Scary Guy visits the College - Ivybridge Community College

Issue 60
Autumn 2012
Scary Guy visits the College
Featured Inside…….
Inspirational visit from Rower ........................p 6
Jacob involved in Youth Project.................... p 9
Girls into Mathematics ...................................p11
European Day of Languages........................ p13
Free Fall....................................................... p18
Calstock Jazz and Blues Festival................. p23
Dentistry at Plymouth University.................... p31
Sailing Club.................................................. p35
Rosie the Guide Dog.................................... p40
Fun Run for Katie Lou....................................p40
Ivybridge Community College is proud to have hosted a recent visit of Scary Guy
who, through his motivational talks and campaign to eliminate prejudice and bullying
in schools, has become a Nobel Peace Prize nominee. His ‘unusual’ appearance is
at the heart of his humanitarian message; it allows him to cross the boundaries of age
and race and his message has certainly been popular with the students!
Scary Guy’s philosophy is that ‘if someone calls you a ‘rotten word’ it’s their problem
and not yours and you should choose to not accept what they say. He has actively
challenged the students to not use a ‘rotten
word’ about anybody for seven days and seven
nights. We will be following up his talk in
lessons to see how well the challenge has been
met.
Despite the serious nature of his worldwide
mission, Scary relies heavily on humour; in fact
he fully believes that humour is the best way to
eliminate hate in our world. It is this humour that
has been the vehicle for delivering his
anti-bullying message at the College.
Turn over to read more about Scary Guy’s talks.
Opportunity
Endeavour
Achievement
Excellence
College News
Scary: The New Face of Love
All students have now been trained in three steps
to encourage a change in behaviour and attitude
towards the use of hateful words in our society
today.
Firstly, an awareness that we have a global issue
concerned with the use of hateful words.
Secondly, the concept of words as energy:
learning to process everything and not
ignore anything. Lastly, Love and Acceptance: believing that all human beings
deserve your love and learning the tools to deal with hateful situations.
The programme is designed to ensure that students not only think about the way
that they treat others, but enable them to deal with hateful words or comments
directed at them.
Ryan Goes from Strength to Strength
In November, Ryan Baugh in Year 11 competed in the South West and Central
Weightlifting Championships held in Leamington Spa.
He demonstrated further physical development by surpassing (yet again) his previous
best lifts. He Snatched 82, 85, 88 (24g improvement), achieving a new personal best
total of 197kg.
He gained first place and has now returned to the graft of training to prepare for the
Tri-Nations. This is an international scheduled for February 2013, which will see Ryan
represent England against Sweden and Norway and it will be held in Sweden.
Back in October Ryan attended the British U18 Weightlifting Championships held in
Bristol. He has moved up a weight category to 69kg (weighing in at just 64.4kg). His
previous best lifts were 85kg Snatch and 105kg Clean and Jerk. He lifted 80, 83, 86 (a
new PB). Clean and Jerked 103, missed 107 then got a 107kg (a new PB). A Personal
Best total of 193 placed Ryan First. He was the youngest in the Competition by at least two years and achieved some
inspiring lifting.
Alton Towers
By Joseph Riou and Oliver Hannaford, Year 12
In October, three minibuses full of budding young scientists set off bound for Alton Towers,
where they would spend a day studying the physics and engineering behind all modern
theme park rides. Despite an early 4.00am wake up, one could do nothing but be in awe of
the enthusiastic teens boarding their allocated buses. Indeed, the long journey was not to
be void of trouble as the bladder capacities of many-an-excited-physicist were tested over
the five hours travelling.
Once there, the large group split up into their very own ‘research teams’. In these teams
they could more easily discover the wonders of modern physics that are ‘roller coasters’.
The day was thoroughly enjoyed by all, who not only had fun on the rides but really
grasped the educational undertones of the trip. The day was made complete with a night’s
stay in a nearby youth hostel where the physics discussions continued.
The trip home provided much needed time to catch up on missed sleep and who knows, some may have been
dreaming about Dr. Stephen Hawking or space-time?
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College Events
Careers Evening
By Mrs C Atkinson
The College held its annual Careers Event in October. With two halls
packed with exhibitors stands, students were able to speak to University
and local College advisors, as well as people from a wide range of
occupations including Architecture, Law, Fire and Rescue, Armed Forces,
Veterinary, Police and Accounting.
With an excellent number attending the exhibitors were
kept busy and were pleased with the level of interest
and range of questions asked by the students from
Years 9-13.
Information booklets and Prospectus available were
soon snapped up and hopefully students took away lots
of new ideas about their future careers.
Annie the Musical
By Olivia Smith, Year 11
In July students throughout the College who auditioned for the
school production ‘Annie’ way back at the beginning of this
school year finally got to perform our take on this classic
production.
The show was a sell-out for every performance and the
atmosphere was electric both in the audience and back stage.
This was made possible by the hardworking staff and the
excellent, ever professional cast which included students from
Years 13 to our Primary Performing Arts Centre.
‘Annie’ was an unforgettable experience for both the audiences,
who clearly enjoyed every performance due to the standing
ovations the cast and not forgetting our furry little friends received every evening. But, also because of the amazing
cast that bonded so much throughout the six months of rehearsals. Many stated that ‘Annie’ was possibly one of the
best productions the College has ever seen.
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College News
Exceptional Results again at the College
Whilst the College is proud and recognises the achievement of all of our
students, the exceptional performance of the students below merit special
mention: Elizabeth Bone 3A* in Maths, Physics and Biology, studying
Science at University College, London University. Mike Davis 3 A* in
Maths, Physics and Chemistry studying English at Bristol University.
Kate Bowern 3 A studying Science at Exeter, Bill Donaldson 2A* and an A
studying Maths at Bristol, James Evans A* and 2 A studying English at
Bath, Matthew Hodgson 3 A studying Law at Cardiff, Rosie Jewell 2 A* and
an A studying MFL at Cambridge, Neil Lancaster 2 A, an A and a B
studying Economics at Bath, Thomas Tilbury A*, 3 A studying Physics at Oxford, Sam Trigg A* and 3 A studying
Chemistry at Oxford and Ben Woodyear 2 A* and an A studying Chemical Eng at University College, London University.
While at GCSE Lily Battershill (12 A*), Harriet Wright (12 A*), Lauren Davis
(11 A*, 1 A), Bradley Nicholls (8 A*, 3 A), Zoe Roughley (8A*, 3 A), Eliza Tilbury
(8 A*, 4 A), Lauren Medland (7 A*, 5 A), Tim Ricketts (7 A*, 2 A), Joseph Riou
(7 A*, 5 A), Megan Hilling (6 A*, 4 A), Peter Mogridge (6 A*, 4 A), Mark Hall
(5 A*, 5 A), Amber Murphy (5 A*, 6 A), James Rowe (5 A*, 7 A), Alice Boydell
(4 A*, 6 A), Steven Crimp (4 A*, 7 A), Anna Hudson (4 A*, 8 A), Max Stacey
(4 A*, 7 A), Danny Williams (4 A*, 6 A), Sarah Williams (4 A*, 6 A),
Ellen Andreassen (3 A*, 8 A), Anna Corwood (2 A*, 9 A), Emily Doe (2 A*, 8 A),
Miranda Hardacre (3 A*, 7 A), Elinor Hirst (3 A*, 7 A), Ellie Moffatt ( 2A*, 8 A),
Marcus Richards (2 A*, 8 A) and another student achieved 5 A*, 6 A).
May we pass on to all those students who have now left us our congratulations and best wishes for the future, which we
hope will be as productive as their time at the College.
PE Teacher gains Master of
Education
PE Teacher and Year 7 Assistant Team Leader
Sharon Kee has recently gained a Master Degree.
Here is her personal insight.
The writing of the Masters took a total of
three years but the stimulus was
formulated when I was nine which is
when I became passionate about
gymnastics. In my first Primary School I
recall, at break times, handstands
against the wall, competitions and cart
wheeling around the field, but I cannot
recall any gymnastic lessons or a real
interest for the sport. When I moved to a
new Primary School I was encouraged to
be part of a Summer fete gymnastics
display and to visit a local Gym Club. I
fondly remember the Primary School
Teacher, Mrs Smith as she started my enthusiasm for
gymnastics. At the age of fourteen I gained a
Gymnastics coaching qualification and this inspired
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me to become a PE Teacher. Although secondary
trained I was fortunate, when Ivybridge Community
College achieved Sports College status, to teach primary
children and then to assist primary Teachers with their
professional development. For numerous reasons there
are many primary teachers who struggle to teach
gymnastics to a high quality and my
research as part of the Post Graduate
Certificate, Diploma and the Dissertation
examined and highlighted the issues
primary School Teachers have regarding
teaching gymnastics, the resources
available to aide their teaching and the
creation of my own resource and the impact
this has had for local teachers and children.
I cannot say it was easy; many a night
spent burning the midnight oil and many a
missed occasion to meet friends and family,
I am glad though that I persevered and
have achieved a highly respected
qualification. I hope to continue to assist
primary school Teachers and young people with
gymnastics; after all I gained a lot from it!
College News
My Olympic Adventure
By Miss H Woodgate
When I first heard that volunteers would be needed for the
London 2012 Olympic Games, I jumped at the chance.
Having a lot of experience in organising and running horse
competitions, I knew this was the area I would apply to.
A lengthy application process and interview later, I was in!
Everything went quiet for what seemed like ages, but then I
had a busy couple of months with many trips up and down
to London to attend training and venue familiarisation and
collecting my uniform.
Then, the time finally arrived for me to head off to the
Capital. I was camping to keep costs down and was hoping for good weather. I
was to be working for a week in the Sports Information Office at Greenwich Park,
where the Equestrian events were taking place. The job itself was fairly
straightforward and a bit mundane, but I got to meet riders and their teams from
countries around the world.
We were allowed to go out into the park during our breaks and I was able to get into the main arena to watch some of
the competition taking place. For one of my shifts I was stationed at the Athlete’s Village, which was an amazing place
to explore, and I met so many athletes. I was also lucky enough to have tickets to see the Beach Volleyball and Fencing
and I’m glad I got to see the Games from both sides.
The whole experience was an incredible one – over far too quickly. My fellow Gamesmakers were an amazing bunch of
people and London did a fabulous job of organising everything from transport to communications and everything in
between. Although it was tiring and expensive, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world and I can now say ‘I made the
games!’
Event goes off with Military Precision
Mrs Sophie Kerslake (featured on the front row on the left) took part in the gruelling assault course in October at the
Marines Assault Course, Woodbury Common, with the Military Wives to raise money for Devon Air Ambulance and a
marine charity to support injured soldiers and helped raise £1000. Sophie is a military wife and a member of the famous
choir.
