A Year of Achievement

2009—2010

ACHIEVING THE HIGHEST STANDARDS TOGETHER

COWLEY

INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE

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A Message from The Chair of Governors

It gives me great pleasure to write this introduction for the review of the 2009-10 academic year in which Year 7-11 moved onto the new site.

Throughout this academic year, Sixth Form students watched from their temporary accommodation in the Sixth Form and Library Buildings, as across the car park, the new Sixth Form site on the old Cowley site took shape.

As we reached the end of the academic year, work had al-ready commenced on the next phase to refurbish the sport-ing facilities. We also look forward to the 3G pitch which will be laid following demolition of the Sixth Form and Li-brary Buildings.

The hard work of both the staff and the students is once again evident in terms of the lev-els of attainment reached by our Y11 and Sixth Form students with 89% of students achieving 5 A*-C at GCSE and 97% pass rate in the Sixth Form respectively.

The Governing Body would like to once again express their gratitude to St Helens‘ Coun-cil for the confidence they have in the ability of Cowley to deliver a 21st century education for our students and local community.

In 2009-10 we continued to monitor the progress of the College Improvement Plan 2008-2011 which sets out the priorities for the next three years to further enhance the excel-lent provision already in place.

I will not attempt to start to name all the activities/trips/extra curricular activities etc. which have taken place during the 2009-10 academic year as the list is almost endless.

The Governing Body would like to record their thanks to all staff who have given beyond the call of duty to ensure Cow-ley students have the greatest range of opportunities avail-able to them. Without them, Cowley would not be what it is today.

Dr John H Clegg

Chair of Governors

“The Governing Body would

like to record their thanks to all staff who have given

beyond the call of duty to

ensure Cowley students

have the greatest of

opportunities available to them. Without them,

Cowley would not be what

it is today.”

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A Message from The Principal

This year we return to the refurbished Cowley Hall for our Presentation Evening. The new Sixth Form building represents the unique quality of Cowley with the combi-nation of the traditional values and the state of the art learning resources for the 21

st Century. We must re-

member in this financial climate how fortunate we have been with our new wonderful facilities.

Along with the capital investment it is exciting that in January 2011 Saints will become resident partners and we look forward to a long and productive relationship. All the progress already achieved and that planned for the future is based on one fact – improving the opportu-nities for our students.

Congratulations to the many students who are collecting awards for their 2009 - 2010 achievement. Their success is due to hard work and a deter-mination to succeed. They are a credit not only to themselves but to their parents and col-lege. It is also important to recognise all that Cowley students who have achieved this year, not only in college studies, but also outside of the classroom. Together we make Cowley such a exceptional college. I continue to be overwhelmed by the talent of our stu-dents.

Finally, I would like to thank all who have contributed to our successful year; the staff for their hard work and commitment, Governors for their constant support, the Local Author-ity who have provided so many opportunities for Cowley and most of all the students who have shown such potential.

It is important to note that we will continue to work very hard to ensure that next year‘s Achievement booklet is also a beacon of success which celebrates the individual nature of Cowley.

Mr Cameron Sheeran

Principal

“Together we make Cowley such a exceptional college. I

continue to be overwhelmed

by the talent of our

students”

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The Governing Body

Dr John H Clegg (Chair of Governors) Community Governor

Mr T A Narayanan (Vice Chair of Governors) LEA Governor

Miss S Baron Parent Governor

Mrs M Bellis Community Governor

Mr G Bowling Parent Governor

Ms K Campbell Community Governor

Mrs W Colbeck Parent Governor

Mr G Appleton Community Governor

Mrs C Dean Parent Governor

Mrs L Griffiths LEA Governor

Mr W Griffiths Teacher Governor

Mr E Lawton Community Governor

Mr R Middleton Teacher Governor

Mrs K Callaghan Staff Governor

Cllr M Rimmer (CBE) LEA Governor

Mr C Sheeran Headteacher Governor

Mr S Sykes Parent Governor

Mrs A Wellens-Herron Parent Governor

Mr D Watkins LEA Governor

Mrs J Hornby Parent Governor

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Presentation Evening 2009-10

ORDER

Procession of Stage Party

Dr J H Clegg, Chair of Governors

Musical Item

Mr C Sheeran, Principal

Award of Prizes

Guest Speaker

Councillor Eric Smith

Vote of Thanks by Head Boy and Head Girl

College Prayer

We are always delighted to welcome former Cowley stu-dents and this year we have been fortunate to have Cllr Eric Smith, Portfolio holder for Children, Young People and Learning as our guest speaker. Cllr Smith was born on the Windlehurst estate and continues to live in our

local community.

Cllr Smith enjoyed a successful career in teaching prior to retirement. Since retirement, he has continued to support education across St Helens. He is also a member of the Board of St Helens Col-lege.

Guest Speaker

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Prize Winners 2009-10

Form Certificates

Achievement Progress

7R Chloe Berrigan Harri Gerrard

7O Connor Henry Ashley Urch

7Y Kalvin Brownbill Samuel Connor

7G Harriet Harmon Connor Malone

7B Andrew Garratt Megan Lloyd

7I Charlie Dwyer Yasmin Litherland

7V Farron Ronan Connor Glynn

7W Emily Hughes Denton Arnold

8R Zoe Coates Jack Ellis

8O Thomas Taylor Christopher Potter

8Y Lisa Burke Chelsea Roberts

8G Michael Hughes Jasmine Spencer

8B Louis Jackson Erin Ackerley

8I Connor Brown Tanya Brown

8V Hannah Reynolds Michelle Robinson

8W Thomas Lea Lauren Waring

9R Taylor Kenny Jamie Abbott

9O Chloe Cannon Cameron Ashall

9Y Chloe Leyland Rebecca Robinson

9G Adam Saunders Shannon Delaney

9B Benjamin Lyon Rachel Swindells

9I Jake Griffiths Gemma Bowling

9V Joshua Crehan Victoria Garrity

9W Thomas Gibson Jade Sherry-Finney

10R Joshua Bridge Charlotte Appleton

10O Rhiannah Hyland Thomas Docksey

10Y Kate Gabbitas Katie Duffy

10G Georgina Leith Sophie Worthington

10B Aimee Inman Shannon Green

10I Bethanie Garrity Daniel Foster

10V Amy Paton Joanne Wharton

10W Daniel Molyneux Laura Simpson

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Prize Winners 2009-10

Outstanding Results at GCSE

Robert Leigh-Atherton

Anthony Choi

John Roughley

Stephen Topping

Francesca Wellman

Year 12 Prizes

Art Andrea Radford

Biology Rebecca Gabbitas

BTEC Childcare Heather Scott

BTEC ICT James Bottell

BTEC Sport Katie Brookes

Business Studies Applied Laura Denning

International Baccalaureate Lewis Henshall

Chemistry Lucy Corless

English Language Sarah Hall

English Literature Callum Welsby

Film Studies John Quigley

General Studies Lucy Corless

Health and Social Care (Single) Antonia Stubbs/Matthew Naylor

Health and Social Care (Double) Lauren Arnold

Mathematics Connor Smith

Media Studies Nicola Maxwell

Physics

Sponsored by ‘The North West Nuclear Engineering Societies’

