond and Sarah Hancock achieved recognition of their talents from The Royal Society of British Artists.

Rebecca Long and Sarah Hancock had their work selected for an exhibition which took place at the Mall Art Galleries in May alongside other talented young artists.

More than 800 students from all over the UK submitted their work but only 130 of the best students were chosen to exhibit.

The exhibition was opened by the president of The Royal Society of British Artists, Cav Romeo Di Girolamo, who congratulated all the students for being the most creative and impressive young artists in the country.

The Head of Art, Caroline Slater and Sarah Hancock were both interviewed and filmed for a promotional education film.

Rebecca Long – Winter landscape

Sarah Hancock – Brooklyn Bridge

Art News – Year 8 – “FIRST PRIZES AWARDED”

Helen Sen-Sharma entered Yr 8 students into the Bath International Music Festival for a “Design a Poster Competition”.

A BIG CONGRATULATIONS to Jessica Bray and Chloe Hilleard for being awarded first prize in the 9 – 13 years age category and Alina Game and Briony Kays for being awarded highly commended.

Their work is being framed and exhibited in The Assembly Rooms, Bath until 7th June.

Future Art Exhibitions

Summer Exhibition, Writhlington School – July 8th – 10th 2008

Pageant Rooms, Bath – November 2008

Base

New enterprise company BASE (Buy and Sell Enterprises) is currently being developed to offer Writhlington students an exciting way to develop their interactive skills by selling their unwanted CDs, DVDs and gifts through the BASE website. From September, students will be able to submit their products to sell online and buy these products direct from other students.

Managing Director Gabrielle Durham said, “BASE’s mission statement is to encourage creativity and technical skills through the development of innovative media solutions. We are offering students this opportunity to learn how to participate in a successful business transaction so they can make a profit from their unwanted gift.”

Operations Director, Rachel Bodinar said, “The BASE team are currently creating their marketing campaign and look forward to launching BASE in September. We hope every student will get involved in this exciting new opportunity for Writhlington School.

May 2008

Business Studies Enrichment Day – UWE

On Thursday 1st May five Writhlington students were invited to attend a Business Studies Enrichment Day at the University of West of England. The day was based around the business of building rockets. Five other schools were invited and were pitched against Writhlington in a competition to build the best rocket and deliver a presentation on team performance.

After being given a vivid presentation in the main UWE lecture theatre, including the largest rocket in the world and examples of explosions of failed rockets, students were informed of the task requirements. Within the school groups students were sent away with UWE Student Ambassadors, their equipment for the preparation of the rocket and loaded with paper and pens to track their progress.

With the support of the Ambassadors, students were allocated a variety of job roles such as Quality Control and Project Manager. They were then given one hour to plan and build their rocket. After the rockets were completed the students had to prepare a presentation to demonstrate how they achieved the task and problems encountered.

Towards the end of the day all schools came together to deliver their presentations. Most groups were successful in building the rockets however it was the presentations themselves that set the teams apart. The students from Writhlington showed creativity in their preparation and delivered an engaging ‘Apprentice’ style presentation demonstrating how the task had been completed. The presentation was well received by the other schools and got a special recommendation by the UWE lectures and Student Ambassadors.

Overall the Enrichment Day was a massive success with students not only being able to learn more about Business Studies but also experiencing higher education first hand and learning new skills. The students representing Writhlington School at this event were: Tom Benney, Oliver Brown, Tom Camacho, Elysia Bunn, Ellie Owen and Shellie Hendy.

Writhlington Pupils put plants first at Bristol Zoo

Bristol Zoo is famous the world over for its leading role in the conservation of rare animals but last weekend the focus changed with the Zoo’s first Plant Conservation Day. The day featured a display, by Year 7 and 8 Pupils from Writhlington; all about the School’s pioneering work in Central America and South East Asia.

“The public loved the unusual plants we had on show” said Zoe Parfitt, Year 7, “We talked a lot about all the animals that pollinate the different orchids which made sense in a Zoo. We also showed how we are using micropropagation to help save endangered plants in Belize and Laos.”

As well as meeting the public, students were able to discuss their work with leading plant scientists gathered for the Association of British Zoos Annual Conference.

Photo – Zoe discusses her project with Natasha de Vere, Medicinal Plant Conservation officer from the National Botanic Garden of Wales.

Jason Gardener Visits Writhlington

It was an action packed morning the day British sprinter and Olympic medallist and athlete Jason Gardener paid a visit to Writhlington School.

Jason was visiting the school to host two sprinting ‘workshops’ with GCSE students as well as gifted and talented athletes. He took them through sprint drills to improve technique, warm up and training techniques. He also gave them an insight into what has helped him gain success as a sprinter and what his busy training schedule has been.

Students were able to ask him questions about his success. They thoroughly enjoyed the workshop but many were exhausted by the end of it. Jason did tell the students that when he finishes a good training session he is often physically sick!!

Jason also spoke to the students about the UK School Games that are taking place in Bristol and Bath during the summer holidays. He is working with the Youth Sports Trust visiting local schools to promote these games. We were delighted at Writhlington that we had the opportunity to meet Jason.

Students thought the visit was ‘brilliant’.

Duke of Edinburgh’s Bath Sky Line Walk

Rather than having a lie in or watching TV a group of Year 10 students assembled in the school car park at 9 o’clock on Sunday morning!

Why? In order to get in some final training for the Bronze level Duke of Edinburgh’s assessment later on next month.

Having driven to Bath University students and staff set off across the fields to complete the 6 ½ mile Bath Sky Line walk.

Whilst the walk was relatively flat there were still some rather nasty hills that had to be climbed; however the view across the city at the surrounding countryside more than compensated for the extra effort required.

Thanks to the glorious summer weather we were able to enjoy a leisurely lunch break half way around - there was even time for one student to cook up pasta, sausages and fried bread!

The group’s determination and outstanding behaviour meant we completed the walk in record time and even had half an hour to spare in which to buy drinks and ice-creams.

This is good news as next month students will be required to head out across the Mendips on their own for a night. They will be required to complete 8 hours of walking as well as set-up camp and cook their own meals!

As well as the walks and overnight expeditions students have been meeting once a fortnight on a Wednesday to learn basic survival skills such as first aid and orienteering.

If you will be in Year 10 next year and think you can take on the challenge why not speak to either Mr Wood or Mrs Wilton now to see what is involved. It’s more fun than day time TV.

South West Regional Trade Fair

Last Wednesday Writhlington School opened its doors to over 100 young entrepreneurs from across the South West.

The students were here to take part in the first ever South West Regional Trade Fair in association with NfTE (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship) a national education charity and Barclays Bank.

Students were given time to set up their stands and prepare themselves for a morning of brisk trading and intense scrutiny by the visiting business experts who were there not only to judge the students efforts but to offer advice and encouragement to their fledgling companies.

On sale were a vast range of products including hand painted mugs, personalised key rings, greetings cards and orchids.

Following a series of business seminars hosted by experts from Barclays Bank and local businesses, students had the opportunity to present their business to the panel of experts in a bid to scoop a cash prize to invest into their company. Despite initial nerves all the students performed exceptionally well and were not fazed by the bombardment of questions from the panel.

At the end of the day there could only be one winner and the winning team, made up of four Writhlington students Stephen Smith, Matthew Williams, Maverick White and Ashley Read, was ‘Tags 4 Bags’ who not only won best business pitch for their innovative and original personalised key ring and timetable concept they also took 2nd prize for the best trade stand. First place went to ‘Games Co’ from Brimsham Green School.

The whole day went fantastically well; students made money, learnt from real business people and had a wonderful experience. All of this was made possible through the generosity of Barclays Bank who sponsored the event and local business people who gave their time to work with the students.

March 2008

Year 9 Trench Competition

In recent weeks, a number of Year 9 History students have taken part in a Trench competition to show their understanding of the conditions faced by many soldiers during the First World War. This follows on from their study of the First World War and required detailed research to find out about the harsh conditions in the Trenches on the Western Front. The task was to recreate a model of a trench and show the various features of it, for example, the sandbags, barbed wire, firestep and dugouts.

The Trenches have been designed using a variety of different products ranging from mud from the back garden to Shreddies for the sandbags. All students did a fantastic job and were very proud of their efforts.

A variety of prizes have been awarded; most imaginative design, most realistic and best presentation of ideas to name a few. This History Department would like to thank the students for doing a brilliant job on this project.

New “Meal Cards” guarantee nutritious lunch!

In response to requests from parents we will be introducing a pre pay system for the school ‘meal deal’. The meal deal consists of a main meal, dessert and a drink which costs £2.35. The introduction of the card system will mean peace of mind for parents and students alike as there will be no more problems with lost dinner money or students missing out on lunch having spent too much money at break!

The prepay system will provide a card entitling your child to ten Meal Deals for £23.00. These cards are now on sale from Student Reception. Payment (cash or cheque payable to “Writhlington School”) should be made in an envelope clearly marked with your child’s name and tutor group.

Radstock Museum Project

Humanities students from Writhlington School are taking part in a joint tourist venture with Radstock museum. The project uses mobile technology and GPS to allow visitors to the Colliers Way in Radstock to access information about the site when they are visiting the area. Ten Year 9 students and 3 six form students are currently designing the content which will be loaded onto the hand held devices (PDA’s); the devices will give tourists information whilst walking or cycling on the Colliers Way.

So far the students have visited the site, and with help from the museum, gathered the information they need for the project. The students hope to eventually produce an interactive tour of Radstock which includes History, Geography, Biology and the future of Radstock.

