| CAROL SERVICE |
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Mr Ian Holmes conducting the School Choir at the Carol Service held in Stapleton Parish Church on Thursday 12th December 2002 |
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| COLSTON'S ON CAMERA |
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| X CHANGE |
| Last week fifteen Year 8 pupils from Colston's were involved in filming programmes for X Change a television programme which specialises in testing computer games. According to the BBC crew the pupils had them in stitches and acquitted themselves well. |
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| PUBLIC INFORMATION FILM |
| A film crew who were working on a public information film concerning access for disabled people was let down when three teenagers were unable to turn up for filming. The crew telephoned the school and asked for three fifteen to sixteen-year-olds who could play the parts of rowdy teenagers outside a shop. There was no shortage of volunteers from Year 10, and after auditions three were chosen to help make the film. Apparently they enjoyed playing their typecast roles! |
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| FATHER CHRISTMAS AT COLSTON'S |
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Father Christmas made a special visit to the Parents' Society Bazaar on Saturday. He is pictured here with Freddie Eyles from the Lower School. |
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| YEAR 8 HISTORY TRIP |
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| All of Year 8 endured the freezing weather on Tuesday 10th December to go to a Tudor Manor in Wales. The pupils were greeted by guides wearing Tudor period costume, set during the dangerous times of civil war. There was a guided tour through each room of the house in the old English language. The visit was finished off with the pupils making pomanders and rolling candles. An enjoyable day was had by all. |
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| YOUNG ENTERPRISE |
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A group of students in the lower sixth have formed their own company under the Young Enterprise banner. The business is called 'Velocity'.
Young Enterprise involves running a real company for approximately 6 months. The students have developed a number of products. including decorative glasswear. They launched some of their products at St Nicholas Market, Bristol on Sunday 8th December and are now selling within school, in the run up to Christmas. |
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| BUSINESS STUDIES CONFERENCE |
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| 48 students attended an AS/A2 Business Studies one-day student conference on Monday 9th December at Westminster Central Hall, London. Speakers from industry, politics and the media, including Jeff Randall, the BBC Business Editor and John Redwood MP, gave lectures on various business issues, including Britain and the Euro. The day also contained sessions with the examiners, in preparation for the examinations next year. |
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| Review of “The Trial” By Steven Berkoff (after Kafka) at the Harry Crook Theatre, Performed Wednesday 20th – Friday 22nd November 2002, Directed by Stephen Pritchard and Alison Chisnall. |
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| This year’s GCSE play was another outstanding triumph for the theatre department of Colston’s. The enigmatic and sinister world of Berkoff/Kafka was brought alive by a myriad cast of 50+ actors and chorus who succeeded in surprising and confounding packed audiences across the three evenings of performance. “The Trial” is an ostentatious departure from conventionality, a soul wrenching tale of one man, Joseph K, who is thrust in and out of his ordered life, only to become trapped within a clandestine “system” inhabited by a gallery of ghoulish caricatures. |
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| When a man is arrested, branded a criminal and put under investigation for crimes he knows nothing of, how soon can it be before a man’s behaviour condemns him anyway? The role of Joseph K was played masterfully by Kirsty Pottier, who at first displayed a defiant and outraged man of business, and then delicately portraying the transition into a broken man, a destitute and lost soul. The entire cast showed incredible focus in forming a twisted and transitory world from their own bodies and expressions, holding them for entire scenes at a time. The levels of dramatic perception into the themes and imagery of the play were incredible, and a complement to the integrity of both directors and cast. |
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| Deciphering the cryptic world of Berkoff/Kafka was a monumental task, delving into a world where even the court painter Titorelli (wonderfully played by Mike Powell) has a strange omnipresence over the nonsensical and disrupted proceedings. It is a testament to the will of two very special people who demand to push the boundaries of school drama ever further, Stephen Pritchard and Alison Chisnall. With another year comes another fantastic success. |
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| Lee Everson |
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| FIRST OF THE CHRISTMAS LUNCHES |
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| The Nursery School were the first to have Christmas lunch served to them. They are pictured here singing carols to the kitchen staff before their lunch. |
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| BAKETBALL MAKES A RETURN TO COLSTON'S |
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| Mr Van Selm has started a basketball club at Colston’s as well as coaching a team made up mainly of boarders. A social basketball match against Clifton College was arranged on Sunday 8 December. We arrived at the court not knowing the ability of our opposition. Their team consisted mainly of Sixth formers, while we had a mixed age group. Mike Pike was our only relaxed player, as he is used to playing in front of large crowds, and began warming up immediately. It took some encouragement to get the rest of team into some lay-ups and shooting drills in front of the 40 spectators. |
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The first 10 minutes of the game saw Colston’s trailing by 11 points due to some first match nerves which led to plenty of missed passes and bad dribbling. After some encouraging words from the coach, Colston’s were able to utilise their key player, our 6 foot 7 inches Canadian Mike Pike dominated the boards and scored the majority of Colston’s 27 points. The highlights of the game were the 2 spectacular slam dunks by Mike. Although we were defeated 27 – 47, the boys played with much determination and enthusiasm. I hope this is a beginning of many more basketball matches. Colston’s will host Clifton in early January for the return match.