Connor Smith

Physical Education Rebecca Gabbitas

Psychology Lucy Corless

Public Services Laura Quirk

Religious Education Lewis Twist

Sociology Ashleigh Cashen

Technology Andrea Radford

Travel & Tourism Matthew Naylor

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Year 13 Prizes

Acting David Moorst

Art Danielle Davies

BTEC Childcare Jodi Almond

BTEC Dance Emma Horrocks

BTEC ICT Victoria Witcherley

BTEC National in Science Martyn Law

BTEC Sport Michael Dunn

Business Studies Laura Griffiths

Business Studies Applied Fahyia Uddin

Biology Laura Abbott

Chemistry Andy Yang/Laura Abbott

English Language Rachael Mitchinson

English Literature Kimberley Stockley

Film Studies Rhiannon Worsley

German Kimberley Stockley

Health and Social Care (Single) Gemma Hart

Health and Social Care (Dual) Amy Lyon

History Kimberley Stockley

International Baccalaureate Damon Tunstall

Mathematics Christine Song/Andy Yang/Robert Farley

Media Studies Nicola Cunningham

Music Kirsty Luter

Physics Craig Harrison

Psychology Laura Abbott

Religious Studies Lauren Owen

Sociology Natalie Longworth

Textile Technology Lauren Simmons

Technology sponsored by Mr M Collins David Moorst

Travel & Tourism Danielle Roberts

Prize Winners 2009-10

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Special Prizes

Achievement in Science Anthony Choi

Good Citizenship

Originally awarded by John Moore’s University in recognition of a

good citizen.

Samual Rughoo

Bernard McDonald Prize for Sport

Bernard McDonald, our former caretaker and a great supporter of

sport presented this prize.

Ryan Taylor

Services to Netball Ashley Riley

Enid Oakes Cup for English

Enid Oakes is a former teacher at Cowley. This cup is given to a

student with a genuine love of English.

Stephen Topping

Sports Personality of the Year Lewis Foster

Outstanding Achievement in Sport Sara Bowling

Gordon Benzie Prize for GCSE Geography Fieldwork

Gordon Benzie was head of department for many years. Gordon enjoyed fieldwork and the prize provided in his name is for a first

class GCSE project.

Christopher Shar-

ratt

Joan Hyde Prize for History

Joan Hyde, a former senior teacher, donated this prize to cele-

brate a student who showed flair in this subject.

Georgia O’Brien

All Round Achievement in Year 11 Kirby Phillips

David Dickson Cup for a True Sportsman

David Dickson was a very friendly pupil who sadly died in the Sixth Form some years ago. This prize was presented by his fam-

ily in his memory for being a true sportsman himself.

Thomas Huntingdon

Christine Fazackerley Memorial Prize for Music

Christine Fazackerley was a former head of Music at Cowley

Girls’. This prize was presented by her family.

Nicholas Parry

Helen Marie Lower College Prize

Helen Marie was a pupil at Cowley. This prize is presented to a

student who has helped the Lower School.

Nathan Appleton

Nesta Jones Prize for Services to Performing Arts

This prize has been given by Mrs Clegg, wife of our Chairman of

Governors, in memory of her mother.

Nicola Howard

Prize Winners 2009-10

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Please note: The Sarah Walker prize has been presented to the Library in the form of a book.

Tony Narayanan Prize for Mathematics

This prize is sponsored by one of our long standing gov-ernors. It goes to a student with great promise in this

subject.

Luke Doherty

Alice Wood Prize for French

Alice Wood, a former deputy at the Girls’ school, created

this prize.

Stephen Topping

Nadine McDonald Prize for French

Eric McDonald donates this prize in memory of his

French born late wife, Nadine.

Laura Ward

Tanya Dootson Memorial Trophy for Hockey

Tanya was sadly killed in a road accident. This prize was

sponsored by her hockey team.

Hollie Sykes

McCooey Prize for Art

This prize, the handiwork of Mr McCooey was the brain-child of Mrs McCooey who was a long standing governor

of Cowley.

Danielle Davies

Eric McDonald Prize for Outstanding Contribution to College

Eric McDonald established this prize on his retirement

from the headship at Cowley. It is given to a student who in the opinion of staff has made an outstanding con-

tribution to the life of the College.

Samuel Westhead

Dee Griffiths Prize for Outdoor Education

Dee Griffiths was for many years a senior teacher at Cowley. She gave this award for a student who was ex-

cellent at outdoor education.

Jayne Glover

Spanish Prize Francesca Wellman

German Prize Declan Lloyd

Language Learner of the Year Christopher Hardman

Willmott Dixon Prize for Sustainability Connor Derbyshire

Peter Fisher

Prize Winners 2009-10

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The College Prayer

Bless, O God, the life

and work of our col-

lege. Help us in all

things to serve the

needs of all its mem-

bers.

Make us gentle, brave

and loving, always re-

specting ourselves,

each other and the

world in which we

live.

Grant that we may be

thankful for all that

we have received, and

generous in using our

talents for the good

of all.

In all our learning

may we gain wisdom

and knowledge of

your truth.

Amen.

‘Please remain seated while the platform party depart’.

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2009-10 proved to be a very important year in terms of Cowley‘s specialist status.

Students and staff again worked together with our partner schools on various pro-

jects throughout the year, taking part in visits, e-mail exchanges and other projects.

Added to this, the College‘s acquisition of new, state of the art HD video conferenc-

ing equipment means that Cowley students can now work in a much more engag-

ing and authentic way with their counterparts in schools abroad. Also throughout

the year, students and staff worked extremely hard towards gaining the third and

final stage of the British Council‘s prestigious ―International School Award‖ and the

fantastic news that we had been successful in gaining national recognition for the

international work which takes place in the college arrived during the summer holi-

days. Congratulations and thank you to all the students and staff involved.

This now established visit is designed to provide first hand ex-

perience of the culture and lifestyle of

Spain‘s capital city, primarily for students

of the International Baccalaureate, but

also for other students who may be con-

sidering studying Spanish. During the trip,

students visited the Reina Sofia museum,

the Parque del Buen Retiro and many of

Madrid‘s main landmarks. This year, the

group – all 15 of them! - were fortunate

enough to be invited into a Spanish family

for an afternoon of traditional Christmas

food and drink – chocolate con churros. Muchas gracias to Señora Casero for her

hospitality.

IB Trip to Madrid

Language College 2009-10

This activity was designed to give our stu-

dents the opportunity to put into practice

some of the German they had been using as part of their Year 9 course in an au-

thentic context. During their German lessons in the weeks leading up to the Video

Conference, the students practised simple questions and answers, which they

were able to put to their German counterparts during the link up. The aim of the ac-

tivity was twofold – to give the students confidence when interacting with native

speakers and also to introduce the students to the group with which we plan to or-

ganise more collaborative projects next year, leading up to a visit in 2011.