The Somerset Guardian has produced an article in the weekly paper which was published on Thursday 13th March. However, we still need help. If you have any information or stories about this area or know anyone who knows anything, please contact the humanities department at Writhlington School. We would be very grateful to be able to include your work in this venture.

Enterprise company, Smooth Me, wins contract to promote dining rooms

Last September the school took over the management of the dining rooms from Bath and North East Somerset Council. One of the reasons for the move was to ensure that we would be able to make some changes to provide the students and staff with quality catering to suit a variety of appetites at lunch times, break times and for special events.

Following a consultation meeting with School Council representatives, changes were made to menus – which have been very well received. However, to ensure that we continue to make progress, the school has commissioned market research expertise from the Enterprise Company, Smooth Me. The company has bid for and won a contract to carry out a detailed range of customer surveys amongst staff and students which will provide data on meal preferences, branding and promotions most likely to be successful in attracting customers to the dining rooms. Managing Director of Smooth Me, David Ford, said “this is a fantastic opportunity for the company to put business and enterprise learning to good effect for the benefit of the school and its students”. As part of the contract, Smooth Me will be designing a logo and working on an “image” for the dining rooms.

Young Publishers win Bath Area Young Enterprise Competition.

A team of Young Publishers from Writhlington School have won the Bath Area Young Enterprise Competition with their company called Bonk.

Marketing director Eleanor Jones describes their product as “A book about growing orchids that is special because it is both entertaining and informative”

The book is called ‘The Dos and Don’ts of Orchid Growing’ and is available in bookshops all across the UK and sales since December have all ready topped £1400.

After winning Young Enterprise Competition, against companies from schools all over the Bath Area, Bonk will now compete at the West of England Finals in Bristol in May.

Managing Director, Luke Shackleton, described his team as “Confident” and noted that “The judges were impressed by our product and the professional approach we have taken in getting an ISBN and Bar Code to allow sales of our book on the high street and our national advertising campaign.”

Future plans include selling at the Gardeners World Live Show and publishing a version of their book in German. This is clearly a company with a bright future.

BUILDING THE FUTURE AT WRITHLINGTON

By 2010 the Writhlington campus will have over £30m worth of new buildings.  As well as the new school, we are undertaking a major expansion of the sports facilities.  Here is an update on our progress.

New school:  We are in the process of appointing a contractor for the £26m build and work will begin on site by the end of May/early June.  We are very fortunate that the contractor will have a self-contained compound with separate entrance/exit which will ensure that the daily life of the school can carry on as normal.  The architects, from Aedas, have delivered a design for the school which we believe will provide a wonderful environment for learning.  We now need to begin work on selecting the detail of furnishings, equipments and decorative finishes.  The target date for completion of the building is early 2010.

Artificial Turf pitch:  With the help of the Football Foundation, we have recently completed a fantastic high specification artificial turf pitch costing in excess of £500,000.  Students and staff are delighted with the freedom the pitch brings for all-weather play and the local community are also benefiting as the pitch can be booked by local clubs outside of school hours.

Tennis Centre:  The tennis bubble has been vulnerable to the high winds on the Mendips!  With support from the Lawn Tennis Association we have raised £600,000 to replace it with a state of the art four court indoor tennis arena which will be suitable as a venue for competition.  This is a fantastic opportunity for our students and the local community to take up and enjoy playing tennis all year round.  We already have some very talented players who could become our sporting superstars of the future.  The Tennis Centre will be open for play in the autumn

Changing rooms:  Two new suites of changing rooms with shower facilities are under construction.  One set will serve the gymnastics sports hall and the new Tennis Centre and the second will support football and other outdoor sports.  As part of this development we are constructing a coach/referee education centre so that we have facilities to train more coaches to support our burgeoning sporting activities!

Soft Play Centre:  As part of the development of community facilities on the site, Writhlington Trust (the charitable organisation responsible for the management of Writhlington Sports Centre) is funding the construction of a Soft Play room at the Sports Centre for younger members of the community up to the age of 11.  This will be a boon to local parents who will be able to relax with a cup of coffee while their youngsters safely burn off energy on the inflatable equipment.  The Soft Play area and new changing rooms will be completed by December 2008.

Multi Use Games Area:  The old hard courts used for tennis and netball which front the Frome Road will be refurbished as a Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) suitable for a range of sports/outdoor activities.

Turf pitches and cricket:  Some of our pitches suffer from poor drainage and at times during the winter, become unplayable.  This spring we will lay a new drainage system and reseed the pitches, ready for play in the autumn.  As part of this process we will also construct a new cricket square and practice nets.

There will be some minor inconveniences during construction of these facilities, but please be patient as we will be rewarded with some of the most outstanding school sports facilities in the area.

Lao Visitor comes to Learn at Writhlington

Chansouk Southivong Writhlington’s partner in Southern Laos has arrived in the UK to learn Orchid propagation techniques in the School laboratory and at the Micropropagation department at Kew Gardens.

Chansouk who is setting up her own laboratory to raise native Lao orchids in the town of Paksong has been working with Writhlington’s orchid experts for two years but this is her first visit to the UK.

She started her visit with a week in the Writhlington Propagation Laboratory learning aseptic techniques and sowing and growing orchid seeds. Her tutors were students from Writhlington Orchid Group including Luke Shackleton from Year 10, Luke Barnes from Year 9, Harry Seviour from Year 8 and Zoe Parfitt from Year 7.

Luke said afterwards “I am really impressed with Chansouk’s technique. This has been her first week in a laboratory and she has shown a real talent for Micropropagation.”

After a week in the school laboratory she joined Writhlington’s stand at the London International Orchid Show. Ben Stokes who had worked with Chansouk in Laos last April explained “Our display focused on the threats to orchid populations in the wild. We featured a massive image of burning forest. This was a photograph we took in Laos of rainforest being cleared for coffee planting and helped us to explain to the public about the problems in tropical countries. With Chansouk on our stand we could also demonstrate the positive things that can be done for conservation and rural development in places like Laos.”

After the show Chansouk spent a week at the Kew Gardens Micropropagation Laboratory building on the skills she learnt at Writhlington before returning to Laos.

The next Writhlington expedition to Laos is planned for 2010 when students will be helping Chansouk with her project in Paksong and continuing their long term research into the wild orchid populations of this amazing country.

CHARITY SHOWCASE – 7TH & 8TH MARCH 08

Once again music students from Writhlington and Downside School combined for a weekend of joint concerts. Over £2,600 was raised this year for CLIC. (Caring for Children and Young People with Cancer) A phenomenal total. Huge thanks to all parents and friends of both schools.

Apart from the usual outstanding contributions from Writhlington Senior, Junior and Stage Bands, Route 64 and Downside’s Slaughterhouse 7, the audience were treated to the Downside Pipe Band, School Orchestra and Concert Wind Band. A ‘first’ was the choirs from both schools combining, at the end, for ‘I Got Rhythm’. With only one previous joint rehearsal, they performed extremely well. The boy band, ‘Blake’ made a surprise guest appearance at Downside on Saturday night and would now be grateful for all your votes in the Classic Brits Awards. Please do vote for them, they are superb. You can do this by visiting the Classic FM web site.

The music staff from both schools really enjoyed putting on this venture, and look forward to doing the same next year. The students from both schools were excellent, and demonstrated great musicianship. A big thank you to them for all their hard work in raising money for the. CLIC SARGENT appeal.

Parlez vous franςais? Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

63 of our Year 9 pupils have been proving that they do. Over the past ten weeks, students have been involved in a Business and Enterprise project involving languages. They formed their own companies to create leaflets in French or German to promote tourist attractions in Bath. These involved the Jane Austen Centre, the Roman Baths, the Herschel Museum, the Fashion Museum, the American Museum and finally, the No. 1 Royal Crescent. Students found out about the work of Bath Tourism and were helped by outside visitors from the attractions themselves.

Over the course of the project, pupils worked together designing their brochures and finding out and translating information which would interest foreign visitors. The event culminated in a trade fair, where pupils were able to show off their finished product and give a presentation promoting their company and product. The morning was a great success and both staff and students were very pleased with the end result.

One French and one German company were chosen as the overall winners. Both the standard of their presentation and their innovative ideas helped them to shine. “Ein Step Näher “(one step nearer) involving Katie Madams, James Hilton, Vicky Bresnan, Charlie Tomsett and Kieron Futcher won the German award, and “Frenchorians” , involving Emily Sheppard, Alice Gouldbourne, Saskia Mead, Ben Skuse, Martin Lenihan and Zara Malone won the French award. The winning teams will spend a day in Bath visiting the Tourist board and some of the attractions they have been promoting. All the teams tried hard and the experience proved to be a great opportunity to develop and use their language skills.

Readathon

As part of the 2008 World Book Day celebrations all pupils in Years 7 and 8 were invited to take part in a sponsored Readathon. The event took place over one week and has so far raised £608.46 with monies still coming in.

The money raised will go to CLIC Sargent and the Roald Dahl Foundation; Helping children and young people in Britain suffering from cancer, Hodgkin’s disease, leukaemia, epilepsy, blood disorders or acquired brain injury.

Another Successful Siege - Year 7 Castle Project

Year 7 students were challenged once again in History lessons to gain their classmates’ votes to win the job of ‘chief architect’ for the Castle Project 2008. They used knowledge from previous History lessons on attack and defence and were given two weeks to complete the challenge. The originality of students’ ideas and fantastic presentation skills are a real credit to them. This year students used their creative talents to put together castles made of card, wood, connex, lego, clay, cake, chocolate, playing cards, shreddies and even sugar cubes! Congratulations to all the year 7 students who entered the challenge and many thanks to the friends and family who helped create these masterpieces or had to drive them into school!

Well done year 7!