Team:
Mike Pike; Jackie Lok; Chris Wang; Panda Tak Shun; Ben Chai; Eric Poon; Wilson Lo.
If there are any schools who would like to play against Colston’s Collegiate School in Bristol, please contact Mr Barry van Selm through the school email: barryvanselm@colstons.bristol.sch.uk |
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| COLSTON'S 1st XV SECURE UNBEATEN SEASON |
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| Colston's overcame the hurdle at which they had fallen last year to secure an unbeaten season by beating Llandovery College away from home by 20-5 on Saturday 7th December. This has been an incredible season in which they have beaten the strongest schools in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. For details of the 1st XV match see the Rugby web pages. |
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| The 2nd XV completed a very successful season with a fine 17-0 win also at Llandovery. |
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The girls may have lost their hockey match to Llandovery but contributed to the success of the 1st XV Rugby with their vocal support |
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| POLICE CAREERS - Monday 9th December in the Careers Library / PS Room |
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| Monica Harris and a probationer Police Constable will talk about life in the Police, the training and the career opportunities. All Years are welcome. |
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| DRAMA WORKSHOP |
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On Thursday 5th December the Living Study Aids Company from the Theatre Royal in Bath ran a 3 hour workshop on Timberlake Wertenbaker’s play “Our Country’s Good” for the U6 Drama and Theatre studies students.
The workshop was a great success and the students were given the opportunity to explore valuable rehearsal techniques and appropriate production methods to enhance their own understanding of the play(which is a set text for the A2 examination).
The education officer commented that it was “great to work with knowledgeable and receptive students”. |
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| OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD |
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Every November in recent years, Colston's and Stapleton Church have joined forces to send Christmas shoebox presents to disadvantaged children in Eastern Europe.
This year we collected 190 boxes, destined for Romania.
We give warm thanks to all who have helped to make Christmas happier for those who are less fortunate than ourselves. |
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Some of the Year 7 pupils with the Christmas boxes they had collected |
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Loading the Christmas boxes on to a lorry to be to be taken off to a central depot |
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| RUGBY FIXTURES |
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| Brynteg School have asked to re-arrange the Rugby fixture list for this weekend to avoid clashing with the Wales v New Zealand fixture. The 1st XV and 3rd XV are going to play on Friday evening at 5.45 under floodlights at Cleve RFC (Mangotsfield). Only the U12 XV and U14 XV matches are going ahead on Saturday and both these fixtures are at Brynteg at 11.00 a.m. |
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| CHATTERTON SOCIETY |
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| The Thomas Chatterton Society will be formally launched on 20 November, 2002 - the 250th anniversary of Chatterton’s birth. There will be a drinks reception and readings from 7.30pm in the Chatterton Hall, Colston’s School, Bristol. All are warmly welcome to attend. |
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| BULLYING |
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| As part of their PSE programme this term, pupils in Year Seven have been discussing the topic of bullying and were asked to write a poem and design a poster on this topic. Here are some examples. |
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| YEAR 11 APTITUDE & INTEREST TESTS |
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Year 11 pupils have just had the opportunity to take Aptitude and Interest Tests administered by Cambridge Occupational Analysts.
The Interest Tests highlight their interests and relate them to careers which may be of interest. The Aptitude Tests give an indication of their natural abilities and, again, relate these to possible career areas. Discussion of the test results with parents and Mrs Dann, the school's Careers Adviser, should help pupils be more aware of their strengths and weaknesses and prove immediately useful in helping with choices for Sixth Form courses. |
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| SPORTS RESULTS FOR SATURDAY 16th NOVEMBER |
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| This weekend the girls hockey teams had a clean sweep of victories against Chipping Sodbury School: 1st XI 2-0; U15 XI 2-1; U14 XI 3-0; U13XI 1-0.There was a fair measure of success for the boys too at Rugby: in matches against King Edward's School Bath the Under 12s won 15-5, whereas the U13 As and Bs lost 19-30 & 17-24. The Under 14s also lost 17-31 away to Dwr-y-Felin, but there were splendid wins for the 1st XV (57-0) and the 2nd XV (72-3) at home to Merchiston Castle Edinburgh. |
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Daniel Vaughan makes a break in the 1st XV match against Merchiston Castle |
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| VISIT TO BATH UNIVERSITY |
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10 Sixth Form students visited Bath University on Friday 15th November to see the sporting facilities, talk to an Admissions tutor for the Sports based degrees and HNDs and meet current students and the sports coaches.Bath University is a centre of excellence for Sport so this was a valuable opportunity to have an inside look.
