ConnectA newsletter for parents, students and the local community

Principal: Stuart Williamswww.catmosecollege.com

6 MARCH 2012 ISSUE 33

Post 16

Alice Tickets

Masterchef

Youth Speaks

Young Writer

Fundraising

Ski Trip

Sports News

Exams

OUTSTANDING - OFSTED REPORT

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P 9SKI TRIP: Page 4

It is with a great deal of pleasure I am able to announce that the recent Ofsted inspection resulted in the best report we have ever received, (the full report can be seen on our website www.catmosecollege.com.) We are one of a very small number of schools nationally to have achieved an ‘Outstanding’ grade in each of the four categories and overall. I hope that you will take some pride in the part you and your child played in this; a grading of this calibre was only achieved because every member of the College community makes such a positive contribution on a daily basis. The report makes a particular point of praising the work that we do to ensure that our students not only achieve excellent examination results but are also very well rounded individuals. The inspectors comments regarding the excellent relationships between staff and students particularly stand out for me. He writes “Learning is also aided by the students’ outstanding behaviour and the maturity students show in terms of staying safe and helping one another in their work. The College values all individuals and nurtures their unique talents. As a result, students develop into mature and thoughtful citizens, able to cope effectively with challenges.” He goes on to say “The College’s commitment to inclusion is therefore strong, and all aspects of the college’s work are subject to rigorous, ongoing evaluation, so that the College’s motto, ‘equal value, outstanding progress,’ is a reality here.”

We are not complacent however, believing that continuous improvement is the only way to ensure that we are continuing to provide the best possible service for our students. I would be the first to argue that we do not always get everything right first time but that we will always endeavour to listen to feedback from parents and students to ensure that mistakes are not made twice.

I very much look forward to working with you to ensure that the standards we have achieved under this inspection are maintained and improved further. If after you have read the full report you would like to discuss any aspect of it further please do not hesitate to contact me at the College.

Stuart Williams

(swilliams@catmosecollege.com)

The College however is not complacent; we will continue to strive to improve the service we offer. It is for this reason and the continued dissatisfaction with County based post-16 provision for many parents, that we are consulting on expanding our provision to include a sixth form providing A level courses. Of those students who left us last year, 80% left the County or moved to a public school in order to continue their post-16 studies; we consider this inadequate. We will only proceed however, if there is significant parental support, if we are able to ensure an excellent provision and

Continued Overleaf

Where there is already a sibling at the College and the sibling will either still be at the College or attended the College within the last five years at the time of admission.

This criteria has been strengthened over the previous sibling preference, allowing priority even if the sibling has left the College within the last five years.  This criteria is designed to protect the excellent relationships the College has developed with our existing parents and ensure that any additional children are also able to benefit from them.

A child of staff at the College.

This is a new criteria which is to recognise the crucial role our staff have in ensuring that Catmose College continues to be an excellent place in which to be educated. This criterion will help ensure that we are able to recruit and retain the highest quality staff and recognise the excellent contribution they make to the College community.

Children who live nearest the school by distance.

This final criterion the governors believe is the fairest way to allocate remaining places, prioritising those who live closest to the School. This will ensure that going forward we remain the community college for Oakham and the surrounding villages we always have been. It also removes the unfairness that the old catchment brought, for example, Cottesmore, a village just outside of Oakham was not catchment.

This is a summary of the new draft policy and should only be used as general guidance; it should not be used to determine whether your child would be eligible for a place or not. Please read the full policy which is available from the parents’ section of our website or by hardcopy from the College.Where there is already a sibling at the College and the sibling will either still be at the College or attended the College within the last five years at the time of admission.

This criteria has been strengthened over the previous sibling preference, allowing priority even if the sibling has left the College within the last five years. This criteria is designed to protect the excellent relationships the College has developed with our existing parents and ensure that any additional children are also able to benefit from them.

A child of staff at the College.

