BUBBLY ALL ROUND

Record GCSE results. Record results at KS3 (age 14). Record A Level results. A magnificent end to the summer. I bought champagne for the staff and set even more demanding targets for 2008.

Our students, parents and staff have built a school community where confidence, trust and high expectations have won 8 national achievement awards in recent years. The standard measure of 5 A*-C grades shows us with 79% of students achieving this standard, with fantastic results in Science, Maths and English. Our ICT provision is first class and we are currently building the only purpose-built Dance Studio in the area.

Our 6th Form numbers have grown and we will be opening their new Quiet Common Room before Christmas, giving them a 3rd area in which to study away from younger students. We now have 8 mobile classrooms – affectionately known as The Village - and even though they are in excellent condition I will be spending the next ten years trying to get a purpose built teaching block to replace the mobiles.

More importantly, we lost no teachers in the summer term apart from an intercontinental swap in RE with Ann Basinski joining us from America. The first major trips of the year have passed serenely with History students in Ypres, Year 8 in France and Year 7 at the Science Museum.

After tremendous exam results this summer in PE, I wish to use this newsletter to inform Miss Goodwin that I expect our netball teams to be trophy-winning teams this year.

Dennis O’Sullivan

HARRY POTTER COMPETITION

In order to celebrate the launch of the seventh title in the Harry Potter series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”, a competition was held for schools in East Herts by Books@Hoddesdon.

Students were asked to create a new teacher for Hogwarts School, they then had to write an essay describing the teacher and their magical subject. Chauncy students in Years 7, 8 and 9 took part in the competition. Tom Petrie’s essay won and he was awarded a boxed set of Harry Potter audio CDs, read by Stephen Fry. Congratulations Tom!

CINEMA VISIT TO 'ATONEMENT'

Ten students from the Year 13 English Literature group went to see the new film ‘Atonement’ starring Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. This was in preparation for their A2 coursework on the book by Ian McEwan. It was a very enjoyable visit, but not many dry eyes were left by the end of the film!

G&T ROBOTS CLUB

Enthusiastic Year 8 and 9 pupils are meeting after school learning to design, build, test and program Lego Mindstorm robots to perform a series of tasks.

“Team Chauncy” are preparing for an international competition, the first round of regional tournaments for our school will be in Duxford’s Imperial War Museum in December. (http://firsthandtechnology.org.uk)

The team will also need to consider the impact and consequences of climate change to the environment, economy and life around the globe thinking about which resources should best be used and why, presenting their findings to the school and explaining to judges their plan for change.

TEXTILES

During July the whole school had a Citizenship Day and the students studying GCSE Textiles used their skills and time to produce book bags. The students worked hard, had an enjoyable day and sent four bags to a school in Africa where the teachers have very few resources.

FOOD TECHNOLOGY

Students in Food Technology had a new exciting opportunity to work with a chef from the Academy of Culinary Arts. Chef Ben came to school to work with pupils in year 10. He gave them a talk on how we taste food and then they carried out some tasting challenges! Some students were even brave enough to taste food wearing blindfolds. Everyone enjoyed the sessions and we look forward to further work with a chef in the future.

MUSIC

This term sees the Music Department once again bursting at the seams with instruments as the peripatetic lesson timetable gets into full swing. With double the number of pupils now taking instrumental lessons, the department has seen an increased uptake for pupils taking part in lunchtime ensembles, including choir on Tuesday; Clarinet ensemble on Thursday; and Senior Jazz Band also on Thursday. There are also a record number of bands taking an interest in the Friday Rock School. Preparations are already in place for the Christmas concert due to take place on 13 December and auditions will take place very shortly.

WEBSITE NEWS

I am pleased to announce that our new look website is up and running and I hope that you will find it easier to navigate. It is full of useful content and updated on a regular basis. In addition to the website we offer families the opportunity to register for SchoolMail which is an electronic mail system which will forward whole school letters and news bulletins to your e-mail address.

Access the link from www.thechauncyschool.co.uk/RM-Easy.html. We also have RM Easylink and RM Easymail which will allow your child to access their work area and our Learning Resources area from home as well as e-mail homework to staff. Please visit the Chauncy Website for further details www.thechauncyschool.co.uk.

Steve Walton (Deputy Headteacher)

MODERN LANGUAGES

Wednesday 26 September was European Languages Day. Students greeted their teachers in various languages and did a quiz on the different languages spoken in Europe.

The Linguascope Club was launched on 20th September at Lunchtimes in CR3. Students have the opportunity to use fun interactive websites to play games and learn 5 languages. It has proved to be very popular! All are welcome.

Future Events

8 October—German Students from Cologne visiting Chauncy.

2—6 November—Spanish Exchange which is the first ever visit to Chauncy.

14—21 November—French Exchange.

FILM CLUB HAS RESTARTED!

Film Club welcomed some new recruits from Year 7 joining the regulars. The club is run by Mrs Allison and Miss Knowles. We’re starting the year watching “The Incredibles” and following this with some sessions creating our own animations using action figures or Wallace and Gromit style clay figures. As usual there will be a visit to Cineworld later in the term. The Film Club meets every Monday after school (3.45 – 4.45) in Room 1 and we are always pleased to see new members!

