Introducing our Head Girl and Boy for 2017
Joe Betts and Molly White
This year, competition was once again intense for the positions of Head Boy and Girl. Students who applied submitted a video audition, and alongside this their academic progress, house points and attendance were all scrutinised to shortlist for interview with me and Mrs Macdonald. Everyone who applied did themselves and their families proud.
The Head Girl for the 2017 academic year will be Molly White.
Molly’s introduction:
“The past four of years at Catmose have been some of the best in my school career with hundreds of opportunities at my fingertips and fantastic learning experiences at every turn. Every teacher I have ever had the pleasure of being taught by has given their up most and I have learnt so much, both in the classroom and in extracurricular activities. I take great pride in my school and feel very privileged to wear the uniform around the campus and when representing the College out on trips. The school building itself is a great hive of inspiration and academic achievement and with many students also thriving in sport or music, celebration of students’ individuality and creativity in all subjects is a big part of the school ethos. The memories I have made at Catmose are some that will stay with me forever.
The wide range of opportunities at that I have enjoyed at Catmose varies from music to sport and from academia to art. I have completed my bronze Duke of Edinburgh and am working on completing my silver and I have been made a Duke of Edinburgh Ambassador for my efforts; I am an academic scholar and have previously been a sports scholar. I have done my Grade 3 flute and play the piano and outside of school, I volunteer. All of these things I would not have been able to do without the confidence Catmose has given me and the support I have from my teachers and my peers, even the subjects I take are very academic and require a lot of support from my teachers. For me, getting the best support and being in the best learning environment has always been crucial if I am to follow my aspiration and become a doctor and Catmose has provided me with just that.
Ever since I first started in Year 7 and I saw the then Head Girl, Francesca Kennard-Kettle, I immediately wanted to achieve, just as she did, and become a crucial part of the school that I’m so proud to call my own. I hope to use the opportunity of being Head Girl to inspire my fellow students to channel their own ambition into becoming something absolutely amazing and to utilize all the opportunities available to them at Catmose.”
Joe’s introduction:
Senior Prefects
“I applied for the duty of Head Boy and was successful in doing so. I am extremely grateful to have been offered the role and I intend to use to its full potential alongside my colleagues, Molly, the deputies and the rest of the team. I applied for the role for a very simple reason…
When I started Catmose College, I felt a bit stuck. I struggled to find anything that I was good at, or any area that I particularly excelled in. Since the beginning of Year 9, I decided that being in a school like Catmose College and wasting the vast opportunities that were available to me, was not worth it. Although confidence was still one of my weak points, I decided to push myself and it was only through the support of Catmose College that I was able to do this. I formed a band with my Maths teacher. I joined Youth Speaks and became one of the top 7 speakers in Britain and Ireland. I started teaching maths and music. I became a History and Music scholar. I started leading tutorial sessions. I started leading assemblies. I started to enjoy everything that was still on offer before but I had never realised that I could do it! I found my passions and expanded on them, bit by bit.
The support, the staff, the students and the equal value that we have here at Catmose, allowed me to find my feet and expand my skills to become the person that I am today. It is my duty to represent all students here in the Catmose Community and ensure that they too have those same opportunities that I did, to ensure that every student finds their feet and develops into a wonderful young adult, developing transferable skills to aid them in later life.
I want to ensure that the house system, electives and extra-curricular activities are beneficial to all and work effectively. I will ensure that all prefects are fulfilling their duty and will listen to every member of the Student Body, to ensure that everybody can bring their unique value to the community. I set out to ensure that the college has several effective committees, all run by students, for events such as prom and the year book. I want to be engaged with all students and staff at Catmose College and ensure that feedback is received and responded to on a regular basis.
My main aspiration with this role has two specific parts. These are things that I wish to pursue and I aim to be the building blocks for but for the students to make their own. I firstly wish to start a committee and course based on self-confidence, comfort zones and developing new skills alongside others. This is currently a work in progress and will be planned, as initially my personal project, by the end of summer – ready for the start of the next academic year. The second part is trying to increase the level of exposure, that we have in college, to politics and current affairs by starting a new extra-curricular activity and making sure that we discuss it in tutorial and assembly, when most applicable.
My time at Catmose College has most definitely been a life changing one. I am so proud to be a Catmose student and this will be shown in the commitment and hard work that I will show, in ensuring that every student has the same opportunities that I had, in finding those skills and developing them. The Catmose Community is a strong one and I promise to continue that, alongside my brilliant peers and I have no doubt that the current Student Body will be extremely well organised and the most effective that it can be.”
Iceland Photography Tour 2018 – what to bring?
This is one of a series of posts regarding the College’s upcoming trip to Iceland, the introduction to this trip can be read here.
Weather
The weather in Iceland is incredibly variable – within an hour it can change from bright sun, to rain, snow and driving winds.
