008_-_27th_January_2012

Issue 8 27th January 2012

Clifton High School

Please come along and support our enthusiastic Astronomy Club on their main event of the year!

Monday 30th January 5:30 to 7pm Stargazing Live Event

in the Beech Room at Clifton High School

Clifton High’s big stargazing event is on Monday 30th January in the Beech Room starting at 5:30pm. Every pupil, friend and family member of Clifton High is invited to attend. Our Astronomy Club students are preparing some fabulous activities and it should be a lot of fun for interested galaxy explorers of all ages. The activities include making comets from solid carbon dioxide, constellations from star biscuits, a talk on alien hoaxes and the search for extra terrestrial intelligence. There is also a talk, with fabulous images, from an astrophotographer who uses the Faulkes telescopes to take his pictures. Some members of the Bristol Astronomical Society will be available to give advice on starting to stargaze and talk shop with those who already do! There will be refreshments available and if the weather is clear we will be out on the lawn with a few small telescopes, some belonging to members of the Astronomy Club. Whatever the weather – this promises to be an enjoyable evening event. If you are interested in coming along to any of the events listed below, please send Dr Camacho an e-mail [email protected] If you cannot get to our event, Brian Cox and Dara O’Briain have hosted Stargazing Live on BBC2. The programmes are still available online (BBCiplayer); if you are interested in the stars why not watch them? They are entertaining and informative!

Date Time Venue Event

Mon 30th Jan 17:30 to 19:00

Beech Room at CHS Clifton High’s Stargazing Live event. Come and listen to a talk on alien hoaxes, make constellations from star biscuits a comet from dry-ice. Parents, students and friends all welcome.

Sat 4th Feb 19:30 to 22:00

Failand Observatory Open observing at the Bristol Astro-nomical Society observatory with Dr Camacho

Heading for the top of the league tables!

Clifton High School was placed top independent school in Bristol in this week’s GCSE league tables with its 100% score for all pupils achieving at least 5 GCSEs grades A* to C. We would of course expect 100% here, so the result we were more pleased with was the high place we achieved (3rd in the whole Bristol area, independent and state) for our EBacc performance. To feature on the EBacc tables requires top grades in the more traditional academic subjects of maths, English, two science subjects, a language and either history or geography. These so-called ‘facilitating subjects’ are the ones we encourage our students to follow at A Level – after consultation with the leading Russell Group universities, it is becoming increasingly clear that with the ever growing pressure on university places, the top universities are favouring these facilitating subjects over other, less traditional options.

mailto:[email protected]


We have managed to get a team through to the National Finals every year for the last four years, but wish us luck and watch this space for the latest news!

Thank you very much to our visiting AIRBUS engineers: Josh, Praveen, Chris, Chris, Rich, Anoop, Nils, Rohan, James, George, Manthan and Bridget.

Flying Start

The whole of year 9 were in gliding mode about on Thursday. The Flying Start Challenge is a national competition which Clifton High has entered for the last 5 years. Various aero-engineering companies sponsor the event.

This year Airbus sent a dozen of their graduate engineers and year 9 teams learned about the physics of flight. By the end of the day every team had a working glider and there was a fly-off in the main hall. The best glider flew from the stage right to the far wall under the balcony without touching the ground! Team HARK won this first round, congratulations Hannah, Anna, Rowan and Kelsie.

On 8th February year 9 will be taking their gliders and poster presentations to the regional final where they will compete against other schools in the South West. If one of our teams performs well enough we will be taking a day trip to the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton where the best gliders in the country will compete under the belly of Concorde!


One of our reception classes was featured on Points West, as they enjoyed a whole range of activities linked to Chinese New Year.

Chinese New Year Year of the dragon

The catering department put on a Chinese menu on Monday in celebration of The Chinese new year, with different dishes to try and a wide selection of fresh fruits. The delicious food was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. Many thanks to the catering department for all their hard work.


National Cipher Challenge 2011

Last term, a team of highly trained code breakers from Year 7 (Isobel, Rosie, Louisa and Michalis) helped defeat the infamous Tempest conspiracy. This elite team, led by spymaster Miss Norris, is known only as … CHS Potatoes. CHS Potatoes accepted weekly and fortnightly challenges set by Southampton University Mathematics Department, who run the National Cipher Challenge. This competition is open to all schools and is sponsored by the UK’s intelligence gathering organisation GCHQ, Trinity College Cambridge and Netcraft. The challenges were set in two parts, and involved deciphering coded conversations and emails of two boys, the papers of Alan Turing and messages between members of the evil Tempest organisation. For example, one of the messages involved breaking the Vigenere cipher (considered unbreakable until 150 years ago) while another used the ADFGVX cipher (used by the Germans in World War 1) together with added musical note transpositions. Within the overall competition CHS Potatoes were placed joint first in the simpler Challenge A section, winning a £25 prize for the final challenge. They came 72nd out of 1608 secondary school teams for the harder Challenge B section. CHS Potatoes will be back for the 2012 challenge!!