Video Conferencing Project

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This activity gave students an insight into different ways

of making music, concentrating specifically on sounds

and images inspired by Las Pozas, the garden of surrealist British architect Edward

James in Tampico, Mexico. Award winning composer Andy Scott (saxophone)

came into College with Dave Hassell (percussion) and Evaristo Aguilar (a percus-

sionist who comes from Mexico) and spent the day in workshops with groups of

students. 30 students took part in the workshops which focussed on understanding

the instruments used in Mexican music, developing an innate sense of rhythm and

improvising freely based on visual images. Evaristo also gave a presentation about

school life in Mexico and led a ‗Q&A‘ session where pupils could find out more

about Mexican culture. The evening saw a concert by the trio, including pieces of

music played to a backdrop of photographs and images of Las Pozas taken by pro-

fessional photographer William Ellis on the trios‘ expedition to Mexico. During the

concert the trio played pieces from their new Mexican based album ‗Naked Foot-

prints‘ and Cowley students joined the trio on stage in some of the pieces. Pupils

then went on to develop their own compositions inspired by the artwork after the

event. The Year12 students who were studying a unit in World Music found the ac-

tivity most helpful to their studies and used the workshop as part of their course-

work in which they had to submit an original World inspired composition, accom-

panied by a write up of that style in terms of culture, instruments and musical char-

acteristics. They could not have done this without the specialist input from the

workshop leaders.

Language College 2009-10

Mexican Music Project

This activity was specially arranged for the Year 5 students

from one of our feeder primary schools, Rivington. The pupils

and staff visited Cowley for the afternoon and were given

Greek dancing lessons by a member of Cowley staff and older

students. Following this, a Greek buffet was laid on and served by members of the

Language College Council. The aim was to give the primary pupils an enjoyable

experience and to make them feel part of the wider college celebrations of the Na-

tional day of Greece. The pupils also spoke to a member of Cowley‘s support staff,

a Greek national and learned very simple Greek words.

Greek National Day

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This was part of a three year project with a French and German school. Cowley hosted the second visit based on the theme Transpar-ency and Reflec-tion.

Students were taken on visits to The World of Glass, Lowry and Salford Quays with the idea of learning about the industrial heritage and architecture of St Helens and the North West.

The workshops were designed to give students the opportunity to produce a piece of artwork that would reflect the local area and also incorporate the given theme. Their own photographs were used in the making of many of the final pieces and were developed using a variety of mixed media and photoshop. Students were separated into small groups and worked with support from all staff involved in the visit.

A final exhibition of the finished work was held in the Atrium and colleagues, parents and the local press all attended.

The third and final part of the project took place in Cha-lon (France) in Oc-tober 2010 with the aim of building on existing work-ing relationships and strengthening links with al three colleges involved.

Comenius Art Project

Language College 2009-10

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The aim of this activity was to allow our students to build up relationships with students in our partner school in

Stuttgart, the Leibniz Gymnasium, leading eventually to a collaborative project which took place throughout a week in early July.

As we are in the first year of our new building, the project was to plan, research, design and produce a number of pieces of artwork which would be displayed along the MFL corridor. The students were allocated partners in the first stage of the pro-ject in March 2010 and they corresponded initially via e-mail. The students together decided to produce artwork which would incorporate images from St Helens and Stuttgart, both of which have a long history as twin towns. The pictures also in-cluded images of the students themselves and various sections of text in both Eng-lish and German. During the visit in July, the students spent two days producing the artwork and the German students also attended lessons with their partners, sharing experiences about the differences between their own school experience and that of Cowley.

The group were also guests of honour at the Cowley ―Big Band Night‖ with the Ger-man students performing a set for the audience.

The finished artwork will eventually be professionally mounted and displayed in the

MFL Department at Cowley, creating an engaging display to celebrate both Cow-

ley‘s links with the Leibniz Gymnasium and the links between St Helens and Stutt-

gart.

German Exchange

Language College 2009-10

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In an aim to

improve up-

take and interest in MFL in year 9 among

boys, the MFL and PE department

worked collaboratively to develop a

―French for Rugby‖ programme which re-

sulted in the rugby team going on tour to

France. They had to attend extra training

sessions in the term prior to the tour. Stu-

dents involved had to attend a weekly

lunchtime French session which focus-

sed on teaching rugby terminology in

preparation for the tour and French pres-

entation skills to prepare for students

meeting their French counterparts. Stu-

dents commentated on rugby matches in

French and had their own games refe-

reed in French during after school train-

ing sessions. The Media Studies depart-

ment were also involved in the project

and had training with the BBC Sports

commentator Ray French before they

left. Three students were put in charge of

making the commentary, filming and re-

porting the tour in French.

We arranged for

a project which

would lead up to the celebration of

Swedish national day (June 6th). Stu-

dents were paired up with counterparts

in the Swedish school and began an e

mail exchange in order to research the

types of food and customs which were

common in Sweden. The Cowley stu-

dents and staff then purchased as much

authentic Swedish food as possible –

herring, Swedish meatballs, cakes and

pastries and Swedish confectionary. We

arranged for a video conferencing link

up between the students in the two

schools and, as the Cowley students

were enjoying the Swedish buffet, their

Swedish counterparts gave a perform-

ance which included traditional Swedish

songs, dances and stories. The students

also wore traditional dress which they

had made for the occasion and the

Cowley students had the opportunity to

ask them questions about their dress,

traditions and food. As Swedish culture

is not particularly well known in England,

the students gained first hand experi-

ence of the perspectives of people their

own age.

Language College 2009-10

Swedish Exchange French Rugby Project

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Cowley

took part

in a Merseyside wide project called ―All

our Futures‖ which saw over 50 visiting

headteachers from India placed in high

schools throughout the area as part of a

week long visit. We welcomed four heads

on Wednesday 30th June and they spent

the day observing lessons and talking to

students around college. The headteach-

ers also had lunch with the Governors

and members of the SLMT, during which

time we were able to discuss many is-

sues surrounding education in our re-

spective countries, compare experiences

and exchange thoughts and ideas.

The headteachers observed English, Me-

dia studies and Art lessons, followed by

an informal question and answer session

with members of the student Language

College Council. The students had the

opportunity to ask questions about the

system in Indian Schools. As a follow up

activity, all year groups had assemblies

the following week which mentioned

some of the issues raised by the visit,

such as the

abundance of

technology in

English

schools which

we can some-

times take for

granted.

At the beginning of the year, we drew up

an International events calendar and de-

cided on specific days which we were

going to celebrate across the college.

The days chosen were Dia de la His-

panidad (12th October) Romanian Na-

tional day (1st December) Japanese

Foundation Day ( 11th February) Greek

National Day (25th March) Swedish Na-

tional Day (celebrated on May 28th as

the actual day fell during half term) and

Bastille Day (14th July).

For each day, the canteen provided a

themed menu from that country and a

group of students from each year group

in turn were invited to special food tast-

ing sessions in the school library. The

aim was to give students the opportunity

to sample authentic cuisine from differ-

ent countries and to learn a bit about the

culture behind each national celebra-

tion. There was also music from the ap-

propriate country played over the col-

lege‘s loudspeaker system and all

classes were provided with starter ac-

tivities to help celebrate the days. The

Japanese food was particularly well re-

ceived by the students – we were

amazed at how many of them tucked in

to the sushi!

Language College 2009-10

International Food Tasting Sessions Indian Headteachers’ Visit

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Art

The Yr10 G&T workshop was an amazing

opportunity for our students to work with

Emmer Winder (St Helens Artist of the

Year 2009) on a project which focused on

the memories of the old Cowley building

before all of the renovations were to start.

The result

was an ex-

hibition in

June 2010

in the Cor-

nerhouse

Gallery

which often

hosts exhibitions by world renowned artists. This

was a very proud moment for the college to have

work exhibited in such a well regarded art estab-

lishment. The work from this exhibition will soon be

on display in the new Cowley building – so watch

this space!