We will be travelling in February when the temperatures in Iceland vary from between -2 and +3 degrees Celsius – ideal conditions for snow but not as cold as you might anticipate given the proximity to the Arctic circle. At night however temperatures can drop to minus 7 degrees Celsius and standing round, as we will be, can make it feel very cold indeed. In London, by comparison typical temperatures in February are usually between +3 and +7 degrees Celsius.
February is also Iceland’s wettest month so there is a good chance of rain during the month, around 78% likely, so water proofs are essential for the trip.
Clothing
The key is being able to layer up so you should choose clothes that can be worn on top of one another. This will allow you to add layers when cold and then if the weather improves remove them later. We are likely to be standing around for long periods in the cold and so it is best to be prepared.
- Thermal Wool or synthetic leggings and vest – avoid cotton which takes a long time to dry if wet and becomes a poor insulator (http://besthiking.net/cotton-bad-hiking/).
- Wool hat.
- Wool jumpers.
- Wool or fleece neck warmer or scalf.
- Warm gloves, or warm windproof over-mittens and glove liner. The latter works really well to keep your hand warm but allow you to manipulate your camera by taking off the mitt and using the glove liner.
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‘hot-hands’ or similar. (www.hothandsdirect.com).
- Walking trousers.
- Waterproof trousers and jacket (breathable best).
- Waterproof walking or lightweight snow boots (ones you can wear on the plane are best).
- Shoe grips (there is a lot of ice on roads, paths and car parks). I found these Yaktraks very good (https://www.yaktrax.co.uk) but any with metal studs will be fine.
- Walking boot gaiters – idea for on the beach or if we have heavy snow.
- Wool based warm socks.
- A warm coat – a down jacket is ideal but the waterproof coat must go over it.
- Head torch (preferably with a red light setting). The red light protects your night vision (https://briankoberlein.com/2015/04/08/blinded-by-the-light/)
You should avoid bringing jeans or other cotton based trousers as these stay wet and lose their insulating properties very quickly.
Camera equipment
In order to capture the northern lights or to take night time shots a camera which can operate manually in respect of exposure, lens aperture and focus is needed. For most of the other photography any digital camera will be fine. The site www.dpreview.com is a good starting place if looking for advice about a camera. The College also has a number of DSLR Canon cameras and some tripods that can be loaned to participants; please speak to a member of staff who can advise.
- Camera bag (preferably waterproof).
- lens cloth.
- Ideally, a camera with an interchangeable lens. A wide angle lens, standard zoom and telephoto will all be useful.
- Tripod – Essential for night photography but also for landscapes to ensure a sharp image that is well composed.
- Rain cover for camera and for its bag (if not waterproof).
- At least two 32Gb memory cards for the trip as they will be hard to find and expensive.
- A laptop (optional) for editing images.
- Spare camera battery and charger (we will be taking a lot of photographs).
- All electrical sockets are European two pin so at least one adapter is essential.
Failing to succeed
A key instruction to all students at Catmose is to fail more often. In fact, to go out of their way to choose activities that will challenge and they will initially do badly at. It is only by coming to terms with how failure feels is one able to reflect on and improve your performance to be very successful. There are no class room lessons, or lectures from home that serve a student better than a real experience. We all need to learn to fail, to pick ourselves up (not to be rescued by our parents) and to carry on in the face of adversity. It is characteristic of all the most successful people that they have suffered significant failure; people saying they aren’t good enough, or not creative, or not rich or not clever enough. It is equally the case that these successful people have carried on any way, learned from their mistakes and got better until they have achieved their goals.
If you google Andy Murray, Britain’s most successful ever tennis player, so many of the images that are returned show him failing. Each defeat spurring him on to train harder, get better and come back stronger, rather than to give-up, go home or say it is unfair.
He of course ultimately achieved his goal winning both Wimbledon and Olympic gold medals.
Too many people don’t try for fear of failure. They shy away from attending an audition for a College production, to sing in the choir or to interview for head boy out of fear of not being successful. Of course by not applying they cannot be successful.
Steve Jobs, perhaps the epitome of success was also a failure. He was sacked from Apple, was given a huge pay out that should have been enough to retire on, but instead went onto revolutionise the animation industry at Pixar and Disney. He was of course enticed back to Apple when it was in dire straits, ultimately turning it into one of the most successful companies of all times. He never feared failure and in many ways courted it by setting himself extraordinarily ambitious goals. His success by dint of his talent and hard work far outweighed any failure.
I’ve know many failures in my own life. It was my aspiration, from an early age, to join the police, I was thwarted by poor interview technique. I ended up as a teacher, a career that better suited my skills but my early experience of poor interview meant I never again went into one without having done my homework about an organisation and the role I was applying for. In a similar way failing my driving test for being over ambitious in my use of the accelerator has made me a far better driver in the long run.
At the College we offer students opportunities to fail every day. There are the little things like answering a question in class when not sure of the answer. It could be learning a musical instrument, having to practise every day, making mistakes until confident enough to perform in front of an audience. In sport we offer over 20 different sport, plenty of opportunity to win and lose in matches. There is nothing quite like getting lost on a DofE expedition to ensure that next time you’ve planned your route better and listened carefully to the compass skills lesson!
