News from Autumn 2016
Christmas Concert 2016
The Christmas Concert was another smashing success. Well done to all for making it such a lovely evening. For pictures of the event, please click here.
Redborne Musings
The latest edition of the school magazine can be found here.
GCSE Presentation 2016
For pictures of an excellent evening, please click here.
Christmas 2016
The DVD of last year’s whole school production ‘Les Miserables’ is now on sale in the school shop for just £5. This is a perfect Christmas gift for family, especially if you are struggling for ideas for your proud Grandparents.
There will also be copies for sale on the door at next week’s Christmas Concert. Please do come to support the students and staff involved.
Senior Maths Challenge
On 22nd November 2016, a team of 4 students entered the regional final of the senior team maths challenge at St. Alban’s High School for girls. The team performed exceptionally well, coming 3rd out of around 20 teams, many of them private schools. This is a great achievement and the best result ever achieved by a Redborne team. Congratulations go to Alex Bartholomew, Ed O’Regan, Stephanie Donovan and Oliver Wilshaw.
School Production This Week
Tickets are on sale in the school shop and some will be available on the door.
French Trip
On the 9th of November, the sixth form French students went to the British Film Institute in London for a study day on French cinema.
We met at Flitwick train station at 8.30, and due to problems on the train line we arrived at the talk for 10.30. The talk started by covering an overview of French cinema history, and then we looked at important films in more detail, including “Les Choristes”, which is our chosen film for A level, “Un Long Dimanche de Fiançailles” and “les 400 Coups”. The speaker, delivering the talk entirely in French, took us through different camera shots and directorial styles, getting us to think about use of colour, music, and imagery. These are key skills for the A level, so was extremely useful. The talk was interactive with many students sharing ideas, and we were given a booklet to fill in, which included technical vocabulary.
After a lunch break around Southbank, we came back for a more relaxed afternoon, watching “Au Revoir Les Enfants” which we had discussed earlier in the day. It was the moving story of the friendship of two young boys, one Catholic and the other Jewish, in occupied France, and many of the themes and techniques discussed earlier in the talk allowed us to see the film in a new way. The talk ended at 15.30 and after a successful and enjoyable day, we returned home by train. Francesca Boulton (year 12)
Ryan Wins Gold
Former student, Ryan Owens, won a gold medal in the latest World Cup Track Cycling event as part of the British sprint squad in Apeldoorn. For more details, please click here.
Redborne Musings
Click here for the latest version of the school magazine. Why not catch up on all the previous editions by using the link to the left.
Tennis Coaching Opportunity
Redborne Tennis Partnership is supporting the Nick Raper tennis coaching and social tennis Tuesdays. Redborne students receive discounted prices. For more details, please click here.
Road Closure
Revised dates for the Closure of Flitwick Road to enable the construction of a Junction for the new Warren Farm Estate and an associated raised road table
Revised Closure Dates: 24/7 closure from 8pm Friday 21st to 8pm Monday 31st October inclusive.
Location: Between Grange Road and Tavistock Avenue
Central Beds Council Highways advise that the possibility of keeping the road open is just not possible as the works are taking place in the middle of the road for the most part and involve a new junction and raised table being built, along with blockwork, highways drainage & kerbing
Diversions will operate
Shool Production
Tickets are now on sale for this year's whole school production of The Caucasian Chalk Circle. With a cast of over 40 students from Yr10-13 and an orchestra creating the musical backdrop to this energetic and physical piece of theatre, it promises to be an inspiring production. Get your tickets from the school shop at either break or lunchtime. We hope to see you between 23rd-25th November in the Connolly Hall! See poster for full details.
Geography Department Photographic Competition - Geoselfies
Following the success of the ‘Earth Sculpture’ themed photograph competition last year, this summer the geography department once again launched its competition for students- to submit a selfie where they are ‘interacting’ with the landscape. The students also needed to submit a paragraph about the place where their selfie was taken.
We received some really high quality entries and the decision to choose the best was difficult! We had selfies ranging from beaches in Dorset to Paris, Moscow and New York!
In the end we chose a winner and runner up from the wealth of student and staff entries we received. Congratulations to Jonathan McFarlane in year 11 (winner) and Alfie Chandler in year 9 (2nd!) In the staff category the winner is Mr Scutt with his creative pose at the Taj Mahal, with many thanks to the runner up Mr Day (PE) for his very topical pose at Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro!
Jonathan McFarlane (Winner)
‘Here I am, picking up the steeple from das Ulmer Münster (Ulm, South Germany). In English, this means 'gothic minster'. Coming 4th on the list of tallest structures built before the 20th century, it is the tallest church in the world with a steeple measuring 161.5 metres high. This view is from the top of the 768 steps which it takes to reach the top (143 metres). Construction began in 1377, but it was not completed until the late 1800s. It is often referred to as a cathedral because of its enormous size, though it technically is not, since it has never been the seat of a bishop. The city of Ulm lies on the River Danube and is most famous for it's church, and being Albert Einstein's birthplace. I visited the church during the German exchange trip, and it is a very important tourist attraction for the local economy.’