February 2008

Writhlington School plans Botanic Gardens in Belize

Four year 11 students from Writhlington School have been working in Belize as consultants to an exciting project to develop the Lost Botanic Station just outside Belize City.

The students Luke Lucas, Chevy Bidwell, Jenny Wyatt and Beth Harrington were asked to advise on the potential of the development because of their experience in tropical botany and community enterprise.

Chevy explained the project, “We went to Belize with our teacher Simon Pugh-Jones to survey the recently discovered site of the lost botanic station. The Station was a botanic garden, research centre and nursery set up under the British Empire in the 1800s but abandoned after a destructive hurricane in 1931. Since then it has been reclaimed by the Belizean jungle.”

The Writhlington School team drew up a report for the development of the site as a tourist attraction, educational centre and commercial nursery. They then presented their report to the land’s owners, the local school, the University of Belize and the British High Commissioner for Belize.

Fifteen year old Jenny Wyatt described the response to her presentation as “very positive.” and added “We believe that the gardens can make a significant contribution to economic development, education and conservation in Belize.”

Writhlington School and the student team will now act as long term international consultants and botanical experts for the project working alongside Belizean specialists and coordinating work with educational and botanic institutions in Belize.

Teacher Simon Pugh-Jones described his student team as very professional and added “It is very exciting to see pupils using their botanical and enterprise expertise to push forward such a significant international project. There is a lot of work to be done before the gardens open to the public in the autumn of 2010 and Writhlington School’s involvement in the project will continue well into the future.”

Quickstart Languages

Writhlington Business & Enterprise School has been selected as a national centre of excellence for the delivery of Business and Enterprise Education. As part of the commitment to Enterprise Education a new Modern Languages Enterprise course is being introduced for Year 9 students. Quickstart Languages is recognised nationally as a high quality programme in Enterprise Education.

The course will be delivered by French and German teachers and Young Enterprise leaders but the key to its success will be the active involvement of Business and University mentors, including managers from Bath Tourism Plus and a number of Bath tourist attractions.

The programme started last week and 60 Year 9 students were trained by Young Enterprise Facilitators on how to establish their own business. Over the 10 week course tourist booklets and brochures for clients will be produced and published in either French or German. Clients include the Herschel museum, the Roman Baths, The Fashion Museum and other tourist attractions in Bath. At the end of 10 weeks the finished products will be presented at a major trade fair.

This week students are attending a presentation from John Carmichael, Business development Manager from Bath Tourism Plus and Nicola Presley, Learning and Audience Development Officer from the Herschel Museum in order to gain an overview of tourism in Bath. John and Nicola will be mentoring the groups and providing professional advice and guidance on student business ideas.

This is one of a number of Enterprise programmes in Writhlington and strong links have been established between the school and the business community. Companies wishing to be involved in this or similar projects can contact Mrs Emma Cox, Enterprise Manager at Writhlington Business and Enterprise School on 01761 433581.

Young Publishers win enterprise award.

A publishing company set up just four months ago by students at Writhlington School is already winning prizes for their business success and creativity. The company called Hammerhead Publishing is made up of seven students aged fourteen and fifteen and won first prize at the West of England Young Enterprise Trade Fair this week with their book ‘The Dos and Don’ts of Orchid Growing’.

The book was written by Luke Shackleton and Luke Barnes both experienced orchid growers and illustrated by artist Eleanor Jones. Eleanor explained “Each of my illustrations show what not to do with your orchid while the facing page explains what you should do. That way we give an entertaining but informative guide to succeeding with your exotic pot plants.

The book is receiving excellent reviews including one in a Royal Horticultural Society magazine giving the advice ‘If you have a friend who dithers about growing orchids – or grows them and kills them – give them a copy of this book!’

The students have backed up their creativity with a professional approach to the publishing business and the book can now be ordered through any bookshop in the UK by its ISBN number 9780955773105.

Managing director Luke Shackleton described the future as exciting. We will be selling this summer at the Gardeners World Live Show at the NEC and hope to get into the European and US book markets.

January 2008

An Exciting Opportunity to take part in the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award

What is it?

The award is a programme of activities for you to do in your spare time. There are three Awards to try for: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Gold takes the longest to do and is the hardest one to try for - usually, people start off on the Bronze award. We are pleased to offer the opportunity for our students to take part in the Bronze Award. Taking part in the Bronze Award takes about 6 months and participants must be at least 14 years old.

Delivered in partnership with Skills Force, the programme will take place on Wednesdays 3.45 – 4.45 every other week over the rest of the academic year and will be offered to Year 10 students. The programme will include a focus on team building, communication, first aid, route planning and will be designed to provide support and guidance for the students throughout their progression on the Award. The student activities will include:

• Team working, problem solving and communication
• Expedition training and assessment
• Team building and leadership
• First aid and camp-craft
• Map reading/route/planning
• Support and guidance with Community, Sport and Skills sections of the Award
• The opportunity to experience new challenges.

How do I find out more about taking part?

We will be holding parents and student information evening between 7 and 8pm on Wednesday 8th January 2008. At the evening you will be given a presentation about taking part in the Award and the cost involved. This will be followed by a taster/practice walk on Sunday 27th January between 10am and 2pm.

Taking part in the award certainly won't wipe out your studying or social life... so go on, take the challenge! First of all - it's a great laugh! It's all about trying something new, or improving your existing skills, and spending time with your friends.

What's more, as many employers regard the Award as an extra qualification, what you do could even benefit your career. And, with so many others taking part, you're sure to make some new friends too - and, of course, you'll have the time of your life!

More information can be found at http://www.theaward.org/ or telephone the Extended Services Team for more information on Duke of Edinburgh Award at Writhlington School on 01761 439925

December 2007

High Achievers Awards at Writhlington

MP Dan Norris was Guest Speaker and presented awards to Writhlington Business and Enterprise School students at a ceremony held in the school this week. Examination certificates and achievement awards were presented to students in front of a packed Main School Hall. The official ceremony was followed by a buffet for the 460 guests who attended the event.

Our photo shows some of the successful A Level and GCSE students of 2005 with Headteacher Marie Getheridge. Best GCSE results awards were presented to Rebecca Chaudhuri and Will Brown and the best A Level results winners were Sarah Girvan and Thomas Darlow. Alex Chaudhuri won the Harold Bryant Memorial Trophy for his performance in Music and Jake Boardley won the Computer Village ICT Award.

Hewlett Packard Trip

On the 17 and 18 December a group of Year 9 students attended an Enterprise Masterclass in Information Technology at Hewlett Packard in Bristol. Writhlington students were very privileged to be the first school ever to use the Business Laboratories on site. The Business Laboratories are normally used to demonstrate new technology to Hewlett Packard’s biggest clients. In the morning students were shown around the real-life scenarios where new technology had been used to make life easier. The first set up was a lounge with digital photo frames, and a plasma television. Students were shown how the technology could make life easier for a doctor on call by using his plasma television instead of being on call or relying on his pager, we were shown digital pens used by the police or for filling in forms and the electronic books of the future. Students then watched a video outlining a new type of technology called mscape which, when attached to a special pack, allowed users to virtually see the sights and sounds of any situation in the past, present and future. It also contained a chip which stored information that could be scanned into it. In the afternoon, students were given the task of coming up with an idea of how to use mscape and launch it in the UK market. All students came up with some brilliant ideas which ranged from virtual personal shoppers, an army training device and a virtual organiser for school. Managers from Hewlett Packard judged the presentation and awarded 2 winners from each day. Matthew Webb from Hewlett Packard commented on how innovative and creative the students’ ideas were - making it very hard to judge.

November 2007

School Bank

Writhlington School has joined with Barclays Bank to offer a simple way of managing money for Writhlington pupils. On Thursday lunchtimes from 12.45 in M3, pupils have the chance to open a Barclay’s account, which gives the opportunity to have a debit card so that they can access their money from cash points and make purchases in stores. Money in the account also earns 5% interest. The bank is being run with the expertise of Barclays’ staff with help from Mr March and Year 10 pupils. At the moment, the accounts are only open to Year 7 pupils but we will be opening them to all pupils over the coming year. We will be visiting assemblies over the next few weeks to give you more information.

Get smart with your money and join the school bank.

Enterprise Week

On Monday 12th November Year 8 students took part in an Enterprise Day as part of Enterprise week. The day was facilitated by Young Enterprise and Business Volunteers. The students began the day in the hall where they were given the task of designing their own historically themed restaurant. Each tutor group had a theme and the students were split into teams. Within their teams each student had a role to fulfil. Human Resources had to talk about how they would interview new employees and what uniforms they would have. Marketing had to design posters and flyers as well as organise a launch event and Operations had to think about the location of the restaurant, the exterior design and the inside layout. We had some excellent ideas from all tutor groups, from Medieval themes, the Future, 80’s and Roman. The standard was really high and it was really hard to judge; however the winning team was from 8AB, Shannon, Georgia, Aaron, Ben and Jade. Their restaurant was called Hippy Dippy and their theme was the 1960’s. Their idea was very creative; they used excellent visuals on the presentation and looked very smart and professional. Lisa Holden from BCWA in Bristol, one of our business volunteers, commented on confidence and professionalism shown in the presentations. She was impressed at the level of team work as every student got involved in the presentations and supported each other throughout the day.

Year 7 took part in a Bright Futures Enterprise day. They started with an exciting video clip introducing the students to Enterprise and Entrepreneurs. The day involved a lot of team activities which tested the students’ ability to communicate with each other and overcome challenges. One of the tasks was to build a rollercoaster out of sheets of card and sellotape. We had some excellent ideas and some really adventurous rollercoasters. However, the winning team was the one who could make the marble run the longest through their rollercoaster and that was Charlotte, Sophie, Sam, Nathan and Kathryn with a winning time of 12 seconds.

