NEWS The Cotswold School - January/February 2020

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NEWS The Cotswold School - January/February 2020
NEWS
                                  The Cotswold School

Mud runners
Oxbridge offers

Floorball stars
Poetry slammers

Green campaigners

                    January/February 2020
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NEWS The Cotswold School - January/February 2020
Welcome...                                    Word from HQ
                                                      Will Morgan, Principal
          Contents
3-4         Above and Beyond
Oxbridge, International School Award,
Rotary national finals
                                             Learning with innovators and experts helps our students
5-6         Challenge                        aim high
Mace debate, Harry Potter quiz, Mud run
                                             As you will see in these pages, there has been much going on in
7-8         Music and Performance            school, from workshops run by creative performers to lectures
Alba’s album, Bournemouth Symphony           and talks given by academics; from student-led events to
Orchestra, Pete Woollard                     sports matches and visits.
9-10        Enriched learning                Volunteers have held practice interviews with Year 11 and Year
Black Tudors, Blood Brothers, Poetry Slam,   13 students and we are well into our programme of careers
Brain Day
                                             talks, which continues apace next month, open to students of
11-12       Environment                      all ages.
Australian bush fires, Green Group
                                             Interviews are challenging on many fronts, which is why I am
campaigns
                                             so proud of all our Year 13s who applied to Oxbridge. Huge
13-15       Sporting News                    congratulations to the five who received offers from Oxford
Floorball, Basketball, Match reports, EDF    and Cambridge universities – you can find out who they are
Cup, School football tournament
                                             and how they feel about their achievements on the next page.
16          Careers                          I’m confident that, with the excellent A Level results that our
Robert Hunt, Year 11 practice interviews     Sixth Form consistently attains, they’ll continue to aim high and
                                             achieve brilliantly in the future.
17          Governors
News and updates, charity totals             Fundraising is an ongoing feature of school life, channeled
                                             through opportunities to get baking, be sporty, donate clothes
18-19       PTA
New treasurer required, New Chastleton       or test your knowledge, such as in the forthcoming PTA quiz
volunteer dates, easyfundraising, Annual     (20th March). We recently wrote to you about the incredible
quiz                                         opportunity to double £10,000 of parental donations with a
20          Diary dates                      match-funded offer from an anonymous contributor. What an
                                             opportunity to add to our teaching and learning resources. We
                                             are grateful for any amount you can donate. At the time of
                                             writing we had £2,200 more to raise by 31st March. I hope,
Front cover image by Louis Eaton, Year 13
                                             with your help, we can do it.

                                             This half term holiday, some of our Sixth Form students are off
                                             to explore New York and others will take to the ski slopes of
                                             Austria. Whatever you do, I hope you get a well-earned rest!

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NEWS The Cotswold School - January/February 2020
Above and Beyond
                               Students and staff go the extra mile to achieve success

 Oxbridge offers for five Cotswold students
 Hard work and practice pay off for Year 13 students Emma, Milo, Anna, Beth and Freddie
 Applying to university is a nerve-wracking process for many involved. Setting your sights on Oxford and Cambridge is a
 huge commitment of time and energy, with a demanding application process that includes face-to-face interviews at
 the universities.

                                                                                This year, five students from The
                                                                                Cotswold School have won offers to
                                                                                study at these prestigious universities.
                                                                                Congratulations to Emma Ramsay
                                                                                (Geography, Oxford), Milo Wills
                                                                                (French & German, Oxford), Anna Hall
                                                                                (Biochemistry, Oxford), Beth Jones
                                                                                (History,   Oxford)     and    Freddie
                                                                                O’Sullivan    (French    &     History,
                                                                                Cambridge).

                                                                                As part of the support it offered to
                                                                                help students prepare, the school
                                                                                organised several practice interviews
                                                                                for each Oxbridge applicant.

 Mr White, Head of Sixth Form, said, “We’re proud of all our
 students who applied to Oxbridge this year, and grateful to our
 network of local contacts, as well as our teachers, for providing
 our students with challenging interviews to get them ready for
 the situations they would face.”

 Beth: “The interview process, although at times gruelling, was a
 great experience. If I could offer advice to future applicants, I’d
 say just have confidence in yourself and your abilities; enjoy
 the experience and meet new people, because you might as
 well have fun while you’re there!”

 Freddie: “I am really excited to have been offered a place at
 Trinity College, Cambridge. The process gave me the
 opportunity to properly evaluate what I love so much about my
 subjects and the motivation to go in depth and produce high
 quality essays to send off.”