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| FROM IRELAND TO SCOTLAND |
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| Following their success against Terenure College, Dublin last weekend the 1st XV take on last year's Scottish Cup winners Merchiston Castle, Edinburgh at home this Saturday. This is only the second fixture at home this season for the 1st XV. Kick off is at 10 o'clock (slightly earlier than advised in the school calendar). The 2nd XV are also playing Merchiston Castle. Spectators will be very welcome to the match and in the OC's Pavilion after the match. |
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| PARENTS' EVENINGS |
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| This is very much the season for parents' evenings. Last week there was an evening in the Upper School for parents of children who are currently in the L4 year of the Lower School. This was followed later in the week with a parent-teacher evening for Year 10. This week there has been a similar evening for Upper Sixth parents and next week there is an evening for Year 7 parents. Follow the link for a full list of Parents' Meetings and Assessments and Reports Schedule for each year. |
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| UNDER 15 DAILY MAIL CUP RUN COMES TO AN END |
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| The Under 15s run in the Daily Mail Cup came to an end away to Millfield on Tuesday 12th November when they lost 36-7. Colston's started slowly and Millfield took full opportunity by taking a commanding lead. However, Colston's competed well in the second half when both sides scored only one try each. Cameron Bracewell scored the try which was converted by Jonathan Coller. |
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| THE COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OLD GIRLS CENTENARY LUNCHEON |
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| The Collegiate School Old Girls (TCSOGs) are holding a centenary luncheon on the 27th April 2003. If any Old Girls of The Collegiate School are interested please contact Carole Jenkins carole@concordia.freeserve.co.uk for further details. |
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| CHARTER DAY |
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| The school joined in the celebrations of the Merchant Venturers' Charter Day with a service at Bristol Cathedral today. Boys and Girls from Colston's Collegiate School and Colston's Girls School received buns and shillings in the customary manner. |
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| GREAT SUCCESS FOR SENIOR RUGBY TEAMS |
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| The Senior XV's all achieved great success at the weekend. The 1st XV had a narrow 11-10 win in Dublin against the very successful Terenure College whilst the 2nd and 3rd XV's playing at home produced outstanding performances against Llanhari School 1st and 2nd XV's from Wales to win handsomely 65-0 and 91-5 respectively. For details of the 1st XV match see the Rugby web pages. |
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| RHEINLAND TOUR |
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During the Half-term break, a group of 14 pupils from Year 11 and the Lower Sixth, accompanied by two members of staff, went on a 5 day study visit to the Rhine Gorge area of Germany. Based at a hotel near Boppard south of Koblenz, they were able to explore this area of the Rhine valley with its many castles and places of interest. The itinerary included a boat trip down the Rhine, visits to Koblenz and Cologne, and a
day spent at the theme park, Phantasialand.
Pupils also had the opportunity to develop their linguistic skills during a town trail in Boppard and a visit to the local school.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable trip and one which gave the pupils a brief insight into the diversity of the German people and their culture.
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| LORD LIEUTENANT'S CERTIFICATE |
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| The School's Catering Manager, Sam Weller, was presented with the Lord Lieutenant's Certificate of Commendation for services to the CCF by the Lord Lieutenant of Avon, John Tidmarsh, at Merchants' Hall on Wednesday 30th October. Sam is photographed here between the Lord Lieutenant and the Chairman of Governors, Brigadier Hugh Pye (left). |
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| NOORDWIJK HERE WE COME! |
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| A party of 41 girls representing teams in years 8, 9 and 10 and 6 staff, Miss Young, Mrs Fisher, Miss Gallagher, Miss Butters, Miss Troath and Miss Nightingale are off to Noordwijk, Holland at half-term to play hockey. The tour will consist of coaching sessions in the mornings of Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a match against a local side. On the Thursday there will be an excursion to Delft, Amsterdam or a water park and then a hockey tournament in the afternoon. A presentation of trophies and disco will take place in the evening and then it's an early start on the Friday for our return journey back to Bristol. The girls have been looking forward to this for weeks and now the time has finally arrived! We'll have an update of how we got on, including pictures, on our return. |
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| DAILY MAIL CUP (U15) |
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| The Under 15 Rugby team progressed to the fourth round of the Daily Mail Cup with an impressive 46-0 win against the Crypt School from Gloucester. Leading try scorer Adryan Veira notched up 4 tries in the match. The team had a bye in the first round and beat St Mary Redcliffe School in the second round. They now face an away match with Millfield School. |