This is a new criteria which is to recognise the crucial role our staff have in ensuring that Catmose College continues to be an excellent place in which to be educated. This criterion will help ensure that we are able to recruit and retain the highest quality staff and recognise the excellent contribution they make to the College community.

Children who live nearest the school by distance.

This final criterion the governors believe is the fairest way to allocate remaining places, prioritising those who live closest to the School. This will ensure that going forward we remain the community college for Oakham and the surrounding villages we always have been. It also removes the unfairness that the old catchment brought, for example, Cottesmore, a village just outside of Oakham was not catchment. The effect of this criterion can be seen below:

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ALICE IN WONDERLAND TICKETS ON SALE

18 MARCH 3.00 - 4.30pm, (PERFORMANCE & MAD HATTERS PARADE)

19 - 21 MARCH 7.30 - 9.00pm (PERFORMANCE ONLY)

Tickets available in the library at break and lunch times to students.

For public enquiries please ring the College on 01572 770066

Ticket Prices: £5 Adult, £3 Concession, £13 Family Ticket (2 adults/2 children) - Payments by cash or cheque.

POST 16 EDUCATION

There has been considerable debate in the local press recently regarding post-16 provision. Catmose College has a completely neutral position on this issue, only wanting the very best provision for our students which allows them to continue making the excellent progress they have made at the College. We aim to provide impartial, objective information for our students and their parents in order that they can make the best possible decision regarding their post-16 future. The choice of post-16 provider is a difficult one as there is no standard measure of success, different institutions choose particular results which show themselves in the best possible light.

This year for the first time, the government however has published results for every post-16 provider in the Country. It is this data the College has shared with our parents and students believing that, although it is not comprehensive, it at least allows a fair comparison to be made. This data is not collated by Catmose College but by the Department for Education. It is therefore objective and non-partisan and at least until providers publish a full range of examination results, allows parents and students to compare the different institutions.

The College makes no judgement on the quality of the provision at any of these providers; that is something best done by others. We only wish students and parents to have as much information as possible in order to inform what is such a crucial decision. We would always advise parents and students to visit potential providers during a normal working day, to look at extra-curricular activities and what support is given for university and job applications alongside examination results.

The College is committed to ensuring post-16 provision for our students is at least as strong as what is on offer 11-16 and will continue to work with parents to ensure that this is the case.

More information can be found on the College website: www.catmosecollege.com by selecting the Principal tab

Stuart Williams

This year, work experience for all year 10s is for one week commencing Monday 2 July. Unfortunately the date was incorrect on our College calendar and in the recent letter regarding the year 10 progress evening. Please accept our apologies for any confusion this has caused; the dates have now been corrected. All parents of year 10 students received letters regarding work experience in October 2011 and all forms for data protection and work placement should have been returned to me during November. About 50 students have still not returned any forms or organised their placements and they have been reminded by me, their form tutor and Mrs Townsend on a regular basis. Any student without a placement will have to remain in college doing their normal lessons. Replacement forms can be obtained by contacting me at the college (esmith@catmosecollege.com) and all placements must be arranged by Friday 16 March to avoid charges from the company who oversees Work Experience placements.

Ms E Smith

WORK EXPERIENCE (Monday 2 to Friday 6 July 2012)

OLYMPIC MASTERCHEF COMING TO CATMOSE

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On Wednesday 28 March students are invited to take part in an Olympic themed, MasterChef style contest to see which student can provide the most appetising meal, suitable for an international athlete at this years Olympic games.Master Chef competitors must produce a meal which is adequate for two athletes, chosen from a list of countries.   The competition will take place at 3pm in Beeton, and will be expected to be served on a table by 4:30pm, ready for judging.  Mr Williams will be judging the competition, with house points up for grabs for the winner. For more information on what will be a great competition, and a fantastic experience, please come and see me in Beeton as soon as possible.

