Newsletter for Students and Parents

Friday 24th February 2017

AQUILA ORION PEGASUS PHOENIX CPA COLLEGE VI

The Principal writes ……

It has been back to business this week, following the half term break. Students have quickly resumed great focus in lessons and for Year 11 students, in particular, their commitment to making this last full half term before public exams really count has been impressive with large numbers taking up opportunities for additional revision and support. A full programme of the opportunities available is being prepared and will be shared with parents and students next week. Whilst it will be useful for students to attend, they should be discerning about how they spend their time to avoid feeling overwhelmed. Students have been advised to focus on the areas that they need to improve in, rather than try do everything at the same time!

Earlier this week, we welcomed Croydon Council Executive, Ms Barbara Peacock, Executive Director for People, on a visit to the Collegiate. Ms Peacock is responsible for education, housing needs and social care services across Croydon and was keen to visit our outstanding school. She took a tour and visited some lessons with me, later telling us that she was very impressed by what she saw and heard. She tweeted: “A school, staff and pupils, you should be rightly proud of.” We thank Ms Peacock for her time and interest in the Collegiate and our work.

Can I remind parents to take extra care when driving in the vicinity of the Collegiate? I would be grateful if parents who are dropping their children by car did so before the Derwent Drive turn so that they are not then required to turn in the road – students can walk the short distance from there to the gates. Only approach the Collegiate gates if absolutely necessary and, in such cases, very slowly to be mindful of pedestrians and parked vehicles. I should also point out that the path directly ahead of the road (as vehicles approach the Collegiate) only provides access to the rear car park and should only be used by members of staff. Thank you for your co-operation.

Finally, there has been further celebration on the pitch this week as the Year 7 Boys Football Team won their “last 16” match in the National Open Cup. The boys beat Whitgift 4-1 and now progress to the quarter-finals – as they already have done so in the National Cup. With the team now only three matches away from victory in both tournaments we continue to wish them the best of luck for the next round. Well done to all.

Timetable:

Week commencing Monday

27th February will be

Timetable Week A Learners of today, Leaders of tomorrow.

Forthcoming Events

27th February

Gardening Club - 1.00pm -1.45pm

Year 11 Chemistry C1 – Topic 1/2

28th February

PSTI – Light – Ridgeway Primary

School

1st March

Year 11 Chemistry C1 – Topic 1/2

Physics Catch up

Astronomy Club

Year 9 Options Evening 6 – 8 pm

2nd March

Year 11 Ext. Chemistry C1 – Topic 1/2

Pegasus – Conservation

College VI History Conference

Please Like our Riddlesdown

Science College Facebook Page

WEST SIDE STORY After months of tireless preparation, with hours of rehearsals, line learning and note bashing, this February saw Riddlesdown Collegiate produce yet another outstanding school production. West Side Story is arguably our most challenging show yet with rigorous choreography, a complex score, but both students and teachers rose to the challenge wholeheartedly, and it is our dedication that led to the creation of such an incredible musical. There is an endless list of people to thank for working so hard to produce West Side Story but we would like to give a special mention

to; Miss Ward, Mr Rees, Miss Creed, Miss Deane and Miss Pochin for being the driving force behind this pro-duction. It is from their hours of commitment, support and care that we students are able to enjoy such a special expe-rience.

There is now somewhat of a hole in our hearts following the final night of West Side Story. We will miss the music and the acting, we will miss the adrenaline of performing to a room packed with people but most importantly, we miss the family that was created through producing this beautiful show. Although we will miss it, it is the memories of performing alongside our peers and the lifelong friendships that we have created that we will cherish for years to come. The feeling you get when you step out on stage to rapturous

applause is indescribable. It is an overwhelming sense of joy and pride that cannot be found anywhere else. We are extremely grateful that we have been able to experience

Riddlesdown productions for seven years and we look forward to seeing our younger peers grow under the kind support of the CPA College, as we have done ourselves. Ayse Williams, Charlotte Kennedy and Martha Littlehales – College VI

Reviews ‘I want to say again how much I enjoyed West Side Story yesterday and thank you for inviting me. As much as I enjoyed the physicality of the theatre in the dancing and fight scenes, the quality of the singing, the full pit orchestra, and the enjoyment I always get when watching young people perform, it was the communication in the performance, which I found most impressive. There were a number of moments during the show where we in the audience were held transfixed.

What an experience you provided for so many young people’. Graeme Smith, Head of Croydon Music and Arts

‘As I watched each scene of the play I was hypnotised by every moment’. Cedric, Kenley Primary School

Quotes from the Cast "The months of work were worth the result, I'm proud of everyone who participated in West Side Story!" – Adam Christian, Chino

"I thought WSS was a wicked play and I loved all the cast I was working and bonding with, totally rad experience man" - Ciaran Brennan, Riff "I would like to thank all the teachers and pupils for making the experience of WSS so memorable. It has been a pleasure to work with such a fantastic cast" - Lucy Shardlow, Velma "It was so fantastic to see all departments of the CPA come together to put on such a brilliant show" - Hannah Gascoigne, Doc

"Thank you to all that came to watch! It has been the most fun with the most amazing people and we have all become so close. It's been a privilege." - Jack Hutchinson, Tony “I can’t get West Side Story out of my head! I really miss it and can’t wait for next year!” – Charlie Baines, A-Rab “The lead up to West Side Story was very stressful but by the last night I wanted to do it all over again” – Ola Brewster, Violin “Being in the orchestra for the first time was very interesting and taught me a lot of things - I really enjoyed it!”- Joel Ofori, Percussion

A Note from the Director It was an incredibly special experience to be a part of this year’s whole school musical and a privilege to be able to direct amongst such talented members of staff. However, it is the commitment and talent of every member of the cast, orchestra and tech crew that made Westside Story the success that it was.

