Wednesday 20 June 2018

Dear all,

The latest bulletin contains another summary of just some of the things that have gone on here in the last few weeks.

We are very proud of our transition programme here at The Buckingham School, when we welcome our next group of Year 7 students into the school. This is currently well underway at the time of writing. We are very proud to have our excellent practice recognised far and wide – only this week saw Mr Wardle (Deputy Head) and Miss Collie (Head of Year 7) speak at a national conference for school admissions leaders, talking about the experiences of schools and our own best practice at The Buckingham School. Well done both!

Enrichment day was, for me, an outstanding success in so many ways. I have said from the off that I value those extra experiences so much, and will be looking to expand on what already goes on.  The day was a great opportunity for colleagues and visitors to share their passions with our students, and for students and teachers alike to deal with each other in a different light. I am extremely keen to see such an event thrive and grow in years to come. From journalism to street dancing, there was so much to choose from!

In a timely warm up for Sports Day, a team went to the English Schools Track and Field Cup at Stantonbury and competed exceptionally well, producing our best ever results at that event. Then, last Friday, I attended my first Buckingham School Sports Day. I have to say that I was hugely impressed. The whole school was outside for the day, and behaviour was impeccable. The quality of competition was outstanding, and there were some excellent athletic performances for us all to enjoy. The level of engagement of the staff was best summed up by the sheer numbers competing in the final relay. Like me, I think a number of my colleagues are still feeling it days later!

On the note of all the inter-house sport, and in keeping with our drive to ensure that our students get even more out of school life, we are currently advertising internally for six Heads of House. These will be tasked with promoting the House identity, and with developing a whole range of curricular and extra-curricular competition, running reward events and much more. Interviews are this week and I look forward to revealing more. Meanwhile our students are being tasked with renaming the Houses to reflect our local identity.

Finally, please consider supporting our “Tenacious Troupe”, using the link https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/team/tenacious-troupe. Miss Chapman, Mrs Baxter, Mrs Field and Mrs Lewis will be putting themselves through the mill for this fantastic cause.

There’s so much more to tell you about, so read on! 

With best wishes.

Mr A McGinnes
Headteacher

Mr Wardle and Miss Collie attend Inside Government School Place Planning Forum as Keynote Speakers. 

The school was invited to share our knowledge and expertise on our transition programme in place here at The Buckingham School. The speech was part of the Conference's theme of 'Collaboration between schools and local authorities to improve school place planning'. Our transition programme is recognised as a major strength and we were delighted to be able to attend to share an insight into the work we do and best practices in place.

The forum included speakers from the Department for Education, Local Government Association and the Education Policy Institute. The event was specifically designed for Local Government, Local Authority schools and was also open to the Private Sector to encourage debate and networking.

If you wish to see a copy of the presentation, please email csherwood@buckinghamschool.org

Year 12 Trip to Milton Keynes Library 

On Wednesday 31st May, our Year 12 Extended Project Group travelled to Milton Keynes Library.   We headed into the library to find some valuable information for our Extended Project subject essays.

In a world of technology, it was an interesting experience having to go through books to find information rather than just go and google it! We were amazed at the vast number of books and the range of subjects covered.

From books on Vietnamese history to books about the NHS, there was plenty of material for our plethora of different Extended Project subjects. Also, there is so much more information that you can only find in books and not on the internet such as opinions from authors. It was fascinating. We made good use of the reference computers too;  we could type in key words and it would show books and their locations which helped us save time instead of having to search the bookshelves.

The trip was a real benefit to the whole group; we all found lots of books that were relevant to our project subjects and it helped to get some sources of information that were not from the internet - hopefully, helping us get top grades in our Extended Projects!

Submitted by Tom Hardy, Year 12 

Changes to Universal Credit - Are you eligible for Free School Meals?  

If you think you might be eligible for free school meals, submit a claim to the school or local authority. Copies of the form are available from Student Office. The information you provide will be used to check if you are in receipt of a qualifying benefit and, if you are on Universal Credit, that your earnings do not exceed the threshold. If you claim Universal Credit, your earnings will be assessed from up to three of your last Universal Credit assessment periods.

