News from 2015
Sixth Form Presentation Evening 2015
The Sixth Form Presentation Evening was a huge success with lots of former students returning to collect a variety of awards. There were a number of heart felt speeches by members of staff summing up the efforts and talents of the Redborne Students. It was a very successful evening, for which all should be congratulated. For photos of the evening, please click here.
Visits Abroad with Redborne School
Visits Abroad with Redborne School and the Recent Terror Attacks in Europe
In the coming months a number of visits abroad are due to go ahead that involve students and staff from Redborne. We are mindful of the concerns that this may raise with parents and we would like to reassure you that staff at Redborne are reviewing the situation regularly, taking advice on travel abroad from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office as well as the tour operators who have organised the visits. Currently all of the visits abroad that are planned will go ahead as scheduled.
Doctor Sutton in the Headlines Again!
Dr Sutton finds another ‘extinct’ fish!
For the second time in a year, Dr Sutton has found a species of fish that was thought to be extinct. After finding the Corfu Toothcarp Valencia letourneuxi in May, Dr Sutton again visited the Greek island of Corfu during the October half term break in the hope of finding the indigenous Corfu Dwarf Goby Knipowitschia goerneri. This fish, which has only ever been recorded from a single site in Corfu, had not been seen for decades and when scientists failed to rediscover it in the 1990’s, it was considered to have become extinct. The Corfu Dwarf Goby is known only from two illustrations and a few preserved museum specimens.
On Thursday 29th October, after a third day of donating blood to large numbers of mosquitoes as he searched the tepid waters a brackish water lagoon, Dr Sutton finally located a tiny colony of this fish, and took photographs of the specimens that he found. Here is the Bedfordshire on Sunday article.
GCSE Presntation Evening 2015
This year's event was the first to be held in the new Connoly hall since its completion in the summer. The evening was a great success and it was a pleasure to see so many students and their parents gather to celebrate this summer's exam success. For photos of the evening, please click here.
Bank of England Competition
Four Year 13 economics students took part in the regional heat of the Bank of England's Target 2.0 Competition on Wednesday 25th November. Fraser Maidment (team leader), George Roberts, Oliver Donoghue and Jake Kebble spent time investigating the potential inflationary pressures facing the UK economy and then created a presentation to explain their monetary policy recommendations. They delivered this presentation to a panel of judges and faced some tough questioning on their economic knowledge and policy choices, to which they responded very well! The team were very pleased to have been awarded second place on the day, a great achievement against some strong entries from a wide range of schools.Well done team!
Geography Department Photo Competition - Earth Sclpture
In September the geography department launched its first competition for students- to submit a photograph taken by themselves accompanied by a description of the landscape in the photo. The idea was to suggest how the features formed a part of the earth’s sculpture, and show an awareness of the geographical processes that shape our planet.We received some really high quality entries and the decision to choose the best was difficult! We had photographs ranging from local beauty spots such as the Chiltern Hills through to the globally famous Grand Canyon in the US.
In the end both our winner and runner up entries were from students in year 10 and we would like to congratulate Michael Wetherill (10CC) and Rosie Cartwright (10HB) for their effort in putting together their photos and descriptions:
Michael Wetherill (Winner)
My picture shows a dramatic sunset at Whitby, with a silhouetted ruined abbey in the foreground. It was taken on a summer’s evening, just when the Sun was sinking below the headland. The evening clouds, earlier scattered across a fair blue sky, are bathed in the fading sunlight, going from golden yellow in the background to a purple-orange above the abbey. On the right you can see the waves lapping against the headland, slowly eroding the north east coast of England.199 steps separate the abbey (which lies at 90m above sea level) from the fishing town of Whitby, which sits hidden below and behind the ruins.
Rosie Cartwright (Runner Up)
The picture of the coastal plant shows how it has adapted to its environment and the weather conditions it is likely to experience on the coast. It has short, small and leathery leaves to stop it losing moisture from them. It has small round buds that stay on the plant and the petals don't get blown away in the strong breezes you get at the seaside
Thank you to everyone who entered and look out for more competitions later on this year!
Mrs Wheeler
Redborne Musings
Latest Edition of Redborne Musings hits the shelves, click here to read the school magazine.
Redborne Biology Club News
Click here for the latest news from the biology club.
