Autumn Term 2015

In October, members of the Harling Court Friendship Club had their Monday morning brightened up when they Harling Court Group Photowere entertained with a range of music, drama and poetry pieces performed by a multi-talented group of John Masefield Sixth Form students.  The delighted group of senior citizens, who regularly meet, were captivated as John Masefield students delivered a non-stop ensemble of pieces ranging from a solo piano recital of Clair de Lune by Debussy, to students own poetry, and from the chamber choir rendition of La Nuit to show songs from Witches. During the half-time interval students also enjoyed chatting to the group members and showed their art and photography work whilst others talked about their recent cultural exchange to Germany. The event was the idea of Head Girl Beth Hiley who is passionate about community involvement and it was impressive that as well as preparing rigorously to apply to Oxford to read Medicine, Beth had created time to organise this event including performing a range of pieces herself.   Mrs Sue Millington, organiser of the Friendship Club, said ‘What a wonderful morning’s entertainment the sixth form gave to our members… They are a great group of students, all very talented and a great credit to the school.’   Mark Hawksworth, Head of Sixth Form accompanied the students and commented ‘It was a superb event and I was extremely proud of both the range of talent of our students and their strong community spirit’

Despite the ominous date Y11 students had a great time becoming Sixth Formers for a day on Friday 13 November. The event which is just part of the process of helping students to sample and decide on their chosen subjects for study in the Sixth Form, was a full and active day for our Year 11 students.  They were involved in all sorts of activities from debating in Geography the global position, economic and environmental impact of China, to getting to grips with the portrayal of men and women in 19th Century literature in English.  Whether they were testing for the vitamin C content of various brands of orange juice in Biology or applying Newton’s Laws to the movement of a tennis ball in A level PE, the students worked enthusiastically  to get to grips with the greater demands of Sixth Form study.  Luckily they could take a break during lunch and brunch times to relax in the designated Sixth form common room, play a game of pool and make drinks and food for themselves over a chat in the Sixth form kitchen. The next stage in the process of deciding subjects is an interview with one of the Sixth Form Team from 19-27 November.

Sixth Formers dressed in childhood hero characters to raise funds for Children in Need on 12 November and held a cake sale.  Bill and Ben, Mary Poppins, Spiderman and even Florence Nightingale came for the day.

Y12 enjoyed an informative presentation from Working Options on 11 November which is a non-profit organisation that aims to help young people of all abilities and backgrounds succeed in their careers after education.  It was led by two former students, Paul Collins and Ed Evans, who wanted to share their own experiences and how they have forged their own careers as a pilot and owner of a property management company.    Following on from this talk, Business and Sports students have been fortunate to be invited to attend a Leadership Symposium in December with contributions from leading industry speakers.   On 25 November former student James Brighton, PHd will speak to PE and Sports students about his journey and future careers.

Early Oxbridge and Medicine applicants attended a presentation on 19 November from the Chair of Governors, Dr Welford, on how to prepare for their interviews and to get students thinking on points to consider.    On 25 November, a representative from Cardiff Metropolitan University is hosting a workshop for students finalising their UCAS applications and any other general advice.

A House sport event was held the first week after half term with football, netball and dodgeball being played against Y11 students.   Football and Netball fixtures have been played against Hartpury College and Sixth Formers have also participated in House quizzes entering a team in assemblies to challenge the lower school students.

The Head Boy and Head Girl, Alexander Haigh and Beth Hiley represented the school at the annual Remembrance Parade on 8 November in Ledbury and laid a wreath on behalf of the staff, governors and students.

Progress checks will be sent home on 27 November and the Sixth Form Parents Evening is on Thursday 3 December in the Theatre (4.30pm – 6.30pm); letters have been sent home with students, along with a booking form for parents to make appointments.

Sixth Form students have been busy rehearsing and arranging the Little Shop of Horrors which is to be staged for one night only on 11 December.  Tickets on sale from Finance.  This is the first production which has been staged and performed solely by students and is led by Y13 student Ben Mowbray as part of his Extended Project Qualification.  As well as rehearsing and staging the show, students have been busy fundraising and gaining sponsorship to meet the financial costs of the performance and we wish them every success.

On  5 November, all our A-level mathematicians took part in the UK Senior Maths Challenge.  We have now received the results and there are some excellent individual performances, with 75% of the students achieving certificates in this difficult event.  Gold:  Isaac George and Freya Henderson; Silver: Max Davis and Rhys Gemmell. Bronze:  Immy Wright, Dan Page, Dan Reilly, Beth Hiley, Tom Snelling, Calypso Harvey, Elisha Robinson, Callum Robinson, Alice Clay, Tommy Mapp, Euan Buttle, Khayd Saxelby, Emma Warren, Charlie Monkley, Erin Gwilliam, P-J Recordon.

On 11 November, Max Davis, Immy Wright, Freya Henderson and Emma Warren represented the school at the Regional Senior Maths Team Challenge at Malvern College.  After three gruelling rounds, they finished 9th where they worked well as a team and enjoyed the experience.

Published on 21st January 2016