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european Day of languages

celebrated by Students

The College’s Modern Foreign languages Department celebrated european Day
of languages with a week of activities. This year the ‘Bake off’ had to take a twist,
with the students’ entries submitted by an email with pictures and a description of
their dish. The effort and creativity displayed was amazing, with twenty five
students showcasing their culinary talents by entering the competition.
Voting was very difficult, but the judges were extremely impressed by the stunning
Spanish Bull cake baked and decorated by george, in Year 7. The runners up were Dylan and edward,
both in Year 8, with their wonderful Spanish flag churros.
Well done to everyone who entered the competition. In addition, our Years 8 and 9 students were
tasked with the challenge of writing to one of their teachers in either French or Spanish. our students
wanted to say thank you to these members of staff and challenge them to decode the language.
Congratulations to all of the students for their creative and delicious looking entries. The judging was a
difficult decision and the staff were disappointed to not be able to taste all of the wonderful
creations. We hope the competition inspires you to continue baking and embrace food from countries
around the world.

Character Education 7

Royal Institution Youth Summit and Christmas lectures

Sixth Form students, who are currently studying Biology, Chemistry, Physics and geography, were invited to join
The Royal Institution for their online Youth Summit 2020.
Year 12 student, Caitlin, said, “I thoroughly enjoyed debating people with diverse views on
prominent issues. It’s uplifting to see how many people our age are passionate about caring for
our planet. The day was very insightful and eye-opening, as I learnt about new possibilities on
how to resolve global issues. The summit introduced me to new career paths I had never
considered before.”
lily, also in Year 12, added, “I found this day very interesting and enriching, providing valuable
insights to the complex nature of the climate debate. It was helpful to see the issue from
multiple angles, including topics involving politics, inequality and future technological
advances, and the discussions that follow them. The face of our future is down to young
people, and this Youth Summit really demonstrated the passion and determination from other
people my age for change.”
Mx Barry, head of Physics at the College, said, “The Royal Institution offered this day-long
conference as an opportunity for Sixth Form students from across the country to get
together to hear key-note speakers on futures themes including sustainability and
empowerment. The day was a great example of active citizenship, and wider learning.
With the difficulty in carrying out curriculum trips at the moment, this online event filled a
niche well, and we are on the lookout for other events that can enrich and enhance the
subject learning from lessons.”
Students in Years 9 and 10 were delighted to be invited by the Royal Institution to take
part in a unique opportunity video link recording of this year’s Christmas lectures on the
theme of ‘Planet earth – a User’s guide’. The Christmas lectures are filmed in the iconic
lecture Theatre at the Royal Institution, and are broadcast on BBC Four over three nights
between Christmas and New Year. The RI was disappointed not to be able to invite a live
audience into the theatre for filming this year, but instead they invited a virtual audience to watch and interact
with live filming.
Tom, in Year 9 said, “our class took part virtually in the recording of The Royal
Institution Christmas lectures 2020, where schools from across the country
watched a live feed from london from their classrooms. Physicist and
oceanographer helen Czerski performed a series of experiments to show how
the largest waterfall in the world is not in fact Angel Falls but Denmark Strait, a
massive underwater waterfall that topples into the Atlantic. It was really exciting
being able to watch this live. We are all really looking forward to watching the
lectures after Christmas and seeing it all put together as one.”