Camping, cooking and Devon call up for girls' rugby...
Army Cadets Exercise First Basha
The Army cadets took part in an Exercise First Basha for the first time at school. The aim of the 24 hr camp was to introduce the new Army Cadets to what it’s like to set up an Army shelter, sleep, cook, eat and carry out personal admin and hygiene. Ex First Basha started at 1000 hrs on Saturday and finished on Sunday. 24 hrs of continuous activities provided by the CCF Staff and cadet senior instructors.
A welcome parade set the scene for the day. The gravity of the day and night under the stars’ became evident on the cadets’ faces when they found out that they were going to be self-sufficient for 24 hrs. Detailed into 4 sections, each rotating around activities which included:
– Weapons Handling and Air Rifle Shooting
– Initial Survey First Aid
– Admin and Hygiene in the field
– Tactical Hand Signals
– Tactical Night Movement
– Cooking Military Rations
– Building a Military Shelter (Basha) to sleep under
– Night Time Patrol
Lunchtime came around very fast. A cup of hot chocolate followed by a lesson in Military ration cooking. A 24 hour ration pack was issued to each cadet with lots of different menus. A demonstration on how to cook the food was followed by the cadets fending for themselves. The favourite lunch meal was the ginger sponge pudding! Everyone then joined in to clean the cooking pots and then they were ready for the afternoon’s activities. By now, all the cadets were busy working as a team helping each other through the admin tasks.
During the afternoon, the weather was against them. A couple of light rain showers did not dampen the mood. The wind, on the other hand, made Basha building a bit of a challenge. Not phased by this, everyone partnered up to build shelters (Basha) in preparation for sleeping in. Each cadet was issued a sleeping system, sleeping bag and role matt. Once the camp was set and the light turned to dark, the cadets cooked a main evening meal to discover again how nice the food is.
The evening’s entertainment took the form of a Night Patrol. Apparently, enemy forces had infiltrated the school grounds. Their mission was to set a patrol out to set up a listening point in an attempt to gather critical information to overcome the enemy force. Each section took it in turns to patrol out to what was found to be the enemy force. Moving slowly under the cover of darkness and using the skills learnt during the day, they set up a listening point and lay low to listen and gather information. They discovered that the enemy force had a weird language and liked eating McDonalds! Once the patrol section had gathered the information, they patrolled back to camp where the fun of trying to convince them to go to sleep started. Finally at silly o’clock in the morning they gave up chatting and were all asleep.
First light was the biggest shock for some as they were woken by the directing staff. Admin, breaking camp down and breakfast was the order of the morning. A very busy 24 hours but a lot of new skills are being put into practice. An incredible effort by everyone involved. Every cadet got involved in all the activities which will help to prepare them to take on the next camp in the New Year.
As the cadets move forward in their training and they get closer to field trips, camps, weapons training, visits to military units, and so much more.
There are limited places are available for the Year 9s to join cadets. If you would like to join, please come along to training on Wednesday after school from 1515 hrs to 1730 hrs or give your name to the CCF Office. The New Year will see an announcement for the Year 8s to form an Army Cadet section. Details will be released towards the end of this term.
Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award Qualifying Expedition
After a busy half term fifteen Year 11 students were spending the first weekend of the holiday toughing out their DofE Silver Qualifying Expedition. For their Silver Expedition, the students are required to be on an expedition for seven hours on each of the three days. As usual for DofE expeditions, the students were all carrying their tents, kit and food and would be responsible for navigating as they were hiking along their planned routes and, on arrival at the campsites, setting up camp and cooking their meals on gas stoves.
With an 8.30 Saturday morning meet at school the students were taken out to their start point at the stunning Shaugh Bridge, Shaugh Prior, overlooked by the impressive Dewerstone Rock. There were three groups going out on expedition that weekend, and each had planned their own routes for each of the three days of hiking. Their routes all varied, with one of the groups electing to take the more direct route across the moor and the other groups planning routes that were equally taxing but across lower land.
Each team set off by 1100h in good spirits, despite knowing that they were going to be encountering some very heavy showers as the day went on! Team 1 made really good progress on the start of their moorland route, heading to Cadover Bridge and joining a section of the Two Moors Way. However, later in the day they managed to miss East Rook Gate to come off the moor, and Mr Brett was concerned that he would have to intercept them before they headed off into open moorland where they would encounter streams and brooks swollen with the heavy rains. However, they realised their mistake and with some good map reading and ‘hand-railing’ a field boundary they retraced their steps back to their planned route and left the moor via East Rook Gate.