                                                 January/February 2020

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NEWS The Cotswold School - January/February 2020
Above and Beyond

British Council extends ‘International Award’ for The Cotswold School
                                             “The Cotswold School is enriching its pupils’ education and
                                             encouraging them to become citizens through its international
                                             work.”
                                             That was the judgement of the British Council, which confirmed
                                             reaccreditation of an International School Award for our school up to 2022.
                                             This means the school is recognised for embedding an international
                                             dimension in children’s education, helping them prepare for successful lives
                                             and careers in a global economy.

                                             Miss Morgan, who teaches History, said, "It was fantastic to receive the Award
                                             at the British Council on behalf of the school and for all the work that teachers
                                             across the school do to improve the global awareness of our students."

The assessment praised the school’s “ethos and approach to international learning and activities, which give a broad and
balanced perspective to pupils’ cultural learning about different countries”, and commended the school for providing
opportunities for collaborative activities in learning.

To Miss Verity Morgan, who undertook the research and evidence needed to apply for the award, the British Council said,
“Congratulations on working so hard to co-ordinate such an impressive range of work as an International Co-ordinator!
You are a credit to the school and the wider community.”

Wise words and a clear vision
The work of our writers, environmentalists and photographers goes through to the Rotary National Finals
                                                                                               Certificates were presented
                                                                                               by Rotary representatives
                                                                                               Chris Firth and John Barber
                                                                                               (who is pictured with our
                                                                                               students) at a special event
                                                                                               held       in    Maisemore.
                                                                                               Benjamin Murray won the
                                                                                               Intermediate category and
                                                                                               Rhiannon Ashby the senior
                                                                                               category for their stories
                                                                                               based on the theme,
                                                                                               ‘Connections’.

                                                                                               Lila Murray (photography)
                                                                                               and     Rebecca    Fulford
                                                                                               (environment) were also
                                                                                               among the winners.

Ben’s story was called ‘The Car that Lost its Wheels’. He said,

“It was about an old Enzo Ferrari, which had lost its wheels in a crash. After the car loses his faith in ever being able to
race again, he finally gets refurbished and the last thing to be added is his new wheels. My inspiration came from my love
of old cars and my favourite type of car. My dad would also love to refurbish an old car one day! Winning the local and
regional heats has been brilliant and I was really surprised, it makes me want to write more.”

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NEWS The Cotswold School - January/February 2020
Challenge
              The challenges you undertake can help you learn, develop or just
                                                 add a bit of fun to your day!

A debating record to                                  Our library is ‘Potterized’ for the Triwizard
be proud of                                           Tournament quiz
Edward Parker and Nicole Hagen
                                                      This year’s magical and literary visit to the world of
represented the school in the second
                                                      Harry Potter was as popular as ever
round of the National Schools’ Mace
                                                      Once the captains of the quiz teams had been ‘sorted’ into their
Debate.
                                                      Hogwarts houses, two students read an excerpt from the book,
This was organised by the English-Speaking            Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. This was greeted with well-
Union (ESU), which aims ‘to give young                deserved applause.
people the speaking and listening skills and
                                                      Then it was time for the fiendishly challenging Hogwarts themed
cultural understanding they need to thrive’.
                                                      quiz, which tests the students’ knowledge of J.K. Rowling’s books.
The pair – who won the first round just
                                                      The theme for this year’s quiz was The Triwizard Tournament and
before Christmas – were tasked with
                                                      after quizzing the students’ knowledge, the winning Hogwarts House
proposing the motion: This House regrets the
                                                      team was again Ravenclaw!
commercialisation of Pride.
                                                      Student Librarians, along with some enthusiastic volunteers, made
Mr Ellis said, “Against the backdrop of
                                                      some fabulous scenery to ‘Potterize’ the library and baked some
Shakespeare’s old school house, they argued
well and won the debate. Unfortunately,               delicious cakes. Over the course of the event the cake sale raised an
with only two places available in the regional        impressive £34.50 for J.K. Rowling’s charity, LUMOS.
final, they narrowly missed out on selection.”

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NEWS The Cotswold School - January/February 2020
Challenge

Puddles, hurdles and a nasty smell: must be the mud run!
Year 13 students dressed up for the annual afternoon of mayhem, spent in mud and stagnant water
From fairies to avengers and every style in between, teams of Year 13 students brought great character and enjoyment to
their mud run experience. Crawling through nets, over hurdles, jumping through tyres and navigating a 30-metre dark
tunnel – constructed over a 30-metre-long puddle – some were even still smiling at the end!