Cornerhouse Gallery , Manchester

Cowley International College‘s building architects, Will-

mott Dixon, invited our students to take part in a competi-

tion which was to create an image for a calendar which looks at sustainable

schools and a greener future. Two of our pupils took part in the competition and

were invited to the British Museum in July; Natalie Williams and Conor Healey pro-

duced work of such a high standard that it proved diffi-

cult to choose which image would represent Cowley in

the forthcoming calendar. Natalie‘s ‗Inside Outside‘ im-

age won. It was a fantastic day; we were treated to a

fast track museum entry, wonderful hospitality and first

class travel. This was a day to remember – especially

for Natalie who got to meet, and have a photograph

taken with Gethyn Jones! Watch out for the forthcoming

calendar and please support the Green Visions‘ cause.

Green Visions

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Art

Our main event in the Art Department Calendar is our an-

nual exhibition of GCSE and A Level students‘ work. This

year we took over the main atrium from June through to the end of July. Our exhi-

bition was the culmination of 2 years hard work by our students with each of them

being represented by at least one example of their best pieces of work. We also

introduced a new way of showing our appreciation for outstanding effort by reward-

ing individuals who had given much of their time for the pursuit of artistic excel-

lence. Another first for the department was the introduction of the People‘s Choice

Award –– a system by which the viewing public was able to nominate their favour-

ite piece of work. This year it was won by Louise Crehan with her ‗Black, Silver and

Gold‘ cultural artefact.

This coming summer our sixth form pupils have secured the Mash Gallery in

St.Helens town Centre for their exhibition between June 13th and 25

th – please

make a note in your diaries to support this new venture – meanwhile our GCSE

students will have the whole of the atrium to themselves – the date is yet to be de-

cided.

Annual Exhibition

The Bruhaha were invited in

by Miss Eyres to provide an Art workshop for our Yr8 G&T pupils in the summer term.

The Bruhaha Group specialise in co-ordinating workshops in which pupils produce elaborate costumes which must be then worn by the participating group during a festival of music and dance; this year our students danced their way around the streets of a very rainy St.Helens for the Inter-national Arts Festival in July.

St Helens International Arts Festival

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Alan Gibbons, award

winning local writer,

visited Cowley to lead a writing workshop for Year 10 pupils.

The aim was to build confidence with writing whilst creating a

piece of original writing to GCSE standards.

The pupils worked enthusiastically and Alan was able to in-

spire them with his entertaining and stimulating approach to

writing.

Alan Gibbons September 2009

Visiting Authors

For the third year Cowley took part in the Govern-

ment‘s ‗Booked up‘ initiative when Year 7 pupils

are given the opportunity to select a free book

from a shortlist of titles.

To support the initiative,

the writer Dave Cryer

led drama based read-

ing workshops in the

College Library.

Booked Up! October 2009

Year 7 pupils took part in a poetry slam (competition) following a

visit from Liverpool performance poet, Curtis Watt. The pupils

worked with Curtis to produce rap style poems from which Curtis

selected twenty to be performed at the grand poetry slam final.

The winners were as follows; in first place ‗Boxing‘ written by

Kalvin Brownbill, followed by ‗Doughnuts‘ written by Luke Do-

herty, Tom Heyes, Cai Finney and Harri Gerrard and ‗Party‘ writ-

ten by Ruby Wilson and Katie Potts.

Poet, Curtis Watt January 2010

A much loved annual event was hosted by

Cowley Language College for the third time.

Local secondary schools from the borough came to celebrate the best of children‘s

literature by taking part in the Carnegie shadowing event organised by the local au-

thority. For the first time the book chosen by Cowley pupils was actually awarded

the Carnegie medal – ‗The Graveyard Book‘ by Neil Gaiman.

Carnegie Shadowing June 2010

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Three seminars from

contemporary British Art-

ists were organised for our Aim Higher students – but this

soon escalated to include many more students when we

managed to invite the country‘s most gifted Chocolatier,

David Ratcliffe, whose chocolate cake creations can be

found on the dining tables of the rich and famous:

Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Katie Price being amongst his

regular customers - not forgetting the dining scenes in

the Harry Potter films! Our other guests, principal Arts Of-

ficer for St.Helens, Cath Shea and Architect Jeremy Dia-

per, were no less prestigious but I fear that David will be

remembered by all. I am thinking of inviting them again

this year – but I will be selling tickets! The experience allowed pupils to see artists

working in such diverse environments and helped to show them making a consid-

erable living.

Aim Higher Artist Workshop

Aim Higher

100 Year 9 & 10 students took part in two workshops delivered

by Live-n-Learn. In the first workshop the team showed students techniques for independent study to help with revising and preparation for ex-ams.

This lively, innovative and motivational workshop provided the students with the tools required for effective and independent study with an emphasis on self reliance and hard work.

The students then took part in a second work-shop, which aimed to reinforce and further de-velop the ideas and concepts encountered in

the first session.

Live-n-Learn

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60 Year 9 Cowley students took part in an Aim Higher

workshop, delivered by Inspire, which introduced a variety of memory techniques used by world‘s top memorisers. These effective techniques can help students to study for their exams.

Shortly afterwards the students took part in a competition, which involved four memory challenges and Jessica Banks and Chloe Leyland finished with the top two scores. The girls represented Cowley at the National Final!

On 14th July 2010 the highest scoring learners across the UK were invited to the

Schools Memory Championships National Final, at the University of Wolverhamp-ton.

All of the students taking part received a Rubic's cube, Rubic's 360 or Rubic's Revo puzzle for reaching the final, which kept them occupied on the journey home.

Jessica and Chloe are pictured below with Dominic O'Brien, 8 times World Memory Cham-pion!

Dominic O'Brien commented on the event:

"This is the most successful year we've had whilst doing the School's Memory Champion-ship. These are, by far, the best overall scores we've ever seen, even having the UK School's Records broken by several pupils."

"With exam success dependent on making good use of one's memory, mastering memori-sation techniques early on is a great platform for future success."

Aim Higher

Aim Higher UK Schools Memory Championships

In July 2010, Year 10 student, Georgina Leith, attended a summer residential at the University of Salford. Georgina had a wonderful time and really benefited from the experience, which has helped Geor-gina realise that she has the potential to progress onto university.

Summer Residential for Georgina

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Aim Higher

Year 11 students experienced a theatre show with a difference

as the Impact on Learning company visited them to dispel many of the myths they might have about university.

Aimhigher Greater Merseyside commis-sioned Impact on Learning to perform its hugely successful 'HE4All' production to schools and colleges in a bid to break down barriers for young people who wouldn't usually consider applying to university

Deirdre Lynskey from Aimhigher Greater Merseyside explains:

"We use the play as a way of motivating and encouraging the students in order to get them thinking about their future."

"The play is funny and entertaining and will gen-erate interest in the opportunities that come from higher education."

Each performance is followed by a workshop session delivered by the actors with the Aim-higher students looking into more detail about options for the future.

HE 4 All!

60 Year 9 & 10 stu-dents took part in a

study skills workshop delivered by Taco Michiels. The workshop included motivation and memory techniques to help students prepare for their forth-coming GCSE exams. This lively, fun, interactive workshop provided students with a valuable experi-ence.