Year 9 also took part in a Bright Futures Enterprise day and got to see video clips of successful entrepreneurs. They were able to see their stories and how they made their ideas into a successful business. In teams Year 9 had to form their own business and design top up card holders. Each team had some start up capital and very few resources. They had to make their first design simple yet professional and then sell it onto the shop for a profit. Once they received money for the top up card holders they made they were able to go back to the shop and buy more materials to make better top up card holders and gain a bigger profit. They had a set time to do this and their team work skills were tested, as groups had to decide on managers, production managers, supplies and design. At the end of the game the results were displayed on the screen. Some groups were in debt, whereas others just managed to break even. The winning group was Alex, Harriet, Zoe and Amy with a fantastic profit of £64.

On Thursday Young Enterprise ran a master class challenge with Year 11 in Science and Technology. In their tutor groups they had to launch a UK division of a business called Sci-Tech. The business specialised in producing scientific technology products all over the world. In their teams they had to come up with a strategy for the UK launch, providing a marketing strategy, new company branding, operations for the new factory, the financial implications and the launch event. They also had to design an innovative product to launch in the UK market to go alongside the launch of the UK division. The students had to split into the different areas of business within their teams and concentrate on their own particular tasks. At the end of the day they had to present back to the year group their ideas. It was a very hard competition to judge as all the product ideas were fantastic, one group devised a machine that you placed on your steering wheel which could detect if you’re over the legal limit to drive, if you were then it would stop the ignition and you could no longer drive the car. The winning team called their product Mute, they created a mobile phone that also operates all the appliances in your home. The judges decided that their marketing strategy was the most effective, they had really thought about the financial side of setting up and developing the product, and their presentation was the most professional overall.

On Friday the Year 10 students turned into Forensic Scientists. CSI forensics came into the school and gave all the students a challenge, the caretaker had been shot and they had to find out who had done it. They were split into teams and spent the morning learning how to interpret blood splatter, footprints and take fingerprints. They were each given a workbook with 4 suspects in and it was their job to find out who did it. After lunch they had to dress in the forensics kit and go into the hall where they had a crime scene to analyse. They took evidence from the scene then went back into their groups to decide on the murderer. The day was an excellent insight into forensic science, and how important team work and effective communication is in the world of work.

Orchid Project on Japanese TV

A film about the Writhlingon Orchid will be to be shown on the Japanese TV station NHK on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th November.

Link: http://www.nhk.or.jp/eurkodawari/

Iceland Trip

On the 20th October 2007, 22 students and 4 staff from Writhlington School set out on an arctic adventure to Iceland. After an early stress free flight we arrived in Iceland as it began to get dark. Our first destination was the world famous Blue Lagoon, which is an outdoor geothermal heated swimming pool and spa. Here we had a great time swimming, sitting in the steam rooms and covering ourselves in volcanic mud, which is meant to be really good for you, if not a little smelly! As the night drew in we retreated to our accommodation at Reykjavik youth hostel where we received a healthy dinner and a fascinating talk about the country and its people from a local teacher.

On our second day we did the ‘Golden Circle’ tour visiting some of Iceland’s most spectacular geographical and historical sites. Our trip took us to Þingvellir which was the site of Iceland’s first parliament and also marks the divide between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates. We then drove to Gullfoss or the ‘Golden Falls’ as it is known in Iceland which were not particularly golden but still very impressive. We also visited Geysir park, after which all geysers are named, which contained a number of spectacular geothermal water features including a 25 foot super heated water fountain which blasted into the air every 3 minutes. Some students and a teacher were caught a little unaware when the geyser exploded two times in a row! We ended the day by visiting a huge geothermal bore hole which is soon to be developed into a power station; the noise was immense and so powerful we could feel the ground shaking beneath our feet.

On Tuesday we drove away from Reykjavik along the southern coastline toward the Mýrdalsjökull ice cap via two spectacular waterfalls one of which we could walk right behind. We also had the opportunity to visit an Icelandic folk museum whose 14000 items had all been collected by the museum’s fascinating curator. He played some traditional music to us, sang for us and even showed us how to spin wool. By the time we reached the icecap the weather was closing in and the wind was howling. We boarded an ex NATO transport vehicle which had been specifically designed for ice travel and set off up the glacier. When we reached 1000 meters we got out for a play in the snow but the intense cold and driving gale force winds forced us to make a hasty retreat down the glacier and back into our lovely warm coach. What a day, I don’t think a single person stayed dry!

Wednesday was glacier day! First of all we went to Skeiðarárjökull and walked right up to the snout of the glacier where we could actually feel and hear this spectacular geographical feature. We then took a long drive to Jökulsárlón which is where they filmed the James Bond film ‘Die another day’. This is a glacial lagoon which was littered with icebergs ranging in size from a shoe box to a small house. This was probably the highlight of the trip as we had a break in the weather and got to see a spectacular sunset over the icebergs.

Torrential rain and fog greeted us on our last day as we drove towards Bakki airport where we were due to fly to the volcanic island of Heimaey. Unfortunately the weather was too bad to fly and we had to change our plans. Shopping and sight seeing soon made up for the disappointment and a hearty dinner at Red Chilli and action packed swimming trip ended the day.

We had a wonderful trip and the students were superb ambassadors.

CCF MOI Weekend

Mr White and Mr Kluth had the pleasure of taking the Year11 Senior Cadets on a Method of Instruction weekend at Downside Independent School. This means the Year 11 had to learn how to teach other cadets the Combined Cadet Force Syllabus. Under test condition they had to deliver a 30 minute lesson on part of a rifle drill.

All the Cadets passed and the following Cadets were promoted to the following positions:

• Junior Officer Adam Willcox
• Platoon SGT Sam Batstone
• Platoon SGT James Webb
• SCT CPL Luke George
• SCT CPL Tom Lovegrove
• SCT CPL Edward Dale
• SCT CPL Marcus Head
• SCT CPL Vicky Jones
• SCT CPL Nathan Folland
• L/CPL Ross Biberger
• L/CPL Heather Lowe
• L/CPL Ben Horler
• L/CPL Dean Heal
• L/CPL Mike Taviner
• L/CPL Marc Cook

Congratulation to all cadets involved.

Business and Enterprise Conference 5th November at Colston Hall

Year 10 and Year 11 students attended a Business and Enterprise Conference at the Colston Hall in Bristol on Monday 5th November. The conference aimed to inspire business students and budding entrepreneurs. The day featured a number of keynote speeches from motivational business leaders, with a particular focus on entrepreneurship and enterprise. The speakers included Wilfred Emmanuel Jones "The Black Farmer" who has taken his passion from the West Indies and combined it with inspiration from his farm in Devon to produce a range of products under the label ‘The Black Farmer’. His products are sold across the country in leading supermarkets. In 2005 Wilfred launched a Rural Scholarship, introducing an agricultural way of life to young people from culturally diverse communities living in the inner cities; Ruth Badger (BBC’s The Apprentice and Sky One’s Badger or Bust) and Michelle Mone (Founder MJM International). Michelle launched her own company, MJM International, after noticing a gap in the lingerie market for a comfortable cleavage-enhancing bra, it was famously worn by Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich, and it quickly became the fastest growing ‘intimate apparel’ brand in Europe. Success has led to the expansion of the Ultimo collection - with lingerie, underwear, nightwear and swimwear. The company has since secured the licence in 45 countries for some of the biggest lingerie brands; Michelle Mone is a board member of The Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust, and Save the Children. She also writes for The Sun as their ‘Business Doctor’. Writhlington Students formed a company led by Jade Seymour called Wizbe on the day and completed various challenges hosted by Alex Lovell presenter of BBC Points West and Channel 5's Brainteaser. All students left the conference feeling inspired to become England’s next successful Entrepreneur.

Gold Medal at Cape Town Flower Show for Writhlington Orchid Growers

Students from Writhlington School have just returned from South Africa with a Gold Medal won at the country’s most prestigious flower show, the Cape Town Flower and Garden Show.

The school exhibit featured a working orchid micropropagation laboratory and a group of five expert students aged between 13 and 15 years old demonstrated techniques developed at Writhlington.

As well as wowing the judges and attracting large crowds the exhibit featured on two TV channels, a radio station and in several newspapers. Luke Shackleton aged 14 explained “We became local celebrities and we were recognised when we went to restaurants.”

As well as demonstrating Writhlington’s horticultural excellence the visit was a focus for developing orchid based conservation enterprise in South Africa. Writhlington pupils trained members of the Londolozani, a Women’s Orchid Legacy Project, in propagation techniques and visited the Erica School in Cape Town where the laboratory used at the show will be permanently installed.

According to Writhlington pupil Luke Barnes aged 13 “visiting the school was the best part of the whole trip” and in turn Erica School principle Jonathan Dennis described Luke as “An inspiration to my pupils, showing what can be achieved by young people with passion, skill and determination.”

Teacher Simon Pugh-Jones who led the trip said afterwards “I am really proud of my team. It was a real challenge to travel half way across the world and stage a top class exhibit but everyone worked really hard. We had fantastic support from our South African hosts. We were given accommodation at the Assegaaibosch Nature Reserve by Cape Nature, transport from National Car Rental, and the individual support of many wonderful South Africans. I am really excited for the future of orchid project at the Erica School. I also look forward to the benefits Writhlington pupils will gain from working with our new friends in Africa.”