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| VISIT TO ART GALLERIES |
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| On Tuesday 22nd October nearly 100 GCSE and A-Level students traveled to London to visit the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. In the National Gallery pupils were given expert guided tours by superb lecturers who enlightened them about paintings from the 1400's onwards. In the National Portrait Gallery pupils enjoyed viewing portraits of their heroes in the form of photographs, paintings and sculptures. This was a very successful trip. |
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| COLSTON'S RETAIN ST JOSEPH'S NATIONAL SCHOOLS RUGBY FESTIVAL |
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| Colston's retained the cup they had won last year by beating some of the top rugby schools in England, Scotland and Ireland in an excellent two day festival this weekend. In a repeat of last year's final Colston's defeated Blackrock College from Dublin 10-0. This is the fifth time Colston's have won this competition but never before have they managed back to back wins. Details of the tournament appear on the Rugby Web Pages. |
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| FIRST ASSESSMENTS |
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| Pupils throughout the school will have received their first assessments by now. Normally a copy of the assessments is sent home in the half term or end of term mailing but as these first assessments are well before the first mailing a copy of the assessments has been given to each pupil to take home. The pattern of assessments and reports for each year group can be viewed by following this link: Parents' Meetings and Assessments and Reports Schedule |
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| SIXTH FORM EVENING DRAWS THE CROWDS |
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| The school theatre was packed last Thursday evening for the Sixth Form Open Evening. The audience heard from a variety of speakers: the Headmaster, David Crawford, talked about the current A level exam uncertainty; the Senior Tutor, Martin Tayler, demonstrated the school's website, in particular the pages relevant for potential sixth-formers; and the Director of the Sixth Form, Gerard Boyce, dusted off some tired old jokes and introduced four members of the Upper Sixth- Paul Dunford, Hannah Coller, Daniel Vaughan and Hollie Grant- who talked about their experiences at the school and how much they recommended it |
| After that, parents and pupils- including several visitors from other schools- visited departments and spoke to subject teachers and to students currently following the courses. |
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| HISTORY TRIP TO FIRST WORLD WAR BATTLEFIELDS |
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The history group at Ypres |
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| The history department has just organised a successful four day trip to visit First World War battlefields. The group of 35 pupils from years 10 and 11 was accompanied by four staff - Mr Drew, Ms Shanker, Mr Tayler and Mr Scarll. |
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| The group was based in Tournai in Belgium and on the first day visited sites in and around Ypres, including cemeteries at the Tyne Cot Memorial at Passendale. |
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Visiting the trenches |
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| The second and third day of visits were to the Somme region in Northern France. |
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The highlights of the visit were two most impressive guided tours by Canadian students at Vimy Ridge of the Grange Subway, a 250-metre stretch that has been preserved, and at the Newfoundland Beaumont-Hamel Memorial.
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The Cloth Hall - Ypres |
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The Mennen Gate - Ypres |
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Thiepval Monument |
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The Tyne Cot Memorial |
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| SPORTS RESULTS |
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| The Girls' 1st XI hockey team performed well against top opposition at the County Finals on Friday 11th October. They lost 0-3 to Prior Park, 0-1 to Monkton Combe and 0-2 to Gordano. |
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| On Saturday the 1st XI lost 0-3 to Rendcomb College but the 2nd XI and U15 XI drew 0-0 and 1-1 respectively and the U14 XI had a fine 3-0 victory. |
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| In the Boys' rugby matches there were no games for the senior teams but junior XV's did very well against the Bishop of Hereford School winning 7 out of 8 matches. The U16s won 35-18; the U15s won 15-10; the U14As won 41-26; the U14Bs won 45-0; the U13As lost 14-44; the U13Bs won 35-0; the U12As won 64-0 and the U12Bs won 10-7. |
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| GIRLS' HOCKEY |
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| The Girls' hockey teams continue to do well. The 1st XI has reached the Under 18 finals for the first time. The finals take place today (Friday 11th October). They set off for this competition in good heart as they had a resounding 5-0 win against Redland High School on Thursday 10th October. |
| On Wednesday 9th October in matches against Badminton the U12As won 5-1; the U12Bs won 8-0; the U13s drew 1-1. On the same day the U14s and U15s won 4-0 and 3-1 respectively against Colston's Girls. |
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The 1st XI hockey team with their lucky mascot before today's county finals |
