Greensward's Senior Student Team | |
Each of the team has a new role in keeping with the “Every Child Matters” agenda. Below are the details of who they are and a brief overview of their roles…
Head Girl – Harriet Marsh
Head Boy – Andy Coker
The Head Boy and Girl will over see the Senior Student Team who each has a specific role…
In charge of “Stay Safe” – Charlie Austin (Deputy Head Girl)
In charge of “Be Healthy” – James Mclean (Deputy Head Boy)
In charge of “Economic Wellbeing” – Michael Smyth
In charge of “Enjoy and Achieve” – Katy Daly
In charge of “Positive Contribution” – Zoie Bryan
All of the students are thrilled with their new roles and extremely eager to make an impact within the college. |
Readathon | |
   
This year's Readathon had a Roald Dahl theme. The two-week long event culminated in a celebration on Friday when the students acted out some of the author's well-known stories. |
Regional Finalist of Teaching Awards | |
On Thursday 12 June, Mrs Angela Gibbons, Director of Global Studies at Greensward College received The Guardian Award for Teacher of the Year in a Secondary School for the East of England Region. She was nominated by an ex student at Greensward College - Emily Wheeler.
"I won my category so was the winner of secondary school teacher of the year. I have had a lovely day at the awards ceremony and feel very special. I was overwhelmed to actually win an award for a job which I love. Greensward College has given me the opportunities and the support to become a good teacher so my thanks go to my collegues, friends and, of course, the students. I now have the national final in London to look forward to which is very exciting!"
Angela is the Director of Global Studies at Greensward College and is currently on maternity leave having recently given birth to her son, Aidan.
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Have Your Say Competition | |
Another victory for Greensward College! On Tuesday 13th May, 18 Greensward College students participated in the finals of the Have your Say competition at the Thomas Lord Audley school in Colchester. Have your Say is a competition organized by A.L.L (Association of Language Learners) for Essex and East Anglia. Greensward College is proud to have entries in all year groups for French and Spanish and German for Year 8. Our students worked hard to prepare a dialogue by heart as well as an unseen dialogue in the finals.
Last year we won the shield for Year 9 Spanish and this year we won the shield for Year 9 French. Congratulations to all entrants and especially to Lily Clague and Hannah Lebeze who won the Year 9 shield for French. |
Chinese Textiles | |
  
The Year 8 G&T China programme continued on Friday night with students trying Chinese silk painting, led by the Textiles department. Students thoroughly enjoyed the session and produced some amazing pieces of themed work. |
Olympic Village Model | |
The Year 9 technology students were given a brief to design domestic housing suitable for London where land is sparse, and population high. A variety of designs drawing on London’s diverse architectural heritage were produced. Students utilised a range of professional model making skills including the use of the new industry standard CAD-CAM laser cutter. Matthew is seen here finishing off the first floor of his Olympic village apartment building. |
Karting | |
Gillard driver, Tom, had a highly successful weekend at Parma in northern Italy, coming away with the third place award at the season-opening Margutti Trophy, but if he hadn’t had to overcome damage sustained to his kart at the start of the semi-final he could well have achieved even more.
The weekend didn’t start very well when Tom only qualified halfway up the 78-kart field in timed practice in Friday’s cold, wet and changeable weather, but by Saturday and the qualifying heats he was able to run in the top five, earning him sixth on the grid for his semi-final on Sunday.
But his problems weren’t over yet, as on the warming up lap Tom hit the barrier protecting the race control tower and spun. He got going again, got back to his starting position before the lights turned green, and without hesitation moved up to fourth by the end of the first lap. Now part of the group at the sharp end, Tom was in a position to fight for the lead and spent much of the race dicing with European Champion and fellow Brit Jack Harvey. They were to swap the lead between them several times at Parma’s two hairpins.
Towards the end, Harvey pulled away and finished a second ahead of Tom. Tom was underwhelmed by his performance, but when he arrived back to the pits it was found that his steering assembly had suffered in the pre-race crash and that he was lucky to have finished at all, let alone to fight for the lead!
In the final, which included the first 17 finishers from each semi, the weather looked threatening but there were a few spots of rain but nothing more. Again Harvey provided stiff opposition but Czech driver Zdenek Groman had the initial lead while Tom ran second. He dived for the inside line at the end of the first lap and held on to the lead for three laps until Groman and Harvey fought back, with another driver following them through. Tom ran in fourth until Harvey’s engine failed and he was promoted to third where he finished the race.
At the podium ceremony Tom explained, “We think the kart must have been bent in the semi, it was understeering badly and was a struggle to drive. My team [PDB Racing/Mark Rose Motorsport] did a brilliant job to keep me going.”
To doesn’t have long to recover as he is due to compete at the other end of Italy this coming weekend [16th March] in the WSK International Series at La Conca in Puglia. |
A Snowflake in Auschwitz | |
Reece Stead, Head Boy, has recently had his poem ‘A Snowflake in Auschwitz’ put on public display in the Imperial War Museum.
Of the 300 schools involved only 4 poems were published. Reece initially took part in a conference in London in March last year where he heard a survivor recount his time in camp. This conference would help him to prepare himself for what he would see on his visit to Auschwitz. The poems were written as a follow up to the visit along with presentation to assemblies and preparation of materials for a Holocaust display in college.
Two Sixth Form students from Greensward College have been given the chance to visit Auschwitz once again this year in March.
A snowflake in Auswitch
Snowflakes fall from the bleak winter sky,
It is said they all look the same.
Floating in unison, passing us by,
Each one melts as fast as it came.
But if you take a closer look,
Catch a flake as it goes on by.
You will see, each flake you took,
Is different to the one by its side.
But still we stand and endlessly watch,
Each beautiful flake fall to the ground.
Each one will fight attempting to stop,
The same fate for the flakes around.
But the stone cold floor claimed most of the snow,
Its hardened rock seeming merciless.
Not letting any flake go,
It seems they had all found their place of rest.
And still, as beauty disappears around us,
We stand and decide not to try.
To save any flake, we look, but just
Watch them as they silently die.
Nothing has changed in this place of death,
We still stand by and watch things fade.
And although we now think we know best,
We still don’t rush to anyone’s aid.
It seems unless an event affects you,
It does not exist in your harmonious world.
It's time to wake up and smell the dew,
As snowflakes are melting, and relying on you.
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Health Awareness Day at Hockley Library | |
 
