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Bassingbourn Village College celebrates

As we come to the end of the year, we are celebrating that Bassingbourn Village College marks its 70th year of providing its local community with an excellent comprehensive secondary education.   Opened in 1954 by Chancellor of the Exchequer “Rab” Butler, Bassingbourn Village College was part of the Village College programme that influenced the important 1944 Education Act; an Act that was developed to give all children an equal and fair start in life and every child in the country a free secondary education. These values are still fundamental to the ethos of the college today where we proudly provide our local community with a comprehensive education for all, respecting our place in the heart of the village it serves. While over the years there have been various additions and improvements to our site, most recently with a significant refurbishment of the main building, the college largely looks the same as it did when it first opened and the statue designed by Harold Dow has been lovingly restored this Summer, sitting proud once again. Since opening, an estimated 35,000 students have walked through our doors and hundreds of members of staff have taught in its classrooms; and testament to our place in the community, we now have families that are on the third generation with us. Ian Stoneham, Principal of Bassingbourn Village College comments: “It is a privilege to be the Principal of a school which sits at the heart of its community.  It is testimony to the values and environment created that we have…

Platform 24

We are pleased to be taking part in Anglian Learning’s Platform 24 exhibition. Platform 24 will showcase inspiring artwork produced by pupils in Anglian Learning’s secondary schools and sixth forms. The exhibition will include work from across the age ranges, covering a variety of techniques and media, including painting, textiles and photography, in both traditional and more abstract styles. On display will be a range of over 30 pieces by pupils of Bassingbourn, Bottisham, Linton and Sawston Village Colleges, The Netherhall School and Joyce Frankland Academy, Newport and sixth form. This year’s exhibition runs from 11 to 23 November 2024 at Michaelhouse Café in central Cambridge. The café opens from 9 to 5 Monday to Saturday (12 to 4 on Sundays) and has an estimated 2,000 visitors a week, so is a first-rate venue in which to share our pupils’ creativity. All are warmly invited to visit the exhibition. Pupils exhibiting in Platform 24 and their families have been invited to a Private View to mark the opening of the exhibition, allowing them to celebrate their child’s achievements and have the opportunity to meet with Anglian Learning’s Heads of Art, school leaders and members of our central team.

Staff and pupils at Bassingbourn Village College celebrate continued Ofsted success

A recent Ofsted visit has found that Bassingbourn Village College, part of Anglian Learning, has maintained its ‘Good’ rating, with the college receiving praise for its ‘happy and safe environment’ that ‘pupils are proud to be part of.’ Staff and pupils at Bassingbourn Village College are celebrating a consecutive ‘Good’ report after their latest Ofsted inspection in April 2023. According to the report, pupils at the school are: “well mannered, polite and respectful” and “encouraged to deepen their understanding of the wider world and make positive contributions to the community.” Vickey Poulter, Principal at Bassingbourn Village College, said: “We are delighted that this report recognises our school’s high aspirations and love of learning and demonstrates our unwavering commitment to our core values of respect, resilience and responsibility. A huge congratulations are owed to our dedicated colleagues, students and families whose efforts have allowed us to secure the recognition we deserve.” The secondary school’s curriculum was described as “ambitious for all” and the report highlights how “specialist subject leaders have identified, in detail, what pupils need to know. They have carefully sequenced the order of learning. This means that, over time, pupils add additional layers of knowledge to what they already know.” Ms Poulter continued: “I am thrilled to see that the report has recognised our pupils’ respect and care for one another, as “they celebrate each other’s successes and work together to overcome difficulties.” Our ambitious curriculum and high-quality teaching inspire our students to believe in themselves and realise their potential.” The report applauded leaders…

BVC Flag reaches Antarctica

This term, our Geography club ran a competition with the UK Polar Network, to design a flag to celebrate Antarctica Day.  Well done to Adam Symon's who's flag design was chosen, and we are delighted it was taken to on board the RRS Sir David Attenborough by Jamie Bailey who is a lab manager aboard the ship.

