End of term e-letter – july 2015
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German Work Experience When leaving Birmingham for Frankfurt, we were hoping for better weather than the snow and rain that our exchange partners had experienced when they visited us in February. The weather certainly exceeded our expectations with temperatures reaching 40°C during our trip. We were therefore very pleased to have the opportunity to visit Riedbad, which is an outdoor pool in Enkheim, the area of Frankfurt in which we were staying. 
 
The work experience placements are organised through our partner school in Frankfurt, the Schule am Ried. There is always a wide selection of placements to choose from. Paul Gardner worked at a crane hire company, which gave him the opportunity to travel around Frankfurt. Philip Eburne worked at a primary school, and Joe Meehan worked at a kindergarten. These placements were very rewarding since they provided plenty of opportunities to practice and improve German skills. Hitesh Verma and Ataa both did there work experience at the German red cross charity clothes shop. Kushal Verma did his work experience at the ‘Schöne Aussicht’ hotel, My placement was at the automotive engineering department at the University of Applied Sciences in Frankfurt. This involved two days at the ‘August-Euler Flugplatz’ , an old airfield owned by the Technische Universität Darmstadt, which is now used for car testing. Travelling to a foreign country and staying with an exchange family can be daunting however both our host families and work experience mentors were very friendly and welcoming. We are also very grateful that our host families organised fantastic excursions for us, including to the Rhein valley, and let us try very tasty traditional German foods. I would definitely recommend this trip to anyone in year 11 or 12 since it is very enjoyable, the weather is fantastic and the food is very tasty. Many thanks to our host families for welcoming us into their homes, as well as to Mrs Wells and Mrs Thomson, for organising the trip Fraser Doshi-Keeble Languages Day: ‘Languages Day’ was something the school chose to do yet again this year, following on from its remarkable success last year. The thought of having a whole half-day away from timetable was quite pleasing to the Year 10 students and so, we ‘quietly’ commenced proceedings by moving to the Sports Hall. There, two students from the University of Nottingham provided us with an engaging talk about the benefits of choosing languages for further study at A-Level, or even the more daunting prospect of taking one at University. It was quite astonishing to see that when asked about the possibility of choosing a language at A-Level, less than a fifth of the cohort stood up. Even more remarkable than this, when enquiring as to what courses the students wished to do at University, there was a plethora of responses ranging from law, engineering and of course...medicine, yet very few for a language course. From then onwards, they proceeded to dispel the myths surrounding the topics and why it would be an excellent choice to make. Perhaps one of the best things we learned was that although you need not select a single language course at University, it is possible to complete a mixed course where a main subject could be combined with a language such as French or German. The talk was extremely enjoyable and we were very thankful for the input the two people provided. 
Following this, the year separated into different groups, all set a teacher and another factor - East or West. Soon, we were briefed on our task. The East group would play the scenario that they were in possession of a valuable artefact sacred to their culture. The West group would play the scenario of ambassadors from their country with the desire to purchase the item to add to the national museum - no matter what the cost. At this point, while excited by the task, some students were intrigued to see how the task would play out. After some time preparing, the West groups presented their pitch to the East, and thus commenced a series of responses which made us truly realise what had been told in the earlier talk. Both groups had been briefed differently in accordance with their culture and beliefs. The West groups did not hold money as a barrier, willing to use any amount to ensure collection of the item. However, the East groups’ ideals were different, and they did not consider money to even be a factor worth talking about - the artefact was more important to their culture than money was. Here, students learned that countries are very unique. Something that is acceptable or encouraged in one place, could be considered rude in another...not to mention the variety in day to day behaviour. Students realised that learning a language - especially at a more intermediate stage - allows us not only to be able to easily communicate with people from other cultures, but also understand them. This is true especially with the possibilities of exciting placements in other countries, which can be pursued for one’s education or career. All in all, at the end of the day, it’s safe to say that the possibility of selecting a language for further study (be it French, German, or any other) seemed more probable for many of us. Benefits of taking languages were shown to students that many had not even previously considered. The intriguing day certainly left us with many more answers, and we are sure that this left a lasting impression on many students. Firnaaz Mohideen and Ryandeep Sidhu Runner ducks at Camp Hill This year, the Biology Club were given six Indonesian runner duck eggs to hatch, care and feed. On the 1st of May, the eggs were placed in a special incubator, where they were to be monitored and warmed for 28 days at 37.2 degrees. Every week, Biology Club would gather and take a peek inside the eggs with a special torch, and each week we would see something new. However it was unlikely that all the eggs would hatch. 
When it came to half term, the ducks were given to Mrs Mitchell, and on the 28th of May, four out of the six eggs hatched, which was more than anyone expected. These four ducks, two male and two female, were quickly given names. The males became ‘Quackers’ and ‘Meep’, and the females became ‘Zachary Quack’ and ‘Otto’. Otto was the last to be hatched and was named after a Chancellor of Germany, ‘Otto von Bismarck’. The ducks started off in there cage in the Biology lab, but soon they started to grow.  