Redborne Students Shine during the Summer
Over the summer Year 10 student, Joe Turney competed in a few competitions, two rounds of the British Championships and the British Karting Grand Prix, (AKA Kartmasters) a Rugby Would Tour competition and appeared on TV.
Joe had a double podium in the British Championships and was third in Kartmasters, all against the very best drivers in the UK and some from abroad. He is now ranked 5th in the UK with one round to go at the end of this month.
He also took part in the Rugby World Tour Karting event as part of a team and took pole position in qualifying and won every race putting his team on the top of the podium. He was unbeaten all day and featured later that day in an interview on BBC Look East.
Update on Joe - He won the last two rounds of the British Championships last weekednd to finish firth in the overall championship standings.
Year 11 student, Izzy Goode became National Wakeboarding Champion in the girls division and was selected to join the GB talent development squad. Over the summer she has participated in numerous camps with the GB team, proving herself to be a courageous, determined young athlete. She unfortunately broke her wrist in late august whilst training and is currently in a cast. She is training hard off the water and intends to come back stronger next year, setting her sights on the European Championships.
Redborne Exam Results 2015
The headline figures for Redborne’s examination results can be found by clicking here.
There were many outstanding individual performances, both at the very top end and with regards to personal progress. Below you will see a few of them, but there are many more worthy of praise and everyone should be commended for their efforts towards their results.
A Level
Conor Williets (4A*, going to Oxford – Engineering)
Erin Barnard (3A*, 2A, A* (EPQ), going to Cambridge – Music)
Michael Ita (3A*, 2A, A (EPQ), going to Cambridge – Natural Sciences)
Oliver Howe (3A*, 1A, 1B, going to Oxford – Economics)
William Smith (3A*, 1B, A (EPQ) going toEast Anglia University – Medicine)
Arron Aatkar (3A*, A (EPQ), going to Bristol – Chemistry)
Bethany Line (+1 Grade, going to Bedfordshire - Midwifery)
Rosie Nixon (+1 Grade, going to be a Retail Manager)
Anna Bright (+1 Grade, going to Northampton - Midwifery)
AS Level
Eleanor Yip (4 A, A* (A Level GS))
James Williams-Crowther (3A, 1B, 1A (A Level GS))
Rebecca Allen (5A)
Ben Bradley (4A, 1B (A Level GS))
Cameron Tinkler (+2 Grades)
Jack McEwan-Davies (+1.5 Grades)
Kyle Bennett (+1.5 Grades)
Eleanor Howells (+1 Grade)
Ethan Clarke (+1 Grade)
Liam Hyland-Knight (+1 Grade)
GCSE
Alexander Bartholomew (11 A*, 1 B, + AS Grade A)
Jack McNeill (9 A*, 3 A, 1 L2 Pass, + AS Grade A)
James Reeder (8 A*, 4 A, 1 L2 Merit, + AS Grade D)
James Wallace(7 A*, 2A, 2B, 1 L2 Distinction, + AS Grade A)
Edward Dawe (6A*, 5A, 1B, 1 L2 Distinction, + AS Grade B)
Barnaby Howe (6A*, 5A, 1 L2 Pass, + AS Grade B)
Daniel Smith (+14 Grades)
Adam Rossmann (+12 Grades)
Olivia Sandhu (+13 Grades)
Benjamin Davies (+11 Grades)
Caitlyn Downing (+11 Grades)
Robert Scott (+10 Grades)
Dhilan Patel (+10 Grades)
Annabelle Hodgson (+10 Grades)
German Exchange 2015
The German Exchange visit to Bavaria at the end of the summer term was hugely successful. Evaluations have shown that all students thoroughly enjoyed meeting their German partners and found the families extremely hospitable and welcoming. The various trips to Munich, Neuschwanstein and Lego Land were highlights of the visit.We look forward to welcoming the German partners to England in November.
Congratulations Ben!
Redborne student Ben Davies competed at the English Schools Athletic Championships in Gateshead at the weekend. He ran a very impressive 4:04:93 in winning his semi final of the 1500m and went on to secure victory in the final to become the English Schools Champion. Ben will now go on to compete for England next Saturday in Glasgow in the SIAB international. We wish him all the best as this is a dream come true for him.
Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Assessment 2015
Another large cohort of Redborne students completed their Bronze D of E expedition last weekend. 74 students completed the award, which involves services to the community, learning new skills and completing the expedition. Well done to all those involved and thank you to all the staff, who helped make the course such a success.
Year 11 Prom 2015
The Year 11 Prom was again a major success with Year 11 students arriving in all sorts of transport and dressing up formally for an enjoyable evening. For pictures of the event, please click here.
Students visit South Africa
Once again five of our sixth form students are visiting South Africa for what should prove to be a remarkable experience. We are going to visit and teach in three separate schools across a range of year groups and abilities. We will be updating our blog and twitter feed as often as we can to try and make you feel part of our trip. Please see details of both below.
(ccsa15.blogspot.com and @RedborneSA2015 on Twitter)
New Hall nears completion
Check out the latest pictures from the new school hall. It is still on schedule to be finished for September.
Success at the Suffolk Show
As many people may be aware, we breed pedigree rare breed pigs at Redborne school farm and we try to enter the best of our stock in to various livestock shows. Every year we enter pigs in to the Suffolk show and this year we entered Redborne Grand Duchess 9th as our Saddleback exhibit.The pigs are judged on their potential as breeding stock and their ability to continue to breed consistently good stock. The breed must conform to a strict breed standard to be eligible to be registered with the British Pig Association.
Redborne Grand Duchess was entered in to a July born gilt, to be born in July 2014. This class was judged against five other pedigree coloured breeds of the same age. There were eight pigs in total in the class.
We came second overall to a pig bred by the chairman of the British Pig Association. The gilt was shown by Elena Evans Hernanz from Year 11.
The pig was then entered in to the best of breed class being judged against other saddlebacks of various ages at the show. We received the breed champion saddleback rosette and the saddleback breeders club rosette. The pig was again shown by Elena Evans Hernanz.
We then entered two students in to the ‘young handler’ competition (13 years to 21 years old group). Elena continued with her saddleback and Carson Harris from Year 11 was kindly offered the loan of a large white gilt from the chairman of the British Pig Association. Out of 7 young handlers in the group they came joint 3rd, With the judge saying that their only real fault was they did not ‘look’ for the judge enough while showing off the best of their pig.
Overall we had a great show and we received many positive comments about the standard of our pigs and more importantly how well the students represented the school. The chairman of the British Pig Association commented about how grown up and responsible the students had been and how important it is to encourage young people in to the industry. (Report by Kelly Savage)
News from the School Farm
In preparation for the 'Young Pet Handler Classes,' Milly Johnson-Blake, Elena Evans- Hernanz and Carson Harris have spent the past eight weeks feeding three lambs four times a day, (in total 224 bottles!). They have also spent a great deal of time halter training the lambs to walk at heel.On the day Carson was unable to attend the show so Toby Brown assisted Milly and Elana to walk the lambs around the arena in front of the judges. They had a lovely day, and were placed in the top eight.
Well done to our students for their hard work.
Latest Newsletter
The latest newsletter is now available here.
Zigi Shipper Visits Redborne
On Friday 1st May Zigi Shipper visited Redborne for the 3rd year running to speak to year 9 about his experience of surviving the Holocaust as a 14 year old boy. Students have been studying this topic in Religious Studies and History lessons, but this was a great opportunity to hear about it first hand from an eye witness. Zigi was his usual positive and inspirational self and was happy to pose for selfies at the end of the Q and A session. We look forward to welcoming him back again next year.
Redborne Student Wins Round Two of the British Championships
Redborne student, Joe Turney, managed to win round two of the British Karting Championships. There were some close fought races over the weekend, but Joe managed to battle his way to the top of the podium with some sensational driving. This is an exceptional perfomance as he manages to do this on a fraction of the budget of the bigger teams. Move over Lewis Hamilton, here comes Joe.
Redborne is a Stonewall Champion
Redborne is now a Stonewall School Champion. Stonewall is a high profile and influential organisation who work very closely with schools, the Department for Education and Ofsted to combat homophobia and promote compassion, equality, diversity and understanding. We have now joined a small, but growing, number of UK schools who pledge to commit to staff training and the raising of our students' awareness and tolerance of LGBT issues. For more information click here.