Team 2 started off brightly but then seemed to miss a footpath and actually ended up walking back towards Shaugh Bridge, but 200 metres south! Mr Brett and Mr Adams were watching the tracker maps closely, wondering why they were heading back to the start point and hoping they would correct themselves soon. Mr Adams was on his way to intercept the team when they seemed like they were heading further off track but was reassured when the tracker showed they were back on track heading for Lee Moor. When Mr Adams encountered the group, the first thing they said was, ‘we went a bit wrong, Sir!’ Absolutely fantastic to hear that they realised that and got themselves back on track with no assistance required.
Team 3 set off brightly as well, but in the woods near to Shaugh Bridge they encountered a network of paths that weren’t on their maps. This meant they spent time decision-making on which path to take. Mr Adams encountered the team at Wotter, a little concerned at why it had taken them almost two hours to walk 1.5km! They explained about the path choice issues and also that they had found a nice spot on the moor to have a spot of lunch. Again, the team knew exactly where on the map their delay had affected them and got themselves on their route successfully. And the rest of their day’s hike was at a much more respectable and speedier 3.5km/hr.
Each team made it into the campsite at Harford in or slightly over the required seven hours. All a bit tired, soggy and windswept from their hiking, but elated at completing the first day’s journey successfully, they set up their tents (only one team had to do that in the dark!) and got cooking some hot food on their gas stoves. Many culinary delights were enjoyed, mostly pasta dishes or boil-in-the-bag camping food, and one team brought part-boiled potatoes, which they enjoyed with cheese and…. salt!
After a night’s sleep in their tents, broken by torrential rain and punctuated by three massive thunderclaps, the teams woke up at 0630h and started getting their breakfasts. The teams were in amazing spirits, even Phoebe, Oriana and Heidi, whose tent had taken in a lot of water! Mr Brett discovered that it was due to a fault rather than their tent erecting skills.
With a warm breakfast inside them and packs repacked and ready, each team explained their routes to Mr Brett or Mr Adams. Each team highlighted sections of the routes where they may encounter navigation difficulties and sections on the maps where the terrain would be harder going competently, and they suggested alternative routes they could take if necessary. So, with the staff reassured that the students knew where they were going, the teams set off by 1000h. Again, the day ahead promised heavy showers so it was going to be another test of their resilience.
Their routes on the Sunday were taking the teams along lanes, bridleways and footpaths, through the countryside near to Ivybridge, Ermington and Yealmpton and their destination was the campsite at Brixton. On encountering each of the teams at various points, Mr Adams was really impressed with their navigation skills, and the good spirits they were in. This, despite some intense, heavy showers encountered along the way that drenched them.
Each team made it to the destination successfully with no major navigation dramas and were greeted by the welcome sight of Mrs Schwarz at the campsite. They made camp for their second night and got their meals cooked, then settled down for a much quieter night – thankfully!
The following day was their last day of hiking but was still another 7 hours and approximately 15km of walking. Their routes would take them near to Wembury, to Fort Bovisand with a final destination at Mountbatten Breakwater in Plymouth. The days walking took in some steep slopes but also some amazing views of the Devon coastline. I think the teams appreciated those despite how tired they were. Some of the teams had to adjust their routes due to some slight injuries but all made it safely and successfully to Mountbatten. Here they were greeted by the staff – and the more welcome sight of cakes and doughnuts as a reward for their amazing efforts!
Overall it was a fantastic expedition with the students acquitting themselves admirably, demonstrating new skills learned, and excellent team working. They showed such determination, resilience and fortitude to complete close to 50km over the three days in, at times, horrible weather conditions, and they should be very proud of themselves.
A huge thank you must be said to the staff, Mrs Schwarz, Mr Brett and Mr Adams, without whom the event could not have gone ahead, let alone have been such a success. And of course, our warmest congratulations to the following Year 11 students: Team 1 – Will Harrison, Bobbie Royal, Dylan White, Zack Jones. Team 2 – Phoebe Lown, Penny Richards, Oriana McCaul, Hannah Carr, Heidi Wright. Team 3 – Will Reed, Oakley Hayes, Kole Gjikolaj, Charlie Fox, Bogdan Pamfile, Max Beer.