Isobel Press 7-1

Tuck Sale 4KP held a tuck sale on Tuesday lunchtime in aid of the charity WWF. £74.12 was raised for the charity by Lily, Angus and Max. Well done to all who helped to make such a well organised event.

Clifton High School Parents’ Association Treasurer’s report

For the financial year ending 31st October 2011

Net profits from fundraising activities were approximately £7,400 higher in the year to 31st October 2011 compared to the previous year. This was due largely to an increase in income across nearly all PA activities throughout the year and the introduction of the Auction of Promises event. The Christmas Fair raised an additional £1,500 compared to the previous year, and the ever popular quiz night raised £346 more than in 2010. The Summer Fair raised an extra £371 due in part to the addition of the PA run BBQ. The lower school cake stalls held during their sports days doubled from the previous year with a net profit of £456. Campfest continues to go from strength to strength (despite the weather!) as income was up again with a net profit of £701. The book sale held during Deck the Halls raised £140 and the sale of Invitation books and profits from the Yellow Moon catalogue keep administration costs down considerably. Every parent or guardian of a pupil at Clifton High School is a member of the Parents’ Association on payment of a £15 year subscription per family. This payment goes towards supplementing the wide range of events provided by the PA. Total receipts were down slightly this year at 293 subscriptions. Gifts to school during the year totalled £5,068 which is made up of outstanding items from the previous year and new wish list items. It was decided that a total of £20,000 would be pledged from the reserve account and the Auction of Promises event to help in the refurbishment of the New Hall into a first class preforming arts venue. A further £1,515 was pledged to support smaller projects in this year which includes a restricted donation of £440 from the Foundation Stage curry night which will specifically go towards playground equipment for the Preparatory department. £1,690 was pledged to Children’s Hospice South West as a result of the Auction of Promises. Net funds at the end of the year were up from 2010 to approximately £3,449.


Junior Hockey Report

Yr 5 and 6 girls played against Red Maids’ School in the penultimate hockey matches of the season. The U11 A team played with determination but went down 4-1 due to a slow start. However once they got going they showed that they could distribute the ball with good speed and direction. Chloe and Hannah worked well up front and were denied goals on a couple of occasions. The B team came out worthy winners in a 4-0 match with relative newcomer Lucinda making her mark up front. The U10A team put on a polished performance. The team won 8-0, with key performances from Alysia, Issy and Mia. The B team played tenaciously and came out eventual winners 3-2, Emily D showing good skills and Charlotte G working hard to link in the middle.

Under 10 and 11 Football

This term the Under 10 and Under 11 boys have begun their participation for the first time in the Under 11 Bristol and South Gloucester Football League. This term the boys have already played fixtures against Westbury Park, Colstons and BGS on two occasions. The team is mainly made up of Under 10 boys who are already finding the experience of playing in this league invaluable as they are playing against a number of players who are a whole year older. This experience they are gaining will set them up superbly well to be more competitive next season. Already, the boys have showed huge progress in a short space of time, performing extremely well against Colstons, with Ben Badham scoring a fine goal. The boys also improved significantly in their latest fixture against BGS, narrowly losing 3-0. However, they know that their development is priority and not the results at this time. There are more fixtures to come against Bishop Road and St Bonaventure very soon. Well done to all of the Under 10 and Under 11 boys involved this season so far. There are many more separate Under 10 and Under 11 fixtures this term to come, so plenty to look forward to!

Cross Country Two Clifton High runners were selected to represent Bristol at the Avon Cross Country Championships. Head boy Mitch Silverthorne and year 8’s Tom Ball both had a top 5 finish at the Bristol Championships last November. Mitch was unable to run because of other commitments, but plucky Tom, who was suffering with a respiratory infection, put his foot up to the mark for the starter’s gun. A frosty, sub-zero morning contributed to Tom’s inability to breathe properly and unfortunately he had to withdraw half way through the race. Next year Tom!