The ducks went on many parades, up and down the science corridor, marching to Prussian war music, as well as having fun in their paddling pool. Once the gland in there tail started creating the oil that would make the ducks water proof, they started splashing about, occasionally diving to collect their favourite food: peas. By the end of June, they were starting to live and sleep outside in their pen, allowing them plenty of exercise and room. In the summer holiday, they will be given to Heidi, one of the dinner ladies, who will care for them in her garden for the rest of their lives Sam Gray 7K Charity Congratulations to the pupils of Year 7 who raised £140 during the summer term. 7M and 7K pleased the hungry appetites of the Camp Hill Boys and staff by baking a wonderful array of cakes, selling out in record time. Whilst 7J’s Rugby Conversion Challenge saw both Mr Garrod and Mr Caves attempt to grasp victory from the year 7s but unfortunately fell short of the standard. All proceeds were donated to both Water Aid and the Nepal Earthquake disaster. Well done to everyone who took part. SH
National Biology Challenge 2015 Earlier in the year, all Year 9 and 10 students were entered for the national Biology Challenge. This is an online competition with questions set on GCSE Biology topics. The Biology Challenge also rewards those students whose knowledge of the subject has been increased by reading books and magazines, watching natural history programmes and taking notice of the news media for items of biological interest. This year, just over 35,000 students from 557 schools took part. Joshua Humphries was invited to a special ceremony in London as he scored one of the highest marks in the whole country. Ihsaam Hamid was only 3% behind Joshua and did exceptionally well. Our third highest scorer was Ossama Chihani, a Year 9 student who beat everyone else in Year 9 and 10. We won 18 gold certificates (for students in the top 5% of the country), 33 silver (top 15% nationally) and 54 bronze (top 30% nationally). In addition, 39 students were highly commended and 18 commended for their efforts. Well done to all students who took part, and especially to those who gained an award. Our winners of Gold, Silver and Bronze certificates are as follows:
Maths Matters Summer 2015 The Intermediate Maths Challenge was the challenge of last term, but we had to wait until this term for the results of the two follow-on rounds, the Intermediate Kangaroo and the Intermediate Olympiads. 47 boys in Years 9-11 took the Kangaroo, and six got Merits: Muhammad Ali, Youcef Barigou, Daniel Cole, Rohan Jobanputra, Vamsi Pratapa and Ishmael Silvestro. In the Olympiads, Alex Byrne, Paul Gardner, John Hayton, Puney Jain, Stephen Mander, Jas Rudzki and Monim Wains all got Merits; Robert Hillier got a Distinction, while Anthony Lim and Sam Stansfield got Distinctions, Medals and Prizes. Some of these names will reoccur below. The Junior Maths Challenge was the challenge of this term. As always, the organisation was handled faultlessly by Mr Jack, and when the results arrived, we were very pleased. The boys were awarded 74 gold certificates, 81 silvers, and 37 bronzes; 5 qualified for the Junior Mathematical Olympiad, and 29 for the new Junior Kangaroo, which both took place in June. The Kangaroo is taken by students all over Europe: the top 5,000 students (from 1,463 schools) were invited to take part, and the top 25% get Merits. 11 of our boys achieved Merits: Miles Balderson, Qiyuan Chen, Judah Daniels, Ross Evans, Muaaz Ghafoor, Kevin Mathew, Sukhjote Sotal, Hao Yang, William Yang and Leon Zhang. Hao got the highest score with an astonishing 129/135. Meanwhile, Proshanto Chanda, Xue Bang Chen, Punith Premachandra, Saksham Shah and Kevin Xu had qualified for the Olympiad, and all did very well: Proshanto, Punith and Kevin got Merits, and Xue Bang and Saksham got Distinctions, with Xue Bang’s performance good enough to win him a bronze medal, placing him in the top 210 in the country. Well done to all! After the excitement of the Junior Challenge, the General Election, and the start of study leave for our exam candidates (and the end of study leave, for Year 12) it was time for the next Team Challenge final. This time a team of four Year 8s and Year 9s, Robert Hillier, Neal Pankhania, Sam Stansfield and the aforementioned Hao Yang, accompanied Mr Thompson on a luxury train ride to London to participate in the Team Challenge Final, along with 87 other school teams. The challenges were rigorous, but Mr Thompson’s training regime had been equally rigorous, and we were delighted when the team finished seventh in the country and highest in the West Midlands region (thereby beating A.N.Other school in Edgbaston). Even better than this, their poster, on Colouring in Mathematics, came third in the country. This was an outstanding achievement and thanks and praise is due to the team and to Mr Thompson for training and taking them. 
On Sports Day, we managed to fit in yet another team competition, the South Area Network Challenge for Year 9 at King’s Norton Girls’ School. The team consisted of Daniel Cole, Alfie Green, Robert Hillier, Ajay John, James Mander and Rohan Jobanputra who stood in at the last minute for the ailing Sam Stansfield. Last year we came second to a certain girls’ school not too far away, so we attempted to distract them with some of Mr Watkins’ driving. This worked perfectly and we won by rather a long way. Once again many thanks are due to Mr Thompson for his rigorous (there’s that word again) training regime! 
Before closing, well done to these boys whose work in the summer exams showed a tremendous improvement this year: John Byrne and Luqmaan Raschid in Year 8, Chaitan Mohr and Rhys Rogers in Year 9, and Thomas Isaac and Hasnain Sultan in Year 10. You see, it’s not just the team members and Olympiad people that get a mention! And so the school year comes to an end. It’s not been an easy one, and I would like to thank the whole department for the support they have given me. I would also like to say a specially big thank you to Mr Mohammed Azam, who stepped into the breach after Miss Hunt had to leave us and served for two terms as an outstanding member of the department; his classes all appreciated his humour and thoroughness. Next term we have six extra periods a fortnight of maths to teach to our extra Year 8, and the new (9-1) GCSE to look forward to for Year 10. I’ll leave you with this problem for the summer: you have a collection of positive integers which add up to 40. Find which collection has the largest product. A.M.R. MUSIC The summer term is always busy, with public examinations, internal examinations and many trips and sporting events. Even so, the Music Department has managed to keep its busy programme of events going. We returned to school to find an excellent set of Associated Board and Trinity Board ‘grade’ results from the Easter sessions waiting for us. Once again we are very pleased that many passed with a ‘merit’ or ‘distinction’.
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