On Thursday 7th February Greensward College was asked to take part in a Health Awareness Day at Hockley Library.
The aim of the day was to make the residents of Hockley aware of health issues and advertise the new selection of books in the Library relating to Health issues and healthy eating.
Two Year 7 and two Year 8 students along with Miss Godwin took examples of Healthy Eating and Healthy Living activities from the PSHE programme and also had a stand about Acorns Restaurant along with examples of healthy menus. They talked to people about what we do at Greensward with confidence. |
Music Workshop with the London Philharmonic Orchestra | |
 
Eight musically talented students from Years 8 and 9 were fortunate enough to have the chance to take part in a weekend workshop on 2 and 3 February at The Mill in Rayleigh with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. It was a wonderful opportunity to practise with a world class orchestra and then to perform to parents on the Sunday afternoon. Mr Welton was extremely proud of all students who took part and said that they were a credit to the college. |
Congratulations James! | |
Congratulations to James McLean who on Wednesday 20 February became the Runner Up of the first ever Evening Echo Junior Sports Personality of the Year Award. The awards evening was held at the Sky Bar in Basildon’s Festival Leisure Park and James was presented his award by Fatima Whitbread, Javelin World Champion.
James is pictured (centre) with Greensward's Mr Simon Richardson and Mr John Szynal. |
Basketball News | |
Katie in Year 9 was selected for the England Basketball Development Squad at the age of 12 and since then has been attending England Basketball Camps every month. The three days at Camp are spent playing strenuous games of basketball which in turn develop her playing techniques. Katie’s position is Point Guard. Katie also plays for Southend Swifts and the U15 Greensward College Girls Basketball Team, who recently became the U15 English Schools Champions. |
Harriet's Fundraiser | |
Harriet Fulcher in Yr 11, accompanied by her parents and Mr Wakefield presented a cheque for £9,451.64 to staff at Great Ormond Street Hospital recently. The funds have been raised from activities and events run by the Fulcher family and Greensward College. |
National Basketball Champions again! | |
Greensward College became National Champions for a second consecutive year at the English Schools Basketball Association Division 1 U15 Competition in Nottingham.
Having won the U14 title the year before, Greensward went into the competition as strong favourites and made their intentions clear in their Quarter Final meeting with St. Edmunds (Wiltshire) who had made the final 8 as a Wildcard Entry. Greensward proved simply too strong for their opposition and ran out comprehensive 93-22 winners, Maisie Elston (21 points) and Grace Keys (17 points) top scored but all 11 players were on the score sheet.
Confidence was therefore high as the team made the short trip across Nottingham to the semi-final venue at the Jesse Boot Wildcats Arena.
Greensward met Greig City Academy in the semi, a team they met in last years U14 Final.
Greensward raced into an early 20-3 lead by the end of the 1st quarter and despite a short period of pressure in the 3rd, GCA had no answer to the devastating pace of the Greensward fast break with Abbey Keys contributing 16 points. Greensward ran out comfortable 61-38 winners and ensured their place in the final courtesy of a devastating individual performance from England U16 Cadet and Captain, Christina Gaskin (25 points).
And so to the final - an all East Region affair - against local rivals Great Baddow High School.
After a tough first quarter, Greensward were up by just 4 points but clinical finishing saw a 20 point gap opened up by half time with Greensward leading 30-10. The 3rd and 4th quarters were similarly one-sided affairs as Great Baddow had no answer to a tough Greensward defence epitomised by Kitty Hall. Demonstrating their high levels of fitness and strength in depth, 9 players contributed to the final score of 48-18. Gaskin dominating again with 14 points.
The Greensward performances were simply outstanding and both coaches (Mr S. Richardson and Mr C. Butterworth) were understandably proud of the whole team. Their professionalism and attitude throughout the tournament was a fantastic advert for school sport.