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| CCF BIENNIAL INSPECTION |
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| Major General Mike Tennant C.B. Chairman of CCFA inspected the CCF on Wednesday 9th October. |
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| Before lunch on the Inspection Major General Tennant presented a number of awards: Major Steve Waters the O.C. was presented with the Cadet Force Medal and the Queen's Jubilee Medal. Also presented with the Queen's Jubilee Medal were the Adjutant Captain Tim Scarll and Lt. Alison Scarll. |
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| Hannah Coller and Ankit Desai were presented with their Silver Wings for Gliding Scholarships and James Mason was presented with his Flying Scholarship and Nicola Hill with her Army Scholarship. |
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| SELF DEFENCE FOR GIRLS |
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| Year 10 and 11 girls have opted to take an 8 week course in self-defence. Lessons take place after school on Tuesdays. |
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| THE CHATTERTON SOCIETY |
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| The ever-popular 'Any Questions?' event was held in the Chatterton Hall on Friday 4th October, hosted by Mr. Drew and Hannah Coller. Pupils from the Sixth form were invited to put forward any questions they had to a panel of five pupils and staff, including Mr. Pritchard, Dr. Martin, Dana Drake, Lee Everson and Mitch Horman. All sixth formers then gathered in the hall to listen to the various responses. Topics ranged from the recent conflict in Iraq to the MOBO awards, and even the question 'If you were to be stranded on a desert island which member of the same sex would you take?' which threw up an interesting debate. |
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| DAILY MAIL CUP |
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| The Under 15 XV won their second round match against St. Mary Redcliffe 35-0. This was the first match for Colston's in this competition this year. |
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| SIXTH FORM BIOLOGY TRIP |
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| The Upper Sixth Form biology students are visiting Bristol Zoo on Monday 7th October for an A-level conference on "Classification and adaptation of animals". The students get to look at why organisms are classified into groups and what criteria biologists use to place organisms into groups. The conference then looks at how certain animals are adapted for survival. |
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| RUGBY |
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| The Senior XV's had great success against RGS High Wycombe on Saturday 5th October achieving the following results: 1st XV won 16-11 (match report) ; 2nd XV won 29-22; 3rd XV won 12-0; Under 16 won 15-7. The Under 15s managed a 17-17 draw but all the other junior XV's lost. However, it was a considerable achievement to field 12 XV's in all against RGS High Wycombe. |
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| GIRLS HOCKEY SUCCESS |
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| The Girls hockey teams have had a successful week. The 1st XI followed up their 1-0 win against Clifton High School with another victory (3-1) against The Castle School Thornbury. The 2nd XI had to settle for a 2-2 draw against The Castle School. |
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The 1st XI attacking against The Castle School Thornbury |
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The 2nd XI celebrate scoring in their 2-2 draw with The Castle School Thornbury |
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| YEAR 7 PARENTS EVENING |
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| On Wednesday 16th October, there is an opportunity for Year 7 parents to meet other parents, their tutors and the head of year. Letters have been sent out via pupils informing parents of an appointment system. We look forward to meeting you. |
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| CAREERS IN SPORT |
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Nicky Fossey, Admissions tutor and lecturer from Bath University talked to pupils interested in careers in sport about the HND and degree courses in Sports Science and Coach Education and Sports Development at Bath. She described the elite sports facilities covering 30 sports at Bath and provided a fascinating insight into the course that Bath offers and the career opportunities that follow.
She has very generously offered to show a group of Sixth formers the Bath facilities and give them the opportunity to meet the coaches.
Thanks, Nicky, for a most informative and interesting talk. |
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| HARVEST FESTIVAL |
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Year 7 pupils at the Harvest Festival Service for Years 7, 8 and 9 on Wednesday 2nd October
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| 6th FORM OPEN EVENING FOR ENTRY IN SEPTEMBER 2003 |
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All members of Year 11, along with any student currently at another school who is interested in joining Colston's, are invited- along with their parents- to attend this event on Thursday October 10th at 7pm in the Crook Theatre.
There will be brief talks by the Headmaster, David Crawford, and the Director of the Sixth Form, Gerard Boyce. This will be followed by an opportunity to talk to Heads of Departments and students currently studying all subjects offered in the Sixth Form. The full-time Careers Advisor, Gill Dann, will also be available to discuss subject choices and their implications for Higher Education.