Miss Warren

YOUTH SPEAKS

Photo 1: Pippa Brown with her award for ‘Outstanding Talent’, Photo 2: Talek Semmens with his award for ‘Best Chair’, Photo 3: Grace Ray, Abigail Pople & Cara Smithson, Photo 4: Pippa Brown, Megan Foulkes & Grace Ray, Photo 5: Tim Pearse, Issac Costa & Talek Semmens

ENGLISH SPEAKING UNION (ESU)PUBLIC SPEAKING FOR THE EAST MIDLANDS

Congratulations to Pippa Brown, Megan Foulkes and Grace Ray who came 2nd in the branch final at the museum in Oakham recently. This was a great achievement as it was the first year the College had entered the competition and they beat a number of local public schools including Oakham School and Uppingham School to become the regional runners up.

Pippa received a special award for ‘outstanding talent’ for the exceptional way in which she delivered her speech. Pippa's speech on the death penalty was extremely well argued and delivered with a passion which highlights her as someone to watch for the future.

ROTARY CLUB YOUTH SPEALS DISTRICT FINAL

Congratulations to the teams who on Wednesday took part the Youth Speaks district final in Kimboulton. Their hard work was rewarded as each team came third against some tough competition. Grace Ray received an award for the best speaker of the evening and Talek Semmens won the award for best chair of the evening.

SeniorsGrace Ray (Speaker), Abigail Pople (Chair), Cara Smithson (Vote of thanks)

IntermediatesTakek Semmens (Chair), Issac Costa (Speaker), Tim Pearse (Vote of thanks)

OLYMPIC LEGACY

Students have been invited to submit a piece of a piece of poetry or prose using the theme ‘Olympic Spirit’ or ‘Olympic Dream’ for the Rotary Club of Rutland Young Writer Competition.  Featured below is the excellent submission by talented year 9 student, Georgia Farr and we wish her every success in the competition. Entries will be judged on imagination, quality and style of writing and winning entries will be forwarded to the Rotary District competition and ultimately may be included in the Rotary Club National final. Georgia has also created a story on Radiowaves https://www.radiowaves.co.uk/story/356674/title/olympicspiritstory

The   bland white walls stared at me, my heart pounding like a medley of drums all playing simultaneously; tuneful as it was; I was still lost in an unstoppable wave of adrenaline that kept me from stepping back into reality. The deafening silence pricked my skin and my stomach leapt and summersaulted under the evil spell of anxiety,