Challenge Shield

Clifton High 1st hockey team returned from Royal High with their coveted Challenge Shield, after a frosty pitch ruled out play on safety grounds!

County Badminton

Bethan Evans Brain in year 8 has been invited by the South West Counties Badminton Association to attend a week’s residential training camp in the summer, after her name was put forward by Avon County Schools Association. Bethan played her first match for Avon against Somerset recently and clearly made an impression!

Vault Manchester World number 3 Pole Vaulter Lucy Bryan entered her first competition of the season – “Vault Manchester” the leading UK indoor competition at Sport City, Manchester. Lucy won the under 20 women’s competition with a vault of 3.83 metres. This also placed her 5th in the ‘elite women’s’ event (a group including seniors and under 23 competitors as well as under 20’s). A great start to the season Lucy!


South African Sports Star visits Clifton High School

On Wednesday 25th January, Clifton High School pupils were extremely lucky to have a visit from ex South African Rugby International rugby player, Thinus Delport. Thinus has had an illustrious career firstly in South Africa, representing his country on many occasions, playing in one Rugby World Cup and many other tests. He also played professional rugby in England towards the end of his career for Worcester and Gloucester. Thinus now works for Sky Sports and is part of The Sky Sports Living for Sport Programme which Clifton High School has signed up to be part of. The programme involves Thinus and Mr Collins working with around 20 pupils from the senior school with the aim of improving their self esteem, mental toughness, social skills and general all round confidence through their experiences in sport. Thinus came in to meet the CHS pupils and lead an assembly and also made the short trip over to the junior school to meet some of the children and answer some very interesting questions from the Year 5 children! Thinus will be visiting the school again soon to check on the progress of the pupils who are part of the programme and to also meet the children he has not met during his initial visit.

Year 8 Football v Beechen Cliff School, Bath

On Monday 23rd January, two teams of Year 8 boys took part in a football fixture against Beechen Cliff School from Bath. The boys participated in a round robin tournament against two Beechen Cliff teams and played extremely well against some tough opposition. The A team won both of their matches scoring some superb goals. The B team however lost both of their matches but thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity of representing the school in a competitive fixture. Well done to all of the boys involved.


Year 7 & 8 Boys’ Football v Bristol Cathedral

On Tuesday 17th January at 4.30, the year 7 & 8 boys’ football teams hosted Bristol Cathedral School at Coombe Dingle. After a quick briefing of positions & tactics by Coach, Mr Collins, the boys were eager to get underway with temperatures dropping as low as 3oC. In the Year 7 game, CHS found themselves under pressure from the start, as their confident Cathedral opponents committed numbers forward in search of the opener, which came after 6 minutes. Three goals in quick succession followed for the visitors, which left CHS with a lot of work to get back in to the match. However just before half time, the home team were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box, which was impressively dispatched by Ted Powell. At half time, Mr Collins encouraged the boys to get the ball out to the wings more regularly and to keep up their defensive work rate. It soon became clear that his words had not gone unheard, as just minutes into the 2nd half, an intricate yet effective team move down the left wing, resulted in Ted Powell calmly netting his second of the game. Unfortunately this only seemed to spur on the opposition, who quickly widened the gap to three goals once more. As tiredness appeared to be setting in, the home team found themselves boxed in their own half for the remainder of the game. Even the heroics of goalkeeper Luke Silcocks could not prevent four more goals being added for Cathedral before the final whistle, and the match ended in a 9-2 loss.

Under 8 and 9 Football

The Under 8 and Under 9 boys recently won 6-0 against St Ursula’s. The boys are improving tremendously well in their games lessons and are relishing the opportunity to be playing QEH on Friday 27th January. All of the Under 8 and Under 9 boys will be involved in this fixture which will be a fantastic experience for them.

The year 8 game was a much closer contest, and CHS took an early lead when Tom West found Olly Valentine, who did well to create enough space to fire his shot past the keeper. Despite this encouraging start, Cathedral quickly gained momentum with two goals in three minutes, and as CHS pressed forward for the equaliser, they were left short in numbers defensively, which allowed Cathedral to add a third goal on the stroke of half time. During his half time team talk, Mr Collins emphasised the importance of everyone staying in their positions and encouraged better communication throughout the team. This resulted in a much more organised display in the second half, with the team maintaining an excellent balance between attack and defence. Although the team created numerous chances to get back into the match, Cathedral’s defence withstood the pressure and the match finished 3-1.