Spring Term Curriculum Day

On Tuesday 21st March, we held our second Curriculum Day here at Bassingbourn Village College.  Following on from all the initiatives of our Year 9 Ambassadors have undertaken to enhance our environment as well as promote positive change to reduce waste, our carbon footprint and to educate students on their impact to climate change, the day was very focused on the environment for our Year 7 & 8 students. Our Year 8s spent the day planting seeds, hedgerow and saplings as well as starting to develop our outdoor classroom area.

Annual Year 7 Spelling Bee

Over the Spring term, our Year 7 students took part in the first round of our annual Spelling Bee - a fun and dynamic way for our new students to learn vocabulary in another language. Students had to learn a selection of common words in French or Spanish and then were tested on how many they could spell correctly within a time limit, with the top 20 students going through to the semi-finals in the Summer term. Well done to all the students that took part and good luck to those that have made it through to our semi-finals.

Year 11 Interviews

In January, our Year 11s took part in mock interviews to give them practise for their college guidance meetings, as well as any future employment opportunities. The one-to-one interviews were conducted by a wide range of business volunteers, who spent time with our students, getting to know them and asking questions relating to their future plans.  All of the volunteers were very impressed with how well our Year 11 students had prepared and how seriously they had taken the process. Well done Year 11 and a massive thank you to the volunteers that give up their time to support our students!

Anthony Browne, MP, visits Bassingbourn Village College

On Friday 13th January, Anthony Browne, the Member of Parliament for South Cambridgeshire, visited Bassingbourn Village College. During his visit, Mr Browne had the opportunity to meet with a number of the Student Ambassadors to discuss the projects they have been working on in school.  The Environmental Ambassadors outlined the recycling initiative they had introduced, their ambition for the school to achieve a no single use plastic school policy and the obstacles that would need to be overcome, as well as future plans to plant 60 saplings on the school site. Mr Browne shared how the environment is an issue that he is very passionate about, having previously worked as the environmental editor for both The Observer and The Times prior to becoming an MP.  He explained to the students how the Climate Change Act commits the UK government to have zero emissions by 2050 and it is vital that students, like themselves, educate, understand and drive change to make this happen. Before his meeting with the Student Ambassadors, Mr Browne spent time with the Principal, Ms Poulter, who shared the Bassingbourn Village College core values of Respect, Resilience and Responsibility; emphasising how we feel as a school, the importance of developing leadership skills in students through initiatives such as School Council and Student Ambassadors ensuring students leave as respectful and responsible members of the community.   Ms Poulter, Principal commented: “It was a pleasure to show Mr Browne around the school.  I am very proud of the team here at Bassingbourn Village College and the…

Heron Autumn 2022

Our latest newsletter can be found here:  HERON Autumn 2022  

Environmental Conference

Schools discuss vulnerability of the Antarctic at COP27 event On Wednesday 16th November, 9 students from Bassingbourn Village College joined 13 other local schools at Sawston Village College for a special youth COP27 climate conference. Keynote speaker on the day was Dr Simon Morley, from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).  Dr Morley shared with the conference how the research conducted by BAS informs and reinforces what actions are required to protect the Antarctic as well as the impact this has to the global climate. To understand the complexities of global cooperation, the next segment of the conference was run as if the students were taking part in global negotiations.  Each school was assigned a country and asked to prepare in advance opening arguments on the main environmental issues facing the country, ideas on how they could overcome them, as well as make a request of an allocation from the Climate Resilience Fund of £100billion.  Countries then voted on what proposals they would consider.  Bassingbourn Village College, represented Bangladesh, and reached the final five proposals. However, when it came to the required unanimous decision, all five were unable to achieve a unanimous vote.  Dr Morley, explained to the students that this is a current challenge facing global cooperation with climate decisions and allocation of resources, and that all countries have to agree but very rarely do. The final stage of the conference was to provide the students with the opportunity to discuss how they can impact change to their own communities.  Students explored ideas such as recycling initiatives and green…

Bassingbourn Village College

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

01763 242344

office@bassingbournvc.org
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