The College’s success is based largely on their close ties with the Southend Swifts Basketball Team. 8 of the 11 players who made up the squad represent the Swifts and the College would like to thank the coaches and parents for their continual support. |
Construction Skills | |
James, Year 10 BTEC Construction student, has completed an extended coursework project displaying advanced brickwork techniques used in industry. James has studied the use of English and Flemish bond, traditional techniques used since the Middle Ages, and will continue to study other more contemporary structures in order to gain his Diploma in 2009.
Greensward is a flagship college in providing opportunities for students in Year 10 to study and learn practical skills used in the construction industry. The vocational opportunities following the awarding of the Construction Diploma are immense, in Essex particularly as local projects within the Thames Gateway and the new Olympic site are currently underway. |
Great Wall of Greensward | |
Twenty-five Year 8 Greensward College students are taking part in a Gifted and Talented programme run on Friday evenings. The theme of each class is China, inspired by the Beijing Olympics and the current Terracotta Army exhibition at the British Museum.
Students are taking part in a variety of lessons which are planned to enthuse and challenge students. So far, students have learnt about Chinese enterprise, history, religion and ethics and construction where they built their own ‘Great Wall’. Future classes include music, language, Science and food. At the end of the programme, students will be taken on an excursion to London where it is hoped they will see the Terracotta Army exhibition and visit China town.
Students are really enjoying the sessions as well as learning topics and subjects which are not on the usual Year 8 curriculum. |
NVQ Equine Science | |
 
Year 10 students Rebecca, Georgia and Rebekka continue to enjoy their Level 2 NVQ Equine Science studies that they started in September. The course is run locally at Shoplands Hall via Writtle College and they attend for two days a week. |
Footballing Success | |
Joe in Year 11 who plays for Southend Manor in the Eastern Junior Alliance Football League was selected to play for the league representative team to play the Felixstowe and District league in the East Anglian inter league competition. Joe who plays in goal, helped The Alliance League to a 6-0 win at Wivenhoe FC's ground. |
Student of the Year | |
Congratulations to Danielle in Year 11 who was chosen as Student of the Year by the pupils and teachers of her Kung Fu club.
Danielle is currently a Black Belt and is working towards First Dan.
She attends her Kung Fu classes three times a week at The Meridian Centre in Southend. |
Dancing in Pantomime | |
Congratulations to Leah in Yr 9 who has been chosen as a lead dancer in the New Empire Theatre’s Christmas Pantomime Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Leah will be sharing the stage with Ben Hanson who is “Bouncer” from Tracey Beaker, Paul Harris from BBC Radio and Briony Price from “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria”. We wish Leah lots of luck. Performances are from 7 – 29 December 2007. |
Greensward College Students Celebrate Summer GCSE Success | |
Staff and Students past and present gathered together on Friday 16 November to receive their GCSE certificates from the summer. The college was delighted that this group of students gained the highest level of passes of 90% A*-C in the college’s history and there were many successes to celebrate. As well as receiving their certificates, 10 students received a Principal’s Award for Personal Achievement, 20 students received a Principal’s Award for General Achievement and 33 students received special awards for subjects ranging from Mathematics, English and Science to Dance, Hairdressing and Construction. The Herbert Lucas Award for overall academic excellence was presented to Sarah Patching who gained 6A*, 7A and an A at GCSE. The evening was a resounding success and the college is grateful to the support from the local businesses that sponsor these awards. |
Headliners | |
  