Congratulations to Bristol Cathedral for the wins, and thanks to all of the boys for their commitment and to Mr Collins for his encouragement and coaching expertise. Both teams can take positives from their performances and I look forward to watching them progress over the remainder of the season.

Jamie Goodenough Sixth Form 2009-2011


Year 8 Football v Sidcot, 24th January

The Year 8 boys’ football team looked to rebound from last week’s 3-1 defeat to Bristol Cathedral, with a victory against Sidcot School. Coombe Dingle was once again the venue for this highly anticipated match, and as kick off approached, the bookmakers were struggling to split the two teams. A remarkably calm Mr Collins addressed his team:

‘We’ve improved massively over the past year, but we need to start turning good performances into results. This game will be a good test for you, because they (Sidcot) are probably of a similar level, and it will be a much closer game than last time.’

Mr Collins had clearly done some research on the Sidcot team, as the game started very evenly, with CHS Goalkeeper Billy Tonkin making a good save in the opening minutes, whilst at the other end, Olly Valentine equally tested the Sidcot keeper.

Despite an even start, Sidcot began to dominate possession, and Tonkin was once again called into action after 10 minutes, tipping the ball onto the post following a fierce strike from the Sidcot forward.

CHS were struggling to create chances for their talisman striker Olly Valentine, although on the 12 minute mark he very nearly latched on to a through ball from Tom Ball, which would have resulted in a shooting opportunity, had the midfielder not slightly over hit his pass. Shortly after, Ball was substituted for an enthusiastic Ben Young, who quickly got involved in the game and displayed some tidy footwork, though the Sidcot defence did well to contain the promising young midfielder.

Captain Thomas Harvey and Jack Alford remained solid in defence, and Billy Tonkin made a couple more excellent saves to keep out the ever threatening Sidcot attack. The away team wasted their best chance of the game just before half time, when the ball dropped to an unmarked Sidcot player 10 yards out. However the home side were let off the hook when he blasted the ball over the bar.

At half time, Mr Collins praised the team’s efforts, but stressed the importance of holding positions and keeping possession in midfield.

The second half started very similar to the first, with neither team being able to create many clear cut chances, though Billy Tonkin did well to react to a close range shot from the Sidcot forward. With ten minutes remaining, Mr Collins made a tactical double substitution, bringing Tom Ball back on for Ben Young, and introducing Matt Kemery for Jack Alford. As Sidcot pushed men forward in search of the winner, Clifton High almost snatched a goal of their own on the counter attack as Olly Valentine broke through the middle of the exposed Sidcot defence, only for his shot to deflect off the inside of the Goalkeeper’s leg, and barely wide of the left hand post.

The last few minutes were frantic, as Sidcot looked the more likely to score. But a combination of steady defending, outstanding goalkeeping and in one case the woodwork, resulted in a hard fought 0-0 draw.

The boys can feel very satisfied with a much improved performance from last week, and can expect further encouraging results in the future if they can reproduce this effort.

Many congratulations must also go to the Year 7 team, who came back from a 2-0 half time deficit, to draw their game with Sidcot 2-2, courtesy of two goals from dependable striker Ted Powell.

Jamie Goodenough


Tuesday 31st January 2012 Main Hall

19:30—21:30


An invitation – to everyone in Years 6 & 7!

from the Parents’ Association

Pizza & Film Night – Thursday 9 February 2012

“The life of a businessman begins to change after he inherits six penguins, and as

he transforms his apartment into a winter wonderland his professional side starts to unravel.”

Cert PG, starts at 6pm prompt for pizza and finishes at 8.00pm.

Only £5 per ticket.

Please bring a bean bag if possible.

This event is ticket only, please fill in the form below, hand it

to your form teacher and we will do the rest!


Dogs in the Playground There has been an increasing number of dogs brought into the playground this term and, whilst we know many children are fascinated by dogs, we would remind you that some children in school are frightened of them. For this reason, dogs are not permitted in the playgrounds. We would appreciate your support in ensuring dogs do not come onto school premises and have provided wall rings so that dogs can be tied to these near the school gates.