excitement and fear; a truly maddening but wonderful experience. The changing room was relatively average; the benumbed and somewhat discoloured benches and the plain chalky walls; my prison. Yet through that door was my sanctuary. The white lines that snaked effortlessly around the formidable bends and the red of the track; that of the African sun. The crowd aroused. I was graced with this opportunity to refashion impairment and I was prepared to rewrite the laws against miracles.One chance…3:50am, the wind whistled mockingly as I slaved on, my overworked legs ablaze. The grey buildings eyed me sorely absorbed in malevolence; I could hear them weeping over the ugly graffiti that they were forced to adorn themselves with and the uninvited settlers who treated them so sourly. My heart struck my chest and then retreated harshly; a hostile fist paralyzed only by the exhaustion that swept through my body, but I was determined not to give in to the ever-rising tide of fatigue. My front door, with its flaking make-up, had never seemed so welcoming.The rain hammered on my windscreen battering me relentlessly. I was truly blind. The tyres beneath me were veering violently; reduced to a prisoner of the glassy road. A sudden headlong jolt sent me to the darkest parts of oblivion. A fire blazed before me, a figment of my imagination, a monstrous basilisk contorted into the most hideous way; red as the bloody rivers that trickled through the snow-like whites of my eyes. My mind corrupted and bereft of life…A hive of activity surrounded me; people draped in frosted capes cavorted in all directions. In need of a distraction I inspected the tubes of various sizes that adorned my achromatic bed. At that moment a surgeon approached me; his tired eyes concealed by the ever-flourishing bags that embellished his face. Without warning a storm of agony surged through my legs; the bandages soaked in chestnut blood did nothing to stop the diabolic convulsions; a slight whimper escaped me despite my determination to bury it deep within. The surgeon nodded knowingly, my ignorance seemed his bliss.We spoke for only minutes yet it took hours for my brain to come to terms with what was said. I was to be a cripple – dependant on others to the point at which I die. I once again turned to the liquid that trickled down the pipe and watched it edge closer with every monotonous drop. Mesmerised I counted the seconds until my future was decided, lying alone; my imagination my only friend.3:15am, the door blitzed shut. The pieces of bowed plastic that kept me upstanding bent and flexed underneath my weight. My muscles smarted and pulsed vigorously underneath my skin; the sting like that of a bullet. The moon still radiated a mysterious smile that I found somewhat unsettling and the street lamps cast an eerie ray of sincerity on to the silent cars and frost-bitten bushes. Without lingering I continued. Miles passed, every corner became sharper and every hill became a mountain, but I barely noticed. Contemplating with my thoughts I continued.Silence.At that moment my blissful coma was ruptured. The phone was ringing. Without hesitating I began to flit around in the mishmash of my pocket anxious to turn off the bell that penetrated the amiable silence that shrouded this sleepy little town. I answered. Such was the discourse that has led to me sitting here now, in a littered changing room in the heart of the Olympic stadium in London whispering to the walls that listen back in silent content.The starting gun is fired. My arms and thighs blaze into motion even before my brain thinks about commanding the rest of my torso. My muscles scream as they power through the pain that I am imposing upon them. I am losing. All of a sudden the other competitors begin to stagger to a halt and leer in my direction, confused and intrigued I continued pausing for only a minuet when passing the great ‘Bolt’ as he welcomed my progression with a gentle and encouraging smile. With each hero I passed the applause grew like a rising tide and the while line grew ever nearer.Now my neck is adorned with gold, I realise that all of my drudgery was not in vein and I remember the sportsmanship and compassion that was shown by those supportive of me.The true Olympic spirit. Georgia Farr

ROTARY YOUNG WRITER COMPETITION

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FUNDRAISING FOR GHANA TRIP

PTA NEWS - Join one of our meetings!

Meetings take place on the first Monday of each month 5.45-6.45pm. New members are always welcome!  To find out more please contact Maria Miller maria.miller@homecall.co.uk  01664 474476

Mrs Oates

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HANDMADE BAGS

Georgia Harris and Jemima Feely are two of our year 9 students who are currently raising money to enable them to go on the College trip to Ghana next year. The trip, organised by Miss Gonda, will involve a group of students who will volunteer in the country by helping to create a water supply aswell as working in an orphanage. The cost for the trip is £1,300 each. Georgia and Jemima came up with the novel idea of creating bags to sell, made from recycled newspapers. The pair contacted the Rutland Mercury to ask for old newspapers, who happily gave them a stash of past editions. The pair are planning to sell them in College but they have also impressed the waste services team at Rutland County Council, who feel that the bag is a brilliant idea which is practical, useful and attractive as well as being made from recycled material. They have approached the girls to ask them to make some bags to go on a stall which promotes recycling which will be sold at the Rutland County show.

PTA FUNDRAISING

Cake Sales: Cakes will be on sale on the following dates: Friday 2 March and Friday 23 April – contributions gratefully received! Please send cakes to Miss Gonda.  Money raised will support the Ghana Trip. Quiz Night with Fish’n’Chip supper:  Following the success of the event last year we are holding another Quiz on Friday 23 March.  Proceeds will support the Ghana trip.

CHARITY NIGHT

Sunday 11 March, 6pmCome along and support Georgia and Jemima in their bid to raise enough money to go to Ghana by attending an event at the Spice Club in Melton. It will be an evening full of entertainment including a meal, auction, a raffle and live music. Tickets cost £15 and will be sold in the library at lunchtimes and breaktimes.