Gothic literature with Year 8 and Dr Davies
Did Poe write mainly long stories or mainly short stories?
Can an action or a noise be uncanny?
Is Jeffrey Dahmer uncanny?
Is the raven guiding the speaker through the seven stages of grief?
Can you still buy Poe’s books?
These are some of the questions that Dr Davies’s Year 8 class asked during a lesson on the gothic poem ‘The Raven’ by Edgar Allen Poe. During this lesson, they learned a new Word of the Week – uncanny – and practised using this in a variety of sentences. The poem itself is over a thousand words long and uses classical imagery alongside archaic stylised language. Although the raven repeatedly says “Nevermore”, the students were far more positive, enjoying the speaker’s slow descent into madness.
Miss Graham’s Year 8 Music Lesson
Over the last few weeks, Miss Graham’s year 8 classes have been working towards a whole class ensemble performance which focusses on the 12 Bar Blues.
The year 8s have been working hard in their lessons to perfect their parts on a range of different instruments, including the piano, guitar, voice and drums.
So far this week, all year 8 students have been successful in playing their own part as a member of a whole class performance.
Miss Graham is looking forward to seeing the rest of the year 8s next week to do the same.
… and there’s always time for a musical game or ‘Moo Off’ at the end.”
Fish Dissection with Year 8
This week Miss Foster’s Year 8 class completed their mid-cycle assessment (well done to Kyron Connor for achieving 100%!) and had the opportunity to dissect 2 types of fish.
After an introduction into the types of adaptations, Miss Foster showed the external structural adaptations of a red gurnard. Mihai Marin then took the lead and showed the internal structures. He even discovered 2 crabs inside the gurnards stomach!
Next up was Harry Paull who showed the class the structures of a squid. He managed to remove the spine and ink sac, although, unfortunately, they had no feathers to practice their calligraphy!
A great lesson for some keen scientists in the class and a special birthday treat for Miss Foster!
Health & Social Care
Level 3 Health and Social Care students were fortunate this week to receive a visit from Carole King, Chair of Torbay Mencap. Carole enthused the pupils with her passion for assisting disabled people in the Bay, and explained all the different ways they help and support. The visit coincided with a specific section of their coursework, looking at voluntary groups within our area and, therefore, incredibly beneficial to the pupils.
Year 8 High Performance Academy
On Wednesday, the Year 8 HPA Oxbridge stream students met for the first time. There was a range of academic seminars on offer based on the theme of technology in the arts and social sciences, including the development of technology in the ancient world delivered by Mr Crow, the presentation of artificial intelligence in the media delivered by Miss Elson, the development of weapons throughout history delivered by Miss Piggot, and the use of technology in the monitoring of volcanoes delivered by Miss Nash.
Students attended the seminar they were most interested in and their enthusiasm and engagement during the seminars was phenomenal. They will now undertake a 4-week research project based on their chosen area, culminating in a research presentation to their peers in December.
Musical Achievement
Ollie Lucas passed his grade 7 on the piano in Exeter this week. Many congratulations to Ollie on his achievement. We look forward to a performance in the next Year 11 assembly.
Hospitality and Catering
A big well done to our students in Hospitality and Catering as they have been very busy over this cycle focusing on making dishes using pastry to produce some wonderful savoury and sweet treats. This time of year is wonderful for using fresh ingredients that are seasonal and tasty such as carrots, apples and potatoes. I hope you like the photos, which highlight the way that they are developing basic skills and learning how to manage a weekly budget.
Elizabeth Cameron’s Rugby Success!
Many congratulations to Lizzie Cameron who has been selected for the Devon Under Rugby squad. She has done incredibly well since starting her rugby career and this selection is the pinnacle of her achievements so far. We done, Lizzie!
Year 7 Rugby
The year 7 boys rugby team travelled to TBGS for their first cluster tournament against Spires, Paignton, Churston GS, TBGS A and TBGS B. The boys played some formidable rugby and the effort from them all was exemplary. Still fresh to the game of rugby, the progress the boys demonstrated was outstanding. They improved game on game and took on board essential coaching points and put that into practice once each game started. The boys managed to beat all opponents apart from a solitary loss to TBGS A team. An opportunity to learn the game and develop as a team was well taken by all the boys. Well done to all involved. Training continues after half term. Squad: Kaelum Bowness, Sonny Cayford, Thomas Cox, Francis Downer, Vinnie Frankum, Archie Harmon, Noah Margetts, Noah Kirby, Euan Miller, Oscar Rogers, Oscar Spurl, Alfi Spicer, Jamie Tully, Zach Venter.