If you are eligible, the school will be notified. Your child will receive free school meals and will continue to do so until the end of the Universal Credit Rollout period. The rollout period is currently scheduled to end in March 2022.

Once Universal Credit is fully rolled out, your child will keep their free school meal until the end of their current phase of education, i.e. primary or secondary.

To read the letter sent out to all parents/carers in May, click here.

To view and download a copy of the Free School Meals form click here.

All in the aid of Soccer Aid

Monday 11 June (lunch-time) saw our second Staff versus Staff sporting fixture and this time it was a football match!  The match was in the middle of the PE Department's Sports Specialism Fortnight and all monies raised being donated to Soccer Aid. The sun was shining and the atmosphere electric with students rooting for their favourite team to victory!  The performance was fast paced (most of time) with many members of staff show-casing their football skill. It was a fun and exciting match to watch.  The blue team won on penalties - well done, goalie, Mr Cunningham, an impressive save!

We thank all students for supporting this event; we have raised £77.50 which has been donated to Unicef as part of Soccer Aid 2018. Each student paid 50p to watch the match.

Teams were as follows. 

Red team: Matt Wardle, Vikki Keeping, Andy McGinnes, Andy Minns, Ellie Gay, Ben Waine, Jonathan Mandel, Stuart Middleton and Ayaz Shah.  

Blue team: Dan Fox, Pete Roberts, Jack Ribbans, Danni Vaill, Jim Wise, Alex Simmons, Nelson Nubi, Sarah Hatton and Phil Cunningham. 

The referee on the day was Leigh Churchward and 4th official, Caroline Collie. 

Thank you staff and students for getting involved and thank you Miss Collie for organising such a fun event!  

Please see the email below from UNICEF regarding the Soccer Aid fundraising. As a school aiming to be a UNICEF 'Rights Respecting School' it was great we were also able to support this cause through this event.

Race for the Line Regional Finals at Brize Norton

Six students represented The Buckingham School at the Race for the Line Regional finals at Brize Norton.  Our fantastic team shaved 20 seconds each off of their time and finishing 4th and 6th out of 25 teams (with one car failing the safety check).  

The aim of the Race for the Line initiative is to inspire tomorrow’s engineers and scientists with a national rocket car racing competition involving around 70,000 Year 7 students in England, Scotland and Wales. 

Visiting teams from the competition’s Navy, Army, RAF and Academic partners have been visiting schools to facilitate an at-school race day to identify the team/s that would go forward to Regional Finals that will be held at 35 Forces bases around the country this month.

It has been a fantastic project and such a great opportunity for our students!

Are you an ex-Student?  If so, be great to hear from you! 

We are keen to know what you are doing now?  If you would like to get in touch with us, please send an email to Claire Sherwood at csherwood@buckinghamschool.org

We recently heard from Ellie-Rose Walker and Aidan O'Sullivan who are apprentices at the University of Buckingham Medical School. To read about their experiences click here.

The pathways we offer ensure that every student is prepared well for higher education or a quality apprenticeship routes into employment.  Our careers advice and guidance is a real strength throughout the school and we have good links with local and national employers who help our students with work experience and interview practice.

English Schools Track and Field Cup

We took a team to the English Schools Track and Field Cup recently at Stantonbury in Milton Keynes. All students performed amazingly well in their events. Some of the outstanding performances include:

James Peat- 3rd in Inter Boys 800m

Kyle Cummins- 1st Inter Boys Shot

Ryhs Jordan 1st in Junior Boys 100m and Long Jump

John Manser 1st in Junior Boys Javelin

Zak Harwood 2nd in Junior Boys 800m

Zaria Mmanga- 1st in Inter Girls Long Jump and 2nd in 100m

April BArnes 2nd in Inter Girls 1500m

Izzy Hopkins 2ndin Junior Girls 800m

Charlotte Smith 2nd in Junior Girls Javelin

Overall, both Boys team came 3rd and both girls team came 4th. Well done to everyone involved.