Latest Issue of Redborne Musings
Please click here for the latest issue of the Redborne Musings magazine.
Bronze Duke of Edinburgh 2015
This weekend saw the first Bronze D of E training camp in Milton Bryan. The rain held off and the students enjoyed themselves throughout a demanding weekend. Many learned new skills and others where applying lessons learnt in school to navigate and cope without TV or mobile phones. A cricket bat was crudely fashioned from a branch to allow some boys a quick game in between activities. The students were a credit to Redborne and set the bar high for the next group of D of E students. A big thank you to all staff that helped out over the weekend.
Mr Schmidt
(Bronze D of E)
EPQ Presentation Evening
On Tuesday 24th March, the third Extended Project Qualification market place and presentation evening took place. Staff, governors, parents and students visited EPQ students' stalls and found vibrant, colourful and informative presentations. All students spoke so passionately about their projects and it was fantastic to see the hard work spent researching, writing and creating come together.Well done to all involved!
Miss Hounam, Mrs Wheeler, Miss Crossley.
24 Hour Trampoline Bounce
Redborne once again held a 24 hour trampoline bounce for Comic Relief raisng close to £2000. It was a fun but exhausting event organised by Mr Crowther. Click here for photos of the event.
Biology Club Makes Another Publication
The Biology club at Redborne make another publication about their findings on Flitwick Moor.
New School Payment System
The current on line payment service Payschool no longer be used from the end of March 2015 and replaced after the Easter holidays in April 2015. Wise pay is a more user friendly package and we believe will be well received by parents and guardians. All log on details will be sent out by post in the week commencing 13 April. Click here for a flyer about the new service.
A Level and GCSE Dancers Shine
A selection of GCSE and A Level dance students were invited to attend a Dance Performance Taster Day at the University of Bedfordshire. During this day they took part in various dance technique lectures and creative workshops and then got the chance to watch undergraduate work. At the end of the day our students were able to perform their own exam pieces in the university's theatre with professional lighting. This was a fantastic opportunity and great experience for the dancers; although nervous they all did a fantastic job!Rachel Farrer (The university course leader) wrote "I just wanted to write to thank you again for bringing the Redborne dance group. We were blown away by your students and their performances".
Well done to all involved Emily Goodyear, Saskia Underwood, Lauren Ash, Jess Coyle, Charlotte Moses, Charlotte Burns, Gemma Scotts, Caitlin Sherry, Abbie Bright and Frankie Goodinson.
Miss Benjamin
EPQ Presentation Evening
Tuesday 24th March, 4:30-7:00pm, in the main school hall.Year 12 and 13 students are all invited to this year’s presentation evening for the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ). As you may be aware, several year 13 students have undertaken the EPQ this year, and will be showcasing their work in a market stall style exhibition. Please come along to see the fantastic ideas that your peers have developed. Refreshments will also be served!
Miss Hounam, Miss Crossley and Mrs Wheeler
Year 11 Revision Session Timetable Released.
Please click here for the latest Year 11 revision information.
Still on Schedule - The New Build
For the latest pictures of the new school hall, please click here.
Redborne Musings
The latest issue of the Musings magazines is available here. Catch up with previous editions by using the link to the left.
Battle of the Bands 2015
Once again this event was a major success raising lots of money, with lots of bands playing to a packed out hall. Click here for the photos.
School Facilities for Hire
Do you know that you can hire facilities at the school, please click here for more details.
Keep up-to-date with the New School Hall
Click here for the latest photos of the new build's progress.
Budding Biologists.
A group of budding biologists from Redborne have started studying the wildlife of Flitwick Moor and have been mentioned in the local wildlife trust magazine. Click here for more details. This accomplishment has also been picked up by the local press.
Christmas Concert 2014
This was another tremendous occassion with lots of students and staff involved in this year's Christmas concert. Please click here for photos of the evening.
Sixth Form Presentation Evening 2014
This was another superb evening, allowing staff, students, parents and carers to celebrate the success of our students' results from the summer. A lot of students returned from their first term at university to hear some warm and heartfelt messages from their former teachers. It was a lovely evening enjoyed by all. For pictures of the presentation evening, please click here.
