Le Voyage a Paris: Another successful trip to France
Lauren Sanders, 8O, writes:
Bonjour! On 15th March, Stanborough students from Year 8 set out on a trip to Paris.
On the first day we had an early start at 8:00am and had a lovely French breakfast with croissants and pain au chocolat. We set out to our first activity of the day, a visit to the Musée du Louvre where we saw the Mona Lisa and other famous artworks like the statue Venus de Milo, and the painting The Lacemaker. We then went to the Eiffel Tower! We learnt that the sun can cause the tower to grow about 15 centimetres. We also learnt that there are 1665 steps in the Eiffel tower which most of us climbed and went all the way to the top of the tower! It was a great view and an amazing picture spot, but it was very high up. After going to the tower we got on a boat trip down the River Seine. Whilst on the boat we saw the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Musée d’Orsay, Notre Dame and other highlights of the city. It was great fun as the weather was brilliant and we got some amazing pictures.
On the second day we set out to go to Brie-Comte-Robert Town Trail and Market. When we got there we went on a trail around the town and then went round the market, it sold lots of souvenirs and fresh food, which tasted so good. After the market we headed off to the Stade de France where we saw the pitch – it was massive! We also got to go inside the police department and saw the cells, fortunately no-one got trapped in one! We also went inside the president’s lodge and found out that a wall of mirrors in the lodge is actually a massive TV! We also went into the changing rooms and saw some famous football shirts in there like Pogba’s and Mbappé’s. After the stadium we went to Sacré-Cœur and went inside and wondered at the beautifully sculpted dome and pretty paintings of the church. After leaving Sacré-Cœur we went to a little market and small streets of shops. The romantic part of Paris, there were street artists, creperies and small souvenir shops. It was so pretty and picture perfect.
18th March, the third day, was DISNEYLAND! A whole day of fun, full of Disney magic: it was brilliant. In the morning we went in the Disney park and the afternoon the Walt studios. There were loads of rides, the best ones were Space Mountain, a crazy rollercoaster, The Hollywood Tower of Terror, a drop down 13 floors, The Rock n’ Roller Coaster, a fast, thrilling rollercoaster and the RC racer, a ‘U’ shaped ride. It was an amazing day.
“I thought it was a great learning experience and a good opportunity to practise my French. I thoroughly enjoyed visiting Paris, I had lots of fun.” Amelie Warner 8BM
“Once in a lifetime opportunity and an amazing experience.” Catherine Cranham 8O
“I liked Disneyland the best because of the laughter and screaming on the rides.” Jessica Richardson 8O
The trip was a wonderful experience and thanks to all the teachers who came with us on this great trip!
Please click here to see more photographs….
STEM – Multiple Maths Challenges
Mrs K. Coldwell, KS5 and G&T Leader, Maths, writes:
Last week saw Stanborough competing in two different team maths challenges and achieving success in both. On Tuesday, the County Year 7 Team Maths Challenge was held here at Stanborough with a total of 10 teams from other schools competing alongside the two Stanborough teams. Amy Ferry, Maggie Moylan, Daniel Harrington, Aidan Wadley, Lily Reding, Alexis Lyall, Maya Hirani and Tameem Alom worked through a series of rounds involving general maths questions, estimation and memory. Lily, Alexis, Maya and Tameem came second place overall, automatically qualifying for the final in Stevenage in April. Aidan, Daniel, Amy and Maggie came fourth overall but still qualified for the final as high-scoring runners up.
On Wednesday, a group of Year 10s travelled to Barnwell School in Stevenage for the Advanced Maths Support Programme’s local Year 10 Maths Feast. Jack Moylan, Annabel Dunstan, Ellie-Anne Hart and Katie Jeffrey made up one team while Sam Morfill, Janis Benhacene, Thomas Farran and Hannah Davis made up the other. Our minibus companions, Monks Walk, came first overall in terms of points, but Jack, Annabel, Ellie-Anne and Katie were advised that they were also in the top third of the 18 teams competing. In addition, the supervising teacher for Sam, Janis, Thomas and Hannah’s team commented that they “worked very collaboratively and were supportive of each other,” which was very pleasing to hear.
Well done to all competitors!
“The competition was very enjoyable. I surprised myself with how well we overcame the challenges to place respectably!” Annabel Dunstan, 10A
“It was a good competition and we did well to come fourth, but I would have liked to have done even better.” Aidan Wadley, 7H
500 Word Short Stories
Mrs E. Daplyn, Assistant Headteacher, writes:
Many of you will have heard of the 500 word short story competition run by the BBC. This is a competition designed to encourage young students to put their creativity and writing skills to the test by writing an engaging and creative story in 500 words or less. We ran this as an in house competition at Stanborough and got some great entries. Congratulations to Maggie Moylan 7H and Reece Ogeer-Ali 8BM who came first in their respective year groups. Congratulations also to second place winner Nia Joshi 7OM and to Oscar Boyle 7B who came third in Year 7. In Year 8 Emilie Howard 8O came second and Mia Ruck 8K came third. We were impressed with how imaginative the stories were and the genres they covered, from fantasy to sci-fi. All those who won will receive a Headteacher’s commendation this week and a certificate in the end of term assembly. They will also have the opportunity to read their stories out to their year group in an assembly after Easter. Well done to our winners and all those that entered!