Julie Wright, Work Related Learning Manager, said:

"Taco's workshop had the stu-dents engaged from start to fin-ish! He was excellent. The stu-dents have been given memory techniques to use when prepar-ing for any future exams."

Study Skills Workshops

25

Y11 science pupils spent a week-end in March preparing for their

GCSE exams. They worked exceptionally hard in the revision sessions and spent time in between taking part in outdoor pursuit activities.

Science

On Wednesday 9th June a team of four Year 7 stu-

dents, Luke Doherty, Rhiannon Glynn, Charlie Dwyer and Amber Maddox joined 20 other teams from across the North West at the University of Liverpool for the Salter‘s Festival of Chemistry. The stu-dents spent the day carrying out experi-

ments in the university Science labs in an attempt to discover who had carried out a grisly murder.

It was a competition to see which team could solve the murder and with prizes up

for grabs there was everything to play for! The judges were looking for excellent

teamwork, safety and organisational skills and the team from Cowley must have

impressed them because they won the prize for the most imaginative solution to

the challenge.

Festival of Chemistry

Year 11 Arthog science GCSE Revision

26

This year, thirteen Y12 students were

able to experience travel and tourism

in action as they visited the Catalonian

city of Barcelona. Using the town of

Calafell as a base, they were able to

see the famous sights of Barcelona as

well as touring the historic town of Tar-

ragona. Whilst there, students as-

sessed customer service, tourists at-

tractions and transport links as well as

playing the part of tour guides at vari-

ous famous landmarks in Barcelona.

Society, Health and Develop-ment students have gained vital

skills in verbal and non verbal communication. These skills have been enhanced through a variety of teamwork activities. In the first year of the course the students planned and organised an ‗Easter fancy dress party‘ at Sunshine Nursery. The stu-dents dressed up as characters from nursery rhymes and organised activities. The party was a great success and all the nursery children who attended the party thor-oughly enjoyed themselves. The staff at the Nursery were impressed with the level of commitment and enthusiasm shown by all the students who organised the event.

To improve the students‘ knowledge of the criminal justice sector the students had the opportunity to witness the legal proceedings for four cases at the local magis-trates court as well as question two police officers to find out how they would deal with incidences that may arise in the local community. They also explored the range of agencies involved in the criminal justice sector.

The students have also had the opportunity to discuss real life case studies with speakers from social care sector, care agencies and children and young peoples‘ sector.

Students have also spent time at Age Concern where they have had the opportu-nity to interact with the clients. Although apprehensive to start with they immersed themselves in various activities, helped different clients and left not only with a new knowledge of ‗dominoes‘ but quashed the myth that teenagers are not happy to help.

Year 12 Travel & Tourism Trip to Barcelona July 2010

Vocational

Society, Health and Development Diploma

27

25 year 9 pupils attended the reward trip to Chester Zoo to learn about conservation of endangered animals. The pupils enjoyed a

morning walking around the zoo to have a look at their favourite animals: most of the boys enjoying a walk around the Bat Cave and chimp enclosure, whilst the gilrs headed towards the cuter animal including the penguins and the meerkats. We then sat and had lunch in the cafe to compare our adventures.

During the afternoon the group took part in a discussion led by the conservation staff from the zoo, where they gave a presentation on how the use of some animal parts is leading to extinction. There were some artefacts and animal remains on show that the group were able to to see and understand why people hunt for some ani-mals despite the fact that they are endangered. To finish of the day the staff from the zoo introduced us to one of their snakes. Not a popular attraction to all the Cowley pupils (or staff for that matter - Mrs Reid has never moved so fast in her life!), but most enjoyed touching the scaly creature.

Chester Zoo

Geography

Food

We have met the Let's Get Cooking activity requirements and followed the Let's Get Cooking guidelines for running a healthy cooking club, so the college qualified for Let's Get Cooking accreditation. We can now use the Let's Get Cooking accreditation logo on our college‘s website, news-letter and other publications.

We have also held 3 community events which included promoting healthy eating and taste testing, and taught over 30 people new cooking skills in after college clubs.

28

Due to building and ground works, this year‘s Sports Day was held courtesy of Sutton High Sports College, for Year 7.

On Wednesday 30th June two large double decker buses transported 140 eager students ready to giver their all to gain valuable points for their house teams.

A wonderful atmosphere, sunny day and great music set the scene for some terrific competition. Great jumping, some powerful throws and some desperate lunges for the finishing line not to mention the sheer effort and determination put in to the tug of war, ensured that the Year 7 Cowley Sports Day was an outstanding success.

In the team event The Vikings finished in 3rd

place, Normans in second and the

Year 7 House Winners were the Spartans.

Sports Day

A superb team effort in the St Helens Athletics Championships saw Cowley placed runners up in

the Senior Girls, runners up in the overall Girls competition and 3rd

in the overall school event.

An outstanding performance came from Tricia Spark who won the 200m, 400m and Shot Putt and who was a member of the girls relay team who finished 2

nd. Tricia

was well supported in her efforts by her team mates and other performances wor-thy of a special mention include, Holly Talbot 2

nd in Triple Jump, Aimee Farrar 2

nd in

1500m, Aimee Inman in High Jump and Long Jump, Safina Clay won the inter girls shot Putt and Amy Taylor the girls Javelin.

Tricia Spark has also been selected to attend the English Schools Athletics finals

competing in the hammer event.

St Helens Schools Athletics

Sporting Highlights

Cowley PE Department also gained the award for Out of Hours Learning; this was

presented at the Annual St Helens‘ PE Conference and also again at the opening

home match of the St Helens‘ Rugby League Season. The award acknowledges

the tremendous range of opportunities available to students at lunchtimes, after

school and over the weekends.

Cowley Recognised for Outstanding Extra Curricular Opportunities

29

At the beginning of the new college year, the Cowley 1st

team squad embarked on a tour of the historic City of

Chester. The squad went for 2 days, along with teachers, Mr. Evans, Mr. Gordon,

Mr. Foster and Mr. Llewellyn. The tour consisted of staying at Chester university,

training at the university on the rugby pitches, having a weights training session in

the state of the art gym at Chester University, whilst going bowling in Chester in the

evenings and going sight seeing in the City. On the first night spent at the univer-

sity, before the team went

bowling, there was a quiz

and the presentation of last

season‘s 1st team and un-

der 16 awards. The tour

was a great success and

the lads all had a great

time. The tour really helped

the team to bond and hope-

fully will provide a real

boost for the upcoming

season, and help the team

to achieve success.

Lewis Foster is the latest in a long line of Cowley junior rugby league interna-

tionals who went on tour to France to represent England U16‘s.

Jonathon Gorst also went to France representing Lancashire U17‘s Rugby Union.

Well Done to both lads on their achievements!

Rugby Success

Sporting Highlights

Rugby Tour—Chester

30

Cowley Hockey

Tanya Dootson Memorial Trophy Katie Gabbitas

Senior Best Performance Trophy Rachel Pritchard and Rhiannah Hyland

Junior Best Performance Trophy Eleanor Corner and Micah Howard

Sporting Highlights

Cowley remains only one of three colles within the St Helens bor-ough offering

students the opportunity to play competitive fixtures and the only college who is in-volved in Saturday fixtures. Within the local area, Cowley dominates in hockey and both junior and senior teams have continued to enjoy great suc-cess and remain once again unbeaten in St Helens.