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| CONGRATULATIONS! |
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| Congratulations to Mr. Darren Wall and his wife Melanie on the birth of their first daughter Sophie who was born on Wednesday 25th September. Mr Wall joined the P.E. Department at Colston's at the beginning of this term. Mr Wall was formerly Head of PE at Shaftesbury School having taught before that at Chew Valley School and Chosen Hill School in Gloucester . He is a graduate of St Paul's College in Cheltenham. Mr Wall is a keen rugby player and has coached Chew Valley RFC and Chosen Hill Former Pupils. |
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| YELLIS TEST (Year 11 Information System) |
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| As part of a value-added procedure all members of Year 10 will be taking a series of short tests and completing a questionnaire during Period 8 and after school on Wednesday 2nd October. The test, devised by the Curriculum, Evaluation and Management Centre at the University of Durham, is designed to provide us with a post Key Stage 3 baseline measurement of our pupil's abilities. Parents should be aware that these pupils will not finish school until about 4 p.m. on that afternoon. |
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| FILLING THAT GAP |
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After leaving the Sixth Form, more and more Colstonians are taking a year out before moving onto Higher Education. Some take this Gap Year because they just want a break from the seemingly never-ending academic treadmill; some want to travel, often to exotic parts; some simply want to earn some money to help them through the financially-draining college years. A few go even further. They sign up for charity work abroad and end up in far-flung climes doing adventurous and challenging things. One can only marvel at this and wonder at the inestimable benefits students such as Rachel O'Neill will gain from her year.
Rachel left Colston's in June 2001 and decided to take a Gap Year before taking up her place at Oxford this October. Read her own account of a quite remarkable year here.
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| HARVEST FESTIVAL |
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During the week beginning Monday 30th September three Harvest Festival Services will be held in the Parish Church on different days to ensure that all pupils in the Lower and Senior schools can attend.All pupils are asked to bring a non-perishable offering to leave at the Church. These will then be distributed amongst the needy of Bristol.
Mr Waters well remembers an occasion when he took some of the offerings to a Salvation Army Centre. They were overjoyed, as they had no food to give out yet had a constant stream of needy people coming to them and asking for something. |
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| OPEN MORNING |
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| Lots of prospective pupils and their parents attended Open Morning on Saturday 28th September. They were able to visit all areas of the school and see displays in classrooms and other areas of the 30 acre site. There were also two Headmaster's presentations in the Theatre where pupils were able to explain what they have done in the school and how they have benefited from a Colston's education. |
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| YEAR 11 GEOGRAPHY FIELD TRIP |
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On Thursday 26th September the Year 10 Geography students went on a field trip to Cheddar Gorge and the Foster Yeoman quarry on the Mendips. The students witnessed how limestone was blasted and processed from the rock face to the huge 85000 tonnes stockpile where it is stored. They saw the machinery, such as Europe's only mobile crusher and dumper truckers the size of which would blow your mind. After visiting the huge quarry hey went on to Cheddar Gorge itself. Here they saw the spectacular caves and towering cliffs. The students then trampled through the dark, mysterious tunnels observing stalactites, stalagmites, organ pipes and chimneys. The trip covered work taught in the rocks modules of the GCSE and proved to be an excellent venture. Accompanying the trip were Mr Eyles, Dr Dawson, Mr Yaxley and Miss Nightingale. Fun was had by all and the students very much enjoyed the experience. Jordan Perry - (Year 10 geographer)
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| ROTARY CLUB HORSELESS TEAM EVENT |
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| Pupils and Staff from Colston's took part in the Rotary Club Horseless Team event at Badminton this weekend. The 5 mile course consisted of wooden jumps that are usually used in the Badminton Horse Event, hence the "Horseless" title. The boys team (Perry Hussey, Gareth Jacobs, James Mason, Sam Phillips and Angelo Tallo) came first in their category, while the girls team (Katy Grey, Graziella Pinto, Jade Setherton, Naomi Sullivan and Charlotte Whittam) had to settle for second place due to fierce competition. The staff team also gave a creditable performance. Of the 430 competitors Sam Phillips won the event, holding off a spirited effort from Mr. Thornley who came second. Charlotte Whittam was the first girl across the finishing line. A tremendous effort by everyone who ran. |
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| SPORTS RESULTS FOR SATURDAY 21st SEPTEMBER |
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The Girls started their sports programme this Saturday. The Under 16s played in a district netball tournament and won 3 and lost 4 of their matches. The Under 13 hockey team drew 0-0 against Clifton High School.
The boys teams all won against King Edward's Bath: the 1st XV 29-0, the 2nd XV 39-0, the U16s 65-12 and the U15s 68-0. |
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| CLAYESMORE SEVENS |
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| Colston's entered two teams into this Under 13 seven-a-side competition on Wednesday 18th September. The A team lost 3 of their matches but had a pleasing win against the Millfield second string. The B team excelled in the plate competition and lost to Blundells in extra time in the the final. |
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| PARENTS' SOCIETY AGM |
During the course of the Parents' Society AGM last night, Janet Stone was elected Chairwoman, Karen Hill Vice-Chairwoman and Anita Martinovic treasurer.
Any parents who would like to help with the organisation of any of the Parents' Society events would be most welcome. The next committee meeting is on Tuesday 1st October in the Upper School Dining Hall. |
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| CCF INDUCTION |
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Year 9 pupils getting ready to go off on their CCF Induction Camp |
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From Wednesday 18th September until Sunday 22nd September all new CCF Recruits are attending a 4 day camp based at Fort Tregantle in Cornwall, and its sister ruined Fort at Scraesdon.