Year 12 and 13 Media Studies visit to London

Braving the cold wind whipping along the river, Groups of Year 12 and 13 Media Studies students carried out practical work with still and video cameras on the London South Bank. The Year 13 students were filming material for their Advanced Production music video and the Year 12 students were collecting still shots of suitable locations for a new James Bond film. We then all came in from the cold to watch a stunning presentation of the summer blockbuster hit “Transformers” at the London IMAX – the biggest screen in the country!

DAY TRIP TO BOULOGNE-SUR-MER

On the 14 September, 2 coaches of Year 8 students left early to go to Boulogne sur mer, a small coastal town in the north of France.

Most students enjoyed many new experiences like travelling on the Eurotunnel. The two groups visited a traditional French bakery, where they rolled their croissant and pain au chocolat. At the end of the visit, the baker offered everybody one of each! (luckily not the ones we made!) We then went to Nausicaa. Many students thought that this was the best moment of the day. They saw shark, tuna and seals and also clown fish, colourful plankton and corals in the tropical lagoon. There were some scary crocodiles too! We touched a stingray that came to the surface to greet us!

In the afternoon, we all enjoyed a guided tour of the fortified town of Boulogne and saw the castle and the cathedral. Finally we enjoyed some shopping time before going back to our coaches. This was a great sunny and successful day in France and we can’t wait to go back next year!

YEAR 11 OCRN SCIENCE

Year 11 have been having fun working on a new unit called ‘materials’. Part of this unit involves designing and making papier mache masks. The assignment includes the development of a mask making industry on a fictional eco-friendly island resort. The masks should enhance the islands green, eco-tourism friendly image. The masks must make use of local resources found on the island such as waste paper and used rice boiling water. Students are expected to produce a product profile and perform a number of tests on their finished mask. Students will also consider the benefits of recycling from the point of view of simple economics, waste and energy reduction.

The year 11 Science Teachers have enjoyed seeing the students work hard on their designs and are looking forward to spending a lesson getting messy as they help them to make their masks. We hope that this design chosen by a student isn’t based on one of the teachers at Chauncy!

YEAR 11 TRIP TO YPRES

The History Department have just recently returned from a trip to Ypres in Belgium. As part of their GCSE coursework Year 11 pupils have to complete a booklet comprising of five source questions concerning the significance of Ypres during World War One. The two day trip gave forty four pupils the chance to visit various museums and trenches which enhanced their knowledge of Ypres.

Our first stop was Sanctuary Wood. It gained its name in October 1914 as a place of sanctuary for wounded soldiers. Pupils had the chance to walk through the trenches and look at previously censored photographs. In the afternoon we visited the fantastic In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres.

In the evening we went to the Menin Gate ceremony. This is the most important memorial in Ypres and bears on its arches 54,986 British soldiers who died in the area and have no known grave. Each evening at 8pm the Last Post is sounded in memory of the dead. This has occurred every night since 11th November 1929, except for the period of Nazi occupation 1940-1944. Two Year 11 pupils, Emily Robinson and Dan O’Neill, laid a wreath on behalf of Chauncy School.

The following day we took pupils to a number of World War One cemeteries. Our first stop was Tyne Cot, which has the largest number of commonwealth graves anywhere in the world totalling 11,908. A wreath was also laid here on behalf of Chauncy School. As a complete contrast we then took them to a German Cemetery in Langemarck where there is a mass grave of 24,917 men. We also visited the Essex Farm Cemetery where the poem ‘In Flanders Fields’ was written.

UNDER 16 COUNTY NETBALL TOURNAMENT

On Saturday 29 September, six Year 11 girls and one Year 10 girl played in a County netball tournament at Parmiters School in Watford.

We were grouped against schools from all over the county, including St Albans Girls School and John Henry Newman in Stevenage. Our first game was against Parmiters School and it was a tight match all the way to the end, when Parmiters scored 30 seconds before the whistle to beat us 8-7.

We then played John Henry Newman School and St Albans Girls School which were both close games, but we lost them both by a shoe string!! However, our luck was about to change as we played Knights Templar School and we won 10-3!! The girls played a brilliant match, with Emily Campbell and Michelle Pike scoring some fantastic goals! Spirits were high as we went on to play John F Kennedy School from Hemel Hempstead and we played our socks off, winning 10-2. Player of the tournament as voted by the girls was Emily Robinson! Well done girls.

PARENTING CLUB

Are you a parent seeking support and advice in parenting? Would you like to pass on your skills as a parent? If so, then why not join our free parenting club. We meet twice every half term on a Tuesday from 7—9 pm.

We cover many issues, including peer pressure, bullying, setting boundaries, managing anger, and much more - you decide. We also feature speakers from organisations like Childline and Community Police Officers.

If you would like to have more information, please contact Rosemary Hutchinson on 01920 411200.

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