End of term e-letter – july 2015
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- Camp Hill Schools Primary Schools Conference
- King Edwards Familiarisation Programme
- Nick Arnold visit – 9/1/15
- Stan Lee Excelsior Award trip 1/7/15
- HOUSE REPORTS Beaufort
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Well done to the boys who reach ‘grade 8’, and congratulations to the two who gained ‘distinctions’. Special mention must be made of Harry Atkinson who took his grade 8 Double Bass exam last year. In his Grade 8 he was awarded 146 out of 150 marks, and because of this the Associated Board have awarded him with one of their ‘Silver Awards’. The certificate reads: “ABRSM Silver Award as a result of attaining one of the highest marks in Grade 8 in 2014”. He also received a cheque for £150 to use to further his musical studies, which he was very pleased about! Harry is again a member of the National Youth Orchestra this year. We were also very pleased with the large number of pupils who have been accepted into the Birmingham Music Service Orchestras, Bands and other ensembles. In addition to the many pupils who are already playing for the Music Service, these boys found out that they were successful in gaining a place:
In the last week of term many of these boys will be performing in the Adrian Boult Hall or Symphony Hall as part of the Music Service ‘Gala Concerts’. Early in term we hosted AS and A2 recitals. AS pupils perform about three pieces, and often use ‘grade’ pieces that they have also performed elsewhere. At A2 the performances are more taxing, and pupils are expected to present a recital of about 12 – 15 minutes all in one style. After the recital there is also an in depth viva voce discussing interpretations of the music based on the pupils’ listening and research. This year we had some particularly diverse recital themes: Spanish influenced music for violin, Classical concerti for Double Bass and 80s funk for Drum Kit! Before the Year 11, 12 and 13 pupils go on study leave we hold our Senior Concert. This is an opportunity for our best school musicians to perform, and is a chance for us to say ‘goodbye and thank you’ to our musical Year 13 pupils before they leave us. We were pleased to have a good audience, and the standard of the music was high. There were a number of excellent Chamber Music items, including String Quartets and Wind Ensembles, plus slightly larger ensembles such as Cello Ensemble and Flute Choir. Saxophone Ensemble performed some excellent close harmony arrangements, one of which was by Mr John Meadows, their conductor, and Guitar Ensemble played two atmospheric pieces inspired by Spain. Concert Band was on form in Discovery 1492 and then The Symphonic Beatles, and Concert Orchestra was enjoyed by all playing Theme from The Big Country and the James Bond hit For your eyes only. Towards the end of the concert we had the much anticipated, now traditional, ‘leavers’ items’. Again the leavers had done well, preparing songs for their last concert. They much enjoyed embarrassing Ms Hawthorne and I, making us sing a duet from the Disney film Frozen, re-titled “music is so much more”. We did our best! After these items, Swing Band brought the concert to a rousing finish, ably directed by Richard English who will be studying music at Oxford next year. We have been delighted to have Daniel Nock in school with us for the past term, teaching classes as part of his PGCE in music with Birmingham City University. Daniel did very well, and we are delighted that at Half Term he found out that he had passed his PGCE. Our best wishes go with him for next year. The last big joint concert of the year is the Summer Soirée. This is a chance for our Junior and Intermediate musicians to perform. Held in the boys’ Hall, we were delighted to get great support from parents, so much, in fact, that the hall was completely full and pupils were sitting on seats out in the school lobby! It was a very good evening of music making. The Intermediate Orchestra began the evening, and there was some very good playing in an effective arrangement of The Firebird by Stravinsky. Many good chamber groups followed, which included Brass Ensemble, Clarinet Ensemble, Guitar Ensemble and Tabla Ensemble. Of particular note were two solo items: Qiyuan Chen (7S) gave a most sensitive performance of Schubert’s Impromptu No 3 for piano, and Jamie Wen (7J) a bold performance of Brahm’s Hungarian Dance for violin. The evening closed with a tight and exciting version of Flashdance – what a feeling! played by the Wind Band. A full evening of music, but we finished in good time at 8.55pm! Our Year 10 GCSE group have produced some excellent ensembles this year, and have performed at a number of events both in and out of school. This term they played a jazz arrangement