Military Wives is a British choir group formed of
wives and girlfriends of British Military personnel
and are located around the country. The first
group was formed at RMB Chivenor as a result of
the BBC television programme The Choir,
featuring choirmaster Gareth Malone. Following
the success of this first group Malone, as part of
the series, formed another choir at the Royal
Citadel, Plymouth. Following the broadcast of the
series and the release of the single Wherever You
Are, which reached number one in the UK
Christmas charts in December 2011, three more
choirs were added at CTCRM, Lympstone, HMNB
Portsmouth and at Catterick Garrison. These
additional three groups contributed to the album
In My Dreams under the name Military Wives. Sophie is singing on the latest CD, Stronger Together.
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College Events
Inspirational visit from Pacific and Atlantic
Ocean rower
In October students in Years 7 and 8 and some in the Tertiary Sector were delighted
to listen to an inspirational visit from Pacific and Atlantic Ocean rower Mick Dawson.
He had the Year 8 students spellbound as he recounted his dramatic voyage during
their assembly.
Mick Dawson, an ex Royal Marine
and Falklands veteran along with his
rowing partner, Chris Martin risked
their lives over and over again to be
the first men to row across the
Pacific Ocean. Mick described the
hurricanes, life-threatening electrical
storms with waves of over 50 feet,
near starvation plus battling against a fire that very nearly killed them. He
described his epic adventure from Japan to San Francisco in vivid and aweinspiring detail.
Crammed into their state of the art 23ft long and 6ft wide craft named
Bojangles, they began their adventure in Choshi, Japan and finished under
the Golden Gate, San Francisco. A journey of over 4,500 miles completed
in a staggering 189 day, 10 hours and 39 minutes.
Mick’s presentation was received to great applause by both students and
teachers who would have continued to ask questions about the voyage
all day. Mick addressed several more classes who were equally awe
struck. Students responded with excellent questions about the nature
and mechanics of the voyage with the most asked questions including
the supply of food and water, wild life and ‘How do you go the toilet?’.
The response was ‘bucket and chuck it’.
During his time at sea there was no communication for four months and
during his time in the Pacific he saw the most wonderful wildlife, which he
filmed. On one attempt across the Pacific Ocean he described vividly how he had to abandon ship as the extreme
weather had resulted in 60 litres of water coming through the hatch and therefore the self rolling boat remained static.
He then described his experience of having to abandon the boat, and having to
deliberately open the cabin door to allow the boat to flood even more quickly, so
that he could disembark in a measured manner, but was subsequently faced
with darkness, surrounded by the Pacific Ocean. Eventually, a cargo ship
called the Philadelphia was redirected by the Coastguard off Alaska to rescue
him. Twice the large container ship attempted to stop to rescue him, with the
second attempt made so that he was within 15 – 20 metres of the ship, but the
ship was travelling too fast.
In his presentation, Mick Dawson provided a number of memorable statements.
‘Setbacks can turn into success’. When his lifeboat was overturned by the ship
that had rescued him and consequently he lost all his film equipment ‘the worst
day of my life ended in the best day of my life’, ‘If you concentrate there is no
way you cannot fulfil your dreams’, ‘the place can kill you if you get it wrong’.
Everyone certainly agreed that Mick Dawson had rowed ‘the toughest Ocean in
the World’ and had successfully conquered ‘the Everest of rowing’.
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College Events
Year 7 Club Fair
At the beginning of the term the College held its Year 7 Club Fair organised by Mr Cahill, Year 7 Team Leader. There
were plenty of eager students ready to sign up to the clubs on offer including Football, Badminton, Art Design and
Photography, Science, Food, Performing Arts, Music and Craft Making Club, to name but a few.
Lifeboat Tour Devonport
Dockyard
material and how they themselves had come to have
their jobs and the qualifications they needed.
After lunch and a sticky bun treat, students’ work was
scored on design, teamwork, craftsmanship, material
efficiency, aesthetics and time management.
All the students were actively engaged, supported by
the Stem Ambassadors who enthused and guided
students with designing, measuring and mathematics
of the designs. During the judging, students supported
each other and the excitement as weights were tested,
made the room fall to silence as they waited in
suspension! Students shared mutual respect as each
group demonstrated their products. Students left the
Dockyard feeling exhilarated and positive.
As part of our Raising Aspirations Project, funded by
Devon Learning and Development Partnership, we
took a group of thirty-five students to Devonport
Dockyard. Our day began with a tour of the three mile
long site, including seeing HMS Ocean, Scott and
Albion, as well as several submarines, landing craft
and lifeboats. Our two groups then toured the landing
craft and lifeboat building areas. The engineers talked
to us about each stage of the building, the costs,
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College News
Teachers of the Future
By Mr S Underdown
The first ever Teachers For The Future Conference was held at the Flybe Academy
in September. There were 150 students representing fifteen different Devon
Secondary Schools and they spent the afternoon investigating the qualities
necessary to be a Teacher. The Conference was organised and run by the South
West Teaching School Alliance, of which Ivybridge is a lead partner, for those
school students who have expressed an interest in teaching as a possible future
career.
Students were engaged in a number of activities designed to help them understand
the skills of a teacher and whether it might be a good career choice for them. They listened to a local Head Teacher
talking about what motivates him in his role, and also the satisfaction and enjoyment that he gains from his job. There
were sixteen teachers from a range of schools that spoke candidly about their roles and what teaching means to them in
a hot seating environment. Students had the opportunity to fire questions at the teachers and to think carefully about
whether teaching is for them. The group of Year 13 students from Ivybridge who attended the Conference gained much
from it and found it to be both informative and enjoyable. Hopefully some of them will go on to be teachers after
completing their first degrees.
The New Tertiary Block is Open
At the end of last term,
the College was
delighted to welcome
Tim Loughton MP,
Parliamentary UnderSecretary of State for
Children and Families
to formally open the
new one million pound
teaching
accommodation,
named the
Neil Maythorne
Building. Also, present
was Mrs Irene Maythorne, and
Dr L and Mr M Moyes.
The building is the fruition of a bid
made by the College to the
Department of Education in
Wear it Pink!
In October the College held
a ‘Wear it Pink’ Day to raise
money for the Breast Cancer
Campaign. Both students
and staff took part in the
event and raised £1235.85.
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June 2011, with a focus on extending our already
outstanding facilities and
providing first class
academic resources for
our students, especially
with regard to the
provision for our growing
number of Tertiary
students. Therefore,
providing a learning
environment suitable for
the Twenty First Century.
College News
‘How to be an Amazing Teacher’
At the beginning of October at the start of National Book Week, teaching staff at
the College undertook training in their Teaching and Learning Forum with
educational consultant and author, Caroline Bentley-Davies.
Her book entitled ‘How to be an Amazing Teacher’ was used as a springboard for
discussion regarding Outstanding Teaching and Learning. In addition, Subject
Team Leaders at the College were looking at what makes an outstanding Head of
Department. This training session is part of an ongoing investment into the training of all teachers to help to develop,
maintain and enhance outstanding Teaching and Learning at the College.
Year 8 involved in Youth Project
Jacob Chudley in Year 8 has been involved in a project to develop a website for young people in the
South Hams.
The website will provide a forum for young people to get connected and get advice. There will be
information about activities and events and a facility for young people to make their voices heard
about issues that affect them through online polls.
Jacob spent half a day of his half term holiday at Follaton House working with young people from Totnes, Youth
Workers and a team of Web Designers to develop the site. He said ‘I got involved in the project through the Ivybridge
Youth Centre by the Leisure Centre. There are more opportunities like this coming up including a session to help
Councillors, who are usually older people, learn about how to use Facebook and Twitter. It would be good to have
more young people involved’. The Youth Centre is open to all young people with sessions for different age groups. If
you’d like to know more you could talk to Jacob.
Year 13 Art Students’
Organise Stowford
Primary School Arts Day
In September, twelve Year 13 Art students
organised and worked with students from
Years 3 to 5 at Stowford
Primary School to make
three large collages for
permanent display in the
cloakrooms. The collages
depicted the three school
terms: Spring, Summer
and Autumn.
‘It was a fantastic opportunity for us to work with
younger children, to gain leadership experience,
improve our communication skills, all of
which will be very useful in the future. The
day at Stowford was great fun and, by the
end, very tiring!’ Ella Morley Trapnell,
Year 13 Artist.
Mrs Tipping, Headteacher at Stowford
Primary School said
‘Ivybridge College students
came to Stowford with great
enthusiasm and motivation.
Our young pupils had an
enjoyable day and the
atmosphere created was
inspiring and purposeful. We are very pleased with the
three new artworks on display to brighten up our
cloakrooms. Well done Year 13 Artists!’
ALUMNI - What are they doing now?
Natalie Hingston (2006 Alumni)
Natalie gained a 2:1 in Music and Study of Religion at Bath Spa University in June 2009. She now
works for an International Conservation Charity, and is also studying for an MA in Ethnomusicology
at Goldsmiths, University of London, with a hope of continuing this to PhD level. She still performs in
orchestras, jazz groups and other music projects.
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Eco Design/Maths
Autumn Developments
By Mr G Price
Eco Design students have, despite the
poor summer weather, had successes
in growing and selling vegetables. A
recent sale managed by the students
included a huge variety of produce
from the common place onions and
cucumbers to the more exotic Indian
gherkins.
The students have been working hard
on designs for the new Eco Design
garden next to the polytunnel, and
many of their ideas will be incorporated
into the new garden which will
develop over the next few years.
As well as horticulture, teamwork and
enterprise skills, the Eco Design
curriculum continues to develop its
craft and design element.
To this end, the College has recently
purchased a custom made pole lathe
which will be used by the students to
turn mainly green hard woods in to
handicraft products using their own
foot power!
Blooming Good Maths
By Mr E Gore, Maths Deputy Team Leader
Have you ever thought of combining gardening with
Maths? Well that’s just what local Year 6 students
did in June when they entered the College Maths
Department’s Garden Design Competition. The
students had to design and draw their own dream
garden containing plants, furniture, water, paths,
football pitches and plenty more features all
supplied with prices. And, of course, their garden
had to come in under a strict budget of £4000, with
full workings out written on the reverse of their
design.
The imagination, creativity and number work the
Year 6 showed was deeply impressive, so when they joined College as new Year 7 students in September, the Maths
Department had a hard time choosing a winner from more than 200 designs! In fact, we had to enlist some help from
the students. Each of the sixteen Year 7 classes chose their class favourite, then it was down to the Maths staff to
carefully choose a winner and two runners-up.
In a tense assembly, the winner of the grand prize of a £10 gift voucher, kindly donated by Endsleigh Garden Centre,
was announced as Molly Grenfell, formerly of Yealmpton Primary. The runners-up were Harry Youngs of Ermington
Primary and Molly Edmonds of Woodlands Park. All sixteen winners received their choice of a small plant to take home
as a start for their own gardens!