Exam Statement of Entries Although the January GCSE, AS and A2 exams are not over yet it is time to start thinking about the summer ones! This week all pupils sitting exams this summer will receive a list of the units the school is intending to enter them for. To confirm that the school should make these entries, please can you sign and return this statement of entry to the school office by Friday, 3rd February. Please note that no entries will be made without receipt of a signed statement of entry. This information will then be used to produce the final examination timetable. A draft summer exam timetable is now up on the school website. Please note that this is not the final timetable but is just for guidance. Candidates will be issued with a final version of the timetable later in the term. If you have any questions or queries, please email [email protected]

Second-hand uniform Our wonderful school nurse team, as well as tending to those who are unwell, run a small second-hand uniform shop. If you are looking to purchase items of uniform, it is well worth a visit to their shop as many garments are in pristine condition and very reasonably priced.

Mathematics Information Evening

Many thanks to those parents who braved the chilly night air and attended our Y1-Y6 Mathematics Information Evening. They had the opportunity to attend a wide range of workshops covering topics such as:

· Our new mathematics scheme, “Abacus Evolve” · Numbers and the number system · Measures · Timetables and the 24 hour clock · Problem solving · Money · Time · Use of the interactive whiteboard in mathematics · Learning support for mathematics · Maths at Home – helping your child

We are indebted to the teachers who prepared and ran the workshops and to Mrs Barnard who coordinated the activities. We hope you found the evening informative and helpful.

Bad Weather Should the weather change for the worse and the snow returns, please ensure you check the school website (www.cliftonhigh.bristol.sch.uk) for more information on school opening times.

Eco-Schools Bronze Award!

Well done to Year 13 students Ruby Coates, Molly Gunton, Frankie Crossley and Katie Norris, who have decided to take eco-matters within Clifton High School into their own hands. They have formed an eco-committee, conducted an environmental review, and formulated an action plan to follow in the coming months. In December the girls organised a 'turn it off fortnight', to encourage other students and staff to turn lights off around the school that they weren't using. The girls now plan to turn their attentions to improving paper recycling within the school. In March the girls will also be running a 'lunchtime crunchtime' week, that will focus on encouraging students to recycle their lunchtime waste. We have just been awarded an eco-schools bronze award for our efforts, and hope to be able to achieve a silver award before the end of the year.



Looking to make a Difference?

Midday Supervisors required as soon as possible We are urgently seeking additional midday supervisors to support our children in the Lower School, working every Tuesday during term time either from 11.45am—1.15pm or from 12 noon – 1.20pm. Our team of supervisors oversee the children going into lunch and supervise them in the dining hall and playgrounds. Supporting the children is rewarding and often highly entertaining! The current rate of pay is £6.46 per hour, with additional payment for bank holidays. Clifton High School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and all staff are subject to an enhanced disclosure through the Criminal Records Bureau. We hope you will consider helping us out. Please contact Mr Richards if you would like to discuss the vacancy further: [email protected] or Tel 0117 9730201.

School Contact Details Tel: 0117 973 0201

For general communication: [email protected] To report an absence: [email protected]

PA Class Reps’ Meeting 13/1/2012 Minutes of the Class Reps’ meeting are now on the website.

Editorship of the annual Clifton High Alumni Magazine Are you an organised person, looking for a part time project to manage? The Clifton High Alumni exists to keep past pupils of the school in touch with each other, to support the school at events and where possible, in a financial manner. The annual Alumni magazine is a key part of this and aims to keep members up to date with news of fellow alumni and the school. The Alumni is seeking a new editor for this publication. This voluntary role includes collection and coordination of the regular updates, articles, births, deaths and marriages etc for the magazine, seeing through the process of proof reading and delivery of the articles to the printer who designs the magazine. Further proofing is required before final approval and printing. The magazine is then mailed out to 1200 members in May each year. The editor would be assisted by the excellent, supportive committee, so not all responsibility would fall on you, however the role mainly is coordination to ensure that all articles are received on time and the final magazine is delivered in May. The role is part time and really only active between January and May each year, when it will take a few hours each week and during this period, the committee do tend to meet twice a month - although this is not set in stone. Ideally we are looking for an ex member of the school or a current parent who has an interest in the Alumni and would feel able to give some time back to the school through this role. If you are interested, please contact Nicola Prince - [email protected]

Clifton High School Visitors’ Parking The visitors’ parking spaces are booked out daily for visitors to the school for talks, assemblies, tours, etc. Please do not use these spaces when dropping or picking up pupils as we have had booked visitors who have not been able to park. There is now a parking fine procedure in place for unauthorised parking. We have also received complaints from the doctor’s surgery for cars being parked in the lane in front of the school gates. This is not permitted either as it blocks the doctors in who need to leave for emergencies. Thank you for your co-operation.





008_-_27th_January_2012

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