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The BOXHILLIANThe newsletter for Box Hill School December 2011
New School Video
A new video, showing life at Box Hill School, is now available on our school website. Filmed over a number of days at the beginning of the Autumn term, the video shows students engaging in daily life throughout the school and is narrated by our Headmaster, Mark Eagers. It gives a real insight into what life is like at our school and we hope that you enjoy it. You can download the video here: http://prospectus.boxhillschool.com/fileadmin/content/videos/ BHS2.flv
Lend Me Your Brains!The most recent edition of Independent Schools Magazine featured a fascinating article by our Deputy Head, Corydon Lowde, on the potential neurological benefits to students of an IB education. “It’s my view that we should broaden the education in the teenage years as far as possible to capitalise on this evolutionary programming of the brain and this is why I value the curriculum provided by the International Baccalaureate...”Shortly after publication of the article, the British press began reporting on new research which measured changes in the IQ of students between the ages of 14 and 18, further demonstrating the potential for measurable improvement in student intellectual capacity during their teenage years.
Students Exhibit at the
Royal BalletIn October, a number of our students were invited to display their work at the SHMIS Fashion Show at the Royal Ballet in Covent Garden. Lily Cooke, a Year 11 fashion and textiles student said, “I was really pleased to have my Alphabetica creation exhibited at the Royal Ballet School. I would like to go into fashion in the future and this was a great experience for me.”“The collection was an ambitious range of work which looked amazing and illustrated the real talents our students have” saysHeadmaster Mark Eagers
Forthcoming Events at Box
Hill SchoolOpen Morning
Saturday 4th February10:15
Box Hill Day andCharity Sponsored Walk
Wednesday 8th February
Sweet Science Day Year 5 and 6 Prep School Pupils
Saturday 25th February10:00
School at Work DayThursday 15th March
11:00 or 14:00
For further details on any of the above the events please contact
the school reception on01372 385000 or email
The Creative Arts at BHSRussian Piano
Virtuoso’s Masterclass
Over 140 people attended the recital by acclaimed Russian virtuoso pianist Professor Alexander Ardakov at St Michael’s Church in Mickleham. The recital, organised by Box Hill School, dazzled the audience as Ardakov performed a recital of works by Chopin, Beethoven, Rachmaninov and Liszt. The evening ended with a standing ovation. Earlier in the day, Professor Ardakov conducted a masterclass at Box Hill School, for young musicians from a number of local schools. He listened to their well-practiced pieces and with much courtesy, gave them interesting insights into how they could improve still further. It was a delight to see all ages and abilities receive instruction, from young students at grade 4 level, right through to 6th formers sharing their interpretations of the great romantic composers.
The Crucible, at Box Hill SchoolThis year’s Autumn Term Production returns to the classics with Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, a challenging and gripping play. We have chosen to stage this production in the round, and we hope that this will help to create the intensity of the melting pot that was Salem in 1692. The play will be taking place in the newly decorated McComish Hall.The cast includes pupils from across the school’s student body from Y7 to 13. The play runs from Wednesday 7th to Friday 9th December.
Round Square
This year’s International Round Square Conference was held at Wellington College. Over 1,000 students and adult delegates from 90 countries took part in various activities, which reflected the theme of ‘Reaching Beyond our Limits’.The conference was opened by HRH Queen Elizabeth, and welcomed other royal guests in HRH Prince Philip and the Duke of York. Box Hill School delegate Holly Hamilton was given the opportunity to meet the Queen at the official conference reception. Guest speakers included Olympic Gold Medallist Colin Jackson and the CEO of Save the Children. Students took part in a service day which included opportunities to be involved in Conservation, Ecology and Charity work and also took part in an adventure day in which they had the options of Military, Challenge, Monarchy or Knowledge as the themes. The military option included attendance at Sandhurst army academy for a really challenging adventure day. The conference gave students the opportunity to share experiences and gain an understanding of other cultures. Box Hill School is proud to be a founder member of the Round Square, an international organisation which encourages the ideals of internationalism, democracy, environmentalism, adventure, leadership and service in young people from schools around the world.