SCHOLASTIC BOOKS ORDERS

We are very lucky to be able to purchase reasonably priced books from the Scholastic Book Club. The latest Scholastic Book Club leaflet has just arrived in College and is being distributed to all students. I have now created a college group order online whichmeans you can now order all the books in your Book Clubs leaflet and many more at http://clubs-school.scholastic.co.uk/vale-of-catmose and, what's more, you'll be able to have your books delivered to school for FREE! You need to order your books by Thursday 8 March 2012. After that date, I’ll confirm that all orders are in and the books will be delivered to school for me to hand out in class. For every £1 you spend 20p goes back to our school to spend on much-needed books for our library! All students have been given a £1 book voucher for World Book day and these can be used as part payment for any orders purchased through the college. Take a look at what’s on offer here http://clubs-school.scholastic.co.uk/vale-of-catmose – there are some great bargains with books costing as little as £1.99!   Ms E Smith   

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SKI TRIP

During half term forty students travelled with five members of staff to Prato Nevosa for our third visit to the resort. The conditions could not have been better with powder snow and blue skies, enough to lift anyone’s spirit having spent 24 hours on a coach. The students were praised by the instructors for the progress that they were making and by day 3 all were skiing most of the pistes. The day started at 7.00am with a wake call (or two) and ended with an evening activity. The students went ice skating, had a pizza night and the most popular, two nights skiing with their instructors. For a few it was straight to bed but others played a game of cards, wrote blogs with enthusiasm or just sat and talked. Photos were taken to place immediately on our Facebook page and I am pleased to say received a number of hits to everyone’s delight. Prizes were given nightly for ‘being a dummy’, the funniest incident, being thoughtful, helping others or anything that we thought would make us all laugh!! Not all of us had the spotlight on us but I am sure those who did will treasure the memory. Many thanks to parents for giving students this wonderful opportunity, staff for giving up their time and energy and lastly the students for helping to make it a most exciting and enjoyable experience for us all.

Mrs Powell

Below is a blog written by Francesca Kennard-Kettle which sums up the trip

“Today was the day to go home and leave such a wonderful experience behind with precious memories, joyful laughter and trustworthy teamwork. We all got up with mixed feelings this morning, the feeling of disappointment that we were leaving but the happy feeling that it was another day skiing. The morning of skiing went so quickly but was absolutely brilliant. Lunch was gorgeous and I treated myself to 3 mains because they were so yummy. We had another 2 hours skiing yet it felt like 20 minutes. There was a sad tension as we all knew that we had had our last skiing lesson overall. We handed our boots, skis and helmet to return to the ski rental shop and had a quick rush to finish packing and shower. The room I was in was manic as we were all running round getting everything sorted. The next hurdle we had to overcome was getting all of our belongings down the stairs. What a hassle. We are still yet to have dinner but I'm more than sure that it will be wonderful. I'm not ecstatic about the bus journey home as it will drag on a bit but I can't wait till I see my lovely family and my animals. I'm sure it will be the main topic that will be spoken about at school for the next week and a bit. Can't wait to see everyone again and tell them all about our wonderful experience.”

Francesca Kennard-Kettle, 9O

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SPORT NEWS

NETBALL

On Wednesday 22nd all Catmose College girls’ netball teams went to Belvoir. We are very competitive with netball and with the girls being second in the Melton and Rutland varsity league we want to win as many games as possible, to overtake Uppingham Community College in first place. Well done to all girls that played. The scores were:

YEAR 7 Catmose 9 (Win) Belvoir 5

Players: Alice Radford, Saskia Davis, Chloe Chambers, Jasmine Woolhouse, Ione Halford, Georgina Cramphorn, Olivia Wilson, Yaznia Pourmozafari.

