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Awards evening honours young readers

The first of our annual celebration events saw some of our younger students honoured for their creative writing talents. The BVC Library & Literacy Awards were held on Tuesday evening with students also taking part in creative writing workshops during the day. The awards were targeted at students in Year 7 with younger students from Bassingbourn, Steeple Morden and Petersfield primary schools also invited to take part. Students who have taken part in Library events also received certificates recognising the best book reviewer, most prolific reader and exceptional librarianship. Guest speaker Julian Sedgwick, author of the Ghosts of Shanghai and Mysterium series of children's books, brought writing alive for the audience with tales of how he became an author and even a sneak preview of his new - as yet untitled and unwritten - novel. BVC Librarian Mrs Lynn said: "How amazing it was to fill the school hall with students and their parents, all celebrating achievements in literacy and reading. Julian was so impressed by our students that he’s asked to be invited back again soon! "Our students are encouraged to read and write for pleasure and it was great to see this so much in evidence on Tuesday evening."

Fund-raising success

Well done to everyone who took part in the non-uniform day for Unicef – we raised an amazing £556.53!

Iain heads to parliament

BVC student Iain Lynn’s passion for public speaking has taken him all the way to parliament. 16-year-old Iain was invited to address MPs at a special cross-party meeting to promote the importance of teaching oracy skills in school. The Speaking Up event was chaired by MP Emma Hardy and attracted a wide audience of MPs, education leaders, communications specialists and Children’s Minister Nadim Zahawi. Iain was asked to attend as the English-Speaking Union’s representative and was praised for his speech which highlighted the inequality oracy skills are given in many schools. A keen debater and public speaker, Iain has won a number of competitions and is now an alumni mentor for ESU events. His #100Reasons Twitter campaign* is currently running to celebrate the centenary of the ESU. He said: “I only started public speaking a couple of years ago but I have been so lucky to have the support of great teachers at BVC and now the ESU. “To me, being able to speak up is as important a life skill as being able to do Maths – and yet it’s not a compulsory part of our education. That needs to change and hopefully the Speaking Up campaign will help do that. "Everyone needs to be able to speak up for themselves, whether it's in a board meeting or giving your order at MacDonalds. “Being invited to parliament was an amazing experience. I plan to study Politics at Alevel next year so being able to participate in a cross-party discussion was invaluable.” Iain will continue…

‘Amazing’ Macbeth

Year 10 drama students represented Bassingbourn Village College at the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival this week. The event is organised by the Anglian Learning multi academy trust and took place at Netherhall School, Cambridge. The Bassingbourn students were joined on stage by dancers from year 8&9 in their devised interpretation of Macbeth. Drama teacher Jude Shortt said: “The students were amazing - their interpretation of Macbeth brought Shakespeare well and truly up-to-date.”

Spring Heron

The Spring Heron has been published and can be viewed as an ISSUU publication here The magazine features news of the past term’s activities and events, along with team photographs and coverage of the Dance Show and GCSE drama showcase.

Debating Culture Award for BVC

Our student voice is loud and strong here at BVC - and now we have an award to prove it! We were awarded a Commendation as runner-up in the English Speaking Union's Debating Culture Award  - a prize that recognises the efforts and initiatives that schools put forward to cultivate a long-term debating culture within their school community. We were praised for introducing debating and public speaking into the school both as part of the curriculum and as student-led clubs. In just two years we have established a strong debating culture at BVC and now have two thriving clubs run by the students themselves. Our teams have done extraordinarily well in competitions, reaching the final of the Pixl Up For Debate final at Eton and regularly winning through to the regional finals of ESU-run competitions. Year 11 student Iain Lynn has become an ESU ambassador and will speak on the importance of oracy in schools in parliament later this month. BVC Principal Duncan Cooper said: "I am so proud of our students receiving this award from the ESU - this is an amazing achievement. It's fantastic to see our students in action debating against each other. Students as young as Year 7 are gaining confidence from learning these skills which will be useful throughout their lives.”

What’s My Line?