There wouldn’t be a course without the hard work and mischievous vision of the school site team, so a big thank you to
everyone who made it as inhospitable and muddy as possible!

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NEWS The Cotswold School - January/February 2020
Music & Performance
                           Inspired by musical talent within school and all around us

Alba Eyra – A Level Music student releases her first album
Head of Music, Ms Buckley, praises Alba’s landmark achievement and selects her favourite tracks
Ms Buckley said, “Alongside studying for five A Levels this year, Alba Espallardo Esterban has released her first full-length
album. She has been working on this with a local producer for the last two years and should be incredibly proud of this
fantastic body of work!
“My personal favourites are the title track, Idiosyncratic, and I'm Alright Now, Feel it Coming and Rise Up.”
If you would like to hear Alba’s music, search for Alba Eyra on Spotify.

       What’s behind Alba’s creativity?
       How do you compose your songs?
       I compose all my songs using my keyboard. I write the lyrics first
       and then find the right chords to go with them. Then I sing my
       lyrics over the top and go with the melody that naturally comes
       with the words.

       How would you describe your music?
       It’s a mix of everything I listen to, many genres influence me.
       However, I would say that it is mostly pop with a modern Latin
       influence.

       Tell us how you progressed to recording an album.
       The first song I recorded was in Year 10 in an after-school STEM
       club for composing and producing. I worked with STEM
       ambassador and producer JJ Jowitt, who produced this album.
       Since then I have written many songs, some of which have been
       released already.

       Where do you find encouragement and inspiration?
       I find inspiration from other artists and music, but also from the
       world around me. I write about what I know and what I have
       experienced so far in my life. Most of my encouragement comes
       from my friends and family, but also the fact that song writing is
       one of the things which I enjoy the most.

       What is your ambition?
       My goal is to be able to make a living doing the thing I enjoy
       most, which is making and writing music. I would love to get my
       music heard and out there, and to write songs for famous
       singers.

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NEWS The Cotswold School - January/February 2020
Music & Performance

                                                           An audience with Bournemouth Symphony
                                                           Orchestra

                                                           GCSE Music students attended a special performance

                                                           The day, spent at Bristol University Victoria Rooms, was an
                                                           opportunity to hear and see the GCSE set works performed live
                                                           by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. This informative concert
                                                           took students on a musical tour through history to discuss pieces
                                                           in the GCSE syllabus. Our musicians were introduced to key
                                                           terminology and the composition process from famous works by
                                                           composers such as Purcell, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Dvořák,
                                                           Reich and assorted modern composers.

Notes from a West End professional
Our performers enjoyed lively vocal workshops
Two days of learning with Pete Woollard, who works as Assistant Musical
Director at the hit West End show, Wicked, developed our singers’
technical understanding and skills.

Ms Buckley said, “Our pupils were taken through their paces, focusing on
the fine details of how each sound is produced. The change to the quality
of their sound was amazing and really showed what is expected of
professional performers in the music theatre industry. We are going to
continue to work on these skills and hope you will all get the opportunity
to hear the difference in quality at our upcoming concerts.”

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NEWS The Cotswold School - January/February 2020
Enriched learning
                            We are learning from experts who come to our school to
                                                   share their skills and knowledge

 Challenging our perceptions
 of freedom and slavery
 The History department
 welcomed Dr Miranda Kaufmann
 to talk about a little-known aspect
 of sixteenth century society
 The author of Black Tudors: The Untold
 Story gave a lecture to A Level students,
 and some historians from Years 10 and 11,
 about her research into the lives of
 African people in England in Tudor and
 Stuart times.

 Using three case studies – Jacques Francis, the Salvage Diver; Mary Fillis, the Moroccan Convert and Edward Swarthye the
 porter from the Forest of Dean – Miranda talked about a social history that challenges some of our long-held assumptions
 about the 1500s. She highlighted many intriguing aspects of sixteenth and early seventeenth century society, including the
 concept of freedom and slavery in England in the early modern era, and answered students’ questions at the end of the
 lecture. The Cotswold School Library has two copies of Black Tudors available to borrow.

 Mrs Wahlen said, “Our thanks go to Miranda and to Mrs Sandra Kanfer Clarke for helping us organise such an intriguing and
 thought-provoking morning!”

