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Bonjour et bienvenue!

Our third annual French exchange has started with the college playing host to over 70 students from our partner school, Collège Joseph Bédier. Year 10 students Evelyn and Imogen describe the visit: "On Monday 27th January, we finally got the chance to meet our French exchange partners for the first time. They arrived after a long journey from the south of France by coach, and they had stopped on the way at Windsor castle and Grantchester for a cream tea! We picked them up from school and took them home where we gave them a tour of the house, bonded over activities such as watching films, playing games and answering their questions. "The next day the students came to our school, travelling with their partners by bus or car. Firstly, we had a presentation by students lead by college captains, which involved performances on the trumpet, piano, singing, GCSE dance students and a performance from some of the Matilda cast. The French students were really impressed! During the rest of the day the French students participated in activities such as a tour of the school, games in the library, PE and a short English and Maths lesson. They also shared a traditional English lunch in our canteen. "In the evening we took our partners out to enjoy bowling and a meal out. This was a great way to learn more about them. "Overall it was a great experience which has improved our French, our communication skills and we can’t wait to go to stay with…

Student voice is loud and clear

The tradition of producing good public speakers from BVC has continued with another of our students being awarded a Best Speaker award. The English Speaking Union's Churchill school's public speaking competition attracts entries from over 400 schools in England each year, with the Cambridge branch competition being hosted at Bassingbourn this week. Seven teams from four schools competed against each other - Bassingbourn and Bottisham Village Colleges, St Mary's, Cambridge and St Bede's Inter-Faith school - with teams from Bassingbourn and St Bede's winning their way through to the branch final. Bassingbourn fielded two teams, photographed above with English teacher and public speaking coach Mrs Rebecca Boxall. BVC team A comprised Katie Cheeseright, Ciara Free and Archie Lievesley with Katie choosing to speak on the proposal that 'The #MeToo movement has instilled fear rather than empower people'. Special mention must be made of Ciara who stepped in with just 20 minutes notice and impressed the judged with her confidence and calm manner. BVC team B - Jon Cheeseright, Matt Gilliland and Fraser Clapham - won through to the next round with Fraser speaking on the controversial proposal that 'Recycling is a waste of time'. Following in the footsteps of former BVC students Ed Evans and Iain Lynn, Fraser also scooped the main award of the evening - Best Speaker. This is the third consecutive year that BVC has won this award. The Churchill district final will be held at Hills Road Sixth Form College on Thursday, 6th February. Year 9 students showed great promise at…

Recycling project sorted!

A student-led recycling project has received the backing of the BVC Parents and Friends Association. Annie Safford, a year 11 student and Head of Luther King, launched an environmental awareness programme across the college as part of her role on the Student Council. Last term saw a number of quizzes take place with information posters placed in classrooms and public areas of the college to reinforce the importance of recycling to students. Annie said: “I have been working with our subject ambassadors to raise money for recycling bins which are badly needed in the college. “I think that having recycling bins would be a big step towards making the school much more sustainable and would be greatly appreciated by everyone.” When the PFA was approached to see if a cash contribution could be made toward the bins, they immediately agreed to buy ALL the bins for the student council – enabling the project to be completed much sooner than expected. Ann Lynn, acting Chairman of the PFA, said: “We were very impressed by how hard Annie and the rest of the school council have worked to raise awareness of sustainability and recycling in the school. Annie’s request for funding was one which we felt we could whole-heartedly endorse and unanimously agreed to pay for all the bins.” Vickey Poulter, BVC Principal, added: “We are very grateful to both the school council and to the Parents and Friends Association for their hard work and financial support for this project. I think that Annie in particular should…

Interview advice for Year 11s

As they approach the interview season for post-16 choices, Year 11 students were each given a mock interview session to help them prepare for their big day. The one-to-one interviews were conducted by volunteers from local businesses who spent time with each student, getting to know them and gently questioning their future plans. Feedback was then given, allowing the students to work on their weak points prior to attending a real interview for college or apprenticeship later this term. The event was organised by Bethan Howe from Cambridge-based careers advisors Form the Future. The feedback from the interviewers was that they were impressed by how well the BVC students performed – their polite manners and passion for their favourite subjects in particular, were flagged up by the professionals. Many thanks to the following individuals who conducted interviews: Bethany Hudson, Mary Steel & Catherine Hay Form the Future Stephen Riches Tribus-D John Biggs John Moore ASSA – Asset and Systems Support Management Ben Robson AstraZeneca/Medimmune Carl Wright  Technical Moves Elisabeth Goodman Riverrhee (Photographed above with Year 11 student Archie Lievesley) The students also had the chance to speak to Principal Vickey Poulter during the day. She held small-group interview sessions with all the Year 11 students, giving them the opportunity to talk about their progress so far and their plans for the future. She said: “I was impressed by how articulate our students are and their maturity in discussing how well supported they are at Bassingbourn. “It was good to have the opportunity to discuss what else…

Dance Show 2020

Tickets are now available for the annual BVC Dance Show. The show will feature entertainment from all year groups and is one of the post popular creative arts showcase events in the BVC calendar. There are three shows - 7pm on Friday 7th February plus 2pm and 7pm on Saturday 8th February - and tickets are £6 (adults) and £4 (concessions). These can be purchased via Wisepay. A licenced PTA bar will be available at all shows for refreshments.

Bad weather arrangements

We would like to inform parents of our closure procedures in the event of adverse weather conditions. Parents and students will be informed via the following methods: Announcement via the local radio (Heart, Radio Cambridge) A notice will be posted on the school's website and sent via Parentmail BVC Facebook and Twitter page If you use the Cambridgeshire.gov website to see whether schools are closed, please be aware that if the status column is blank then the Council will not have received any information from us.  Therefore please rely on the information posted on our website and sent via Parentmail, Facebook or Twitter as this will be the most accurate and up to date information available.

Welcome back!

Our new term for staff and students starts on Monday, 6th January 2020 - using week 2 timetable. We hope everyone had has an enjoyable and restful break and we look forward to the challenges and opportunities ahead of us in 2020. A reminder that Year 7 parents evening takes place on Thursday 9th January.

Matilda sell-out success

Heron News

Our termly Heron has been published and can be found by clicking here.  

Students debate current issues

Students from both Bassingbourn Village College and Sawston Village College took part in the first ever Anglian Learning debating challenge. The event was held in the Henry Morris Hall at Sawston, the scene of previous successful debating competitions for both schools. Teams debated topics such as Are supersized classes the future?, Could we live without single-use plastics?, Is gaming good for you?, Do we expect too much from sports people? and Are robots a threat to humanity. The Bassingbourn teams were made up of Amelia Taylor, Hamish Lievesley, Gabby Snook, Sam Oddy, Tom Formstone, Noah Curtis, Lottie Bond, Anna Wylie, Rory Oakley, Amelia Peace, Alanis Aguiar Jacintho, Matthew Kendrick, Sophie Palmer, Leah Wylie and Trinity Robinson. Noah, Gabby, Leah and Matthew were judged to be best speakers in the tournament. Unfortunately, due to timing problems, one team from each side were unable to compete - but they have been assured that they will be first to speak at the next fixture. Bassingbourn and Sawston are both founding members of the Anglian Learning Multi Academy Trust which was formed in 2016.  

Bassingbourn Village College

South End, Bassingbourn, Royston, Hertfordshire, SG8 5NJ

01763 242344

office@bassingbournvc.org
absence@bassingbournvc.org

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