Chance to win a coaching session from England Rugby star, Dylan Hartley

There’s a competition that could give our students the chance to have a coaching session from England rugby star, Dylan Hartley. All you need to do is click on the link below and fill in the yours and The Buckingham School’s information to be in with a chance of winning. The competition is won simply by the school with the most votes.

Please share with friends and family, as I know our students would absolutely love it if we won and it would be a fantastic opportunity for them.

https://www.northamptonsaints.co.uk/…/win-your-school-a-pe-…

Mr J Ribbans, PE Teacher.

Ice Hockey Star

Rhiannon has had a fabulous year with her Ice Hockey, representing England Girls again.  During the Easter Holidays, she travelled to Brataslava, being only one of three girls to be selected for one of the four U13 Teams in the mixed National Conference in the UK. She is representing South West.  

The Conference tournament competes the best players from Scotland & Ireland, North, Midlands, South West and South East.

Her own club has also been successful; finishing runners up in both competitions, with the U13's playing in a promotion play-off to decide who plays in the South A League next season.

She has achieved this with dedication, commitment, late nights and lots of travelling.  Rhiannon trains a minimum of three sessions a week and she manages all this with good school attendance and good grades. 

I do not know where she gets the energy from! Not to mention attending (and enjoying) every school event and not just the sporting ones, that she is asked!

Submitted by Mrs Price 

Royal Windsor Horse Show

Amelie, with her Bicester Hunt Relay Team came 1st for tack and turnout earning each team member a magnum of Champagne! They came 6th place overall out of sixteen teams who entered on the day. 

Amelie who kept her cool, rode beautifully and went clear through two rounds in such a huge arena against competitors at least ten years her senior, the youngest team member (under 25) on the day.  And to (sister) Charlotte who supported Amelie all day long with a beautiful smile on her face and a willingness to do anything required to support the Bicester Inter Hunt Relay Team. 

Well done girls.

School Equestrian Team 

The School Equestrian team have been busy recently.  Firstly, Amy Wilks went out solo to Bury Farm Equestrian Centre and competed in the 60cm and 70cm. No placings for her but two lovely clear rounds. Well done Amy.

Then, we had several girls out competing at Keysoe for the Wellingborough School show. We had an amazing day.

Well-done to Amy Wilks who came 3rd Individual in the 60/65cm class and has qualified for the Championship Plate later this year. Katie Robinson jumped an amazing round in the 90/95cm class and won which has also qualified her for the Nationals in October. Katie also qualified as an individual for the 80/85cm class in 3rd place so she has also qualified for the Championship Plate later this year. Well done Katie, a great achievement!

In the teams, we had Charlotte Louise Smith, Charlotte Gregory, Amy Wilks and Amelie Gregory competing in the 70/75cm class. They all rode some lovely rounds against good competition and finished in team 3rd place. This has put the team through to the Championship Plate later this year. Great achievement girls - well done!

We also had Charlotte Gregory, Charlotte Louise Smith, Amelie Gregory and Katie Robinson compete as a team in the 80/85cm class. The girls all rode some very good and fast rounds and the girls finished in Team 2nd. This has now qualified them as a team for the Nationals in October this year. It was a great team effort from The Buckingham School Equestrian Team with all the girls supporting each other through every round and class.

Well Done Girls - amazing riding from you all!

To view the photo album, please visit our facebook page. 

http://www.facebook.com/thebuckinghamschool

Bittersweet Music

Bittersweet Music students from several local schools joined singers and musicians from Buckingham Children’s Choir to perform in a Choir Festival at Buckingham University on Wednesday 13th June. A huge WELL DONE to Ella O’Connell for a truly fantastic and confident vocal solo in ‘Chasing Cars’! 

Suzy Ann Smith runs Buckingham Children’s Choir and Bittersweet Music. 
Suzy teaches acoustic guitar and singing at The Buckingham School. For details about her popular music lessons and performance opportunities for your child - please email Suzy directly via suzyasmith@aol.com

Hurry, hurry as limited places for September! 

See Bittersweet Music Buckingham and Buckingham Children’s Choir on Facebook too! 

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Calendar Events for this week, and further ahead. 

Click here.