Student Gives BBC Writing
Tips
Y9 student, Anna Gibbs, has been asked by the BBC to write a ‘top tips for creative writing’ blog on the BBC Schools KS3 bitesize website.Anna, who spent a great deal of time over the summer contributing to the site, impressed the moderators so much that she was asked to share her tips with the other users of the site. Her blog has so far proved extremely popular; and is receiving a great deal of acclaim for its good advice.You can find Anna’s blog at http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbks3bitesize/NF8066963?thread=8270931
An early Autumn Term cake sale by the International Study Centre raised over £258 for the Organ Restoration Fund for local church, St Michael’s in Mickleham, the location for Box Hill School flag services, as well as other events in the school calendar.Another event, The World’s Greatest Cake Sale, organised by Head of Maths Miss Appleton, raised £380 for Macmillan Nurses.Both fundraisers were a great success, thanks to the many parents who generously donated cakes, as well as the students who enthusiastically sold and bought them.
Cake Sale Fundraisers
Duke of Edinburgh Qualifying Expeditions
Our students who recently took part in their Silver and Gold Duke of Edinburgh qualifying expeditions received glowing praise from their tutors; having arrived well prepared and maintaining a positive attitude throughout their experiences. Both groups scored top marks in all categories; camp craft, navigation and map work, first aid, emergency procedures and group management, awareness of weather and environment and teamwork and a Duke of Edinburgh spirit. We are very proud of our successful students and they certainly lived up to the school IDEALS!
Bringing Learning to LifeThe school’s new initiative to expand learning across the year groups and curriculum was launched this term with our Saturday morning Extended Learning Opportunities. The concept is that each academic department in school provides one cross-curricular learning session per year that is accessible to Y7 through to Y13.This term has seen the Business Studies department offer a ‘Dragon’s Den’ event requiring students to design and market a product to ‘pitch’ to a panel, whilst the Mathematics department held a Catapult Challenge where students had to calculate the degree of force and angle of release required to fire water ballons from a catapult, built by the CDT Department, onto a target. There was also a very exciting performing arts session in November when students chose to engage in a ‘Physical Theatre Workshop’ or join the music department to develop skills in percussion and Carribbean music styles.
Christmas Cheer for NSPCCHeadmaster Mark Eagers was delighted to hand over a cheque for £2250 to Emma Le Maitre, Schools Liaison Officer for the NSPCC.The donation was part of the school’s ongoing fund raising efforts for the various charities it supports, with this particular sum being part of the proceeds from the very successful Bunburys cricket match in June this year. The event itslf raised close to £6000, with other donations going to Round Square International Service Projects and the English Schools Cricket Association.The Headmaster was keen to point out that the size of the donation was not in direct proportion to the size of the defeat his side suffered at the hands of Bunburys in June, nor in indirect proportion to the number of runs he mustered on the day!Emma expressed her delight at the sum of money raised especially as this is on top of a donation in excess of £1300 that the school had made to the organisation earlier in the year.
Preparations for the next phase of development at Box Hill School are well underway with the completion of the new driveway. The new road means that traffic exiting the school has a more direct route out and it also reintroduces the circular drive in front of Dalewood, the grade II listed main building at the centre of the campus.This new drive paves the way for the building of a new classroom block on the northern edge of the campus over the old exit road which, subject to planning permission, the school hopes to start constructing in the summer of 2012.