All Cadets are introduced to the basics such as uniform, cooking ration packs, compass work and the ethos of the CCF in general. They will also undertake activities such as canoeing, raft building and climbing.
It is a tiring and hard camp, but, although Cadets tend to be a little nervous about going at first, they have an enjoyable time and learn a lot about themselves as well as bonding with other people.
From this camp many Cadets will progress on to other CCF activities such as Ten Tors, Three Peaks and the recent Land's End to John o' Groats expedition.
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| ALIS Test (Advanced Level Information System) |
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| As part of a value-added procedure all members of the Lower Sixth will be taking a series of short tests and completing a questionnaire during Period 9 and after school on Wednesday 18th September. The test, devised by the Curriculum, Evaluation and Management Centre at the University of Durham, is designed to provide us with a post 16 baseline measurement of our pupil's abilities. |
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| OLD COLSTONIAN GRADUATES |
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From time to time we receive news from universities of Colstonians who have graduated recently.
So far this year we have received news of the following: |
| Gemma Short |
UCL |
Law |
IIA |
| Paul Sparks |
UMIST |
Mathematics with Study in Europe |
1st class Honours |
| Tom Sullivan |
Warwick |
Civil Engineering |
II |
| Hazel Cottey |
Goldsmiths, London |
English & Theatre Arts |
II |
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| YEAR 11 FIELD COURSE TO NETTLECOMBE COURT |
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On the 13th and 14th of September 48 Year 11 Geography students and 4 staff stayed at a Field Studies Centre in North Somerset. Two days of fantastic weather allowed all the students to plan and collect the necessary information for their GCSE coursework. Students who chose the physical topic spent time carrying out beach transects and measuring pebbles at Porlock Bay. The sunny, hot weather
helped whilst they were field sketching and taking photographs. The human Geographers went to Minehead and completed questionnaires, pedestrian counts and an environmental quality assessment. Once back at the Field Centre, the students processed all their results and collated their findings to produce an excellent data set. The project is worth 25% of their Geography GCSE and this intensive but enjoyable weekend has given them a head start in their work. Thanks go to Dr K. Dawson , Mrs J. Brighton and Mrs G. Dann for their hard work and time. M Eyles
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| OPEN MORNING |
| On Saturday September 28th the school will be open from 9.30 a.m. until 1.00 p.m. for prospective pupils and their parents to look around. Pupil guides will be available and there will be displays of work in a variety of classrooms. There will be two Headmaster's Presentations, one at 10.10 a.m. and the other at 11.30 a.m. During the presentations pupils will explain what they have done in the school and how they have benefited from a Colston's education. We look forward to seeing you. Click here for a programme of events. |
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| THE PARENTS' SOCIETY AGM |
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| The Parent's Society AGM will be held on Thursday 19th September at 7.30 p.m. in the Chatterton Hall. All parents are welcome to attend, and will have an opportunity of hearing about the activities of the Society over the last year, and what is planned for the coming year. |
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| UPPER SIXTH DESTINATIONS |
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| It has been a particularly successful post-A level results period this year. All students who aspired to places in Higher Education have been accepted by their first choice or insurance choice institutions. A significant number have deferred entry until 2003, allowing themselves time to travel, broaden their experiences- or just simply to earn the money needed to see themselves through this rewarding but expensive period. We wish all our leaving students well, whatever their chosen path. Details of Upper Sixth Destinations. |
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| SPORTS RESULTS FOR SATURDAY 14th SEPTEMBER |
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| There were mixed results at the weekend with the Under 12's, Under 13's A and B suffering heavy defeats to Millfield Junior School. The senior XV's fared much better. In fixtures away to Kirkham Grammar School in Lancashire the Under 15's, 2nd's and 1st XV all had victories. Details and photos of the 1st XV match can be found on the Rugby Website. Earlier in the week the Under 16's A lost 7-16 and the Under 16's B won 34-19 against Whitchurch School Cardiff. |
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| HIGHER EDUCATION BOOKLET |
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| Mr Gerard Boyce, Director of Sixth Form, and Mrs Gill Dann, Careers Adviser, have produced a booklet to help Sixth Formers prepare for Higher Education. A copy of this booklet can be accessed here. |
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| YEAR 11 GEOGRAPHY FIELD TRIP 13th & 14th SEPTEMBER |
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Last year's Year 11 Geography Field trip |
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| 48 Year 11 Geography students and 4 staff are going to spend two days at a Field Studies Centre on the North Somerset Coastline. Nettlecombe Court is a Grade II listed building nestled in the beautiful Exmoor National Park with excellent facilities. During their stay the students will be taught by specialist staff and have the opportunity to collect primary data for their chosen GCSE project. Porlock Bay will provide the data for a physical project on beach profile and Longshore drift. The seaside resort of Minehead will be used by the human geographers to collect information on land use change and the impact of Tourism on the area. Having collected their data, students will then process their finding s and write up the individual studies up on their return to school. |