of ‘Dem Bones’ at Timberley Academy Graduation Ceremony which was held in our Hall. The Headmistress of the Junior School complimented the boys on their lively and spirited arrangement. Unusually, our Senior Musical was not in the Spring Term this year, but had been arranged for the penultimate week of the summer term. The piece was called ‘The Hollow Crown’ and was an entertainment by and about the kings and queens of England. With this historical theme, it was fitting to have period instruments. So it was that we had a small group of versatile musicians to sing and play in amongst the readings. Fazal Shah gave real class to the production with some wonderfully subtle playing on recorders and flute. Tom Meehan was a dramatic and effective solo Baritone and played stirring Trombone fanfares. Ruth Owens’ voice suited the music well, and she sang with a really good sense of the words, and also played violin. Performed over three evenings, it was a most effective and moving evening’s drama. In the last week of term we have two Presentation Evenings, one for Years 7 and 8, and one for Years 9 and 10. A feature of the evenings is a musical performance by one of our best musicians from each year group. William Yang (7M) got us off to a good start with a fine performance of Rhapsody No 2 in G minor by Brahms. This was followed by a lively and characterful rendition of Rumores de la Caleto by Albéniz played by Yuhan Guo (8M). The Year 9 contribution was a stylish clarinet Minuet and Trio by Mozart played by Oliver Maclean (9S), and the evening was rounded off with a spirited jazz arrangement of Swing low, sweet chariot played by the Year 10 GCSE Jazz Ensemble. We are very keen to keep up with the news of our musical Old Boys. Jamie Phillips’ success as Assistant conductor of the Hallé Orchestra has led to him being appointed Associate conductor for the 2015/6 season. Ross Garrod and Ed Beesley continue to thrive as professional percussionists, and their Percussion Duo ‘Cymbiotic’ recently performed at The Highbury. For those with an interest in our musical Old Boys, we plan to put further details, pictures and links on the CHB Alumni website. I have also had news that Joss Brookes who studied at the Royal Northern College of Music after leaving Camp Hill, will be playing with the CBSO in their televised concert at The Proms on Sunday 19 July. SFP
Camp Hill Schools Primary Schools Conference On Polling Day, 7 May, we welcomed teachers from schools all over the city to the Camp Hill site to provide information and support in helping higher ability students and access to schools within the Foundation. Fourteen teachers from nine different schools were able to attend, some of whom have worked closely with our schools before and others who are new and seeking to forge closer links. The day started with a briefing about the role of Widening Access within the King Edward's Foundation and the process of familiarisation. This was followed by presentations about our online provision through FROG and the opportunities for environmental science learning through the new outdoor classroom and pond area on the Camp Hill site.
The day was completed in meeting Year 7 pupils from both Camp Hill Boys and Girls who were able to display the range of work and activities that they had been involved in across subject areas, our guests were able to question the pupils on the transition to secondary school and what they enjoy about their education. It was a successful first conference and feedback from the delegates was extremely positive, particularly opportunities to meet together and share good practice and to take away ideas which can be implemented in the classroom. We hope to repeat the event in the following school year. Primary Schools Maths Team Tournament On 15 April, 12 teams of four students from seven different schools across the city converged on the main hall at Camp Hill Boys to take part in a team tournament organised by the UK Maths Trust. It is a complement to the individual challenges which take place in the autumn term. The tournament allowed students to show off their mathematical flexibility through a series of challenges which required speed, accuracy and teamwork. The first round was a group round in which teams had to decide on strategies of how to answer the questions - work on them together or split them up - in order to get the most points. This was followed by a speed round in which teams would struggle to get all the questions done and, finally, a relay round where pupils had to run around to pick up new clues once they had answered the questions. In what proved to be a hectic and enjoyable afternoon, Hillstone Primary and Severne Team A emerged as the joint winners. Congratulations to them and I hope they can come and defend their crown next year.