Our youngest students had an introduction to the world of employment thanks to a session of What's My Line. The question and answer game was organised by careers consultants Form the Future who gathered together volunteers from local organisations and businesses. Year 7 students had to guess their occupations by asking questions related to education, experience and workplace.  They discovered just what is involved in such diverse careers as a museum curator, scientist, photographer, IT developer and many more. Mariana Soberon, from Form the Future, said:"The students were all great, they really seemed to enjoy trying to find out what each person did." Many thanks to our participants - Lisa Taylor (Mundipharma), Maddie Reynolds (Ion), Jane Dottridge (Mott Macdonald), Will Howat and Jon Large (AstraZeneca), Alison Giles (Burwell museum), Lorna Hurst (RSK) and John Moore (Assam).  

Roy Burrell Awards

Some of our outstanding Yr 11 PE students were honoured at the annual Roy Burrell awards. The event is held annually at Netherhall School to recognise sporting excellence across schools in Cambridgeshire. The BVC students were awarded their medals by Rebecca Gallantree, an Olympic and World champion diver. Our students were: Alex Brundle - Swimming (county) Callum Dobbyne + Tom Bolt - Football (Norwich academy) Sophie Burr + Lydia Cornwell - Hockey (representing Cambridgeshire) Zara Parr - Rowing (County) Shauna Tynan - Cross Country and Athletics (District and Eastern) Bea Cornwell - Netball and Leadership (U20 Mavericks) Rachael George - Golf (Regional) Harriet French - Volunteering- supporting PE- both in and out of school, and encouraging younger years Libby Taylor - Athletics. Libby was also shortlisted to the last 5 for the overall Sports Woman of the Year for her exceptional success in Hammer- throwing Nationally at a higher age group and being County champion for the last 3 years. Well done to all the winners - keep up the practicing. Hopefully Yr 10 pupils can emulate these achievements next year!

BVC tea party for Spanish students

Students from  Escolapios Albacete visited Bassingbourn Village college on the return leg of our Spanish Exchange. Accompanied by teachers Lola Martinez and Francoise Alessandri, 19 Year 11 students from the school in Albacete stayed with families in Bassingbourn and the surrounding villages, having been matched previously when the BVC students visited Spain in October last year. The Spanish students spent time with their English counterparts in school enjoying such delights as a traditional cream tea, a treasure hunt, a basketball match and a presentation by the BVC college captains. One of the highlights was a geography lesson when English and Spanish students alike discovered the complexities of Cockney rhyming slang. In addition to free time spent with their English families over the weekend, the Spanish group also visited Cambridge and London, packing lots of sightseeing and experiences into their trip. The visitors were presented with a framed photograph as a momento of their time in Bassingbourn by Ms Violeta Rios, an MFL teacher at BVC who organised the trip. She said:"It was a great success - the students were all very pleased to see each other again and lots of friendships have been made. "All the students, both English and Spanish, have had an amazing time and they have had an unforgettable experience. All families have also been very happy and had a very nice experience hosting a Spanish student in their homes. "I would like to thank the BVC students, their families and my colleagues at BVC for their help in making the visit…

Anglian Learning Launches Primary Hub

A specialist Primary Hub has been launched by Anglian Learning, adding three further schools to the Cambridgeshire multi academy trust. Stapleford Community Primary School, Fen Ditton Primary School and Bottisham Community Primary School have joined the trust after a period of consultation with their governors, staff and parents. The schools join the existing academies Bassingbourn, Bottisham and Sawston Village Colleges and Netherhall School and Sixth Form. Leading the Primary Hub is Executive Primary Headteacher Prue Rayner, who has experience as a primary headteacher and as a highly-regarded senior Her Majesty’s Inspector with Ofsted. Prue has a wealth of experience within the education sector both in Cambridgeshire and nationally. After graduation from the University of London, Prue’s career path led her to Milton Road Infant School, Fulbourn Primary School and Stretham Primary School in Cambridgeshire. She took on leadership of Caldecote Primary School which saw her assume her first role as head teacher. Prue also has experience of taking on the leadership of a school in special measures and bringing about substantial improvement. During her career, Prue has also developed experience of secondary education and of the provision of education for pupils who have special educational needs. In joining Anglian Learning, Prue has returned to work in Cambridgeshire where she grew up and has spent most of her life. She said: “I was drawn to primary teaching because of my love of children’s zest for life, their ability to learn, to be resilient and to make life joyful. I fully intend to use my experience working…

Bassingbourn Village College

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

01763 242344

office@bassingbournvc.org
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