Technology and Art Workshop with Handside Partnership
Miss A. Barnard, Subject Leader: Art, writes;
On Monday 11th March, Stanborough School hosted its annual Technology/Art day for Lakeside and Applecroft students. Coordinated by Mel Busby as part of the Handside Partnership and led by Howard Bell, students hand made a wonderful pot planter using wooden materials. Supported by a number of our sixth form students, Lakeside and Applecroft students were able to experience the department resources before decorating their planter using paint. These wonderful outcomes will be displayed during the summer months outside both schools showcasing the talented work of our young and upcoming creative students!
World Book Day – Thursday 7th March 2019
Mr D. Bishop, KS3 Leader: English, writes:
To mark World Book Day, Year 7 were given the task of matching famous literary pairs with different teachers wearing a character label. The competition created a real buzz around school, with a crowd of pupils even clamouring outside the staff room at lunchtime, begging teachers to come out!
At the end of the day I received a huge number of entries. After being carefully scrutinised, the following pupils had the highest number of correct answers, and were winners of the competition: Sophie Green, Emily Young, Sam Jeffrey, Maisy Buckingham, Clifford Lengalenga, Matthew Dunstan and Sajini Satheeskumar. Each received their choice of a book as reward for their efforts.
As well as the competition, the LRC was decorated with a special display, and pupils across the school were given special WBD vouchers to spend on books. It all made for an excellent and enjoyable day. We are already looking forward to expanding our plans for World Book Day 2020!
Year 8 Creative Careers Trip
Miss A. Barnard, Subject Leader: Art, writes:
On Tuesday the 26th February, Year 8 students took a creative careers trip to Leavesden studios to visit The Making of Harry Potter. The students were also able to attend a private workshop looking at the endless possibilities within the creative industry and in particular, the character behind the costume! The workshop was geared to help students realise all of the different jobs within the film industry, as well as your graphic designers, costume designers and art directors, students were also told of the vacancies for scaffolders, plasterers, painters and electricians. From the costume design perspective, students were taught about the intense planning behind each character’s costume to tell a story about who they are; some costumes shown were valued at around £30,000. Students were then given the opportunity to design their own fictitious character using official Harry Potter fabric swatches! We then had a chance to complete the Harry Potter Tour with a new perspective and exclusive insight in to the making of the film. It was a fantastic day out exploring creative career paths in the film making industry.
“The experience was fun and a magical journey! I was surprised at how small models were in real life compared to the size and scale they appear in the movie. It was interesting to see how many different career paths make up just one movie!” Tom Paris 8S
“I really enjoyed the trip and it made me think more about my future and the career paths that are available!” Alice Hawkins 8K
We’re off to see the Wizard! Dance Production 2019
Miss F. Smith, Subject Leader; Dance, writes:
On Monday 4th March, our Dance students performed in this year’s Dance Production ‘We’re off to see the Wizard’. This year’s show included featured roles from the story of the Wizard of Oz and the whole production had a narrative thread throughout. Dorothy was danced by Ruth Morgan in 11A, The Scarecrow by Holly Milliken 11K, The Tinman by Robyn Rappaport and The Lion by Abby Mortimer 13B. This year also featured a Year 8 in a lead role, Ciara Keenan 8B gave an excellent performance as Dorothy’s little dog, Toto. The production followed their journey to Oz meeting other characters such as munchkins, ozians and flying monkeys. Each of our leads gave a solo performance before being met by Dorothy, their interpretations were excellent and they produced very clear representations of their character.
During their trip to Munchkinland, we were introduced to three witches, Glinda the Good Witch danced by Tilly North in 10A, The Wicked Witch of the West danced by Amy Sharp 9O and the Witch of the East…. whose feet were played by Miss Conder. Amy and Tilly gave exceptional performances in their solos Are you a Good Witch? and Or a Bad Witch? Their battle duet at the end of the production displayed their excellent choreography and performance skills brilliantly and they danced beautifully together despite being enemies (in the show!)
Once we were welcomed into Oz we met the Wizard who was danced by Charlotte Kerr 11O, in a high energy piece ‘Welcome to Oz’. This piece was put together by Year 13 students Jess Elsley 13K and Abby Mortimer. It was the perfect way to open the second act and included excellent performances from our Year 11 BTEC dancers.