Our 6th form girls took part in a cutting demonstration in our salon. Georgia, a Vidal Sassoon trained stylist from Headlines salon in Rayleigh, demonstrated two different haircuts step-by-step. The girls learnt different techniques which they will now put into practice with their own clients. Headlines will be sending their colour technician to us in the near future to demonstrate fashion colours and up-to-date trends. |
Walkathon 2007 | |
On Sunday 23 September 76 students, staff and parents completed a 12 mile walk of the London Bridges in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital.
All involved had a great day and, once again, the students and staff were a credit to themselves and the college.
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India selected for Essex U18 Ladies Rugby Team | |
 
Greensward student, India, in Yr 11 has been selected to play for the Essex U18 Ladies Rugby Team. India has played for Westcliff RFC for about four years now and she recently underwent trials for Essex at Thurrock RFC. About a week after her trial she received a letter telling her that she had been successful and she now trains for Essex once a week at Thurrock RFC. The first match will take place in October against Hertfordshire and India is working very hard at training to ensure she makes the first 15. |
Mikkaela selected for National Netball Programme | |
 
Mikkaela in Year 10 is delighted that she has been selected for the England Netball Development Programme recently. She was chosen from her netball club (Robins) to attend three screening days which consisted of a tough training and selection process. On the third day she undertook a trial for Mavericks (a team which plays in the upper league) and was successful. She then went on to go through to the England Development Programme and has already started training. The training takes place once a month and Mikkaela is expected to follow a very strict training and nutrition programme. She has to work hard to keep her place as squad members are let go at any point during their training if they don’t work hard enough.
We wish Mikkaela well with her training and hope to see her playing for England in the not too distant future. |
Tom is a winner in Italy and Germany! | |
 
Kart racer is on a roll now after winning at the prestigious Italian Open final round
... at Val Vibrata in the Abruzzo.
The Hockley teenager came back from qualifying right down in 34th, causing his mentor Mark Rose to say "He's as good as any driver I've ever seen and he's exceeded all my expectations." Coming from someone who has worked with F1 and NASCAR drivers, Rose's praise should not be taken lightly.
Racing with the PDB Gillard team, Tom started every qualifying heat nearer the back of the field than the front but in the first heat he came through to 9th, 8th in the second heat and then 7th in the third, all the time easily on the pace of the leaders. When the scores of every other racer were added in, he had a starting position of 11th for the first of the main finals.
With Tom starting from a relatively low grid position the team took a gamble and saved their new tyres for the second race and although he was around a tenth of a second slower than the leaders he kept pushing throughout the 20-lap race. In the second final, "He drove a perfect race, led every lap and was fast enough to keep four kart-lengths ahead," said Rose. Tom has finished the championship in 3rd against the best junior drivers in the world.
Coming after his win at the qualifying race for the European Championship, Tom's confidence is sky-high and this weekend he will attempt to sew up the German Championship a round early when he travels to Michael Schumacher's circuit at Kerpen with a lead of 40 points.
"Better than Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon” was just one of the descriptions of Hockley kart racer Tom after his German Championship title win this weekend at Hahn-Hunsruck, near Frankfurt.
Tom only needed to finish in the top five in the first, ‘sprint’ race to win the championship, so when he found himself in second after the start all he needed to do was sit behind team-mate Mario Farnbacher and the number one plate was his. But the only person to be unaware of this was Tom himself as his team wanted him top off his championship with one last race win.
Starting from second in the main race, Tom dropped back to seventh but at the fast, flow-y track where it was hard to break out of the slipstream, he calmly picked off a competitor every lap until he took the lead. He pressed home his advantage by posting five laps all within a tenth of a second of each other in a display that even left rival teams impressed. Behind him at the flag was second-placed in the championship Riccardo Brutschin.
The main final was what prompted Tom’s mentor Mark Rose to make the Wheldon comment, who was Rose’s most famous protégée back in the early 1990s. “Last year Tom was said to be a little crazy but this year I haven’t seen him crash once and this year he’s won more than he’s ever done,” he said.
The trophy presentation will be in Bonn in November, and will also be attended by the DTM drivers who will be presented with their prizes at the same event. Before then Tom will head up to Sunderland next weekend for the penultimate round of the British championship. After a date clash he is down in 14th in the championship with only a mathematical chance of winning, but with nothing to lose excitement is guaranteed. After that he’ll be off to Italy for the final of the European Junior Championship, where he has already won a qualifying race, and then Tom will go back to school at the Greensward College in Hockley. |
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