01763 242344

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…

Holocaust survivor Harry visits BVC

Holocaust survivor Harry Spiro BEM visited Bassingbourn Village College as part of our termly Curriculum Day. Harry was accompanied by his daughter Tracey Moses during the visit which was organised by RE teacher Mrs Jess Miller and the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET). Tracey's talk was followed by a question and answer session with Harry himself to enable students to better understand the nature of the Holocaust and to explore its lessons in more depth. The visit was part of the Holocaust Educational Trust’s extensive all year round Outreach Programme, which is available to schools across the UK. Vickey Poulter, Principal of BVC, said: “It was a privilege for us to welcome Mr Spiro and his daughter to our school and his testimony will remain a powerful reminder of the horrors so many experienced. We are grateful to the Holocaust Educational Trust for co-ordinating the visit and we hope that by hearing Harry’s testimony, it will encourage our students to learn from the lessons of the Holocaust and make a positive difference in their own lives.” Harry's story: Harry was born in 1929 in Poland. When the Nazis occupied Poland, the area where Harry and his family lived became part of the Pietrokow ghetto, where all of the Jews from the area now had to live. Whilst here, Harry worked in the glass factory. In 1942 there was an announcement that everyone in the ghetto had to stay in their homes except for those who were working in the glass factory. Whilst Harry was at work,…

Bassingbourn Bookworms compete in book quiz

What was the vegetable that caused such discomfort for the princess? Which God wears winged sandals? Who is the hero of Tomorrow Never Dies? These are just some of the questions faced by our students in the regional final of Kids Lit UK, held this week at Comberton Village College. The BVC team - Bassingbourn Bookworms - comprised year 8 students Eli Curtin, Cara Button, Emma Rosevear and Matthew Crafter who acquitted themselves well, coming an impressive 7th place out of 32 schools taking part. Cara describes the experience: "We had a jam-packed afternoon filled with challenging but fun questions, books and biscuits. Our favourite moments was when Eli saved the day with his enviable botanical knowledge that Rapunzel is actually a vegetable! "We would alos like to thank our English teachers for teaching us the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner as we were the only team that got that one right. "We worked really well together and were very pleased with our result." Mrs Lynn, BVC librarian added: "This is the fifth year that I have taken a BVC team to the regional finals and I have to say that this year's team was by far the best. I was really impressed by their focus and commitment to competing - well done to them!" The Kids Lit Quiz is an annual literature quiz for students aged 10 - 13 years. Quizzes are held in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, United Kingdom and USA. The winning team from each country…

Bassingbourn Village College

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