Throughout the cold evenings and the early Sunday mornings, the students never failed to show enthusiasm; making the rehearsals a truly enjoyable experience and something, I am sure they will always remember. Westside Story was the most difficult musical that I have been a part of but the encouragement of the ‘Westside Story family’ made the clicking in time and the infuriating ‘Mambo’ steps almost fun. What is next? Well done to everyone involved in a great show.

Miss Creed

PiXL Maths App Congratulations to the following students: Tara Kearney 11KET, Hanna Baban 11OMM,

Melanie Pegrum 11JEG, Hannah Elliott 11JAB, Jessica Fish 11JAB, Samuel Keefe

11JEN, Maria Christou 11JAB, Mollie Schmidt 11JEN, Benjamin King 11JEG and

Lagosan Kirushnan 11OMM for being the top 10 users of the Pixl Maths app last week.

They have been using the app to support their revision and it would be great to see all Year

11 students do the same.

Miss Ogunseye

Intermediate Maths Challenge Results The results are in with some very pleasing news. Firstly the amount of Year 10 students that

took part has been reduced significantly but the overall amount of awards has stayed

comparable to the previous years. The amount of awards that our Year 11 students achieved

has increased markedly from 22 last year to 35 this year. This should give our Set 1 and Set 2

confidence as these students preformed in the top 40% of participants nationally.

We have four gold winners:

Shaurya Gupta 11JEG 93 points and has been entered into the next round in March

Roshan Jhangiani 11JJF 79 points, Kushank Parikh 11JEB 79 points, Isadora Hugo

10SCC 79 points.

A special mention to Chaitanya Katpatal 9MMM who in Year 9 has been awarded with a silver

award for 70 points. Please celebrate their successes!

Mr King

Foreign Language Spelling Bee The first Riddlesdown Collegiate Foreign Language Spelling Bee competition will be starting

this term!

All Year 7 students will enter during their French or Spanish lessons. Those students who are

best at spelling foreign words will go through to the Collegiate final where they could win BIG

prizes!

Do you want to go down in history as the first Riddlesdown Collegiate Foreign Language

Spelling Bee winner? Get revising your vocabulary and alphabet now! Your MFL teachers will

give you more information in due course.

Twelfth Night Rehearsal I will need the following students for rehearsals please on the following days: Tuesday 28th February until 5.30pm the whole cast, Thursday 2nd March until 5.00pm the whole cast. As well as rehearsals during the week, we will be rehearsing on Sunday 12th March from 11.00am until 5.00pm. I will need the whole cast and students will need to bring lunch and snacks with them.

Mrs Eckersall

Duke Of Edinburgh Award We are still waiting for a number of Consent Forms

and Code of Conduct Forms to be returned.

These should have been completed and returned in

December. If these forms are not returned urgently,

the student will no longer be able to carry on with the

Duke of Edinburgh Award.

If you are unsure whether you have returned the

forms, or think you have lost them (they were

included in the Parent Information Pack given out in

November), then please see Mrs White in Student

Services immediately.

Mrs White

Year 10 Ski Trip Over the recent February half term 31 students from Year 10 and 5 members of staff went to Sestriere in Italy for a 6-day ski trip. We stayed at the 4 star Hotel Olympic, which was only a few minutes walk from the ski school and 50m from the town.

We skied in the breath-taking Milky Way where the scenery was really spectacular. There were many blue runs for beginners and red and black runs for when the students progressed and each day we had lunch at a mountain restaurant.

The students attended ski school for 5 days with 5 hours of lessons each day and the ski instructors were excellent. By the end of the week everyone was very competent and could ski most of the slopes.

One night we had a fun quiz after dinner and on another night we enjoyed a delicious Italian themed meal.

The students were a credit to the Collegiate and their families and were complimented on their good behaviour by the hotel staff and the ski instructors said they were a pleasure to teach.

Mrs Chandler

Best Attendance: 20th

February 2017

Year Best Tutor

Group

College

7 7JKB 99.3%

7HMB 99.3%

7TCO 99.3%

Orion

Phoenix

Orion

8 8PAB 98.5% Orion

9 9STB 98.8% Phoenix

10 10EBT 99.3% Aquila

11 11FTD 99.7% Aquila

12/13 SJB 95.6% College VI

Percentage of Students with 100% Attendance:

Aquila 85.7%

Orion 86%

Pegasus 85%

Phoenix 86.1%