The other class winners were as follows:
Emily Macmillan - Ugborough Primary, Hannah Llewellin - South Brent Primary, Jack Langford - South Brent Primary,
Ann Barron-Hastings - Ugborough Primary, Alicia Hannaford - Newton Ferrers Primary, Bethany Cook - The Erme
Primary, Zac Smith - Manor Primary, Anna McClement - Ugborough Primary, Katy Hamilton-Fox - Woodlands Park
Primary, Ellie Isaac - The Erme Primary, Taylor Wynn - Ermington Primary, Harvey Tomlinson - Manor Primary, and
Zara Anthony-Booth - Manor Primary.
Congratulations to all who took part from the Maths Department and we look forward to seeing if current Year 6 pupils
can better the quality shown this year.
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Maths
how many degrees the temperature had risen
each decade.
Girls into Mathematics
By Mr S Hastings
Back in June Mr Hastings and Mrs Russell took
fifteen Year 9 girls to Exeter University for the
Girls into Mathematics Day run by Devon
Education Business Partnership. The aim of
the day was to show how many careers involve the
use of Maths, and how important it is to have good
maths skills in a wide range of jobs.
Three female employers held hour long seminars in
which they explained what their jobs entailed and why
they enjoyed their chosen profession. The sessions
involved the students being asked to do some maths
similar to that done by the professionals.
Session One was held by the Met Office. Students
looked at the, Global Central England and Devon,
average temperatures since 1950. This was done by
arranging sticks in date order on graph paper. They
then had to say whether there were any patterns and
Primary Mathematics Fete
Session Two was by a Pharmacist from Torbay
Hospital. She explained what one day in her
typical week was like. We were surprised to
discover that she didn’t spend all her time putting
pills into bottles but, in fact, spent a lot of time on the
wards discussing drugs with doctors and nursing staff.
The girls had to work out the correct dosage of a
particular drug and then decide which drug was the
cheapest and best to buy.
Session Three involved some heavy maths from a Civil
Engineer. They had to work out soil infiltration rates of a
soakaway of a certain size. This involved using lots of
equations and formulae.
The day ended with the student ambassadors giving us a
short talk on University life. We found out about halls of
residence, what would happen if you didn’t attend
lectures and about the social side of going to University.
By Mr T Rainbow
In July, forty Year 5 and 6 students came to the College to take part in the 2012 Primary Mathematics Fete. The day
consisted of a range of game playing opportunities combined with learning about the mathematics behind the games.
The students then had to design their own fete game using a combination of cards,
dice and coins. They needed to decide carefully on how
much they were going to charge and what they could
afford to offer as prize money. A number of Year 12
students helped the teams design their games and gave
them support when working out the probability
theory behind the games. The Year 12 students then had
to judge the games - the winning team gaining more
'money' than the others for the afternoon.
In the afternoon, students were given the
chance to play each
others' games with 'money'
they had gained from the
morning's judging session.
A frenetic afternoon's
game playing ensued,
some of the games
proving dangerously
addictive for some students. The runaway winners on the day were
the team from Diptford Primary School, who amassed an amazing
£17.60 (in counters!). For the second year in a row, Modbury School
came a close second.
A great day was had by all.
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Gifted and Talented/Languages
It’s Alright to be Bright 2012
It’s Alright to be Bright 2012 is a campaign that aims to
celebrate the many gifts and talents of all students,
recognising their learning potential and raising their
aspirations through activities which stretch and challenge
them.
There are four exciting, engaging and fun cross curricular
activities that are differentiated so that all students can
enjoy them.
In particular though, the activities are designed to
encourage higher order thinking skills and to capture the
interest of those students who have gifts and talents that
could be hidden.
The campaign launched in October in the Maythorne
Block. Thirty students from across the College attended the meeting and moved in groups on a challenge of their
choice. Students presented their ideas to each other at the end of November and prizes were awarded for each
category/Year Group.
Schwarzheide August 2012
By Anna Gower, Year 13
A recipe for the perfect holiday;
sunshine, good food and good
company. This year I was fortunate
enough to be selected to go on the
UK-German Connection Pupils
Course to Schwarzheide.
I met with eleven other British
people for the first time in Café Nero
in Terminal 5 at Heathrow just as
we were about to depart on our
adventure. We were to spend two
weeks of our summer holidays living
with a German
exchange
partner and
attending their
school, all of
which was to be
done with no
English at all! In
the school we
had German
language
lessons with our
British teacher,
Ruth, and had German culture lessons with our
German teacher, Frau Schramm.
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The trip was packed with activities which included
visiting Dresden, Spreewald and meeting the Mayor!
Schwarzheide 2012 was
one of the best
experiences of my life
because I could spend so
much time speaking a
language I love with other
students who are also
passionate about
Germany.
I would encourage all
other budding German
students to investigate
the UKGerman
Connection
website for
opportunities
for
exchanges
and for all
other linguists
to take
advantage of
any available
chances!
Languages
Anna Gower: UK-German Youth Ambassador
Anna Gower, Year 13, has been selected to the prestigious post of UK-German Youth
Ambassador for 2012-2013. This is a real achievement for Anna, as there was a high number
of good applications, and a limited number of places. The network comprises of only fifty
students, twenty-five from the UK and twenty-five from Germany.
During her stint as Youth Ambassador, Anna will take part in various activities organised by
the UK-German Connection and attend two meetings of the Council, with the first meeting held
in October in London. This work focused on promoting understanding and awareness of each
other’s country, culture and language, something that Anna is fully committed to doing.
German Comenius
Exchange
A Sunday in September saw twenty-two
students and two teachers arrive from
Bochum in Germany for a ten day visit to
Ivybridge. The students were part of the
Comenius Project which links two
schools in Europe together, through
internet contact and foreign
exchanges. The German
students stayed with their
partners for the exchange and
this will be reciprocated next
July when the Ivybridge
students visit Heinrich von
Kleist Schule in Bochum. The
German students shadowed
their hosts to various classes during their time in College
and also enjoyed three trips out of
College. This included an exciting
days caving near Buckfastleigh, a trip
to the Eden Project and a walk along
the Plym Valley.
The visit culminated in a farewell
party at the Ivybridge Rugby Club,
where fun was had playing football
and a very competitive game of
‘musical chairs’! Food was generously supplied
by parents who put on a superb feast for them all.
The visit was well received by all and some long
lasting friendships have been forged and
language and cultural understanding improved
which is what the Comenius Project hopes to
inspire.
European Day of Languages
In September the College held the European Day of Languages. This day has
been celebrated every September since 2001, and schools across Europe
celebrate this day by taking part in special activities around Languages. At the
College, we started the day by giving ‘Greetings’ in Languages other than
English and in our Language classes in an alternative Language to the one
being learnt.
At lunch time there were various
Winners of the Treasure Hunt
activities to take part in, eg watching a Foreign
Language film, a Russian taster, Manga Club in the LRC and the Year 7
Treasure Hunt.
The Canteen joined in the fun of the day with a very tasty European Menu. The
meals of the day included Beef Bourguignon from France, Potato and Ham Tortilla from Spain
and either Spinach, Cheese and Walnut Pie or Bratwurst Hot Dog from Germany. This was
followed by equally tasty desserts, the famous Tarte aux Pommes from France and Black
Forest Gateau from Germany. All went down very well indeed!
This year we were also lucky to have with us a group of German students on a Foreign
Exchange with twenty-two of our Year 10 students. The German visitors went to various classes to give short lessons in
German and to talk about their life in Germany. All in all a very successful day for 2012.
13
Home Economics
Rotary Club Competition
By Mrs S Scanlon
If you happened to walk past the Catering Department during October
you may have thought you were walking past a five star restaurant with
the delicious smells wafting into the corridors. On closer inspection you
will have seen the most spectacular round of the Rotary Young Chef of
the Year 2012.
Budding chefs from all Year Groups were invited to show off their
culinary skills and produce a healthy two course meal for two people.
The event was sponsored by Ivybridge Rotary Club and Rodney
McBean (President), Brian Carlyon and Anne Jenkins, were both
generous with their time and the prizes provided, including certificates,
chocolate and trophies.
Kyle Thomas receiving his award, with his
winning menu below
We were delighted to have Ian Webber (Head Chef at the
famous Gidleigh Park Hotel) as the judge. Ian was amazed
at the calm atmosphere throughout the competition and the
independent working shown by the ten finalist.
The students represented all years throughout the College
and the President of the Rotary Club said that all the
students were winners and that it was a difficult decision to
put only two students through to the next round.
Kyle Thomas (Year 10) gained first place and Charlotte Croudace (Year 8) was the
runner up. They will now both go through to the regional competition to be held at
South Dartmoor College.
This was a double celebration as Ian Webber kindly officially opened the catering
room following months of refurbishment. The extra
space, facilities and state of the art equipment have
been a great success with both students and staff
alike.
Runner-up Charlotte Croudace
14
Art
Art and Photography Exhibition
The new Neil Maythorne Block held the Art and
Photography Exhibition back in July. Here are some of
the visitor comments:
‘Wow! What an amazing display of interesting, thoughtful
and beautiful artwork.’ Elizabeth Ahir from Shaugh Prior
Primary School
‘What an explosion of talent and ideas from these young
minds’ June Larcombe
‘Amazing display’ Treve Mitchell
‘Great show, lots of exciting work’ Nick, Gail & Ellie Johnson
‘I really enjoyed looking at your work thanks!!’ Matt Handley
Wonderful evening. Such talent’ Eve Lloyd
‘Some fertile minds at work here! Great imagination and insights. Future RA’s ? Who
Knows? Good exhibition’ Josie & Roger Prescott
‘Really enjoyed it, loved seeing everyone’s work!’ Bell family
Year 11 Ocean inspired Vessels
By Polly Rathbone 11KTY
For part of our GCSE Art St Ives unit, we decided to make ocean inspired ceramic vessels
made out of clay. This consisted of designing a piece which would be vase-shaped and have
links to the beach and sea, either figuratively or abstractly and colour given by painting on
coloured slip.
Amelia Hall
One of my classmates, George Martin, designed a pot as an
octopus with the legs as handles, however another classmate,
Thomas Normington
Amelia Hall, adapted the idea of using space to make it more
visually pleasing and made holes through her vase. We had to
design the pieces to be able to be formed around a cardboard tube so as to keep them
simple and improve them through the skills we have studied in our lessons. As well as this,
some more went for the abstract style, for example Thomas Normington based his around
bubbles and wave shapes. We all very much enjoyed making our vessels and look forward
to seeing them completely glazed and fired in the near future.
15
Art
GCSE Art and Photography
By Mr M Gregory
As part of Anti-Bullying week, students were asked to produce an A4
poster as homework. This could be an image for a billboard or album
cover using mixed media and showing anti bullying ideas: promoting
mutual respect, celebrating differences, freedom from fear, no worries,
everyone counts, feeling safe promoting the idea ‘We are better without
bullying'.
As you can see, we had many excellent results, showing intelligent ideas
and skilful use of materials. These were displayed during National AntiBullying Week celebrated at the College. The examples are by Rebecca Baines, Katherine Pearson Bunt,
John Stringer Martin, Emily Soper and Sarah Woodyear.