The production showcased the talents of a wide variety of Stanborough students not only by our BTEC Dancers but also included a large number of Dance club pieces, which have all been run by our Dance Captains: Jess Elsley, Abby Mortimer, Freya Elsley, Abbey Turner, Ruth Morgan, Harriet Hawkins, Julia Pietraszko, Beth Chapman, Holly Milliken, Bethan Makowski, Lora Johnson, Tilly North and Teya Kindred. These pieces were as strong as ever, including high quality choreography and performance from our students. Well done to our excellent Dance Captains, impressive work as always.
Several pupils also took advantage of our audition process and there was a particularly memorable quartet by Lousie Grenfell, Ava Connelly, Lauren Saunders and Amelie Warner based on the theme of Good Vs Evil, reflecting the Good and Bad Witch characters. Keziah Long and Chloe Steel performed a fun duet as the Lullaby League welcoming Dorothy into Munchkinland and Millie Batersby and Megan Sproat impressed the audience with their confident duet as Flying Monkeys. Our Lead Flying Monkey was danced by Jay Puranik, who gave a wonderfully menacing performance in his solo.
As Dorothy, Ruth Morgan performed three solos during this show, the first was her only dance in Kansas to Judy Garland’s version of Over the Rainbow. Her second solo contrasted this in a dramatic cover of the same song showing her trapped in the witch’s castle. The third was a tap solo Take me Home, a perfect end to the story and the show.
Other highlights of the show were the year 9 and 10 BTEC assessment pieces. The year 9s performed an emotional contemporary piece Crazy which included solos, contact duets and group sections which they performed brilliantly. Their second piece Salute was a real crowd pleaser, an upbeat number which was their interpretation of the Witch and her guards.
Our Year 10 Dancers performed Cry Me a River, a professional piece of repertoire choreographed by Andrew Winghart. This was an extremely challenging piece as they had to replicate the original work and they really did a superb job. Well done Year 10!
Our Year 12 Dancers wowed the audience with their pieces It’s Raining Men and If I Only Had a Heart. They demonstrated beautifully their versatility as performers and their dances were real stand out moments from the show.
The staff dancers made another appearance this year with their interpretation of the yellow brick road. The piece opened with high energy entrances from Miss Bowen and Miss Newman, and included a set phrase which increased in speed as well as some challenging contact work! In case anyone is wondering, no one was injured during the creation or performance of this piece…
This production demanded a lot from the main roles as they were included in several other dances in order to tell the story, and I have to congratulate them all on their professionalism and tremendous efforts in making the telling of the story successful. The way each one of them managed their time is extremely impressive.
All our dance students took full advantage of performing on a professional stage at the Weston Auditorium with excellent lighting and sound facilities, this truly enhanced their overall performance and helped make this production both magical and memorable.
All our dance students were a credit to themselves and the school throughout the day and during the evening’s performance. They worked extremely hard and should be very proud of all they have achieved.
We’re looking forward to doing it all again next year!
Please click here to see more photographs….
F1 in Schools
Mrs M. Ridgeon, Y10 Leader writes:
On Friday 15th February, the last day of half term, Mr Green and I took nine students from Y10 to the 2019 UK Regional Finals for F1 in Schools UK competition. The event was held in Orpington and run from 8.30am till 4.30pm. The students, led by myself and Mr Green, had been working towards this for eight weeks, but most teams we were going up against had either been working on it for longer, or taken part in a final before. Our nine students were part of two teams: QUILLION and PROJECT S. With the help of Mr Bell, Mr Beevor, Miss Shah, Mr Christodoulou, Mr Schofield we were able to enter a car from each time into the competition, after many a failed 3D printing attempt!
Ella Griffin, 10B, Team Leader for Quillion writes:
The competition consisted of the marketing, enterprise and engineering of your own mini version of a F1 car. As a team we produced two portfolios one for engineering and one for enterprise, which would be judged on as well as the racing of the car. Throughout the day we were judged on each element of the project, which included a review of both portfolios, assessment of our pit display, the actual racing of our car and a verbal presentation. Due to not having a lot of experience in the competition we felt a little disheartened looking at our opponents pit displays and portfolios however, that didn’t last long and we saw it as a learning experience and were thrilled to win the award for our pit display due to our homemade wind tunnel and aerodynamic testing videos. Overall the day was more of a success than we expected and all of us would love to have another go as we now have a better understanding, which will hopefully push us to win.
“A fantastic experience which our team have learnt a lot from.” Archie Jennings 10K
“An enjoyable trip providing the team with both experience and ideas.” Louis Ross 10H
“It was very interesting to see the ideas of others and draw inspiration from their designs.” Joshua Gaydon 10A
Overall as leader of Year 10 I couldn’t have been more proud of them, I believe it is events like this which can inspire students into specific pathways and I can’t wait to return, hopefully with them and more students, later this calendar year.