David Cox Struck Gold

Year 8 Student David Cox struck Gold this term as he became the Somerset Under 13 Champion at The County Tournament held in Bridgwater. Well done David and good luck in your next major Championship

Year 12 and 10 Tourism Enterprise Day

The Year 10 and Year12 Travel and Tourism students had another successful Tourism Enterprise Day arranged and organised by Bath Tourism Plus, which is the Government Agency responsible for managing and marketing Bath tourism. The day started with a presentation on the role of Bath Tourism Plus and then the students had to work in small focus groups solving tourism problems in the Bath area. These are real problems and some of the ideas generated by the students will be used. They had to come up with ideas on revamping and improving the Bath Christmas Market and develop a brand profile for the new shopping centre which will be built in the centre of Bath in 2010. The students had to then present their ideas to John Carmichael Marketing Director at Bath Tourism Plus.

Last year’s Year 10 and Year12 Travel and Tourism students had the task of how Bath Hotels could increase their occupancy at the weekends. One of the group’s ideas was to develop a discount card for all hotels to give out to weekend guests. As a result of this Bath Tourism Plus actually developed a discount card for Visitor Attractions in the Bath area for guests staying in hotels at weekends. They now also sell the discount card at the Bath Tourism Information Centre.

October 2007

School Students Perform With National Youth Orchestra Band

Students from Writhlington School, Radstock and Critchill School in Frome had the exciting opportunity this week to perform alongside the National Youth Orchestra Band. The students and band have been working hard on a unique performance of their own works as well as a piece by Cameron Sinclair, which was specially commissioned for the performance.

Assisted by funding from Youth Music, Bridging the Gap is a partnership between the National Youth Orchestra, Writhlington Business & Enterprise School, Jason Thornton (director of the Bath Philharmonia) and Critchill School. It aims to inspire young musicians to continue with music after they have transferred from primary school to secondary school. The project engaged with many of the pupils in primary schools from the Radstock area before they attended Writhlington School this September for the first time and culminated in two stunning performances of ‘Journeys and Crossings’ at the Merlin Theatre, Frome on Thursday 18th October and at Writhlington School on Friday 19th October. "It has been the best experience of my life. I loved playing the instruments and the NYO were awesome!" - Writhlington participant The pupils have been playing with the youthful and energetic NYOBAND; a 15 piece ensemble made up of ex-members of the National Youth Orchestra. Led by experts in music education the band members are in their early twenties and add a unique element that the young participants can really identify with and be inspired by.

Writhlington School Lands £1M Funding Boost From The Football Foundation

Footballers in Radstock were celebrating today following a £984,904 award by the Football Foundation, the UK’s largest sports charity. To mark the occasion Dan Norris, local MP for North East Somerset, will present a cheque to the school at 10am on 15 October at Writhlington School, Knobsbury Lane, Writhlington, Radstock, BA3 3NQ.

The cash bonanza will allow the school to bring high quality community sports facilities to a rural area which suffers from a lack of proper sports provision for local people. The facilities will boast a much-needed artificial turf pitch and two large changing rooms for outdoor sports, as well as upgraded grass pitches.

It is estimated that this development will enable an increase in participation of 430% amongst male users and 130% amongst female users at the facility.

The Football Foundation is dedicated to revitalising the grass roots of the game, constructing modern football facilities, developing football as a force for social cohesion and as a vehicle for education in communities throughout the country. Funded by the FA Premier League, The Football Association, Sports England and the Government, the Football Foundation is the nation’s largest sports charity with a £45m budget going straight into the heart of football.

Dan Norris, MP for North East Somerset, said: "The Football Foundation represents a successful partnership between the government, the Premier League and the FA which has so far delivered around £2.4m worth of projects to our area since its launch in July 2000.

"I know local residents will join me in cheering this latest significant cash award. Together with the full rebuild of Writhlington School, made possible by government money, these new facilities promise another fantastic boost for our community.

" Headteacher Marie Getheridge said: “This very welcome award and support from the Football Foundation forms part of our continued commitment to providing high quality sports facilities for both school and community use. The next two years is a very exciting time for the school and we are looking forward to opening the £3 million extension to our community sports complex in the next year.”

A Passion for Plants

We just can’t get enough of gardening, whether it’s digging our own little plots, exhibiting in competitions or nosing around in grand public gardens. It may be a quiet passion, but plant obsessives are a unique species grown and cultivated in Britain. And now a new BBC series celebrates this national passion for gardening.

Narrated by Alan Titchmarsh, this series of 8 half hour documentaries takes us into the world of the UK's leading gardening charity to discover what lies at the heart of our Passion For Plants. The BBC spent a year with The Royal Horticultural Society – the plant charity that’s home to four public gardens, two hundred years of horticultural expertise and the renowned national flower shows in Cardiff, Chelsea and Tatton. It’s a year to remember….

The RHS School of Horticulture opens its doors to a new group of students and master classes begin in everything from how to dig an allotment to how to climb a tree.

The arrival of a new Director General and a new Head of Gardens and Estates brings a fresh approach to a venerable organisation with well established traditions.

And as the gardening calendar unfolds there is deadline after deadline to hit; from the opening of the new multi-million pound glass house at Wisley in Surrey, to the meticulous organisation of the world famous flower show in Chelsea.

And with the wettest summer on record, at times gardening proves to be quite a challenge. Flooding at Harlow Carr, the RHS public garden in Yorkshire, brings into focus the eco-friendly plans that are already underway there. And the green philosophy of the garden’s curator, Matthew Wilson, means pigs become a feature of an RHS garden for the very first time.

The Britain in Bloom campaign encourages communities up and down the country to brighten up their streets and outreach projects see allotments established by budding young gardeners at a local primary school.

The stars of the show include RHS staff and members alike; the enthusiastic ordinary gardeners who exhibit at shows – and the strict RHS judges who decide their fate; the passionate dahlia and verbascum growers whose plants are trialled and archived at Wisley, and the behind the scenes staff who meticulously cultivate, trial and perfect the plants we grow today in our own treasured gardens.

The BBC's behind the scenes documentary about the life and horticultural loves of the RHS starts on BBC2, Friday 19th October at 8pm.

Find out more at the RHS Website: http://www.rhs.org.uk/passionforplants/profiles.asp

September 2007

Three students from Radstock have just returned from Romania saying that they would all love to go back. Emma Clifton, Chloe Caddick and Liz Hicks spent two weeks with the charity ’Poplars’ visiting Roma gypsy communities and working with children and young people with disabilities.

Emma (currently studying at Bath Spa University) Chloe and Liz, (both at Writhlington School) took over large suitcases crammed full of craft materials, clothes, soap, sweets and pens to distribute to the people they met. They saw at first hand the difficult conditions that some people still have to live in. Often large families were living in the smallest of huts with no heating and no running water. ‘However, although these living conditions are horrific, all of the children and adults that we met were happy and full of life with huge smiles’ said Emma.

While in Romania they visited a project which assists in supporting families to build themselves new homes, providing them with the materials and teaching the skills needed. They also helped at a Day Care and Educational Centre which provides learning activities for children from Roma families, many of whom would otherwise receive no form of education.

Emma, Chloe and Liz were supported financially by a number of companies, organisations and churches in the Radstock and Midsomer Norton area. From this money they were able to donate over £1000 to the ‘Better Homes Project’. ‘We are so grateful for all the generous contributions,’ they said. ‘We saw a completely different way of life and met many interesting people. It is an experience we will never forget’.

Photo shows Liz Hicks, Emma Clifton and Chloe Caddick with some of the aid they took with them on their recent visit to Romania

July 2007

Germany 2007

In July this year, 44 Year 8 students from Writhlington took part in a trip to the Rhineland in Germany where they experienced the great German weather, many a bratwurst and a fun packed week of trips and visits.

During the trip we visited Marksburg Castle, experienced the vibrant city of Koblenz and visited Rüdesheim, where we took a trip on a chairlift above the vineyards and enjoyed the wonderful views of the River Rhine. Other highlights included swimming in the “Freibad”, a boat trip down the Rhine (complete with Oom pa pa music to get us in the mood!) bowling and of course, Phantasialand, the best theme park in Germany! Everyone seemed to enjoy the trip and had a chance to have a go at speaking the language.

Special thanks go out to Mr Nunley, Miss Wardlaw, Miss Benoit and Mr Sheriff whose help was greatly appreciated. Another trip to Germany will be taking place next July 2008 and anyone interested in joining us (years 8 & 9) should speak to Miss Rusling in the languages department.

Year 8 Bowling Trip

Year 8 rounded off the school year with a trip to the Bowlplex centre at Longwell Green. Nearly sixty students and seven staff set off after school to enjoy an evening of fun, competition and of course food!!

A good time was had by all, especially for those who were to witness the downfall of Mr. Bridges and Mr Corbett; both resoundingly beaten by Miss Dent who must have been practising for weeks judging by the number of strikes and spares she scored! Many thanks to all who took part, particularly Mr Bridges and Mr Corbett who organised a great evening out.

French Alps Music Tour

Sunday 8th July saw 43 Writhlington School musicians ranging from years 8 to 13 [plus one ex-student!] packing suitcases, instruments, drum kit, amplifiers and everything except the kitchen sink into coach and trailer bound for the French Alps.

23 hours later [with humour now a little jaded with fatigue!] we disembarked at ‘Chalet La Troika’ in a pretty mountain village about a mile away from the Swiss border called La Chapelle – D’Abondance.

Cold weather did not dampen our spirits the next day as we swung from ropes and rip-slides up to 70 feet in the air [with safety harness, of course!] at the Parc Adventure in Aigle. Most of the band tackled all four available difficulty levels – impressive!!! [especially Mr Mellor!)]

After a hasty packed lunch we set off for our first concert venue in Chatel – [re-routed from outdoors to a small concert hall due to the weather!].