Ceramics Club
Key Stage 3 students who attend
Miss Doney’s Ceramics Club have been
busy making fantastic art work for a local
business. The Ivy Fish Bar, Ivybridge, have
requested a piece of work to be made to go
on display in their upstairs seating area.
Students started by making colourful
designs in wax resist and watercolour, and
then used clay modelling to create their fish which they have
decorated with interesting patterns and textures. Students applied slip
glazes in a range of colours and the work is now ready to be fired in the kiln. Once ready the fish will be on display at
the Ivy Fish Bar, for the public to view and appreciate the super effort made by the students. Members of the lunchtime
club have now moved on to creating large scale props for the College Gym and Dance Show.
Five Ivybridge Art Students Accepted to Beaford Arts Academy
2012-13! By Miss N Carew
Congratulations to the following Year 9 and 10 Art students who were successful in their application to attend the highly
acclaimed Beaford Academy for the next academic year. The Arts Academy will further develop skills and ideas at
weekend residentials throughout the year at a beautiful location in Beaford, Devon. We have the most number of
students ever attending from Ivybridge and the Art Department proudly wish our students all the best with this exciting
opportunity. We’ll hear all about their arty experience in the next issue!
Naomi Keenan and Anna Pursey Year 10, Georgia King and Summer Martin Year 9 and Rebecca Jarvis Year 8.
16
Art
PropArt Club
Students from Years 7-9 have been busy at the lunchtime Art Club making
masks for the forthcoming production of Alice in Wonderland with
Miss Carew! Students are very excited about seeing their designs and
creations on the stage soon!
Next up … making lots of exciting props for the Gym and Dance Show!
Yarner Wood
By Miss G Munday
A small group of Year 12 and 10 Art and Photography
students were invited up to Yarner
Wood on the outskirts of Bovey Tracey
to take part in workshops that marked
the 60th anniversary of this stunning
woodland becoming a National Nature
Reserve. The workshop was organised
by the Devon Guild of Craftsmen and
Natural England to celebrate the
unique diversity and history of the
mainly oak wood.
Twenty Ivybridge students formed
two groups to attend two different
workshops; Green Oak carving led
by sculptors Reece Ingram and
David Brampton-Greene, and a
Photography workshop with
photographer Simon Williams
and poet Andy Cunningham.
The wood carvers were at
work all day carving what will
become benches and trail
marker posts for the
woodland, and the
Photographers spent the
morning on a walk through
the woodland, stopping to
make images and consider
the heritage of the site and then
returning to document the carvers
hard at work. In the afternoon
Ms Munday led some
photogramming and blue print
workshops which used the available
natural resources to create diverse images. The work
completed on the day became part of an exhibition
running at the Devon Guild of Craftsmen, as well as
contributing to the student’s portfolios. We all had a
lovely day with a lot of great work produced.
Some Student responses:
Cushla McDonald - Photography Workshop
We started off with a walk in the peaceful Yarner Woods
with our cameras led by Photographer
Simon Williams and poet
Andy Cunningham. Here we connected
with our beautiful natural surroundings and
stopped to make some images with mirrors,
Simon’s simple but innovative idea, as well
as being inspired by the wood itself. This
was followed by Ms Munday’s workshop in
the woodland classroom where we used
natural elements of the woods to create
blueprints, solargrams and chemograms to
reflect the diversity of Yarner Wood.
Beatrice Roberts - Wood Carving Workshop
It was a lovely day in wonderful
surroundings. We began the day looking
at the industrial and natural history of
Yarner Wood to give us inspiration. We
then transferred our ideas into charcoal
compositions to show the depth which
would be created in the green oak
carvings. We had tuition on all the
woodcarving tools and techniques by
Reece and Dave (Guru Dave as we got
to calling him). We were then assigned
our positions and let loose on the wood.
Overall we had a beautiful day with very
impressive outcomes which will stand in
Yarner Wood for (hopefully) generations
to come.
Harriet Parker - Wood Carving Workshop
It was a lovely day in beautiful
surroundings. The workshop was run
by some pretty inspirational peopleReece Ingram and Dave Brampton Greene. After our
time there we were enlightened on carving, nature and
the meaning of life! We learnt to channel our energy into
working with the golden veins of the wood, it was as if you
could hear music as we carved.
17
English
Free Fall
By Nick Hawkins, English Department
For eight weeks English students have been experimenting with their
writing and, rather like Felix the free-faller, they have dropped out of the
sky and found themselves imprinted upon the page, with arms flapping
but feet securely back on the ground. One of their projects began in the
National Gallery (visit their website and find the inspiration); another from
reading Mark Twain’s essay on ‘The dangers of staying in bed’; yet
another from watching Herr Baumgartner (translated, tree gardener, or
arboriculturalist) do his 39 kilometre impersonation of Icarus. I hope you
like what you read…I do.
Nervous, goad
Expectation, deed
Trapped into my fate, free from humanity
Wishing for my life but risking death
Earth at my feet there are familiar faces
Tweeting their tweets,
Breaking the sound barrier, I will never believe it
Rising from the surface, Instructions transmit
I’m no longer in the atmosphere – I am awaiting here.
For the signal they send,
Intriguing my descent.
By Katie Mess
“I know the whole world is watching now. I wish they could see, what I could see,
sometimes you have to go up really high to realise how small you really are…
I’m going
Over.”
Rushing, flying, dropping, falling, plunging, toppling, heart-pumping
Moving, plummeting, deafening, dashing, dolloping, and slumping
A never ending whirlwind spin coming at me, at my body, in my face,
I feel so high, so crazy, breathing at a ridiculous pace
I feel so small, so tall, and so mighty
Just roaring through the sky like old Buzz Lighty.
Four minutes down it will all be over so I take in my greatest obsession
I appreciate the view and observe my mission
Up here everything is clear, fear is banished, and I am me
It is a dream - the sky from this height, how I wish they could see.
He hangs there up in the sky
Over one hundred and twenty seven thousand feet high
“Slide forward into the rest position
A voice appeared from a far location
After years of preparation
Felix is ready for historical creation
“Sometimes you have to be really high to appreciate how small you are”
He salutes and realises he is amongst the stars
He leans forward, falling to Earth at speed you can’t comprehend
Seven hundred and twenty five miles per hour by the end
His parachute deploys safely in time
He lands on the ground, this place is his shrine
He takes a bow and falls to his knees
Felix Baumgartner Freer than free.
By Edward Beardsmore
18
The ending is always the best part.
By Stephanie Hotchkiss
He was nervous he told us
With the world below you something has to
give
Why, how much higher could he be?
It was a sight he was astounded to see.
Taking his leave he let go
Falling to earth faster and faster
“My visor is fogging up” gods no
He was good at telling this story, awfully so
Building up the tension he was being ever
so slow.
“But do not fear”
The tension in the room rushing out the door
Everyone wanting, waiting to hear more
“You cannot fathom what I saw”
The cheering he heard made him smile
Looking down
Who knows how many miles
The earth becoming clearer
The press coming nearer
The ending is always the best part.
LRC/Design Technology
Paul Geraghty - Children’s Author
The Learning Resource Centre at the College was very pleased to have children’s
Author, Paul Geraghty in College to speak to students about his books. Paul is a
popular writer and illustrator for younger ages and our students had the opportunity to
listen and ask questions about his work.
Both BTEC Childcare and GCSE Child Development students are currently working on
designing children’s books and looking at language development so found the event
very informative and enjoyable.
Year 9 English students had an opportunity to read his books prior to his visit and had
plenty of questions for him about his life and work.
Design Technology
Exhibition
For a week in July the Design and
Technology Exhibition showcased the
talents of our outstanding Year 11, 12 &
13 students in the newly opened
Neil Maythorne building.
The exhibition entitled ‘Design Roots’ was
the theme with a new look monochrome
appearance. The VIP Opening Evening
was well attended by many special guests, students and
their parents. Refreshments were also served by a
selection of our Year 10 catering students.
19
Design Technology
Year 9 Product Design students visit the Eden Project
By Miss C Northey
As an integral part of the Year 9
GCSE Product Design module
based on Eco Design, students
visited the Eden Project in
September. The students were
engaged in focused teacher led
activities covering a variety of eco
design and sustainability issues
which have lead the young
learners towards some
particularly interesting project
work.
Design Technology Trip to London
As part of the Product Design experience at the College,
Year 12 students were recently given the opportunity to visit a
range of London’s key design attractions. These amazing
design focussed venues enabled our students to fuel their
imaginations in preparation for the development of the
Year 13 major projects.
OXO Tower
The iconic OXO Tower building overlooks the Thames and is home to
a unique community of design boutiques and studios, offering the
best in contemporary jewellery, lighting, homeware and fashion.
Design Museum
The Design Museum was established as a
showcase for excellence in design, with a
remit to examine both design and its contexts.
The Design Museum is one of the world’s
leading museums devoted to contemporary design in every form from furniture to graphics, and
architecture to industrial design.
Business Design Centre
The ‘New Designers’ Exhibition which is the UK’s most
important graduate exhibition is an event full of innovation
and fresh thinking. Over 3,500 of the most talented newly
graduated designers from across the nation came together
under one roof for the 27th edition of New Designers. The
exhibition included: Product & Industrial Design, Spatial
Design, Furniture Design and Visual Communications.
A long, tiring and fantastically stimulating day was had by all
and we very much look forward to returning to London in the
summer of 2013.
20
Human Science/History
Psychology Students visit to the Zoo
By Miss E Jenrick
In the summer term of the last academic year, thirty-nine AS Psychology students ventured to Paignton Zoo for the day
to observe animal behaviour, as well as to learn how zoo staff
use techniques such as operant conditioning to train animals.
A significant aspect of Psychology is research methods and
learning how to conduct experiments and observations.
Students had learnt the importance of behaviour categories
when conducting observations and to reinforce this and to start
the day, students were given an ‘animal observations book’.
The book contained behaviour categories for two observation
tasks on two very different animals…social primates and
elephants! Specific examples of behaviour categories the
students had to look for were fighting, grooming, mating and
playing.
Our students had to carry out their observations by choosing
one animal from the group and observe that animal’s behaviour for ten minutes, recording all behaviour that matched
the categories at thirty second intervals. They then had to repeat this observation, but with a different animal in the
same group. The purpose of this was to compare observations and increase the reliability of their findings. Students
soon realised that conducting observations weren’t as easy as they first thought!
The observation sessions were separated by a talk from the zoo staff on how they use behavioural psychology to train
the animals in the zoo to behave in certain ways. For example, through conditioning they are able to safely and
systematically carry out medical
checks on the larger animals in the
zoo, such as the elephants. To
reinforce the process of
conditioning, willing participants
from the students who went were
used to demonstrate how it works,
with a little help from audience
participation! The session and
whole day were extremely useful
for the students as they were able
to apply what they had learnt in the
AS Psychology course and see how Psychology can have real life applications.