                                                                                    Blood Brothers on
                                                                                    our stage
                                                                                    An interactive performance
                                                                                    brought this set text to life
                                                                                    Our GCSE students had a fabulous
                                                                                    time workshopping with professional
                                                                                    actors to explore the key themes and
                                                                                    ideas in their literature exam text,
                                                                                    Blood Brothers.

                                                                                    The Stage-Ed theatre company put our
                                                                                    young people through their paces,
                                                                                    helping them revise everything from
                                                                                    plot to key quotes and the writer’s
                                                                                    purposes. Year 11 rose to the
                                                                                    challenge and some even took to the
                                                                                    stage themselves!

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NEWS The Cotswold School - January/February 2020
Enriched Learning

Spoz sets words on fire
Year 8 teams prepare for the Gloucestershire Poetry Slam Final
Encouraged by Spoz the Poet, Year 8 students wrote funny and heartfelt poems
inspired by chocolate! They then took turns to come to the microphone and perform
in front of their peers. From raps and chants to jokes and tropes, one thing was clear:
everyone has something to say about chocolate!

Chocolate was just the warm-up act for the afternoon’s challenge: to create poetry
according to the theme, ‘words on fire’ and to find a winning team (pictured bottom-
right) to go forward and represent the school in the Poetry Slam Final, which will be
held in April at Cheltenham Town Hall. Well done, girls!

Brain Day investigations with
Dr Guy Sutton
Year 13 Psychology and Biology students
undertook a day of discovery and examined a
sheep’s brain
Dr Sutton returned to The Cotswold School to deliver a
Neuroscience tutorial, taking students on a whirlwind tour
of historical and cutting edge Neuroscience theory, in a
lively and wide-ranging day. His aim was to introduce key
issues and involve those with an interest in this area,
taking many questions from the students along the way.

The group looked at basic brain anatomy and considered
the impact of genetics on the structure and chemistry of
the brain. They discussed the question, ‘Is there a criminal
brain?’ which was also the subject of Dr Sutton’s lecture
the previous evening, attended by students and their
families.

Later in the workshop, Dr Sutton dissected a one-year-old
sheep’s brain, enabling the students to handle the matter,
look at the parts and discuss them, followed by a
computer-based workshop and discussion of drugs and
the brain and conditions such as schizophrenia and the
history of mental illness.

                                                  January/February 2020

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Environment
                     Our students are raising awareness and finding practical ways
                                                          to live a greener future

Cakes for Koalas
News of the desperate plight of animals affected by Australian
bushfires impelled Alexa Butterfield to raise money to help
Alexa takes up the story of how she and Grace Major raised £85 for charity.

“I was inspired to do a cake sale by the heart-breaking pictures and videos I saw on
the news about the Australian bush fires. It upset me quite a lot. I said to my mum
that I wanted to do a cake sale and she said I should organise it!

“The next day I told Grace and she said she would help. We made some bright
posters, advertising our idea. Grace made some amazing fudge and caramel cupcakes
with beautiful piped icing (as well as other delicious things) and I made vanilla sponge
with lemon curd and meringue icing!

On the big day we also got some beautiful cakes from other people, including
brownies, lemon drizzle, cookies and crispie cakes. We sold them at lunch in our tutor
room and a lot more people came than we expected.

We feel really proud to have raised so much money and it’s great that it will help
loads of animals that have been hurt after the bushfires. The £85 has already been
donated to a charity called WIRES that specialises in helping Australian wildlife and
especially ones affected by the fires recently.

                                                  January/February 2020

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Environment

Green Group prepares for Earth Day
                                                              Leading member of Green Group, Rebecca Fulford
                                                              (Year 10), encourages us to extend our
                                                              environmental campaigning beyond school

                                                              What inspired you to set up Green Group ?
                                                              I took action to set up Green Group after attending school
                                                              strikes, which raise awareness of climate change. I really
                                                              wanted to do something at school that would bring together
                                                              like-minded people and bring about real change within the
                                                              school community.

                                                              What are the group’s priorities and how do you decide them?
                                                              At the beginning of every term we discuss what we would like
                                                              to focus on. Last term we decided to focus on bins and
                                                              recycling. This term we looked at important environmental
                                                              dates coming up and we chose to focus on Earth Day. We are
                                                              now planning an assembly that we will deliver to all students in
                                                              April.