Wednesday saw the highlights of a visit to Nestle Factory where Mr Mellor won hands down for eating the most free samples – closely followed by most of the boys!!! Chocolate consumed was worked off in a concert in the town of Vevey in Switzerland, – right beside the waters of the immense and beautiful ‘Lac Lemon’. Any remaining chocolate overdose was well and truly lost on the huge waterslides at ‘Le Bouveret’ water park – definitely a hit!

The following day we set off for the U.N building in Geneva – a bit of culture here! Very interesting nevertheless – with quite a few tricky questions asked by our intrepid future diplomats [ Becky Chaudhuri, Jess Wheeler and Vicky Jones)]. This was followed by our last outdoor concert – 2 hours in the sweltering heat of the pretty village of Yvoire on the other side of the lake. No time to rest though – dinner at the Chalet followed by bowling at Villeneuve in Switzerland. The evening concluded with a ridiculous electronic ‘punchbag’ game where Mrs Langley scored a pathetic ‘5’ (twice) and Ms Sloman fared slightly better, however, the stars in this activity were clearly Mr Mellor who scored a high 545 but even better, Mike Obern on 550!!

On our last day we staged an impromptu concert for the two groups of French students staying at the Chalet [definitely our best audience!] followed by a picnic lunch and a very long overnight journey home dreaming of snow – covered mountains, the ‘Sound of Music’ and bells tinkling round the necks of Swiss cows!!

Many thanks to Ms Sloman, Mrs Langley, Mr Mellor and Mrs Tout – also to all the students who made it such a great event! Watch this space for the 2009 tour!

Twenty-first Century School Takes Shape – Community Consultation

The £25 million new building at Writhlington Business and Enterprise School takes a major step forward next week with the public display of the new facilities scheduled to open in Spring 2010. The design of the new school follows a series of discussions with students, parents and staff and the community. It will be built with all the latest energy efficient materials using sustainable resources wherever possible. It includes a number of exciting new features including a Business and Enterprise Centre with a conference suite, video-conferencing, business offices for the very successful student-run companies and a four hundred seat theatre and performing arts centre.

A new Media Arts Centre comprises a professional recording studio, dance studio and music recital and performance facilities. A Design Studio for electronics and robotics complements an ICT rich environment with 24/7 on-line learning for students, internet-café and open access learning resource areas for private study. An outside ecology area and four greenhouses mirroring different environments from around the globe offers students exciting study possibilities for GCSE and A Level science research. Professional industry-standard kitchen facilities provides a high quality learning environment for Hospitality and Catering courses. Spacious dining room facilities opening onto landscaped play areas are linked to covered courtyard areas where students can relax at break and lunch.

In sport major developments are taking place with over £3 million of additional facilities opening over the next 18 months. A new Multi-use Games Area, full size floodlit artificial grass pitch, Coach Education Centre and Soft play centre will complement the very successful Sports Centre at the school. Further suites of brand new changing rooms for outside sports, grass pitch upgrades, high quality cricket nets and a new cricket square will provide superb new sporting facilities for both school and community use.

All these new facilities are on view at the school next Thursday 26th July between 5 and 9 pm as part of the community consultation. Architects and staff will be presenting an interactive ICT presentation on the new school and the opportunities it will offer to all the community.

Art Exhibition – Artists Celebrate Classes

On Tuesday 10 July, artists from the Leisure and Learning classes at Writhlington School celebrated their work with an end of year art exhibition. The enthusiastic students brought along their friends and family to view the wonderful and varied display of paintings and drawings whilst enjoying refreshments together.

Over 100 visitors of all ages came to view the 500 pieces of work on display and even though these were not for sale, a number of offers were made. The students have all been attending Watercolour and Drawing Classes at Writhlington School, led by tutors Deborah Chisman and Sheila Broun.

They will be continuing again in September and anyone interested in joining them should contact the Leisure and Learning Team at Writhlington School on 01761 439925

CCF Penhale Summer Camp in Cornwall

Forty seven Year 9, 10 & 11 students went away for one week at Penhale Army Camp. They carried out a variety of adventure training activities including canoeing, sailing, rock climbing and abseiling. We spent a whole day at Millpool ranges where cadets had the opportunity to fire the LSW machine gun in short automatic bursts. We had some fantastic scores which included Rhys Swift who shot 47 out of 50!

Our school contingent competed in the Penhale challenge against over 600 other cadets in orienteering, march & shoot and the assault course. We successfully won 25 medals in total which is a new Writhlington School record. These medals were silver in all the girls’ assault course challenge and 2 bronze awards in the all girls team and boys team march & shoot competition. A special mention to Heather Lowe of Year 10 who won the girls orienteering against 300 other competitors. A great gold medal.

The students were excellent throughout the week and displayed good military skills and discipline. The Ambush Stand & Section attacks where students learnt and took part in battle drills was a particularly tiring day. They were running around the sand dunes in torrential rain firing the GP weapons in section attacks. During the casualty evacuation the cadets could not cope with the weight of Mr White on the stretcher, so they left him behind enemy lines!

All the CCF staff would like to congratulate the CCF cadets on another fantastic camp.

Year 7 Dyson Foundation Workshop

On Friday 6th of July, the Dyson Foundation came into the school to do a workshop for 40 Year 7 students. The aim of the workshop was to introduce engineering and innovation to the students. Students were split into groups and given a brief.

Each group had a theme, from ‘in the garden’ to ‘search and rescue’. They had to design a product which was powered by air for use within their theme, then they had to create a prototype out of cardboard and parts of Dyson’s. Before they started they were given a presentation from a Dyson engineer, who talked to them about the design process from idea generation to modelling out of card.

The students produced some amazing designs with the help of Mr Pugh-Jones and the Dyson leaders. At the end of the morning each team presented their idea back to the group and were judged.

First prize went to ‘The Warm - up Room’, a room which could be used by search and rescue to help people warm up after they had been rescued, a special prize went to ‘Walking Breeze’ for team work.

After the workshop the Dyson foundation talked to the whole of Year 7 about the engineering process at Dyson, and about their fantastic opportunities at the Dyson Foundation. The students had a real insight into engineering and design, each group produced fantastic prototypes and all worked really hard together in their teams.

It was an interesting and exciting day for all involved, special thanks to the Dyson Foundation who committed their time to this project within the school.

Bonito wins the day at Young Enterprise competition

Earlier this term three students Elliott Dix, Georgia Butler and Richard Cummings from Bonitos, a Writhlington School Young Enterprise Team Programme company, took part in the Young Enterprise Team Programme South West regional competition. They competed against many schools and had to answer probing questions from the judges. They had to present a stand with their products, write a report reviewing the financial year for the company and put together a presentation about the company.

Bonito has been a big success this year. The students have made over £500 profit and their well-judged teamwork skills won Best Presentation at the regional Young Enterprise competition.

Historic Orchid In New Breeding Programme

An orchid that was imported from India over a hundred years ago has been donated to Writhlington School by plant enthusiast Rear Admiral Hugh Tracey. Teacher Simon Pugh-Jones explained “The orchid is called Paphiopedilum Insigne, a species now scarce in its natural habitat of the Khasai Hills in Assam. Back in Victorian times many thousands of plants were brought to the UK and grown for cut flowers, this plant is a remnant from these times. We now plan to pollinate the plant, produce seed and grow seedlings to both increase plant numbers and raise money for conservation efforts back in India.”

Rear Admiral Tracey met Writhlington students at the Bath Spring Flower Show and has supported their work with a generous donation as well the ancient orchid with an exciting future.

Seeds of Success

Young entrepreneurs from Writhlington Business and Enterprise School will be representing the South West of England at this Year’s Young Enterprise finals at the Savoy Hotel London later this month.

Nine students all aged fifteen set up their company ‘Cockroach’ last September and won competitions in Bath and Bristol before winning the South West regional finals in Poole. Managing Director Marc Cook explains the unusual name; “We decided to call ourselves Cockroach because of the insect’s legendary status as indestructible. That’s what we wanted to be - an indestructible company. Our product is unique Palm tree seed kits which are now available at outlets right across the UK.”

Judges have been impressed with the kits which include seeds, compost and pot but the real success of the company has been their sales record. Ben Stokes, Sales Director outlines their approach. “We have designed a special point of sales unit containing 140 kits and we have sold these to Garden Centres and Botanic Gardens across the country. We are currently selling as far a field as Edinburgh Botanic Gardens and Kew Gardens in London but our biggest sales are through Hillier Garden Centres and Garden and Leisure Group.”

The National finals will see companies from twelve regions across the UK competing for the coveted prize of Young Enterprise Company of the Year as well as a place in the European Finals. The young directors of Cockroach are hoping to show that the seed of a great idea can grow into something big- and indestructible!

29th June 2007

Leaving in Style

Year 11 students at Writhlington Business & Enterprise School left in style last week. Over 100 students will be returning to Post 16 studies but for the moment limousines, minicycles, tandems and 1930s glitz were the important things in life.

Year 11 student Adam Willcox said “What a day, what weather – the only dry interlude in constant weeks of rain. The gods smiled down on us”.

As part of the Year 11 Celebration Day, the students were treated to a short presentation from the actor James Laurenson. An introductory dvd showed clips of the films and programmes he has appeared in – The Bourne Identity, A Touch of Frost, Hustle, Spooks, Midsomer Murders to name but a few.

He then spoke to the students about how different it was when he was 16 and leaving school in New Zealand and how their leavers had been addressed by an army major who told them what to expect from life after school.

He spoke about interview techniques and amused them with some funny stories of auditions including one where he tried to exit via a broom cupboard! The moral of this story was; always take note of the layout of the room where you are being interviewed.