Saturday‘s programme of fix-tures proves more challenging with the hockey teams en-countering opposition from predominately the independent sector in Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Lancashire.

The Cowley teams enjoyed mixed success, gaining creditable victories against Archbishop Blanch and a well deserved draw with St Edwards but losing to St Bede‘s and St Mary‘s.

At the Merseyside U15 Tournament, Cowley remains unbeaten and with wins against Greenbank and Bluecoat School finished a worthy 3rd place.

Culmination of the hockey season involved an indoor hockey tournament and a presentation to recognise the students‘ achievements. Awards for players on the day were presented as too were the awards for Best Performance of the Season.

These recognise commitment, improved skill level and overall contribution to Cow-ley Hockey.

Hockey

31

The 2010 season was another successful one for Cowley cricket teams. As usual, the under 12 and under 13 teams undertook a tour to Loughborough, playing three games against local schools including Loughborough Grammar School.

In all, about 90 boys represented the school during the season in almost 70 matches.

An early season highlight was a rapid 100 scored by Jamie Ellis at St Mary‘s College Crosby.

One of the more pleasing victories was that of the 1st XI against an MCC team at St Helens

cricket Club. Mature 50‘s were recorded by Adam Tatlock in his final year at Cowley, after play-ing for seven years, and also captain Tom Huntingdon.

Awards made at the annual presentation, after the Old Boys‘ game, were as follows:

Under 12‘s: Ryan Glynn

Under 13‘s: Josh Preston

Under 14‘s: Ryan Halligan

Under 15‘s: Michael Stark

First Team: Michael Clarke

Junior Player of the Year: Ryan Halligan

Overall Player of the Year: Dean McNicholas

Congratulations to:

Katie Gabbitas Great Britain Development Squad – Judo

Tricia Spark Merseyside athletics Champion and who also was selected to compete in the English Schools‘ Athletics Championships in the Ham-mer

Harriet Harmon Ten Pin Bowling Champion

Safina Clay and Emma Banks selected to represent Lancashire County Girls Rugby Team

Cricket

Sporting Highlights

32

A success-ful season in general, fulfilling a large number of fix-tures. However central league finals did not take place.

Year 7

Went from strength to strength as the season went on, and the team finished 5th in the St Helens‘ schools tournament

Year 9

Improved dramatically throughout the season, competed in St Helens‘ tournament and finished a respectable 5th.

Year 11

Another fantastic year, with the team winning all friendly fixtures. This team, over the 5 years at Cowley, won every local trophy each year!

Netball 2009

NETBALL TOUR TO PORTUGAL

Year 9, 11 and 12 went on this tour.

Combined a mixture of netball coaching, matches against local opposition and sightseeing.

2 fixtures:

v. SC Marinhense - won both games

v. Coimbra - won both games

Unbeaten on tour

Tour individual accolades:

Most improved and top effort - Laura Denning

The superstar award (general performances and attitude) - Becky Gabbitas

Players of the tour - jointly won by Sara Bowling and Lauren Swift

Sporting Highlights

33

September

Theatre trip to the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool, to watch ‗Our Day Out‘

October

Residential theatre trip to Blackpool to watch ‗Evita‘ Jazz Band perform at the Race Night An Evening of Movie Music Theatre trip to Chorley to watch ‗Rent‘

November

Stars in Their Eyes – Winner Charlie Sanders as Irene Cara Theatre trip to Southport to watch ‗Billy Liar‘ Senior Choir perform at The Manchester Amateur Choral Competition at the RNCM Senior Choir perform at Presentation Evening

December

Rock School Showcase Performance Trip to Bridgewater Hall to watch the Halle Orchestra Year 13 devise and perform a Healthy Eating awareness play in 2 primary schools Year 13 devise and perform at the Pensioners‘ Christ-mas Party Jazz Band perform at The Black Bull Year 10 BTEC Music Per-formance ‗The Harmonics‘ perform at St Helens‘ Parish Church with St Helens‘ Choral Soci-ety Christmas Concert VI Form London Residential Theatre Trip

Performing Arts

34

February

Year 11BTEC Acting Performance Cowley gives four performances of ‗Evita‘. Evita tells the story of Eva Peron (Nicola Howard) and her rags to riches rise to fame to eventually marrying Ar-gentine President, Juan Peron (Nick Parry). Her journey is critically com-mented on by the onlooker Che (David Moorst). This was one of Cowley‘s best and most challenging musicals and was well appreciated by the audi-ence.

March

Mexican Music Workshop led by Andy Scott and Dave Hasell resulting in a performance of ‗naked Footprints‘ – improvised music inspired by the Mexican jungle. Year 11 BTEC Performance of Billy ‗Liar‘ Year 12 take part in a series of vocal workshops with freelance singer Charlie Adams

April Cowley‘s Got Talent heats Theatre trip to The Royal Exchange, Manchester to watch ‗The Comedy of Er-rors‘ Year 12 Music student devise and deliver a series of singing workshops to pu-pils at Merton Bank Primary School

Performing Arts

35

May

Cowley‘s Got Talent Final – Winners: The Prior-ity Year 13 residential trip to Ronnie Scott‘s Jazz Club, London Year 13 Music students deliver ‗Compilation‘ – An Evening of Live Music at the Percival Rooms, Ruskin Leisure Year 13 Acting students perform David Farr‘s comedy ‗Ruckus in the Garden‘

June

‗Our Day Out‘ cast day trip to North Wales Lower school play – Willy Russell‘s ‗Our Day Out‘ (4 performances) Cowley is awarded the ARTSMARK Award in rec-ognition of it‘s outstanding arts provision both in and out of the classroom Stars in Their Eyes – Winner Cameron Ashall as Paul McCartney

July

Jazz Band perform at The St. Helens Festival, Sherdley Park Africa Day – Year 7 involved in workshops in Afri-can Music and Dance culminating in a perform-ance Summer Concert The Box Social featured 5 live bands and the most recent graduates for Cowley‘s Rock School Comedy Night – The first outing for Cowley‘s new wave of stand up comedi-ans with a special performance by local funny man and ex- Cowley boy, David Twentyman Music Tour to Belgium – a 5 day tour giving concerts at The Musical Instrument Mu-seum, Brussels and the Market Square in Y‘pres. The pupils also had the chance to experience the sites and culture of Belgium

Performing Arts

36

Careers

Last year was another busy one for Careers at Cowley but two key events stand

out. In October Year 9 Public Services students visited the Army Exhibition at Alt-

car Barracks. The aim of the event held each year is to give students an insight

into the range of careers the Army offers and understand the role of armed forces

personnel. There was a range of activities which students threw themselves into

including the climbing wall, the paintball range, the laser drome and aerial ropes.

As always the students had lots of fun taking part in these activities and behaved

impeccably. The second key event was the annual Future Fair which takes place

in college. This involved representatives from local businesses, colleges, univer-

sities, the Armed Services and Connexions providing students with information to

help them make decisions about their future careers. Year 9 visited the Fair dur-

ing lessons so that they could investigate potential progression routes to enable

them to make more informed decisions about which option subjects to choose for

Year 10. Years 10-13 were also able to visit at break and lunchtimes and some

parents dropped in after college too. The day was extremely successful - stu-

dents gained an insight into the future and representatives were able to offer their

valuable help and advice.