                                                              What has changed as a result of Green Group?
                                                              We have increased the amount of recycling we cover at school.
                                                              We now have more plastic recycling and yellow TerraCycle
                                                              bins, where you can recycle soft plastics such as crisp and
                                                              confectionery and snack packets. We have also banned plain
                                                              bottled water from being sold in the canteen. We have water
                                                              fountains instead and people bring in their own refillable
                                                              bottles.

Tell us about your prize-winning ‘air pollution’ project and its impact
I decided to enter the Rotary Young Environmentalist competition as it was an opportunity to raise awareness. I monitored
the levels of pollution as the school buses left their engines running when stationary. The project won both the local and
district competitions and is now in the national competition. When I found out I had won I was delighted as it meant that
more people will be able to see my project and hopefully learn something from it. I would love to see drivers switch off their
engines when they are waiting. I would also really like people to consider buying electric cars or car-sharing to reduce their
impact on air quality.

What are the environmental and sustainability challenges for schools and what can students do?
There are lots of environmental and sustainability challenges for schools, from use of plastics to energy and beyond. I think
that if we see a problem, we should speak up about it and try to suggest ways in which something can be done without
anyone having to make huge compromises.

What is your ambition for yourself, the school and for environmental change?
My ambition for myself is to be able to reduce my personal impact on climate change. I would also like to be able to educate
others and, in the future, I would like to work with people to educate them. For the school, I think that we are on the right
track to make changes; current plans include a bid for new energy efficient lighting, additional solar panels and tree planting
initiatives. I would love for this to continue and for us to make even more progress. For the good of the environment overall,
I believe it is about individuals changing their habits and everyone working together to work to the ultimate goal of being
carbon neutral.

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Sporting News
                Win, lose or draw, your sporting achievements get a good report!

Floorball is sweeping the nation!
It’s usually known as the extra-curricular
graveyard shift, but Friday afternoon
means floorball at The Cotswold School

A whopping 50 students, in two shifts, play
the exciting end-to-end game (which is
similar to ice hockey) coached by Mrs
Honour, who is a former Great Britain
floorball player and coaches many teams
in the county.

Mrs Honour said,

“I have seen six-year-olds who started playing floorball in their primary school hall become 16-year-olds representing
Great Britain in Holland, Sweden or Italy. Parents tell me how floorball has changed their child’s outlook on sport, as it’s so
inclusive. Children who may not have enjoyed the conventional sport options have found a love for floorball.”

MEGAN                                                              RYAN

Megan Jones has been playing floorball since she was six,          Ryan Mills started playing floorball in primary school and is
and is now captain of the Cotswold Floorball Club U16              now representing Great Britain in the under 19’s team and
team as well as a committed school team player. Megan              recently competed in Sweden. “The opportunities this
has also travelled with the Great Britain senior squad to          brings me is astonishing: the high-level coaching, the
Amsterdam to play in a friendly tournament against other           friendships and the once-in-a-lifetime experiences.” Ryan
top teams, including world floorball leaders, Sweden.              is in the GB Team photo above, standing on the right.

HOLLY

Holly says she gets so much from being part of the team at school. “Floorball is one of the few sports I do. Coming along
makes me feel good and I know I’ve done some exercise on a Friday. I will take teamwork skills with me in my life; and I’ve
gained confidence as well as meeting lots of new friends.”

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Sporting News

 Year 9 Basketball players are District
 Champions
 Played five, won five
 Mr Jones said, “The Year 9 Basketball team are now District
 Champions following the final of the tournament, held in
 January! The boys were outstanding and did not lose a
 single match (results below). They are now going on to
 represent Cheltenham in the county tournament.”

 Cotswold         10 - 2   Balcarras
 Cotswold         2-2      Cleeve
 Cotswold         6-5      Bournside
 Cotswold         10 - 0   All Saints
 Cotswold         8-0      Pates

Well done to our match reporters, who not only have their eye on the ball, but
have taken on the job of reporting on the game afterwards.