The students listened attentively and gave him a rousing round of applause when he finished. Junior Soper presented him with a copy of the Yearbook as a token of appreciation.

He was then treated to a tour of the orchid greenhouse by Luke Lucas and Ben Stokes who presented him with an orchid.

27th June 2007

Writhlington Business and Enterprise School Dragons Den Event

Writhlington Business and Enterprise School in conjunction with Bath and North East Somerset Council hosted their annual Dragons Den event.

13 local schools presented their product to the Dragons. Their brief was set by Rob Kinna a Dragon Slayer who had previously been featured on BBC2 Dragons Den Programme.

Students had to devise a product that was able to produce the home cooked flavour of porridge. The Dragons were Alec Reed founder of the Reed employment agency, Maxine Corbett the commercial director of Xerox, Tim Westwood Regional Business Development Manager from Kier Western, Paul Delbridge-Smith Network Programme Co-ordinator for Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and Dave Morgan from the DTI Intellectual Property Office.

The aim of the day was to encourage and inspire Key Stage 4 students to become young entrepreneurs and raise awareness for enterprise education. The commitment from the students, teachers and facilitators in this project was outstanding.

All Dragons spoke very highly of the presentations and were amazed at the standard of presentation and content. Students taking part in this day gained valuable skills in presenting, communicating, teamwork, problem solving and entrepreneurship. All students took part in workshops including Rob Kinna’s BBC 2 Dragon’s Den experience, and an inspirational workshop by Mark Delamere on how to be successful.

The Dragons had a tough time choosing the eventual winners. James Fox Assistant Head at Writhlington Business and Enterprise school said “It’s absolutely fantastic that students have taken the event so seriously and had the opportunity to interact with each other”.

Writhlington Business and Enterprise School took the first prize with their idea of ‘twisted oats’, a self-contained heating device to eat porridge on the go. Team members Mia Idiens, Ross Whittock, Jordan Rogers, Martha Cooper, and Natasha Siddiqi led by Business Studies teacher Matthew Shafto received £100 each presented to them by Councillor Ian Dewey.

Second prize went to St Gregory’s Catholic School in Odd Down whose team ‘Sqidge’ impressed the judges with their innovative ideas and presentation skills.

Third Prize went to Brislington Business and Enterprise School ‘Just Right’ impressed the judges with their confidence, presentation and smart company uniform.

The day was a huge success, with everyone involved inspired to become entrepreneurs. Special thanks go to our sponsors of the event Kier Western, The DTI Intellectual Property Office and JBP Public Relations.

The day was organised and run by Emma Duncombe Enterprise Manager of Writhlington Business and Enterprise School, and will be an annual event if you need further information on the day or next years event please call 01761 433581 ext 317.

26^th June 2007

National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain

Assisted by funding from Youth Music, Bridging the Gap is a partnership between the National Youth Orchestra, Writhlington Business & Enterprise School, Jason Thornton (director of the Bath Philharmonia) and Critchill School. It aims to inspire young musicians to continue participating in music and also to encourage more pupils to join in with music-making once they have started secondary school.

What better way to achieve this than to inspire young musicians at primary schools with the youthful and energetic NYOBAND; a 15 piece ensemble made up of ex-members of the National Youth Orchestra. Led by experts in music education the band members are in their early twenties and add a unique element as the young participants can really identify with and be inspired by these young musicians.

Year 6 Primary school students in the Radstock area and students at Critchill School in Frome enjoyed taster performances from the full band in February and March this year inspiring them to join in with the project. This has been followed by a series of workshops held at Writhlington School throughout the summer term exploring different musical genres and styles including melody, movement, performance technique and Latin American. The workshops have been attended by students from primary schools that will transfer to secondary school in September, and have been joined by year 7 students at Writhlington School and supported by year 12 peer mentors.

"It has been the best experience of my life. I loved playing the instruments and the NYO were awesome!" - Writhlington participant

"I loved the sessions and I'd recommend them to anyone - it was brilliant!" - Writhlington participant

Bridging the Gap will culminate in a grand finale during September and October when students from Critchill School will join their peers at Writhlington School for the final workshops and rehearsals, putting the finishing touches to a stunning performance to be held at the Merlin Theatre, Frome on 18th October and Writhlington School on 19th October.

23^rd May 2007

Year 10 Enterprise Day

Earlier this term a group of Year 10 students participated in a Young Enterprise masterclass. The students were split into groups with a challenge to complete. The challenge was to design Writhlington's new rugby kit. Each group had to work towards presenting a proposal which was to include benefits for prospective investors, designing the kit, a launch event, PR and Marketing and additional funding.

In the morning the students set about designing their kits and their launch events. We had some fantastic ideas which included a sports fashion show and a meal where the rugby team would be waiters wearing the kit. In the afternoon Fraser Digby Business Development Manager of Sports Solutions GB came to the school.

The twist of the day for the students was that they were going to present their proposal to Fraser who would pick a winner and he would actually be sponsoring the school rugby kit. As Fraser was an ex-professional football player students had the opportunity to have a question and answer session with him before they presented their proposals. Fraser and Kate Clark, Regional Manager of Young Enterprise judged each of the presentations.

After a very difficult decision Vickie Seymour, Paige Blacker, Jade Peddle, Chloe Norris and Mia Idiens won through with their creativity and detailed launch event idea of a sports fashion show. A special thank you goes to Sports Solutions GB which is now going to be making and sponsoring our school rugby kit.

21^st May 2007

Year 10 AXA Educational Finance Trip

Year 10 Business Studies students participated in AXA’s Educational Finance programme, organised in conjunction with Young Enterprise.  The day was held at AXA’s main office in Filton, Bristol.  We were greeted with professional name badges and led into AXA’s conference room.  The aim of the day was for the students to gain an understanding of how their lifestyle choices would affect their financial situation in the future and improve their ability to manage debt and  monthly spending.

The day was split into 2 activities. In these games the students were given a balance sheet and consequence cards.  They had to make choices for the future with reference to their living arrangements, their lifestyle, their education and their part – time work.  AXA provided “sharks” who gave the students points or took them away depending on their answers. This  showed  the students how  unexpected events can affect your financial situation.  Game 1 represented their situation after leaving  school and Game 2 took it  past the age of 21. 

A lot of the students were surprised at the results which saw many of them get into debt, However AXA’s trained staff were on hand to provide answers and solutions to their financial concerns for the future.

The day ended with a very informative presentation on employment skills.  AXA presented the students with facts and information on how to make yourself more employable and gave useful CV and interview tips.  If any student or parent  would like additional  information on the day please do not hesitate to speak to Miss Duncombe on 01761 433581 ext 317.

12^th May 2007

Ten Tors Challenge Ends in Evacuation!

Saturday 12^th of May saw the 47^th year of the Ten Tors competition where 400 teams of 6 youngsters aged between 15 and 20 tackle routes of 35, 45 or 50 miles across the wilds of Dartmoor over 2 days. This year one team of 6 lads from Writhlington CCF attempted the 35 mile route.

Adam Willcox, Danny Taylor, Sam Batstone, Kessler Wood, Kial Swift and James Webb endured torrential rain and fog from the moment they arrived onsite to register on Friday afternoon accompanied by Mr Albon and Mr Nicholas whose hard work made the event possible for the team.

The team rose at 05:00 to the rousing sounds of Chariots of Fire over the camp tannoy system with the starting gun setting them off on the moors at 07:00. The teams follow a set route that takes them past 10 checkpoints located on the rocky outcrops known as ‘Tors’, camping out overnight on the moors.

By the end of Saturday, four of the team were still going with 360 people having dropped out of the challenge at that point. Poor conditions and swollen rivers combined with extreme weather forecasts meant that a decision was made by the organisers at 9:30pm on Saturday to abandon the event.

Although a great disappointment for the people involved, safety was imperative, especially considering the tragic death of a girl from Edgehill College who was swept away by a flash flood in training on Dartmoor in March.

Sunday saw a massive evacuation operation with 800 young people airlifted from the moors by two navy Sea King helicopters and two army Gazelle helicopters, the remainder, including the Writhlington team making their way to the roads to be ferried back by road. The team were in good spirits upon arrival back at the camp and having received their medals were keen to have another go next year despite the disappointment of not being able to complete the course. They had completed 7 out of the 10 Tors on the first day.

Congratulations go to the boys for a fantastic effort and thanks to the all the staff involved who made the event possible, with luck next year the weather will allow the teams to finish their routes.

May 2007

Art News

Well done and Congratulations to Daniel Green-Richards and Jamie Chard (Year 11 Students 2006).

The Royal Society of British Artists selected Daniel and Jamie’s art work to be exhibited at The Mall Art Galleries, London – May 17th – 27th 2007. Well over 800 students from parts of the United Kingdom applied but only 130 of the best students were chosen to exhibit.

The President of The Royal Society of British Artists, Cav Romeo Di Girolamo opened the exhibition and congratulated all 130 students for being the most creative and impressive young artists in the country. Daniel and Jamie were both interviewed and filmed for a promotional education film and were also photographed with the President.

May 2007

Writhlington School CCF Biannual Inspection

On the 2nd May 07 Writhlington’s Combined Cadet Force had their second biannual inspection since Sept 2003. The inspecting officer was lieutenant colonel Daniels who inspected our contingent, which is now 100 cadets strong, undertaking various military and adventurous activities at Emborough Quarry.

The colour party met the inspecting officer on the parade square by the CCF block and impressed him with an exceptional display of their drill and turnout. The colour party should be congratulated for all the extra hours they put in practising with the weapons and flags for the parade, which definitely paid off!