Remembrance Day
In November, the whole College community
assembled on the main playground area to
commemorate Remembrance Sunday.
This poignant occasion took place with former Royal
Marine and History Teacher, Steve Talbert reading
’The Exhortation’, this was then followed by two
minutes silence and lastly by the playing of the
Last Post, the Reveille by Rachel Lee, a Year 12
Student.
21
Performing Arts
Visit from Sophie Hocking Paralympic Closing Ceremony Dance
Workshop By Mrs B Lynch
The Performing Arts Department was extremely pleased to welcome
back to Ivybridge former Dance student Sophie Hocking. Sophie had
been lucky enough to be selected to perform at the Paralympics
Closing Ceremony in September and a week later she came to teach
one of the dances from the ceremony to students from Years 7-12.
Each class was able to ask Sophie lots of questions about the
rehearsal process of the ceremony, how she got involved and even
which stars she rubbed shoulders with! We all discovered that
Coldplay were extremely friendly, but Rihanna came with a large
entourage of bodyguards, who were not quite so approachable!
The day gave us all the chance to understand the commitment and
energy that was needed by all the Olympic performers. Sophie
spoke to the students about the ten hour daily rehearsals over
the three weeks prior to the performance, and of rehearsing in
a car park in Dagenham!
With boundless energy and enthusiasm Sophie taught the
dancers a routine based on ‘Every Teardrop Falls’ by Coldplay.
If you watched the closing ceremony this was the dance where
the waterfalls fell onto the dancers.
The College would like to extend a massive thank you to
Sophie for visiting us for the day and sharing her amazing
experience with us all.
Sophie is currently studying for a degree in Dance at Leicester
University.
Junior Dance Company
GCSE Music
By Miss L Abbott
By Miss J Ryan
Nineteen successful dancers auditioned out of many at
the beginning of term for a place in this elite dance
group, please see the College Website for their
names.
They have attended Monday evenings after College
since and two break times a week to polish up their
work for the exciting Gym and Dance Show piece
entitiled 'Clocks'.
The company is very excited about the up and coming
Saturday rehearsal; they are a very loyal and hardworking group, a pleasure to work with, well done girls!!
22
Well done to all the GCSE music students who
performed in the GCSE Music Concert in October.
More than thirty-five students performed throughout the
course of the evening and the audience were treated to
a wide range of different musical styles and genres.
As well as being a live performance opportunity for the
students these performances were also assessed as
part of their coursework which will contribute to their
overall grade.
Performing Arts
Calstock Jazz and Blues Festival
By Miss J Ryan
In October, the College Big Band and Jazz 1 group
performed their own concert as part of the first ever Calstock
Jazz and Blues Festival. They treated the audience to a
range of Jazz, Big Band and Swing classics including ‘Sing,
Sing, Sing’, ‘Take Five’, ‘It Don’t Mean a Thing’ and
‘Autumn Leaves’. Their music even inspired some Lindy
Hop dancers to take to the floor and dance along!
Performing students included Christy Mcdougall,
James Hale, Harriett Pope, Max Pamplin, Harriet Barton,
Lowena Thong, Megan Hilling, Rachel Lee,
Tom Parry-Jones, Amber Bartlett, James Worthington, and
Jonathan White, led by Neil Maya.
Linda Rolfe Memorial Performance at the Northcott Theatre
By Mrs B Lynch
It was with great pleasure that our College was invited to perform at a celebration of the life of Linda Rolfe at Exeter’s
Northcott Theatre in November. It was a great honour, as for more than twenty-five years now Linda Rolfe was pivotal
in developing opportunities for children, young people and dance practitioners across Devon and the South West. She
had a major influence on children and teachers in developing a passion for dance and raising the quality of dance
practice within schools and community settings. She was an Artistic Director of Devon Youth Dance Company for many
years, the Course Leader on the post graduate teacher training course at Exeter University and worked tirelessly in
partnership with a variety of Arts organisations to raise the profile of dance across the region.
Members of our Sixth Form Dance Academy and some members of the Senior Dance Company performed alongside
professional dancers, national dance providers, local dance artists, and teachers – including their own! The
performance took place at Exeter Northcott Theatre, which proved to be a wonderful and inspiring venue for our
students. Not only did it give them the opportunity to perform in a professional setting but allowed them to look at the
university grounds and facilities themselves. Their work was outstanding. Our students not only shone in their
performance but they were also excellent ambassadors for the College.
Ivybridge Gymnastics
Academy news and success
Over 160 students have started extracurricular
gymnastics at the
College this
September. The
Ivybridge Gymnastics
Academy runs every
lunch time and after
College. There are
seven different clubs
for students from
recreational to elite
level of training.
Congratulations to all students who have gained a place
in a gymnastics team this term.
Gymnasts have already competed in their first
competition this term, Honiton Invitational Competition in
September. Jack Short
and Cameron Penn
gained first place in the
Grade 2 Men’s Pair
section.
Charlotte Myers,
Tiegan Lillicrap and
Erin Osborne gained
third position in Grade 1
Women’s Trio section.
This was a great start to
the year of gymnastics competitions.
23
Performing Arts
Talent Shows at the College
By Mrs H Reddy
Congratulations to all the students who performed in the Ivybridge Has Got Talent
Show in October. There were forty-two acts performing in the show!
Ivybridge was selected with twenty other schools in the country to be a host site for
UK Schools Got Talent 2012. This is a talent show travelling across the country
searching for the UK's most talented group of students.
Chrissie Harwood, a professional in the
field of entertainment and talent spotting
kindly supported the talent show and led
the judging panel to select eighteen fantastic acts
for the UK Schools Got Talent Show.
Don’t forget to keep a look out for
photographs from the Gym and Dance
Show and Alice in Wonderland in the next
edition of the Echo!
24
History/Geography
Key Stage 3 History Club – Mr Jones
This year, around twenty-five keen
Historians from Years 7 and 8 have been
spending Monday lunchtimes researching
some of their favourite historical events
which they do not get the opportunity to
learn about in lessons. The purpose of the
club is to find innovative ways to present
History, and already students have been
planning role plays, creating animations and searching for locations around the
College, suitable to film their action sequences!
Keep your eyes peeled for their amazing creations! For any other students interested in joining us, see Mr Jones in
C406.
Donkey Hoaty gets to South
America! By Dr J White
Many thanks to Mrs Baker for escorting Donkey Hoaty to
South America. Donkey Hoaty is here in front of
Machu Picchu, an old Inca settlement at 2430 metres
above sea level. See if you can answer these questions.
Which mountain range in South America can you find
Machu Picchu in?
Which country in South America is Machu Picchu in?
What does Machu Picchu mean?
Year 10 Fieldwork
waves do and then scooping it away in the manner of
powerful destructive waves.
By Mr M Kelly
The Geography Department managed to find four
consecutive dry days in October
to take students to Beesands to
assess coastal management
schemes, and to gather data to
support an enquiry into whether
the small village of Beesands is
worth protecting from coastal
erosion and flooding.
Whilst there, Dr White
encouraged students to simulate
the effects of wave action on the
beach by gently pushing material
up the beach as constructive
25
Geography
Year 13 Geographers visit Langage Energy Centre
At the beginning of October a group of Year 13 Geographers accompanied by
Miss Morley and Mrs Tamlin donned their hard hats and fluorescent jackets and
visited Langage Energy Centre in Plympton.
The day started with a talk from Roy Bailey the
Generation Manager at Langage. This was followed by
a tour of the Power Station for a closer look at the
turbines and the (love it or hate it) iconic silver tower.
The tour concluded with a trip to the control room. After
a quick break for tea and biscuits the students then had
the opportunity to visit the Interactive Discovery Centre
where they had a go at generating electricity through
bike power and testing their knowledge on quizzes.
The morning provided a good insight into how our energy is generated
as well as the greater issues of energy security in the UK.
Fieldwork in Plymouth
By Miss S Morley
The first half of the Autumn
term saw the Year 11
Geographers heading into
Plymouth to collect data for
their controlled assessment.
The students had to visit
three different parts of
central Plymouth to gather
information to help them
answer the question ‘Living
spaces are always a mix of the good, the bad and the ugly’. The students have been using the lessons since the trip to
write up the data they collected. This piece of work is their controlled assessment which makes up 25% of their GCSE.
The Year 12 students have also made a trip into Plymouth this term as the
first of their fieldtrips from the Geographical Investigations unit. The students
visited Devonport, Peverall and Plympton looking at urban inequalities and
areas of regeneration within the city.
Later this term the Year 12 students will visit Cornwall to carry out fieldwork
to help them investigate rural inequalities.
26
Tertiary
BTEC Early Years Development
By Mrs W Edmunds
Year 13 Placement with Childminders
The BTEC students invited children into College with their carers, to say a
great big thank you for hosting Year 13 students for the term. This was a first
for the College, previous cohorts had not been offered the opportunity to work
alongside Childminders and experience this aspect of childcare. The whole
experience had been very positive giving students an insight into home based
childcare, working with very small groups, often just one or two children. This
was a complete contrast to previous placements in reception classes,
foundation units, day nurseries and pre-school settings. During the course the
students learn how to undertake child observations and use this information to assist with devising plans and activities
to promote children’s development and skills. As a result of working closely with the minded children the students were
able to organise a range of activities for the children, ending with an outdoor treasure hunt which was greatly enjoyed
by the children.
The BTEC Early Years Team would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to all the Childcare settings that
are willing to support our students with their work based practical learning aspect of the course and the positive
experience that they provide for our students.
Year 12 Forest School visit
One of the subjects that our students have to learn about is
the role of the outdoor environment in promoting children’s
learning and development. The concept of ‘Forest Schools’
is something they have to study. Forest Schools originated
in Denmark, the idea being all children can benefit from
learning opportunities provided in a woodland environment.
Children are encouraged to engage in a range of activities
that develop their physical skills and their knowledge about
environmental issues. There is also a great emphasis on developing children’s personal confidence, self-esteem and
social skills, encouraging them to take and manage risks and challenges. So, what better way to really understand a
Forest School than to go and spend some time at one?
On a less than summery day in July the Year 12’s spent a fantastic session at CRS Adventures Forest School with
Anna the Forest School Leader. The students participated in activities such as, mirror walking, making their own
woodland medallions and fire lighting, as well as making hot chocolates and toasting marshmallows on the campfire.
The feedback from the students was very positive, one commenting ‘Can we go back again next year and build dens?’
Already looking forward to it!
Visit by Gary Streeter
In October Gary Streeter MP visited the
Year 12 students at the College for the
annual MP visits for the usual hour of
topical debate and questioning.
Questions ranged from the NHS, to
defence cuts, local issues, crime and
same sex marriage. All reflected just
how impassioned and how informed the
students are as a Year Group and really
covered the full range of issues that
reflect their time.
The debate carried on for an hour,
although it could easily have been more
and at the end Mr Streeter was equally
full of praise for his ‘interrogators’ and
the students likewise for the full and
expansive answers that Mr Streeter
gave.