 Year 7b Netball                                      Year 9 Football
 Cotswold Vs Balcarras                                Cotswold Vs Prince Henry’s
 Balcarras won 11-7                                   Prince Henry’s won 2-0
 Star Player: Bella Guest                             Star Player: Aaron Mataga
 Since Balcarras had played other games               In the first half, we had a few chances but we didn’t score. Prince
 before playing us, and this was our first            Henry’s school had the ball on our side of the pitch most of the first
 game, I thought we played really well.               half and managed to score a goal: the score was 1-0 at half time. We
 Balcarras were very quick and good at                made some changes for the second half.
 marking but did have the odd contact.
 Our defending was strong but we                      The second half was progressively getting better, we had a lot of
 needed to be more confident in                       chances and were a bit unlucky not to score. Our defence and attack
 ourselves. I think our players need to be            were gradually getting better and were putting a lot of pressure on
 a bit quicker to get in front so we can              the ball but unluckily we conceded an own goal. It was a mistake but
 pass quickly, so I think this is something           we tried to overcome. The score was now 2-0 and in the end Prince
 we can work on in our next training                  Henry’s school won. Some of the players that stood out for me are
 session.                                             Bailey Scutt and Sam Cotton. In conclusion, we played better in the
                                                      second half.
 By Bella Guest
                                                      By Aaron Mataga

 Year 7 Rugby
 The Cotswold School Vs Bournside
 The Cotswold School won 9-1
 Star Player: Will Hobby
 Our team played really well and we were really happy about the final score. We especially passed well and made a lot of
 ground. Bournside were ok, they had a lot of big lads, especially a South African boy who was about 5 foot 10! Charlie
 Cotton was a standout player for me, he was one of the only people who tackled the big person.

 At half time it was 3-0 to us. The people who scored were Owen Parry, Joe Barnard and Alex Goode. The weather was really
 good for rugby, we scored quite a few tries from passing out wide. We played really well.
 by Acer Tarrant

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Sporting News

Rugby: EDF Energy Cup
Well done to our Year 9 rugby team, who got to the semi-finals

The EDF Energy Under 14s schools cup was a great chance for The Cotswold School to show its rugby prowess. There were a
couple of great wins: in round 2, Cotswold beat Dean Magna 49-14 and in the quarter finals we beat The Crypt School 24-17.

But it wasn’t to be in the semis: playing Marling at home, the score was Marling 17, Cotswold 10.

Staff vs Sixth Form tournament
Players and supporters enjoyed an opportunity
to raise money for forthcoming international
expeditions
Our Staff vs Year 12 games were both 0-0 draws.
However, our Staff A team beat Year 13 5-1 and Staff B
team beat Year 13 2-0. Well done to all taking part.
You raised around £200 towards the expeditions to
Ladakh and Ghana.

Player of the tournament: Mr Jim Dee.

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                                                                                                                       15
Careers
                             We welcome professionals from all sectors to widen our
                                understanding and ambitions for our working future

“You learn more from your mistakes than from anything else”
So said Robert Hunt, UK Chairman of Veolia, who came to talk to students about the many skills that
make a successful company. Sixty-three students from all year groups came along.
Robert studied Law but found that doing deals was what interested him the most, so he got jobs in the business world for
most of his career.

He worked in different roles in Veolia and eventually became UK chairman. Veolia is a huge multinational water and waste
management company, with a turnover of £2.1 billion per year in the UK and 25-30 billion euros internationally.

Robert’s aim was to help the audience understand the importance of lots of subjects we learn at school and issues such as
sustainability are key for all companies. He recommended the book The 100-Year Life, which explains that careers are
changing. More people will have many jobs across a lifetime, perhaps even taking a career break and doing more
qualifications in mid-life.

We have many more careers talks coming up and students from all year groups are encouraged to come along.

No need for nerves at Year 11 practice interviews

GFirst LEP provided volunteers from local industry to give
authentic practice interviews to students

The 20+ interviewers, who attended for two days, were welcomed by a
variety of school staff and the students were well prepared by their tutors for
the experience. GFirst LEP’s goal is to provide sessions so students are
prepared for the next steps, taking them through an interview and helping
them understand how to make a positive impression with a prospective
employer.