Africa Day

We invited an African drumming group into college for the day. Groups of Year 7 students had the chance to partici-pate in workshops during the day to practise African drum-ming.

The rest of Year 7 took part in a carousel of activities which included MFL lessons, Dance and Technology lessons, all with an African theme. In the evening, the students had the opportunity to show off their new found singing and danc-

ing skills during the African themed barbecue evening, which also included a performance from the Drumming group.

The aim of the activity was to give the students an experi-ence of authentic African food, culture and music through a variety of different curricular areas.

37

Aprica, Italy Ski Trip

During the first week of the Easter break 2010, 23 students and 3 staff from Cow-ley took to the slopes of Aprica in the Italian Alps. Students had 2 hours of les-sons every morning and afternoon to develop their skills and develop they did – by the end of the week, some of the students had gone from being absolute beginners to taking on Black runs which are seen as very difficult and for experts

only! All students showed huge develop-ment and all came away with a badge and certificate to show for it.

We were generally REALLY lucky with the weather and there was only one day when the mountain was cloaked by a blizzard that severely limited visibility. This meant that most of us came away with a ski tan, with ‗panda eyes‘ from our goggles! Stu-dents also experienced a food culture shock (you‘d think some of them had never seen pasta before) but tried and even liked some of the meals!

There were of course many falls which were the cause of bumps and bruises,

twists and sprains, but nothing

too serious. The behaviour of

the students was outstanding

and they were a credit to the

school. The trip was a hugely

enjoyable success, reflected

by the question asked by both

staff and students several

times before the trip was even

over: ―Are you organising an-

other ski trip next year!?‖

38

We love to be in America!

During October half term, Mr Healey, Mr Banks and Mrs Callaghan took a group of students on a South West Coast Tour of America.

The group flew to San Francisco where they travelled the ―Streets of San Francisco‖ by trolley car. The evening was spent at Fisherman‘s Wharf in San Francisco Bay. Following a well needed sleep, the following morning the group was met by the coach for the journey to Yosemite Na-tional Park.

After the stunning sights of Yosemite the journey continued by coach over Towne Pass to visit Death Valley, thought to be the warmest place on earth. The next place visited was Las Vegas where the group watched the famous Bellagio hotel fountains.

After a night in Las Vegas the coach left for the journey to Tusayan, the base for the Grand Canyon visit. After arriving at the hotel and a little pampering in the Ja-cuzzi the group visited the IMAX theatre in the evening to have a preview of the Grand Canyon on the big screen. Interestingly, the weather in Las Vegas was glo-rious but snow was forecast in Tusayan meaning that the group had to take a vari-ety of clothes due to the change in the weather.

The following morning, the group travelled to the Grand Canyon. As the group travelled on after the visit, many students felt this to be the highlight of the tour.

The tour made its way back to warmer weather, to Palm Springs in Los Angeles where they prepared for their visit the following day to Universal Studios. The

‗behind the scenes‘ tour took in various scenes from movies such as Psycho and Jaws. A fun day was had by all.

The final part of the tour took the group to Hollywood where they visited the Walk of Fame, Mann‘s Chinese Theatre, Beverley Hills with Rodeo Drive and Sunset Boule-vard. The group travelled home from LAX airport, exhausted but delighted at how much they had packed into the week!

39

St Helens Young Leadership Challenge 2009-10

Over the course of this year 20 young people from across the Borough took part in the St Hel-ens Young Leadership Challenge, and nearly half of them were Cowley students, past or pre-sent!

The project was organised by Martin Foulkes, the Enterprise Manager at St Helens Chamber, and Raleigh International, with the aim of developing leadership qualities in local young people.

There were many different aspects and phases to this year long project: initially the group took part in teambuilding, leadership and fundraising activities, followed by expedition training to get them ready for 3 weeks in Nicaragua.

Once there, the young people worked on community projects such as building eco-latrines, teaching in a local school and installing a water system. They also com-

pleted a breathtaking (quite literally!) 3 day trek up the Volcano Cosiguina.

Students have made presentations upon their return to

recount their experiences, and by all accounts this was

their most memorable experience and best achieve-

ment

of

their

lives!

40

The Duke of Edinburgh Award

2009-10 was another busy and successful year for the Duke of Edinburgh‘s Award at Cowley. 59 students took part in their Bronze Award, 21 their Silver and 14 in

their Gold.

Cowley students could be spotted lo-cally walking around Crank, Rivington and Parbold and further afield in the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales and North Wales. A couple of day walks prepared the group for their practice expedition and their unaccompanied, self-sufficient final expedition.

Some of the Bronze groups got them-selves in a right pickle but all got through it in the end!

The Silver goups had it really hard with almost relentless wind and rain on their final expedition. But hats off to them – they dug deep and all completed a particularly tough three days on the Yorkshire Moors!

41

The Duke of Edinburgh Award

Gold groups completed very different training and expeditions:

Rebecca Foster, Natalie Bavis, Samantha Halsall and Joel Rowlands decided they wanted to travel by bicycle. With the aid of our resident cyclists Mr McNamara, Mr Ruddy and Mr Pawley and some cycle trailers for equipment, they cycled over 150 miles through Hol-land and Belgium,

from Rotterdam to Zebrugge. They covered up to 50 miles in a day and sought to investigate the dif-ferences in cycling provision in England and on the continent.

However, Connor Smith, Ryan James, Sam Keane, Jane Glover and Sarah Dyer were inter-ested in paddlesports and so trained in kayaks and canoes with Mr Healey and Mr Baron in or-der to complete a decent of the Ardeche gorge in France. Half of their time was spent research-ing the area, learning about the French Resis-tance; a small group of teenagers, probably a similar age to our group, fighing the Germans in

the First World War. We visited a Resistance base which was the site of a fierce battle and dug around to find shells from this battle, before retracing the steps of the fleeing Resistance through the gorge. The group also

looked at the subterra-nean geology of the area, visiting two huge limestone caves.

Of course we rounded off the year off with our annual awards presentation night, the ever popular Celebration Ball, where everyone (even Mr Healey!) exchanges muddy boots to dress up for a fun evening that recognises everybody‘s hard work.