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| KING'S HOUSE SOCIAL EVENING |
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| On Tuesday 10th September, King's House held its annual Social Evening in the Dining Room. This was well-attended and provided an opportunity for parents and Tutors to meet over a glass of wine at the beginning of the year. |
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| PARENTS' CONSULTATIVE MEETING |
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| The Parents' Consultative Meeting met recently. One of their suggestions was that the weekly menu for school lunches should appear on the website. |
| Follow this link for the menus. |
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| FIRST RUGBY MATCHES |
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| In the first matches of the new rugby term there have been wins for the 1st XV against St Peter's School (Gloucester) and the Under 15's against Whitchurch School (Cardiff). The U15 Bs, U14 As and Bs all suffered heavy defeats against Whitchurch. Details of the 1st XV match can be see on the Rugby Website. |
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| BRAZIL |
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Mr Graham Ricketts led a group of pupils to Brazil during the summer holidays - they are shown here in front of the Iguacu Falls which border Argentina and Paraguay. |
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NEW CAREERS ADVISER |
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Gill Dann joined Colston's Collegiate School recently as a full time Careers Adviser and to co-ordinate work experience and the Careers Education programme within PSE. A graduate of York University and with post graduate qualifications in Careers Guidance and Human Resource Management she joins the school from the local Careers Service, Connexions, having worked closely with various Schools and Colleges in South Glos.
Gill is looking forward to providing individual guidance and helping pupils make realistic and informed decisions about careers and courses of further and higher education
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| AS LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY |
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This Friday 12 members of the Lower Sixth become the first to study AS Psychology at Colston's; however it is not just a new subject but a whole new way of learning which is being pioneered. For one hour a week the students will be taught through the medium of Distance Learning, whereby they are linked to a specialist tutor by live television link. They see, hear and speak to the tutor, she to them. Written work is submitted and marked by exchange of email. Despite the inauspicious start date- Friday 13th- we feel this exciting innovation broadens the range of courses available in the 6th form and offers great potential for future development of the curriculum.
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| MidYIS TESTS |
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| As part of a value-added procedure in HMC schools, Year 7 pupils took a series of short tests on Friday. The MidYIS Test is designed to provide a baseline measurement of each pupil's ability on entry to Colston's. These results can then be compared with later results obtained at Key Stage 3 and GCSE, enabling a value-added measurement to be made. In a pilot scheme run last year (involving 200 schools) Colston's "value-added" placed us 3rd in the National League Table. The Year 7 pupils emerged from the Dining Hall unscathed but shattered by the experience! |
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| YEAR 7 INDUCTION |
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| As part of the induction process for the new Year 7s, all 94 of them participated in a familarisation day on Friday 6th September. The randomly selected groups participated in a number of activites throughout the day. They included building a raft in the swimming pool, a map activity - finding buildings around the school and a series of CCF tasks emphasising the need to work within a team. The day was very successful enabling the youngsters to talk to other pupils in tutor sets in a more informal way and helping them to feel more comfortable in their surroundings during this sometimes traumatic transition. |
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| INDIVIDUAL PHOTOS |
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| On Friday 6th September all pupils had individual photos taken by professional photographers Gilman and Soame. Pupils were at their smartest. In a few weeks the finished product will arrive at school. The photographs will be sent home with pupils and parents will be given the opportunity to purchase them via the school from Gilman & Soames. |
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| SIXTH FORM INDUCTION |
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Members of the Lower Sixth taking part in initiative exercises as part of the Induction Programme |
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| The Lower Sixth Form took part in an induction programme at Caerwent in South Wales from Monday to Wednesday in the first week of term. The programme was completed with a dinner and disco in school on Thursday evening. Details of the programme. |
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| NEW BUS ROUTES |
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Colston's has recently set up two bus routes into school. The first is a route from Stoke Bishop/Westbury-on Trym/Henleaze/Bishopston into school. The second connects with services which feed into other independent schools in the centre of Bristol from areas such as the Chew Valley. More details are available from Mr Ray Mardle at school.
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| NEW TERM |
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| The Autumn Term began on 2nd September with a record number of nearly 600 boys and girls (11-18). (in 1975 there were only 277 boys on site). As usual the school year began with a service in Stapleton Parish Church. However, to accommodate the increased numbers two services were held this year. After lunch the Lower Sixth Form left for Caerwent in Wales to undergo a three day induction programme. |