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Governors’ News

Governors’ News by Fran Hudson, Clerk to Governors
This half term our governors have been discussing issues including safeguarding at school, e-safety, wellbeing
of students and staff and monitoring of the new English building, which is due to get underway in the near
future.
At this point in the year, governors undertake a mid-year review of the school’s development plan. Are we on
track with our proposed objectives for the academic year? These fall into four broad areas:
1) Quality of Education 2) Behaviour and Attitudes 3) Personal Development and 4) Leadership and
Management.
Two bespoke training sessions have been organised this term for governors. In January, Andrew Harris, a
retired headteacher in the county, did an external analysis of our exam results, pinpointing what all the figures
and graphs are telling us. In March we are looking forward to some training from Gloucestershire County
Council (GCC) on discipline procedures.
Our experimental governor presence at Parents Evenings seems to have gone down well and there has been
some useful feedback. Those who have represented the governing body have found it interesting to talk to
parents and pupils alike. Governors always receive feedback from parental questionnaires but you may have
noticed that we have stopped sending out our SurveyMonkey questionnaires with the Parents Evening letters,
year-group by year-group. This is because we have decided to have a bespoke Feedback Week in the year
when we will gather the views of all stakeholders together: parents, staff and pupils. Governors will then be
able to analyse your views as one single entity which may well give them a better picture. We are waiting on
the dates of the pupil survey from GCC so that we can tie everything in together but it is likely to be in March.
Do please keep an eye out and spare us a few minutes of your time to help us improve our practice.
Thank you as always to the governors, who devote so much of their time for the benefit of our school.

Your amazing generosity
Thank you for the generous donations at our two Christmas carol concerts, which raised a total of £800 for the Midlands Air
Ambulance and Cystic Fibrosis charities

                                                 January/February 2020

                                                                                                                         17
PTA News
                   It was great to meet some new parents at our January meeting.
                                                          Thank you for coming!

            More helpers and ideas are always welcome. This year’s plans include a car-boot sale
           and a film night for Year 6 children joining our school. Could you support these events?

          Our next meeting is on the 20th May in the school library, 7-8 pm. Everyone is welcome!
                              Follow ‘The Cotswold School PTA’ on facebook

 The PTA Annual Quiz                              Bake for School!
 Join us on Friday 20th March 2020                Could we beat the amazing £5000 raised in 2019?
 Put a team of six people together and join       Baking cakes and serving teas and coffees in the beautiful
 us for this fun night. Tickets are £6 per        surroundings of Chastleton House is a fun and sociable way to raise
 person, which includes sandwiches and            funds for our students.

 snacks and there’s a bar and raffle on the       Email pta@thecotswoldschool.co.uk if you could make cakes and/or
 night.                                           volunteer with us on:

 Doors open at 7.00 pm for 7.30 start. A big      Wednesday 4th March
 ‘thank you’ to our generous quiz sponsors.       Sunday 26th April
                                                  Thursday 14th May
 If you are interested in sponsoring one of
                                                  Thursday 4th June
 the rounds, please get in touch!                 Thursday 2nd July
                                                  Thursday 24th
                                                  September
                                                  Sunday 11th October

                                                  Your online shopping raises funds for the school
                                                  Over the years, 109 people have raised an incredible £2,449.00 for
                                                  The Cotswold School using easyfundraising, a system where retailers
                                                  donate at no cost to the customer. Imagine what we could raise if
                                                  more members of our school community took these simple steps:

                                                  Search for easyfundraising in your online browser (such as Google)

  We’re looking for a new
      PTA Treasurer
                                                  Enter ‘The Cotswold School PTA’ into the white box and follow a few
If you can spare an hour or so a month, email     simple steps to create an account. Every time you shop, the school
     pta@thecotswoldschool.co.uk to find out
                                                  receives a donation from the retailer.
           more. We’d love to hear from you.
                                                  On Amazon Smile, select ‘The Cotswold School PTA’ as your charity.

                     Want to help or find out more? Email pta@thecotswoldschool.co.uk

                                                                                                                    18
January/February 2020

                        19
Diary dates...
                                                   The Cotswold School
February                                           Principal: Mr Will Morgan

                                                   The Avenue, Bourton on the Water
 24     Back to school
                                                   Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL54 2BD
 25     Year 12 UCAS Evening
 26     Rags to Riches charity collection          Website: https://cotswold.gloucs.sch.uk/
                                                   Telephone: 01451 820554
                                                   admin@thecotswoldschool.co.uk
                                                   marketing@thecotswoldschool.co.uk
 March
 3      Tea-time concert
 11     Year 9 GCSE Options Evening
 20     PTA Annual Quiz
 25     Year 12/13 Invited Parents
 31     Year 10 Trip to Mosque

April
 1      Sherborne Concert

 2      Year 11 Parents Evening
 6-17   Easter Holidays                              School House Totals
 23     Year 10 Parents Evening
 29     GCSE PE trip
 29     Year 8 Barcelona trip information                           8097
        evening

                                                                    8146

                                                                    8194

                                                                    7924

                                       The Cotswold School

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