U14 Basketball
On Tuesday, we were proud to partake in our first National Schools Basketball Fixture at U14 level. We put out a very young team of mixed Year 8s and 9s who have been attending Basketball club for sometime and with the support of Mr Funnel have progressed into a sharp team. We hosted Treviglas Academy from Newquay, who have an established Basketball set up and we did ourselves proud. Although we lost the match 46-24, we played some great basketball and scored fantastic points. This is just the start for our Basketball journey and we are excited to watch our teams grow and develop with more game experience. All of the players acquitted themselves brilliantly, but special mention to Harrison Hogg and Kacper Piwowar for their excellent performances.
Squad: Harrison Hogg, Josh Sandeman, Austin Howell, Owen Waller, Zac Evans, Kacper Piwowar, Louis Tillen, James Bond, Joe Boyce.
First team update
Unfortunately, the weather led to their fixture being cancelled this week – this meant another session in the conditioning suite! The boys have been taking full advantage of the new astro to ensure training isn’t interrupted.
PSV Eindhoven Football Trip
Over the half term Jazz Povey and Emma Roadnight, along with a coach full of teammates from Torquay United Community Sports Trust made the long trip to Eindhoven in Holland for an amazing football experience. After an early 2:30am start and a “slightly” rough crossing they arrived at the hotel late in the afternoon. With a good night’s sleep and a big breakfast under their belts it was off to PSV’s training campus for a morning of intensive training under the guidance of the club’s professional coaches, followed by a quick look at the men’s first-team training for their match against Arsenal. Then after lunch off to the main stadium for a behind the scenes tour.
The next day was another morning of training followed by meeting with PSV’s women’s first team with lots of photos and autographs. The team then went to a local Eindhoven football club for matches against local girls’ teams. The last night was spent bowling/foot tennis/badminton/volleyball at the hotel’s amazing sports centre, with an early night before another 14 hour coach trip home. All the girls had an amazing time and started organising the next trip on the coach home!
Students of the Week
Year 7 – Alfie Spicer and Anya Coslett
Year 8 – Halle Wotton and Vincent Liebrick
Year 9 – Sophie Nicholson and Tomasz Kowalski
Year 10 – Jay Jay Winstone and Amalia Mihai
Year 11 – Isabel Blame and Max Beer
Sixth Form – Paige Godwin and Tyler-James Nunn
House Stars of the Week
Year 7
Brunel – Louise Porter
Christie – Harry Lee
Darwin – Lily Thomas
Fawcett – Gustaw Adamczak
Harrison – Stanley Austin
Kitson – Mollie Peters
Nearne – Saket Raj
Pengelly – George Viediernikov
Year 8
Brunel – George O’Hanlon
Christie – Freya Coatesworth
Darwin – Hayden Halsey
Fawcett – Lewis Phillips
Harrison – Jasper Franklin
Kitson – Sam Bowden
Nearne – Mya Brown
Year 9
Christie – Harrison Hogg
Darwin – James Hutt
Fawcett – Emily Banks
Kitson – Billy Botten
Nearne – Bartosz Mitula
Pengelly – Leon Bell
Homework Stars of the Week
Year 7
Brunel – Emily Cowan
Christie – Jamie Tully
Fawcett – Aleta Stojic
Harrison – Robyn Higgins
Kitson – Keane O’Neill
Nearne – Poppy-Lou Fieldhouse
Pengelly – Ethan Lewis
Year 8
Brunel – Liam Anthony
Christie – Lucas Chappell
Darwin – Joe Boyce
Fawcett – Connie Kinghorn
Harrison – Demi Minty
Kitson – Evie-May Howell
Nearne – Cody Cave
Year 9
Christie – Seth Margetts
Darwin – Sara Santos-Martins
Fawcett – Arisa Bejdo
Kitson – Lottie Davis
Nearne – Charlie Knight
Pengelly – Bella Giffard