Alison Seabeck MP visited at the end of
November to put the Opposition's point
of view and Year 12 students were
equally charged up to examine the
topical issues with the same verve and
gusto.
27
Tertiary/ICT
Year 12 Ping Pong/
Fancy Dress
In October Year 12 met in overcast
conditions for the first inter tutor event of
the year. The medium was the ancient
art of ping pong and with the Fancy
Dress/Pink Day coinciding so beautifully,
spice was added to the
occasion.
It began in furious, almost
chaotic fashion as the
different coloured balls
and bats flew furiously
around the play ground.
The competition was fierce
and unrelenting, and bit by
bit as the scores mounted, the competitors got
whittled down and down. It was a sight to
behold, lets face it, how often do you see a
banana playing a teenager in a ‘onesie’ whilst
being refereed by a shark. In the end,
when the extremely complicated points
system had been jumbled and calculated,
the singles match came down to
Harrison Stone and James Pyne, and the
doubles match between 12LND and
12MLY. The atmosphere was tense, but in
the end victory went to 12MLY in the
doubles, and James Pyne in the
singles. The main focus though was
togetherness and fun. This was
certainly achieved, and all credit goes
to Mrs Gough for her organisation of
the event and an extremely successful
implementation. The proceeds of the
event went towards the charity; Just
What
Jack
Needs.
‘Build a Computer Week’
By Mr A McMulliun
During the Autumn term, the ICT Department offered another
session of ‘build a computer week’ to our gifted and talented
students. They signed up to work in small teams to build
working computers from a selection of components and
screws over five lunchtimes. Once the hardware was
working and tested, they installed an unfamiliar operating
system and software then used the machine they’d made.
Almost twenty students joined in and, by the end of the week,
every team was successful and all their computers worked.
Many were given the opportunity to ‘fault-find’ and test
individual components; and some put together more than one machine! Everyone enjoyed the exercise and learned
something about the items which go to make up a modern desktop computer and its software.
28
Science
MBA Year 2
By Mr N Kerswell, Science Department
In this second year of work with the MBA (Marine Biological Association) Plymouth, the College has further developed a
successful industry link, made significant progress with the project and also receiving just reward for the group’s hard
work.
From Snails to Escargot
In the summer of this
year, the MBA and the
College finally
managed to secure a
link with a French
school, and make a
much talked about
foreign exchange
happen.
The College was delighted to be an integral part of the
week’s activities for our French visitors. Both groups
were invited to the National Marine Aquarium for a
personalised tour of their facilities, and an opportunity to
present and share their projects in the Conference
Suite. Though nervous, this was obviously a very
exciting time for all
of the students.
Jack Sewell,
Education Liaison
with the MBA, then
planned one of his
traditional yet never
dull surveys at the
shore in
Mount Batten, Plymouth. Language proved to be no
barrier as both groups explored and compared. The
College was then delighted to host the French visitors
at the College itself. The French students visited the
Languages Department to see what French was like in
England, as well as being shown around the College by
their fellow students.
In June this year, Miss Wilkinson, Mr O’Hara
and six students attended the Big Bang
Science Fair South West, hosted by Exeter
University, at the Streatham Campus. The
Big Bang Fair is an annual fair that
celebrates and encourages young scientists,
engineers and mathematicians across the country.
Around 200 students from all over the south west, aged
from 11 to 18 presented their science projects and had
the chance to win prizes in different categories,
sponsored by many local companies. Various science
and engineering based local and national organisations
had stalls where students could try their hand at
different things such as presenting the weather forecast
at the MET office stand and dusting for finger prints with
forensic scientists. Year 11 students, Molly Richards
and James Ogle presented
their project about invasive
species of Britain’s shores to
the marine biology group.
Year 13 students,
Daisy Burris, Jo Bradford,
Faye Thomas and Jake Palmer, won the Senior
Category for Best Product with designs for an
educational, eco-friendly rock pooling kit that minimises
damage to marine organisms. We hope to set up the
tank, and carry out the experiment this year, as well as
looking into putting Rocky’s Bucket into production.
Well done to Molly Richards and Daisy Burris for their
cameo appearances in the Big Bang promotional video.
http://www.thebigbangfair.co.uk/southwest/nearme.cfm
By Faye Thomas, Year 13
Future Thoughts
Farewell
At the end of the second year of working with the MBA
on Marine Studies, there is still more work to be done
and exciting opportunities to explore. Look out this year
for:
I have become used to calling them ‘The MBA Gang’.
They have worked tirelessly on this project with me and
Jack Sewell from the MBA Plymouth since the start of
the project. I have to say they have been an utter
delight to work with, and exactly what Ivybridge expects
from its students, and so much more!!

MBA Events

Calls for help in the bulletin

The Cold Marine Tank here at the College

Another French exchange visit
If you are in Year 9 or 10, and are interested in a career
in Marine Sciences, then please do come and see me,
Mr Kerswell, Level 2, Science Department.
It is with great sadness
that I must now set them
free to study for their
GCSE’s. Goodbye gang,
It has been a pleasure.
29
Science
‘A Little Light Spectroscopy’
By Thomas Hall, Year 13
In September, sixteen A-level chemistry students went to the University of Bristol
with Mr Robinson to visit the internationally renowned Chemistry Department and get
a chance to use some of the multi-million pound, world-leading equipment. The
Chemistry Department employs over 500 full time MSc or PhD students, post
doctorate researchers and lecturers.
We travelled, bleary-eyed (it was a Monday morning), to the University and on arrival
we were greeted by Dr Tim Harrison, the Outreach Director. We were ushered into a
lecture theatre to learn about the Chemistry courses available at this leading UK
University and our itinerary for the day. This tour included X Ray Diffraction as well
as several other exciting types of spectroscopy.
Heather Brown get a close look at a
We then visited laboratories with different equipment used to ascertain properties
Transmission Electron Microscope.
and structures of molecules such as atomic arrangements, their mass and the types This type of microscope and be used to
of bonds and bond angles between atoms in molecules. All these factors are crucial see individual atoms and molecules.
in understanding how these materials react and behave.
Joseph Beddard uses a Scanning Electon
Microscope to examine the fibres from a crime
scene.
We looked at NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) and mass spectrometry
machines, each of them having their own band of technicians to service and
maintain them. We also saw scanning and transmission electron
microscope machines that are used to see the structure of materials and
the molecules they are made from. We were also shown images of
materials of gold alloys where we could distinguish individual atoms. We
got the chance to use X-ray crystallography machines; these work by firing
a stream of X-rays at a crystalline
structure, and then measuring the
diffraction patterns produced to work
out the structure of a molecule. Amazing work; clearly explained by the PhD
researcher who gave us the tour of this section. Finally, we went up to the 5th
floor to the huge under graduate labs to look at Infra-red spectroscopy. This
analysis technique helps us identify the type of bonds and functional groups in a
molecule. Despite my best attempts to break the exorbitantly expensive
machine, we came away with good spectra for molecules of aspirin.
As an added extra, Dr Harrison, took us into the new research labs and showed Marie and Deanna get up close to a multi
million pound, high energy X Ray Diffractor.
us where new compounds were actually being made and researched by Post
This equipment can be used to look inside
crystals and help use determine the shapes of
graduate chemists working on behalf of organisations like Astra Zeneca, GSK,
complex ions, giant molecules and ceramics.
NHS and various medical charities. Cutting edge stuff.
In the afternoon, we got our opportunity to appreciate Mr Robinson’s tour guide credentials with lunch on the quay, a
brief visit to Wills Hall and some amazing views of the Avon Gorge and Clifton Suspension Bridge and Bristol
Observatory – a most
enjoyable and informative
trip (albeit heavily
punctuated by
Mr Robinson’s obsession
with taking group photos,
some of which you’ll see
here).
Chemists meet a striped but friendly gorilla
during their visit to Bristol University.
30
Simply the Best Year13 Chemists on Tour with a visit to Bristol
University’s Chemistry Department. One of the best in the
country and ranked 29th in the world.
Well worth it.
Science
Getting Ready for the 21st
Century.
Skills. The project involves twenty UK and
Indian schools and its aim is to research the
use of computer games in the development of
these future proofing learning skills. These
skills and attributes can be distilled down to
the 5Rs +C; Responsibility, Resourcefulness,
Reasoning, Reflectiveness, Resilience and
Confidence. They enable adaptability and
stimulate a joy of learning new things. That is
why the College has put itself at the front of the
queue in helping students acquire the Learning
Habit and prepare to embrace the opportunities
that the 21st Century will offer.
A Year 8 student is expected to be working
until they are 70 years old and have about
10-14 jobs during their working life. Several
of these jobs, haven’t even been invented
yet. Far fetched? Well, think about it. Ask a
few questions and you might be quite shocked
by what you find. Anyone born after 1985, has
never known a world without the internet.
Anybody born after 1994 has never been
without Google. Anyone born after 2001 has
never known a world without ipods. In 1980
Thirty-two Year 8 students will be involved in this
there were approximately 1 billion Chinese, and
project using the game Machinarium to develop
by 2008 there were 1.3 billion, whilst the
their problem solving, communication and
population of the UK increased from 0.05 to
collaborative skills. They will then be required to
0.06 billion over the same time frame. This
The key 21st Century
design
an innovative way of presenting scientific
How many do
prospect is both exciting and scary at the same Skills.
you already have?
ideas they have encountered during the game.
time. How do you prepare for this learning
The icing on the cake will be a series of videofuture? There is no doubt that facts will be
conferencing sessions that they will have with students
important, but in the 21st Century what do we do if you
at St. Mark's School, Janakpuri, New Delhi, India
really don’t know a fact…we Google it. In recognition
where they will present their ideas. The findings of this
of this, innovative thinkers such as Ken Robinson and
project will be presented, with another local College, at
Guy Claxton have suggested us to view teaching in a
the ASE Conference in January 2013 at Reading
different way. Their ideas have gained traction in
University. If you want to know anymore about 21st
recent years leading to a focus on teaching Learning
Century Learning Skills, just Google…
Skills; teaching students how to learn, so that when
Ken Robinson or Guy Claxton or watch this Video
their circumstances change they will be able to adapt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U&feature=fvwrel
and learn to live with the change. That’s where Matt,
These videos will give you an idea of why Brighton
Charlotte, Olivia and Ollie come in. They are part of
University is researching this area,
an exciting project, looking at 21st Century Learning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0xa98cy-Rw&feature=related
Dentistry at University of Plymouth
By Enna Christmas, A Level Biology Student
'As a student dreaming to study dentistry I was very lucky to get the opportunity to have a
one-to-one tour around the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry laboratories at the
University of Plymouth. As the Dental School is a recent development, all the facilities and
equipment are state-of-the-art and this is an obvious feature from the second you walk in. The
'Phantom Head Lab' is an appropriately named laboratory for dental students to practice any
practical work and for the first few minutes it is a very eerie room to be in. The laboratory is filled
with fifty or so plastic, life-like heads with gaping mouths and no eyes - quite a creepy sight.