The cadets were competing in sections as they rotated around abseiling, kayaking, sailing, speed boats, paintballing, first aid, weapon training, observation, survival and signals training.
The sailing saw Millie Murphy and Harriet Goudie whizzing around the lake at Emborough Quarry at break neck speeds. Unfortunately Tom Smart and Stephen Smith weren’t so controlled and kept capsizing their boat!

For the first time a new section won the cup, beating Chiefton, who have won it and dominated all competitions since we began. Warrior section, headed by Edward Dale lifted the cup for completing each stand throughout the day in the highest score. They also narrowly missed out on winning the gun run, but they secured the title by winning the tug of war competition at the end of the day.

The day was a fantastic success and the cadets were a real credit to the school. Lieutenant Colonel Daniels was delighted to see so many of our students taking advantage of and enjoying the excellent opportunities provided for them by the CCF. Mr Albon will be taking Year 8 assemblies to show you what goes on in the CCF as we are now recruiting for next year.

May 2007

Writhlington Students lead Conservation Effort in South East Asia

Writhlington students spent this Easter working with conservationists and scientists in the remote jungles of Laos in South East Asia.

Teacher Simon Pugh-Jones who led the trip explained its purpose, "Laos is an amazing country with large areas of tropical forest and we are helping locals to conserve their beautiful wild orchids which are under pressure from collection, by growing plants from seed."

The expedition group included fourteen year olds Ben Stokes and Luke Lucas who took orchid seedlings they had grown at the Writhlington laboratory to help with training Lao staff in raising plants. "Our plants caused a lot of interest" said Luke. "Our partner Chansouk Southivong will come to the UK next year to train with us and at Kew Gardens before starting large scale production in Paksong."

Students also explored forests on the Bolevan Plateau in Southern Laos and recorded over a hundred species of orchid in the wild. These records will be used to evaluate the long term success of the conservation project as well as providing opportunities for original GCSE science research projects. Kew botanist Dr David Roberts, who also took part in the expedition, will continue to work closely with Writhlington Students to support their research and is hoping to publish their findings in scientific journals when complete.

12^th – 16^th March 2007

French Food with a Local Flavour

Bath District Farmers are a group of local farmers who have successfully secured a contract with Bath and North East Somerset Council to supply food and drink products into 82 council establishments and schools.

Writhlington students joined the Bath District Farmers and French chef Michel Lemoine in an after school project to produce a three course gastronomic meal with the authentic flavour of Provence, using ingredients produced within a twelve mile radius of the school.

The students spent a week with the local farmers visiting farms and discussing the connection between local produce, sustaining the country side, local economy as well as the importance of reducing food miles and global warming.  After discovering the variety of seasonal local produce available, a three course meal was planned, and under the guidance of Michel the students cooked the gourmet meal for their parents and local dignitaries.

As the guests tucked into Parsnip Soup with Curry Sabyon, Fillet of Beef au Poivre, and Caramelised Apple Tart, the students explained where the ingredients had come from, how far they had travelled and details of the preparation. The visiting guests were astounded by the quality of the meal and the professionalism of the students as they prepared and presented the food.

Bath District Farmers said they welcomed the opportunity to work with the students and meet their parents in order to raise awareness of these important conservation issues. They also look forward to continuing their links with the school to further integrate farming into the school curriculum.

All the ingredients for the meal were provided by the local farmers and producers and wine was donated by Mumfords Vineyard and Great Western Wine, Bath.

Marie Getheridge Head Teacher at Writhlington Business and Enterprise School said;

"We are pleased that our students have had this exciting opportunity to work together with the Bath District Farmers and Chef Michel Lemoine.  Working with professionals provides a new dimension to learning, which not only compliments, but enhances the education experience for our students."

March 2007

Orchid Project Enjoys Best Show Ever.

This year's London International Orchid show proved to be the Writhlington Orchid projects most successful ever with students selling more than 2000 orchids grown in the schools specialist laboratory. The school display won praise from visitors and a Silver-Gilt Medal. The display featured a naturalised tree arch festooned in Coelogyne cristata an orchid species from the Himalayas.

Year 10 students Ben Stokes and Luke Lucas who built the display will also feature in a BBC2 gardening program in September where viewers will be able to see the story of the display from selecting and preparing the plants to the moment when the medal was awarded.

Funds raised by sales at the show will support this years expeditions, the first of which leaves for Laos on April 2nd. Students will be working with Kew Botanist Dr David Roberts to map the orchid populations of the Bolevan plateau.

March 2007

Chuffs last Jazz for MS.

Downside School for this annual event. Chuff (Musical Director and organiser of Jazz for MS) wanted to end his era with raising over £30, 000 for the Multiple Sclerosis Centre at Warminster and to date the weekend concerts raised over £3,500 which has made his wish come true.

The audiences were treated to two brilliant concerts with Writhlington Senior, Junior band, Stage band and the newly formed Route 64, a new Dixie band who played a varied assortment of music including Tiger Rag, St Louis Blues, Footprints and Sing sing sing.

The end of the evening saw over 140 students squeeze onto the stage to play the popular Sultana song Smooth and a piece entitled Undecided. Our thanks go to all the students and stage crew for all their hard work.

Even though this may be the end of an era with Jazz for MS concerts the musical collaboration between Downside and Writhlington Schools will continue in the future.

Watch this space!

Half Term March 2007

Post 16 New York Visit.

Once again, Post 16 students had a truly fantastic time in New York. 21 students, Ms Sloman, Mr Fox and Mr Mann ventured to New York at the beginning of February half-term.

Apart from the obligatory retail therapy students also saw the main sights.

On the first day in temperatures of-13c students toured New York by bus and on foot and saw Central Park, Greenwich Village, Trump Tower, Times Square, Ground Zero, the Winter Gardens, the Financial Centre including Wall Street, the lucky Bull, China Town, Little Italy, Soho, Battery Park, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges, and Grand Central Terminus. In the evening, time was spent ice skating at the Rockefeller Centre.

A tour round United Nations proved to be very interesting especially as we saw The Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. In the evening students ventured up the Empire State Building and saw the New York sky line at night - awesome! The day time views from Top of the Rock were equally spectacular.

The last day was spent on a New York Waterways cruise viewing the Stature of Liberty, Ellis Island and Manhattan.-

This was a truly wonderful trip and we are looking forward to another in 2008!

March 2007

Food and Farming Project

Bath District Farmers are a group of local farmers who have successfully secured a contract with Bath and North East Somerset Council to supply food and drink products into 82 council establishments.

The Bath District Farmers are now working with local schools to raise awareness of local food and farming as well as the natural, social, economic, and political implications of actions in the countryside. There are a number of themes within the curriculum that have clear links to faming and agriculture and the local farmers are keen to offer up to date information about real-life tasks in the countryside and the benefits of using local produce.

In partnership with Writhlington Business and Enterprise School, Bath District Farmers will join Writhlington students in an out of hour’s project looking at the connection between local food and faming, the local economy and its sustainability
The group of students will spend a week visiting a farm and investigating foods available from local suppliers, before working with French chef
Michel Limoine to design and cook a three course menu based around seasonal produce. The culmination of this event will be the presentation of the meal to parents and local celebrities together with a display and information from the Bath District Farmers.

This is a fantastic opportunity for our students to benefit from learning in a new context. Meeting and working with adults who are not teachers can be particularly motivating and can provide alternative opportunities and experiences beyond our normal school day.

We are pleased to have this opportunity to work with Bath District Farmers to raise awareness of these important issues which affect our local countryside and communities.

February 2007

Writhlington at the Cape Town Flower Show

This October Writhlington Orchid growers are off to their most exiting show yet in Cape Town, South Africa.

The invitation followed last years Gold Medal at the Chelsea Flower Show and will really be something different.

Students from the school's "Lab Club" will set up a display that is a working micro-propagation laboratory and during the show they will demonstrate how orchids are raised at the school.

We have also linked with two schools in Cape Town so that Writhlington students will train South African pupils in lab techniques. The display will go to one of the schools after the show so that they can set up their own Writhlington Orchid Project.

The students taking part are all from years 8, 9 and 10 and are amongst Britain's top experts in orchid propagation.

January 2007

Writhlington Orchids go on sale at Kew

The famous orchid seedling kits grown by students at Writhlington School can now be purchased at the World’s premier botanic garden, Kew.

This week students from Years 7,8 and 9 braved cold north winds and snow to take their first delivery of tender tropical orchids to the shops at Kew.

Year 8 pupil Luke Barnes described the day as “Really exciting. I have seen about Kew on the TV and it’s brilliant that they are now selling the plants that I have grown at Lab Club.”

Fellow student Ben Clifford explained the production system “We grow the plants from seed in the school lab and after two years they are big enough to put in their own little jars. We then work really hard to make up the boxes which tell the customer what to do and all about their orchid. I grow orchids at home as well as at school and I hope to write my own book about them one day”.

Profits from the sales at Kew will help conservation efforts in South East Asia as well as funding research for Writhlington’s orchid experts. In 2007 expeditions are going to Laos, Belize and Cape Town which goes to prove that a little horticulture can go a long way.

January 2007

Young Entrepreneurs Sow Seeds of Success

It has been said that all you need for business success is to find a gap in the market. Well a group of young business people at Writhlington have done just that and are reaping the rewards of record profits.

The group of Year 10 students call their company ‘Cockroach’ after a certain enterprising insect  and their product is a unique Palm Tree Kit now available all over Southern Britain.

Company Secretary Luke Lucas explained that “Sales Manager Ben and I wanted to develop a horticultural product and looked around to spot something that wasn’t available to gardeners. We realised that