'Sky Sports Living' Athlete and Mentor visits Redborne
For the second year running Redborne PE Gifted and Talented students have been rewarded with the opportunity to be inspired by a guest athlete mentor through the Sky Sports Living project. Last year it was former World BMX Champion Mike Mullen and this year it was GB Paralympian and England Footballer Alistair Patrick-Heselton.Phase one of the Sky Sports project started back in November with Redborne’s PE Gifted and Talented students planning and organising a practical sporting session for our local feeder schools. Our students delivered the session, which included a fun rigorous warm-up, hockey skills and then finished the afternoon with an enjoyable, but competitive round-robin hockey tournament.
Phase two was a visit from Alistair Patrick-Heselton a talented and former QPR U17s and U19s footballer. He started the day by presenting his story, including the ups and down of a being a professional footballer and the life changing car accident, which put him in a coma for three months. After waking up he was told that he would never walk again or play football but after a lot of determination he made an extraordinary recover. Four years later he was approached by the FA and he made his debut scoring for England at the 2011 Cerebral Palsy World Cup against Korea. He went on to be selected for Great Britain’s CP Football team (Cerebral Palsy or brain injury sufferers) in London 2012.
Alistair then spent the rest of the day delivering interactive and practical workshops based on Sky Sports Living ‘Six Keys to Success’; Mental toughness, Hunger to achieve, People skills, Sports and life knowledge, Breaking barriers and Planning for success.
An Excellent time was had by all and we would like to thank Alistair for his time and inspiration.
GCSE Presentation Evening 2014
It was another successful year for Redborne student following their GCSE exams in the summer. The presentation evening was a chance to celebrate their achievements with their parents and tutors. There was a great turn out and the presentation included a walk down memory lane with Mr Woodward and the Year team. It was a pleasurable event enjoyed by all. For images of the evening, please click here.
We Will Rock You
Redborne's "We Will Rock You" 2014 will last a long time in the memory. This was the culmination of several months work by a wide range of departments around the school. We also had a team of students who worked tirelessly through rehearsals in Dance, Drama and Music to bring together such an amazing show. From the audition process in the summer we realised that the cast had excellent potential and that was the beginning of a journey that saw teachers and students alike supporting each other.Mr Trapp brought his creative vision for the show to our rehearsals and the technical team, along with the DT department developed the lighting and equipment required to bring that vision to life. Art Club enthusiastically produced some beautifully creative large scale paintings for the stage set design. The Textiles department included stage costume design in their BTEC course and the carefully planned costumes were a testimony to their hard work. The dance department went into overdrive, choreographing all of the challenging and intricate dances for the show. The music department worked on teaching over 30 songs to the students and building a band capable of performing Queen's tracks in a realistic way.
Behind the scenes there were students who set up and organised backstage each day; organised the hair and make up; programmed the lights and sound checked microphones. This cross departmental collaboration showed what it is possible for Redborne School as a community to achieve when we all work together. It was a fitting final hurrah for the school hall as we look forward to the new hall which is fast making its way out of the ground. I have been so proud to be a part of this project and so pleased to work in a school where we can produce such outstanding performances.
Many thanks to all who have been involved; it was truly a team effort!
Ben Bottone (Head of Music)
Maths Challenge
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This term the best mathematicians in the school have been kept busy with various different events.
Back in October, 22 of the top Mathematicians in years 11, 12 and 13 took part in a Team Maths Competition. In teams of 3 or 4, they competed in 3 different rounds testing their Mathematical knowledge, problem solving skills and speed. The competition was won by Charlie Rawlings, Alex Glyn-Davies and Amy Mannings, who all took home an Amazon voucher!
Following the competition, 6 of the best performing students took part in some intense training, ready to take part in the Regional final of the Senior Team Challenge on 20th November. The students put on a great show taking the crossnumber round by storm, but unfortunately didn't progress onto the National Final. Congratulations go to Erin Barnard, Charlie Rawlings, Alex Glyn-Davies and Joe Ash for their excellent efforts.We also had 27 year 12 and 13 Mathematicians who took part in the individual Maths Challenge, achieving 4 Gold, 9 Silver and 8 Bronze certificates, putting those students in the top 60% of Mathematicians that entered in the country. Rory Hicks and Ollie Howe scored so highly that they have been selected to take part in a follow on round. We wish them good luck!