Alfe Chandler (Runner Up)
Here is my Geo Selfie, which was taken near the summit of Catbells, near Derwent Water in the Lake District. The summit is 451m above sea level so it is quite a small hill compared to others in the Lake District. But because Mr Price's map was out of date and we missed a footpath we had to scramble up a scree slope! There are also lead mines which are accessible from the slope and at the top of our scramble you could see the entrance to one of these disused mine shafts. In the picture you can see the ridge continuing down to Skelgill Bank.
Thank you to everyone who entered!
Mrs Wheeler
Joe is the Champion
After an amazingly tough season in his first year in Junior Rotax, Joe Turney, current year 11 student, is now officially British Karting Champion 2016.He had a tough final weekend of the championship with tyre issues threatening to undo all his hard work, but he was in full control of what he had to do and managed the problem like a professional. His control gave him the championship title and he can now carry the coveted number 1 on his kart. This will mean an invitation to the Autosport Awards evening in January to collect his trophy.
This has been an amazing season for Joe and he is now the British champion as well as the champion of Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg, following his international exploits this year. Who knows how far he can go in the World Finals coming up in the next few weeks? We wish him all the very best.
School Shop
From Monday 26th September the school shop opening times will be changing to the following:
Monday-Thursday 10.00am to 3.30pm and Friday 10.00am to 3.00pm
Parents can visit the shop during these hours via signing in at North reception. Please note the school shop will not be manned before 10.00am. The shop will continue to open for students only at break time and lunchtime daily, it is advised for parents to avoid visiting during these times.
For more information please contact Miss Wood direct in the school shop on 01525 842654 or email stewood@Redborne.com
Redborne Musings
Click here for the latest edition of the Redborne Musings magazine.
Maths Revision
The maths department have given a letter to all students regarding revision papers in light of the new GCSE. A copy of the letter is available here.
Students Achieve Record Exam Success!
It’s been another year of success for students at Redborne with record results in both GCSEs and A levels.
At GCSE, 83% of students achieved an A*-C in English and maths. This is a substantial increase on last year and 25% higher than nationally in 2015. 52 of our students gained 8 or more grade A or A*s with 27 gaining at least 10 A or A*s. The vast majority of our students fulfilled their potential, around two thirds of these students have stayed on to the Sixth Form to follow A level or vocational courses.
At A level, the pass rate was again 100% (excluding General Studies) with 59% of all grades being awarded at grades A*, A or B, better than many fee paying and selective schools. 10% of entries gained an A*. Virtually all of our students were able to gain their chosen place at university. 5 students achieved places at either Oxford or Cambridge University or medicine.
Principal Nigel Croft, speaking to the local media, said: "I am delighted. These are the school's best-ever set of GCSE results. It follows on from last week's best-ever A levels. The progress of our students in English is 22 per cent higher than the national average and the Maths results are very similar. Congratulations to our students and staff."
For some of our noteable performances, please click here.
Former Student Shines in the Spotlight
Former Redborne student Alice Cornwell left Redborne to study dance and musical theatre at Laines Theatre Arts. She has continued to shine and is currently touring the UK and Europe in Cats the musical. She lands in Milton Keynes at the end of October to perform at the MK Theatre. We wish her well in her chosen career.
Joe Continues to Lead the Way
Joe Turney has continued to achieve some excellent results over the summer including securing a place at the World Finals in Italy. For more on his karting success, read the article in the MK Citizen.
Music Trip to Austria 2016
The music department embarked on their second visit to Austria and had an excellent time. For pictures of the visit, please click here.
Latest Able, Gifted and Talented Newsletter
Please click on the links to read all about the latest A, G & T news and about the latest science masterclass.
Redborne Racing Win!
There was success at the latest round of the events when Redborne racing managed to finish 1st in Race 1 and 2nd in Race 2. They were 2nd for overall mileage on the day, which was a great result and the students were a credit to the school. We have now qualified for the national final at Rockingham in October. The car and trophies are on display in the DT foyer.
If there is anyone that might be able to sponsor the team who may be involved with engineering, please contact Mr Brooks via the school office.
Designers 2016
On the 8th of July, a group of year 12 Graphic and Product design students went to the New Designers exhibition at the Business Design Centre Islington. This is an annual exhibition of graduates work from a range of colleges and universities across the country. The aim of the visit is to allow students access to design work from a range exhibitors to help inspire their final units as well as helping to inform their choices when it comes to applying to universities and colleges later in the year. As usual there was a vast array of work and the standard continues to improve. With companies such as ‘Not on the High Street’ and ‘John Lewis’ hoping to find new ideas this is a really important exhibition for graduates. Current students were able to discuss with graduates and tutors approaches to design and prototyping as well as how to approach their portfolios and personal statements.
The exhibition this year featured the work of four previous students and it was great to see their success. Emily Caves, Will Saunders, Stephanie Jones and Megan Highland were all exhibiting with fellow students from Hertfordshire University, Bedford University, Nottingham Trent and Portsmouth University respectively.
A thoroughly enjoyable and informative day was had by all.