Friday 11th November witnessed an extraordinary evening of terrifying visions and ghoulish surprises in Box Hill School Library. Our annual ‘Fright Night’, an interactive experience led by Mr Monk, Mrs Pavey and Jason, our ‘Creative Artist in Residence’, was a huge success, if not for the faint-hearted.A group of thirteen of the most intrepid St Nic’s boys braved an evening of adventure, where ghastly appearances and spooky stories of ghosts, witches, zombies and magic were in steady flow. After performing a number of intimidating feats, the boys managed to battle off the zombies and slept in peace for the night in the Reading Room.The characters portrayed by staff members and a small group of volunteer students included the Grim Reaper, an angry witch and a spooky ghost, with a guest appearance from our Headmaster as the Demon Headmaster. All those involved in arranging and acting in the experience thoroughly enjoyed giving the students the opportunity to take part in such an immersive experience, with the librarians finding it particularly satisfying that the students slept away the night surrounded by books.
Fright Night
Box Hill School’s Frontiers Society attended a survival session on 18th November, which ended in an overnight camp outside. The survival camp was held at a farm woodland in Hampshire, where students learnt to skin and cook rabbits; using rabbits that had been shot earlier by the estate gamekeepers, as part of an established programme of pest control. As well as producing their
Frontiers Society Survival Camp
New Driveway Completed
own meal, students also learnt to build their own shelters, light fires using only natural materials in the woods, and how to do so safely. Despite a very cold night outside, everyone survived, and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Future survival camps are planned, including one specifically for girls.
The second annual Design a Bag Day for Year 5 girls was held in November at Box Hill School; giving a range of girls from across the county the opportunity to come and experience our excellent fashion and textiles facilities for free. Twenty girls attended and over the course of four hours, produced a range of bags covered with paints, pom poms, glitter and sparkle.
Year7 student Joel Herron is starring in the Woking based professional production of Peter Pan this year, playing the part of Spud, one of the Lost Boys. Joel has been acting for a number of years, having secured an agent and roles including Louis from The King and I along the way. For Peter Pan he will be taking part in thirty performances over Christmas; and will be supported by the school to keep up with his studies whilst attending a rigorous schedule of rehearsals.
Local Panto Star
Design A Bag Day
A number of the male members of staff at Box Hill School (and one female accompanied by a fake moustache) took part in Movember this year. Movember is a campaign event where men grow moustaches over the month of November, in order to raise awareness of and funds for research into cancers that specifically affect male health. The ‘Mo Bros’ and ‘Mo Sistas’ began their moustache growing efforts on the 1st November, and the total for their fundraising efforts will be updated on our school website as soon as we have it.
Movember Mo’Bros Image of the Week
Having recently added galleries to the art section of our website, we are also now featuring an Image of the Week; highlighting some of the fantastic artwork created by our students.
SportsSchool Sports Interactive
Website
malta netball
http://www.boxhillschool.com
T: 01372 373382
F: 01372 363942Mickleham, Dorking, Surrey, RH5 6EA
Box Hill School’s website has teamed up with schoolssports.com to offer an in-depth and up to date insight into our sports teams and their termly calendar. Showing all the team games and results, as well as information about where the matches are being held, the site now provides all users with a fantastic understanding of the wide range of sports that are available at our school.
Maltese Netball Tour 2011:
The Girls Report
On 25th October 2011, Mrs Sol-vo and Miss Williams took seven Y9 girls on a very successful netball tour in Malta. The purpose of the trip was to improve their netball skills and to enjoy the experience of training with professional netball coaches!“We stayed in a lovely 4* hotel near the centre of Bugibba. We had to wake up bright and early with an outstanding cooked breakfast awaiting us… then we went straight to netball training which was held in a school, about 45 minutes away from the hotel, with amazing netball facilities. We trained for two days (two hours each day) with matches in the afternoons. We all made lots of new friends while learning new skills which we put into our matches. We had one rest day before our important netball tournament against all the schools we had played and some local Maltese teams. We had some very successful matches and made it all the way into the semi finals!”
Inter Thirds Sports This term saw the Inter Thirds Hockey and Football competitions, involving nearly 250 students. All the matches were very competitive and conducted in an excellent spirit. Olympians won in Junior Hockey, Senior Hockey and Football, whilst Athenians claimed victory in Junior and Intermediate Football.