YEAR 8 Catmose 5 Belvoir 8

Players: Samantha Waddy, Willow Spencer, Hannah Pepper, Emily Topping, Fern Spencer, Lydie Halliday, Sofie Whitmore, Charlotte Cramphorn.

YEAR 9 Catmose 3 (Win) Belvoir 1

Players: Jenna Charlton , Amy Burdett , Charlotte Bell, Penny Skipper , Beth Baker, Davina Patel, Phoebe Booth, Amy Smith

YEAR 10 Catmose 29 Win) Belvoir 11

Players: Holly Newton, Gina Boulton-Smith, Poppy Spencer, Issy Hawksworth, Amber McAuliffe, Francesca KK, Nikita Mistry, Sofia Chowdry

YEAR 11 Catmose 22 Belvoir 24

Players: Georgia Armstrong, Becky Bond, Becki Hearn, Tara Petterson, Lauren Cotton , Ashleigh Curtis, Laura Coddington

Year 10 Players

TALLIN JUDO CUP 2012

Holly Newton travelled to Estonia at the weekend to take part in the 2012 Tallin Judo Cup. With 750 competitors representing 97 clubs from 14 countries, this is one of the biggest competitions in Scandanavia and the Baltics. The idea was to experience Eastern European fighting styles, and  Holly faced players from Estonia, Lithuania and Sweden, producing fantastic full score throws to progress to the final where she met Louise Enfors of Sweden. Despite strong early attacks, Holly was unable to  beat the  Swede  and finished with the silver medal. A fantastic achievement!

Miss Stillman

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SPORT NEWS (continued)

TRIANGULAR CROSS COUNTRY

On Wednesday 29th February 30 girls and 25 boys represented the college at the Rutland Triangular Cross Country Championships organised by Uppingham Community College. We entered teams in year 7, year 8, year 9 and a combined year 10/11 team.

Many students tried their very best to do well for themselves and their team, with many notable performances, including:

4th Place- Amy Saville - Yr 7 Girls3rd Place- Chelsea Lucas - Yr 8 Girls2nd Place- Penny Skipper - Yr 9 Girls4th Place- Jade Copse - Yr 9 Girls

Miss Stillman

Year 7 Boys

Year 8 Boys

Year 9 Boys

Year 10 Boys

1st Place – Bradley Johnson - Yr 7 Boys2nd Place – George Griffiths - Yr 7 Boys7th Place – Daniel Cousens - Yr 7 Boy competing in the Yr 8 race5th Place – Ashley Chamberlain - Yr 9 Boy5th Place – Reece Woolley - Yr 10 Boys in the combined Yr 10/11 race

Well done to all students that took part.  

Year 7 Girls

Year 8 Girls

Year 9 Girls

Year 10/11 Girls

SPORT NEWS (continued)

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TAG RUGBY

A number of our sports leaders helped umpire at the level 2 round of the primary school tag rugby competition at Oakham rugby club on Wednesday. They helped set up the pitches and refereed matches between 12 schools from across the county. All students are working towards their Bronze Leaders award in which they must deliver fifty hours of voluntary leadership. Their next opportunity will be on Tuesday at the Year 7 Level 1 indoor athletics competition at Catmose.Many thanks to Will Bell, Alex Durno, James Rosillo, Seb Quinn, Nick Houghton, Rhys Smith and Josh Limbrick for their valuable support.

 Mrs.Powell

EXAMS TIME-TABLE, JUNE 2012

The dates have now been provisionally booked for the June exams. You can see all the information if you follow this link: http://www.catmosecollege.com/downloads/Parents/June-2012-exams.pdf

Ms Carr

 

SCHOOL NURSE

The school nurse visits on Tuesdays and is based in the medical room, Client Services. She is available to discuss any issues which may be of concern to a student including  friendships, self-harm concerns, sexual health issues, body image and home life.  Appointments can be arranged  or students can ‘drop-in’ during lunchtime.Please contact Client Services for further information.

 

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MAD HATTERS PARADE & PERFORMANCE