However after the initial impact you begin to see how exciting studying dentistry could be! Each
model head could be fitted with different teeth in order to allow students to conduct different treatments, some even
fitted with rubber gums to practice injections and pockets full of puss for swellings which can burst if treated incorrectly.
Many of the models were made to give a very realistic experience, with texture and composition made to match real
teeth and gums. I was even given the opportunity to use the instruments to drill holes in the model teeth myself. As a
student who has observed many drillings during work experience placements but never being allowed to use the drill
myself, this was a very satisfying and thrilling experience!
I have always been certain that dentistry is my chosen career path and this visit provided me with further consolidation
that there is nothing else I would rather do. This was an opportunity that is very rarely granted at Universities during
Open Days.'
31
Science
Unboxing Potential (A short, half term visit to India)
By Mr B Robinson
Sponsored by British Council, Science Learning Centre (SW) in Bristol and Brighton
University, the UNBOX 21 Project involved over twenty UK and twenty Indian schools in
investigating commercial games as a way of building scientific understanding and 21st
Century Learning Skills. The schools employed games such as Machinarium, Shaun the
Sheep, GT Racer, Tiger Woods PGA, Cut the Rope and World of Invention to help them
develop team building, communication, problem solving skills and build scientific
understanding.
Chipping Sodbury School used the games to help students to demonstrate their
understanding of forces, whilst another local school used them to improve science
understanding through short home produced videos. At the College, we used the games to develop problem-solving
skills and build a jet engine from soft drinks cans, perfect the Mentos and Coke experiment and build electro-magnets
cranes. SMRT School in Bristol challenged the students to develop new game levels involving electric circuits which they
built in their laboratories. Each school took a different approach to the opportunities offered by this project.
India schools used many of the same games, but they tied the content to local ecological
issues using games such as Botanicula. Food production and environmental issues are
close to the heart of Indian students and this game inspired the students to consider
alternative ways of tackling environmental problems. They also improved their literacy
skills as they produced beautifully illustrated and detailed written explanations of the game
play and scientific lessons learned.
Our visit to Mamata Modern Senior Secondary School was a glimpse of the exotic
traditional and bubbling future of India. Hosted by the Principal, Mrs. Pallavi Sharma,
we were treated with overwhelming hospitality. We were greeted with garlands of fresh
flowers and presented with a Tilak ( A red dot that imparts sanctity on the wearer) by
four beautifully dressed students in traditional dress; Rupanjana (West Bengal), Urvashi
(Rajasthan), Avneet (Punjab), Saradhyuti (Andhra Pradesh). We were invited to a
concert of traditional and contemporary dance lead by Ms Praharni, a Year 11 Dancer .
The talent and energy provided my numerous lower school students was inspiring.
No visit by Science teachers would be complete without a visit to the chemistry labs, where a very focused group of
Year 12 chemists worked away on an inorganic analysis project. It was interesting to see concentrated acids and alkalis
out on open display on every bench. The students seemed unfazed by our concerns, smiled politely and carried on with
their studies. We viewed the playing fields and meandered around beautifully decorated classrooms filled with bubbly,
polite and engaged students of all ages. Our visit culminated in the presentation of a gift to the school’s Outstanding
Student, Shikita Gupta, in recognition of her supreme work ethic and achievement in every aspect of her academic
studies and in her activities within the local community. Our time at Mamata Modern was far too short and on reflection
we could have sent a several days there getting to know these students and why they clearly enjoyed their learning. An
incredible atmosphere.
As part of my visit, I was asked to co-present the Unbox 21 findings with Katie Ball from another local school at a British
Council Conference. In this grand setting in New Delhi we presented our findings to an invited audience of educational
policy makers, head teachers and local teachers who listened with interest and followed up with many searching
questions. In essence, we concluded that computer games could be usefully employed to skill students, if they were part
of a well-structured program of study. The improvements we experienced were particularly impressive when it came to
boys and middle ability students. The Unbox 21 Project has clearly tapped into something of potential educational value
and in January 2013 we will be presenting our findings at the ASE Conference at Reading University.
My thanks goes to The British Council, The Science Learning Centre (SW), Imagine Education and the Brighton
University for their funding and support. I’d also like to thank, Mr Haring and Mrs Grist, for their support. Finally, I’d like to
say a huge thank you to my students of 8R2 and 8L4, without whom this whole project would have been impossible. They
did a brilliant job.
32
Science
Flying High - Future Engineering
By Mr A Cuthbertson
Do you know your 'ailerons' from your 'flaps'? Can you say how 'lift' and 'drag' affect
an aeroplane's flight?
Fifteen budding engineers from the Year 12 Physics classes spent a fascinating day
in the Engineering Department at Exeter University during National Science and
Engineering Week this year. The morning was all about the physics principles of
flight, with students able to have a go on an advanced simulator. Then we had a
campus tour around this premier University. We met up with no fewer than THREE
Ivybridge alumni who are now current undergraduates in Engineering there!
In the afternoon we saw cutting edge examples of 3D printing equipment in action. But the highlight of the day was the
annual adrenalin-raising Bridge Building Competition. No prisoners are taken': every model is tested to destruction!
Our teams entered as 'Cuthy's Angels', 'thinkaboutitinaminute' and 'Bridge to Nowhere' against fierce competition from
the other schools represented. (An overall win for 'Cuthy's Angels', of course, if only narrowly!)
Robot Olympics
By Mr Kerswell, Science Department
Ivybridge were disappointed to not come
away with any medals but it was clear that
the students’ efforts had been beneficial in
other areas.
The Manor team came away with two
medals, and the Modbury team
won three medals, one of which
was the much desired gold.
The Ivybridge Robotics Club worked all
last year with three Primary Schools on the
Astra Zeneca Science
Teaching Trust STEM
Initiatives Project. The aim of
this funded project was to
share some of the excellent
developments in engineering
and technology disciplines, common to many
secondary schools, with some of their local primary
schools.
I would like to thank Paul Hartley
from Devon EBP and Astra
Zeneca for arranging such a programme and of course the
staff and students at the primary schools for their
enthusiasm and energy.
The students involved here at the College were active
in introducing and training pupils from Manor, Modbury
and Yealmpton on the Lego Mindstorms Robotics
system. All of the hard work throughout the year would
then be put to test at Callington Community College, at
the regions first multi school Robot Olympics.
A big well done goes out to my team here at the College
though, they are David Camp, Oli Smith, George Chandler,
Heidi Connor, Erin Downes and Kirsty Hall. Without them
the project would not have been possible, and though they
took nothing from the competition, they gave so much
overall – Thank you
Porto EuroMarine Trip (Portugal)
By Daisy Burris, Year 13
Three Year 12’s, Daisy Burris, Faye Thomas and Jo Bradford, were chosen to represent the UK on a trip to Porto
(Portugal) for a Marine Biology Summer School Project. They were joined with other young scientists from across
Europe, (Sweden, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Belgium) as well as several Marine Biologists. The aim of the trip was
to build international relationships between young scientists, and educate them further on marine science.
The summer school began with presentations from the students, explaining the marine biological projects each group
had conducted in their own country, the UK students explained about their project The Shore Thing Project. This
project involves identifying different indicator species, their abundance along the coastlines and to monitor the effects
climate change is having on different species. The four day trip involved different stretches of the rocky shore line where
the students were taught how to collect samples, and make assessments of the coastal area. In the afternoon the
students studied the samples in the labs at the CIMAR University in Porto using microscopes and were taught to identify
different microscopic species. Other activities involved talks on marine species, and a project leading on from work
conducted on the shoreline by the students, to try and find out whether there was any correlation between sea snails
and whether they preferred to eat and inhabit alien or native species of seaweed, which proved trickier than it sounds!
33
Primary Partnerships
Primary Netball Festival
Year 5/6 Volleyball Festival
By Emily Skinner, Year 8
In September a Primary
Netball Festival was held at
the College. It was a lovely
day and the
encouragement from
friends and family was
buzzing.
There were eight teams
from around the area. The
teams were Stowford A and B team,
Yealmpton, Woodlands, Ermington, Shaugh
Prior, Modbury A and B team and Holbeton.
There were no winners as it was only a festival
but all the primary school pupils enjoyed
themselves.
In October, a
Volleyball
Festival was held
by Mr Nick Hitt,
PE Teacher at
the College. It
involved teams
from Stowford,
Woodlands,
The Erme Youth Leaders
Volunteers from the College helped out as Youth Leaders at The Erme Primary
School Year 5 Mini Olympics at the end of July. The wet weather forced the games
indoors but there was plenty on offer for the pupils. Volunteer helpers from the
College helped to run each event station. After the sporting events, the children
were treated to lunch and a medal presentation by the then Ivybridge Town
Councillor Frances Reeve.
The volunteers were: Sophie Davis, Tiegen Lillicrap, Hannah Coulton,
Millie Springbett,
Millie Turfrey,
Chloe Mitchell,
Charlotte Myers,
Ellie Macpherson,
Matthew Lott, and
Callum Duffy
34
The Erme, Ermington,
Holbeton, Modbury and
Shaugh Prior. The standard
was really high this year and
lots of fun had by all!
Sport
Athletics Championships 2012
By Mr J Ryrie
The PE Department took over 400 students to the Exeter arena to enjoy a spectacle of athletic performance. The day
was opened by four guests who kindly agreed to bring their torches with them to share a four way torch kiss followed by
a lap of the track.
Alex Pitcher carried the Flame through: Great Torrington on 21, May 2012 Age: 23 Hometown: Modbury
Will Katene carried the Flame through: Exeter on 21, May 2012 Age: 52 Hometown: Honiton
Mark Chard carried the Flame through: Cirencester on 23, May 2012 Age: 45 Hometown: Cheltenham
Jordan Anderton carried the Flame through: Plymouth on 20, May 2012 Age: 18 Hometown: Ivybridge
Mark a Paralympic swimmer from the New York games in 1984, kindly arranged to join the day from his home in
Cheltenham. He spent sessions with students from Year 7-10 talking about his journey and how hard he had to work to
overcome his physical impairment in order to compete. He has held numerous World records and was keen to share
his experiences with our students. Mark then also spent some time chatting and having his photograph taken with lots
of students and staff.
Sailing Club!
By Harriet Rogers, Rebecca Baines, Megan Miotla, Emily Martin, Katherine Feaviour and Anna Lee
For the past two terms a group of Year 9-11 students had the chance to go sailing at the Mount
Batten Watersports and Activities Centre in Plymouth. Miss Rowles, Mr Jones and sixth former
Tom Methven (GBR sailor) accompanied us, driving powerboats to pick us up if we capsized or
were heading in the wrong direction.
We learnt how to tack and gybe, and how to rig the boats before we could go out sailing. There
have been lots of amusing moments, like capsizing drills and boat tag! After twelve sessions on the water we had all
learnt enough to gain our RYA Levels 1 and 2, meaning we can now hire boats wherever we are in the world.