42

COURSE

Chemistry

Film Studies

Sport

Adult Nursing

Physics

Dance Studies

Public Relations & Marketing

Public Services

Nursing

International Business

ICT

Catering

Marketing

Fine Art/English

Primary Education

Physical Education Teaching

Biology

Computer Studies

Business and Management

Engineering Foundation

History

Adult Nursing

Graphic Design

Business

Sports Rehabilitation

Fashion Business

Contemporary Theatre

Games Design

Public Service

Adult Nursing

Communication and Media

Psychology

UNIVERSITY

York

Liverpool Hope

Manchester Met

Chester

Kent

Liverpool John Moores

Central Lancashire

Manchester College

Leeds Metropolitan

Roehampton

Edge Hill

St Helens College

Liverpool John Moores

Chester

Cumbria

Edge Hill

Manchester Metropolitan

Liverpool

Sheffield Hallam

Salford

Liverpool John Moores

Liverpool John Moores

St Helens College

St Helens College

Salford

Manchester Metropolitan

Salford

Bolton

Manchester Metropolitan

Leeds Metropolitan

Coventry

Liverpool Hope

NAME

Laura Abbott

Joshua Adam-Smith

Andrew Allcock

Stephen Birkett

Kieron Bloor

Clayre Bottell

Leoni Brown

Erik Chowdhury

Jade Clare

Ashley Clifford

Nicola Conway

Niall Corden

Nicola Cunningham

Danielle Davies

Terri Donoghue

Michael Dunn

Sarah Dyer

Robert Farley

Alex Fillingham

Adam Finney

Rebecca Foster

Rebecca Friar

Sarah Gabriel

Rebecca Gow

Joshua Greaves

Laura Griffiths

Samantha Halsall

Craig Harrison

Emma Harrison

Gemma Hart

Ruth Heavey

Vicky Hill

Year 13 Destinations

43

NAME

Emma Horrocks

Thomas Houghton

Nicola Howard

Benjamin Hudson

Hollie Hyland

Christopher Jones

Samantha Kean

Ashley Keane

Sam Kerfoot

Martyn Law

Thomas Leyland

Kirstie Littlewood

Natalie Longworth

Kirsty Luter

Amy Lyon

Sarah Mather

Melissa McClymont

Yasmin Miah

Rachael Mitchinson

Ryan Murphy

Alexandra Neilsen

Samuel Nwogu

Brunella Oscar

Christina Oscar

Gemma Owen

Lauren Owen

Melissa Pitt

Philip Pye

Danielle Roberts

Joel Rowlands

Charlotte Seddon

Daniel Shea

Jade Shrives

Lauren Simmons

Samuel Smith

UNIVERSITY

Liverpool John Moores

Edge Hill

St Helens College

Roehampton

Salford

Huddersfield

Liverpool Hope

St Helens College

St Helens College

Aberystwyth

St Helens College

Liverpool John Moores

Huddersfield

LIPA

Edge Hill

St Helens College

Leeds Metropolitan

Liverpool John Moores

Salford

Edge Hill

Osford Brookes

Nottingham Trent

Anglia Ruskin

Oxford Business College

Manchester Metropolitan

Liverpool Hope

Liverpool

Edge Hill

Liverpool John Moores

Greenwich

Liverpool Hope

St Helens College

Hull

St Helens College

Colchester Institute

COURSE

Business/Dance

ICT

International Business

Art Foundation

Computer Games Technology

Primary/Religious Studies

Early Years

Sport Diploma

Computer Studies

Sports

Criminology

Music Journalism

Theatre Performance

Childhood Studies

Biomedical Science

Biomedical Science

English Literature

Film Studies

Media Technology

Physiotherapy

Biomedical Science

HND Business

Biomedical Science

Philosophy

Biology/Geography

History

Tourism and Marketing

Economics

Early Childhood Studies

Film Technology

German Studies

Art Foundation

Music

Year 13 Destinations

44

COURSE

Accounting

Policing and Criminal Justice

German & English with History

Popular Music Studies

Public Relations

Criminology

Public Relations

Biological Sciences

Hairdressing

Primary Teaching & German

Psychology

Business

Media

Criminology

Film, TV & Media

Computer Studies

Chemistry

UNIVERSITY

Manchester

Central Lancashire

Huddersfield

Salford

Edge Hill

Liverpool John Moores

Edge Hill

Liverpool

St Helens College

Edge Hill

Manchester Metropolitan

St Helens College

Leeds Metropolitan

Edge Hill

Manchester Metropolitan

Liverpool

Manchester

NAME

Christine Song

Louise Spark

Kimberley Stockley

Ryan Storey

Sophie Swift

Adam Tatlock

Rebecca Taylor

Damon Tunstall

Sarah Tunstall

Victoria Tyrer

Fahyia Uddin

Joshua Whelan

Rachel Whitmore

Victoria Witcherley

Rhiannon Worsley

Michael Wright

Andy Yang

Natalie Adair

Craig Ashcroft

Laura Bridges

Charlotte Bushell

Scott Hill

Daniel Hodges

Jade Kenny

Matthew Lloyd

Louise Martin

Gina Millington

Andrew Mines

David Moorst

Jessica Porter

David Slater

Hannah Smith

Ryan Swift

Carah-Leigh Waine

Gap Year

Employment

Apprenticeship

Gap Year

Employment

Employment

Art Foundation—Liverpool CC

Employment

Employment

Employment

Employment

Gap Year

Employment

St Helens College—Science

Art Foundation—Liverpool CC

St Helens College—Sport Diploma

Administration Apprenticeship

Year 13 Destinations

45

St Helens Star

Friday, 25 September 2009 Schools Secretary Ed Balls officially opened Cowley Language College‘s im-pressive new £18m buildings and stressed the importance of investing in St Helens‘ pupils.

Speaking exclusively to the Star, Mr Balls said that the new facility was one of the best designed schools in the country and would be seen as a trailblazer for others across the country.

Friday, 11 September 2009

New term begins at ‗school of the future‘ Education in St Helens witnessed the dawn of a new era as pupils sat down to classes in our town‘s first ‗school of the future‘. Cowley Language College‘s spectacular £18 million school opened fully to pupils this week, marking a momentous day in the secondary school‘s proud history.

Shaun Woodward Visits Cowley New Build - Friday, 11

September 2009

Extract: "I was blown away by this fantastic new build-

ing; it truly is a 21st Century school which can now

lead the way in showing how an "eco" school can be

built and maintained"

Cowley in the News

46

Work has begun on a £500,000 transformation of former school buildings into a futuristic training headquarters for Saints‘ rugby league players. In a week when the club‘s farewells to their much-loved but dated home at Knowsley Road gathered momentum, fur-ther details of their future plans emerged.

They have teamed up with the newly named Cowley International College, to build a sports complex to replace old classrooms at Hard Lane, next to the new £18m school.

The aim is for Saints to boast one of the most advanced training facilities in the game when they move into the new base by November. It will be used by first team players and juniors as young as 11.

Cameron Sheerhan, principal of Cowley, said: ―Cowley will be in a unique position with a world-class team on site. ―Saints‘ professional staff will provide additional opportunities for our students and Cowley teaching staff will provide academy play-ers with qualifications both in the shorter term within professional rugby league and for their future careers. ―This is a ground-breaking project and is the result of a tremendous amount of hard work.‖

Mike Rush, who oversees Saints‘ youth set-up, added: ―We knew that providing the best training facilities for all our players from under 12s through to the first team was vital to ensure our future. ―Not only are the facilities first class, the players on our advanced apprenticeship in sporting excellence programme, will also be inte-grated into the school. ―This is unique in our sport and a real breakthrough in de-veloping Saints‘ future talent.‖

Saints‘ chief executive Tony Colquitt was equally enthusiastic, adding: ―With a new stadium and this facility, we will boast world-class sporting facilities that benefit a club and town of this standing. ―I‘d like to thank Cowley International College for helping to deliver the project. Their desire to drive this project for-ward was tremendous.‖

Saints are set to move to a new stadium in Peasley Cross in autumn next year and will play fixtures at Widnes next season.

Cowley in the News

47

48

ACHIEVING THE HIGHEST STANDARDS TOGETHER

Tel: 01744 678030

Fax: 01744 678031

Email: cowley@sthelens.org.uk

Website: www.cowleylanguagecollege.org.uk

Cowley Language College

Hard Lane

St Helens

Merseyside

WA10 6PN