GNH
As part of the Foundation’s Widening Access programme, we were offered the wonderful opportunity of hosting the author of the Horrible Science series, Nick Arnold. Pupils from local primary schools were invited to come and join our year 7s for a madcap, yet informative presentation. Pupils were invited onstage to take part in Nick’s experiments and were rewarded for their bravery with a unique badge. Nick stayed around for hours afterwards to sign copies of his books and answer individual questions from the children. We all left the presentation energised and enthused by Nick and we hope to have him back at Camp Hill Boys in the near future. AG
Due to the popularity of the award in the school the library will now run a year round comic book club. Richard Parkinson and Dan Wilkins are also hoping to bring together Camp Hill Boys of all ages who love comics, are good at drawing and or writing to create their own graphic novel. Excelsior! AG
Beaufort The Beaufort boys have had an enjoyable final term of the year, although results within the House Championship haven’t always gone the way they will have liked. In the Tennis competition some good performances from the Seniors (Tim Naylor and James Ternent) and the juniors (Madhav Manoj and Aadam Zafar) put Beaufort in a very strong position. In the intermediate event Henry Belai and Garen Boora (who was selected for the team at the 11th hour following a promise that he would guide the House to Tennis glory) unfortunately lost all of their matches leaving Beaufort in 3rd place overall in the Tennis Championship. The cricket saw some fantastic performances, but very narrow losses in key matches again cost the House. The year 8s were brilliant in their competition with Vignesh Venkat, Sam Hope, Ryan Malhi, Aadam Zafar and Madhav Manoj all inspirational as they cruised to three victories. The seniors unfortunately couldn’t manage a win, whereas the intermediates and juniors did win one match each, but both came agonisingly close to a second victory which would have been of great importance. Awais Akram performed well for the intermediate team, whereas Amar Jandu, Hamzah Iqbal and Josh Malhi were key players for the year 7s. The overall standings saw Beaufort in 4th place, just two points (one win) behind 2nd place). The final event of the year was Sports Day. The year 7s and year 12s both won their age group categories after some exceptional performances. The year 7s in particular stormed to victory after winning 9 different events and setting the best score of the day for any one year group. Richard Amoshe and Ross Evans shared the year 7 Victor Ludorum, whereas Wesley Blackhurst won this trophy in Year 12. Unfortunately the year 8, 9 and 10 teams couldn’t quite live up to these high standards and again Beaufort finished in fourth place in the overall Athletics standards. However the boys gave their all and can be commended for their efforts on the day. Well done to all of the boys who have represented the House over the past couple of years, it has been a pleasure to see your pride, passion and enthusiasm in representing Beaufort and I will certainly look back fondly on my time as Housemaster. Good luck to Mr O’ Malley next year as he takes on the role and looks to lead Beaufort back to glory! TMS
Things Can Only Get Better. This was the anthem that powered Labour to their 1997 landslide victory. The song was, in part, performed by Professor Brian Cox as part of the band D:Ream who has since gone on to better and more noble things, usually involving celestial bodies and a BBC film crew. So would Howard finish this disappointing year spiraling further toward a black hole (no, I do not mean the Sixth Form Common Room) or end the year with a Champagne Supernova performance? Having only won the Quiz and Chess thus far in 2014-15, it would always be a challenge to stay in the slipstream of the other houses, but our ambitions were still galactic. The term started disappointingly with dwarf planet performances in the table tennis and senior tennis, the cricket fared better but they were to be disappointed in coming up against Seymour firing on all rocket boosters. The exam hiatus gave us time to regather our thoughts and move towards the gas giant status we were capable of. First evidence of this came in the athletics standards where impressive results put us in prime position, yet still with others in our gravitational pull, experiences of Sports Days past have been very good at bringing our stellar ambitions back down to earth. Good performances in the intermediate and junior tennis (thanks to the star performers Chris Marshall, Danny Blyth, Sai Potluri and Luke Hemmings) saw us win both sections to finish a creditable second overall. In the cricket, all sides contributed well, especially in Year 7 where we finished as joint winners, however Beaufort provided a red spot on our performance in Year 8 resulting in us finishing joint second overall. This left sports day as the potential saviour of our universal standing. The afternoon started badly and we slipped down the rankings behind Tudor and Seymour, however committed efforts and strong performances both in the track and field resulted in the sustained acquisition of points towards the ultimate total. We were never able to run rings around our rivals but the relays summed up our efforts and we finished second in each of the five orbits and won the Relay Trophy. With this cosmic performance we won sports day for the first time in (what seems like) 13.7 billion years. Huge thanks to all who have kept the fabric of space-time together for Howard in what has been a really busy term, especially to Oliver Paulin, our VB Winner in Year 13 for House commitment and performance over the years, and to Connor Burns our captain. Well done to Satnam Ajimal who has been elected as the new Howard House Captain and many thanks to Alex Lane, Will Houlden and Kingsley Bates who also stood for the position and will be capable and inspirational supporters for all parts of Howard over the coming terms. So… things did get better and as we drift past Pluto and out beyond the mysteries of the Kuiper belt, we venture forth to boldly go where no house has gone before. 
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