We think it’s been a great experience and are looking forward to the Sailing Club starting up again in the Summer Term.
35
Sport
Ivybridge Rugby: The season so far…
By Charlie Hewitt, Year 13
The season started for us soon after the Easter
Holidays last school year. In general the team’s fitness
levels were low and we felt in order to achieve what we
wanted on the upcoming season we had to improve it.
The early stages consisted of a lot of high intensity
work. Our week would be focussed around key
aspects such as field endurance, strength endurance,
SAQ and speed endurance. The sessions were varied
with the likes of running up to the moors, flipping tyres
and even pulling cars around the rugby field. As pre
season came about the levels of fitness amongst the
squad was high and we moved into more rugby related
activities and focussing on the key aspects of our
game.
We started the rugby season by entering the Truro Tournament; with a majority of our performances being very strong
from both squads we left the tournament pleased, especially against Bicton College (48-0) and Henley College
(32-10). With a good atmosphere in the squad we looked forward to the coming season.
Currently just passing the halfway mark in our AASE league season we have won four out of five games putting us at
the top of the league.
St. Pauls (London Irish) 36-18 (W)-A strong first AASE game for the new squad, with a devastating injury to one of our
players the team was able to regroup and score three tries in the last seven minutes to see out the game.
Truro College (Exeter Chiefs) 52-18 (W)-With it being fairly equal come half time, our off season fitness came into
affect along with our ability to run the ball from anywhere, winning the game comfortably.
Filton College (Bristol) 12-36 (L)-A disjointed performance by the team, left Filton exploiting the wide areas of the
pitch, as a whole left us more hungry for our next AASE run out against Henley College.
Henley College (London Wasps) 22-11 (W)-In terrible conditions the team dogged it out and adapted to the conditions
well, a hard fought win.
Truro College 43-34 (W)-Truro showed a lot more ability this time round, a weak defence on our part left the game far
too close for comfort and the win was secured in the last few minutes of the game.
The squad mentality and attitude has been strong
throughout the season, during training and on
matchday, with a solid training structure in place
we’re heading in the right direction. Amongst our
senior members of the squad a congratulations
must go out to Henry Turner for being selected for
the England U17 squad and to Stuart Townsend
who had been selected for the England U18 squad
for this up and coming season. Along with this
Stuart has also recently been involved in the
matchday squad for Exeter Chiefs in the LV Cup
along with Sam Simmonds; along with this some
younger members of the squad such as
Dean Squire, who has recently been stepping up to
play AASE games, have made a commendable effort and rewarded with some strong individual performances.
There is still plenty of rugby ahead for this Ivybridge squad along with a lot of hard work, in order to achieve our main
goal, of winning the AASE league.
36
Sport
Ivybridge Football Academy
By Mr W Carlise, Director of Football Development
The Year 8 National Squad celebrate winning the Joe Hart
National Cup Tournament at Shrewsbury School following
three days of intense competition against Colleges from all
over the country (Tyler Dawe, Harry Bell, Harry Hodges,
Sam Morgan, Josh Coulton, Tommy Hope, Billy Crask,
Alex Cairo, Tom Savigar, Josh Lashbrook, Max Jones,
George Warren, Sam Clifton, Jake Anderson)
‘The Joe Hart Tournament was brilliant, we had lots of fun
and winning the tournament made it even better.’
Josh Coulton 8WTK.
England Goalkeeper Joe Hart's father presents the
winners trophy to Sam Morgan 8PYR (Left)
Football Academy players Billy Craske
8BTR & Archie Thomas 9DWS with
coaches from CF Valencia at a
coaching day in Bristol. ‘It was a
fantastic experience to learn from such good coaches’ Billy Craske 8BTR (above)
Ivybridge Football Academy players with
Southend United FC during their recent
training day at the College (above)
Congratulations to the following players who have been selected for the Under 15 Plymouth Schools Representative
team: Cory Harvey, Oliver Archer, Will Nesbitt, Alex Godwin and Jack Scargill.
Football Academy Longitudinal Study
By Mr A Taylor Strength and Conditioning Coach
The Football Academy is involved in a longitudinal study in conjunction with the University of Plymouth St Mark & St
John (Marjon) into the players physical, psychological, technical and social characteristics and will be tracked over the
next four years. This will be used for myself and Wayne Carlisle to build a player profile and for us to track their
progress. The players will be assessed three times each season at the beginning, middle and end. In addition to this
some University students will use the data for research questions for dissertations
1. A qualitative perspective on players experiences in the talent group
2. Assessment of physical characteristics and performance capacities of players compared to non ID counterparts
3. Pre/post physical functional movement assessment following S&C intervention (is the S&C effective) compared to
control group
4. Comparison of Lab and field testing in adolescent elite football players to compare reliability of testing and player
characteristics towards speed and endurance
The aim of the Football
Academy programme
assessment falls in line with
The Elite Player Performance
Programme (EPPP)
introduced by the premier
league to better track a
players progress over their development years.
37
Sport
Public Service Course
By Mr D Cater
Students from the Year 13 course have enjoyed many experiences through
Year 12 and are extending their knowledge in Year 13.
The Land Navigation Unit of work was a real eye opener for all the students.
Students were taught to a very high standard of navigating and can now
comfortably plan and lead peers around testing moorland routes.
Scuba Diving has been a real
success. As we neared the start
of the course the cohort was
becoming increasingly nervous and had little confidence about what they
were about to undertake. The course was a five day certified course and
students were put through very
rigorous training and
examinations. The end of the
week was a display of skills and
confidence as the cohort completed dives comfortably descending to 18
metres below sea level!!
Students also gained Paddle Sports Level 1 certification working with
Mountbatten Outdoor Centre to complete the course and become competent
Kayakers and Canoeists.
Ben McCoy and Julian Farr said ‘We have had a wealth of experiences over the last year and are looking forward to
another year of opportunities. The course has opened up new avenues for us all and has exceeded our expectations.’
Academy Equestrian Team
By Jasmine Mumford and Lauren Walke
In October the Ivybridge
Academy Equestrian Team
made their way up to
The Grange Equestrian Centre in
Okehampton.
Jasmine Mumford
We arrived and declared the
team, Jasmine Mumford riding
Mr Mac, Lauren Walke riding
The King’s Son,
Imogen Northmore on Phoenix
and Katie Northmore
with Murphy.
The beginning round was flowing with a height of 2 feet
3inches-2 feet 6 inches. First to go was Jasmine
followed by Katie, Lauren and
Imogen, and we all flew round clear.
The second round was more difficult
consisting of tight turns and a height
of 2 feet 9 inches.
We all did very well in the second
round although, Imogen was the only
team member to get a double clear.
We were against tough teams this
year and we just missed out on the
placings but hopefully we will have
more teams to enter for next year.
Tiri wins Bronze Medal
The College is delighted that Tiri Hughes in Year 9 competed in the British Disability
Gymnastics Championships in Newcastle in November .
Tiri gained First place on floor, Second place on bars and vault and Fourth on beam with a
Bronze medal place overall.
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Adverts
National Governing
Body Sports Leaders
Awards
Instead of running holiday activities
over the Christmas period, the College
will be organising National Governing
Body (NGB) courses. Their aim is to
allow students to gain a qualification
as a leader, official or referee. Once
qualified, students will be given
opportunities to support school, local
and county competitions. The course
will include football
refereeing, leadership
in high five netball and
table tennis. If you are
interested in attending
any of these, please
register in the
Community Sport
Office.
Indoor Rock Climbing
Between September and April the College hosts Indoor Rock Climbing
sessions. Our adult session (16years+) runs on a Wednesday
evening from 8.00pm-9.30pm. The cost is £2.50 to climb and £1 for
equipment hire. The junior session (6-15years) is on a Friday from
6.30pm-8.00pm. The cost is £1.50 to climb and £1 for equipment hire.
Please be aware that junior climbers have to be accompanied by an
adult. All sessions are supervised by a fully qualified climbing
instructor. To find out more, either see Chris in the Community Sport
Department or phone 01752 698315.
Local, friendly, affordable treatment to meet your needs.
Injury Prevention/Rehabilitation
Mobilisation / Manipulation
Sports Massage
Taping / Strapping
Education & Advice
Ultrasound
Head Physiotherapist: Helen Jewell
Tel: 07794505410
e-mail: Ivybridge
Ivybridge--Physiotherapy
Physiotherapy--Clinic@mail.com
A
D
V
E
R
T
S
If you would like to
advertise in this
newspaper, then
please contact
Mrs Alison Richards
on 01752 691000
39
The Last Word…...
Rosie the
Guide Dog
Rosie the Guide Dog has
been into College this
term. She is now off to
Leamington Spa to
continue her training for
six months, before being
placed with a suitable host
who is visually impaired.
As a labradoodle, she has
been bred specifically as
she has short hairs, and
can be placed with someone who suffers from
allergies. The College continues to raise money for
her training, which now totals £9,000.
Did you know it actually costs £37,000 to fund a dog
from a puppy to a working standard!
Term Dates - 2012/2013
Spring Term Starts
7 January 2013
Half Term
18 - 22 February 2013 inc
Term ends
27 March 2013
Easter
28 March - 12 April 2013 inc
Summer Term Starts 15 April 2013
May Day
6 May 2013
Half Term
27 - 31 May 2013 inc
Summer Term Ends
24 July 2013
Dates correct at time of printing
Tandem Skydive for Charity
Fun Run for Katie-Lou
In July, Aleesha Davidson, now in Year 12, completed
a tandem skydive for her chosen charity, EST
Ivybridge (The Donkey Sanctuary).
In October, students from Year 10
together with Miss Kent, Year 10 Team
Leader and Mr Knightley, Year 10
Tutor, took part in a Fun-Run after
College to raise funds for Katie-Lou.
Money has also been raised through
the selling of wristbands.
On one of the few sunny Saturday mornings in the
summer, she arrived at Dunkeswell Airfield in
Honiton. Little did she realise that she would have a
very nervous six hour wait until she finally took off.
She jumped from a height of 15,000 feet, which
apparently is the highest you can jump from without
carrying oxygen, and then landed safely knowing that
she had managed to raise a total of £329.00.
Aleesha would like to thank everyone in the College
who sponsored her.
Katie-Lou, who
moved to Eyemouth
in Scotland in
January, tried to
rescue her friend from
20 foot waves that
swept them both out
to sea. While her friend was rescued unhurt Katie-Lou was
seriously injured and swept onto the rocks which resulted in
her going untold minutes without breathing or a heartbeat.
She has acquired a serious brain injury and remains in the
Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh.
Lots of fundraising activities are taking place to help make
adaptations to the family home and for equipment. The family
are hoping she will be well enough to return home early next
year. You can follow Katie-Lou’s progress on the family
webpage www.careforkatielou.co.uk
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Please consider the environment - recycle