To be successful in life, parents need to let their children make mistakes, get things wrong and to sort it out for themselves. How will these children manage in the adult world of work when they are no longer their to bail them out and they don’t have the skills and experiences to sort issues out for themselves?
There is a difference though between failing and giving up. It is fine to get things wrong from time to time, to fail and reflect on your mistakes. It is an entirely different matter to quit every time this happens.
Fail more, quit less, be successful.
Principal’s report term 4 – Trips analysis
This term I have focused on the cost of trips, which follows discussion with governors last term. Specifically, are there enough trips that are affordable to families, particularly those that are not eligible for FSM but whose disposable incomes are relatively low?
In the case of students who are eligible for pupil premium funding, the College fully or partially subsidises every trip that is offered. We know that students who are engaged in broader college life are excluded less, attend more regularly and ultimately achieve better outcomes compared to similar peers. It has often been the case that pupil premium students were excluded from trips, music and sporting activity because of family financial constraints. This remains so in some cases, but the instances are fewer now as a result of careful use of the pupil premium to subsidise places and through the practice of reserving spaces on trips for this group of students whose parents do not always complete permission slips to reserve places in a timely manner.
The College offers a significant number of trips and visits that have no or very low cost (<£20). There were 58 trips of this nature in 2015/16 and 34 have been planned so far this year. 3,300 places on trips at no cost have been offered. This has included trips to the mosque and gurdwara in Peterborough for all year 8 students; cross country athletics; musical performances with Oakham school; a languages trip for year 9; a trip to Nottingham university for year 9 and a trip for year 7 to Leicester Tigers grounds. All year groups have had access to at least one no-cost trip, albeit that not all students were offered the opportunity on each occasion. This category has the most number of trips and participants in the last two years, although it should be noted that the amount of trips and available places has decreased this year compared to last.
Many trips are also of moderate costing, between £20 and £100. In the last two years 2,435 participants will have taken part in such experiences. The cost of trips covers the price of admission and transport. Staff costs are paid by the College. Every year group has had access to such trips, which are usually UK based and non-residential. This year this has included: The British Library; Hamlet; Workhouse Trip; Burghley House Arts Trip; Royal Albert Hall; Victoria & Albert Museum; V & A Museum Trip; Bosworth Battlefield; Maths in Action; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; Birmingham Symphony Hall; Harry Potter Studio Tour and Julius Caesar. The amount of trips in this moderately expensive category has increased, as has participation, over the last 12 months. They offer students an affordable way to experience a wide range of cultural experiences that support and supplement the curriculum.
The smallest number of trips and participants are in the expensive category (>£100). There were 25 trips in this category over the last two years, attracting 856 participants. These trips tend to be residential, often abroad. This year this has included: German Exchange; Spanish Exchange; Geography trip to Sheringham; Kingswood Trip; Battlefields Tour 2017; Berlin Tour 2017; Krakow Trip; Venice Arts Trip and New York performing arts tour. Only two of these trips (New York and Sumatra) was over £1,000. All of these trips are linked to a curriculum area and provide students with opportunities that cannot be easily replicated elsewhere. They provide unique opportunities, albeit relatively expensive ones, that broaden and deepen students’ understanding of subjects they are considering as potential careers. They are also attractive to many families who want to ensure that their child has access to a broad range of opportunities that they might otherwise seek from the independent sector.
Conclusion
There are a broad range of day visits which are at no or very low cost to families. However, we need to ensure that these opportunities are not diminished by an increase in the number of more expensive residential experiences which have increased over the last two years. We will monitor the number of trips that are low cost and use the performance management cycle to ensure that staff who lead trips prioritise low cost and high participation rates. The more expensive trips do have an important place in our ethos, however, as they give students once-in-a-life time opportunities that will stay with them for a long time and could influence their future life choices.
Iceland GCSE Photography Tour 2018
We are preparing to take a tour to southern Iceland to enhance our GCSE photography students portfolio. The tour will give students the opportunity to experience a wide range of photography in the desolate but majestic landscapes of Iceland. We will learn techniques including long exposure, astro-photography, wildlife and street photography. This video which consists of hundreds of individuals images of the northern lights stitched together to create the illusion of movement, it is an advanced technique that we are hoping to teach our students.
The slides from this evening can be viewed here, they give an idea of the sort of locations and photography we will be practising during the trip. The full presentation can be downloaded from here (>100 MB) if it is useful.
The following video is from a trip in 2016 which visited many of the same locations and few different ones, it gives a good idea of the conditions in Iceland and the sort of photography we will have the opportunity to try out.
This gallery gives an idea of the sort of scenery and photography we are likely to experience in Iceland during February.
To apply for a place on the trip please complete the form on this flyer:
Principal’s report to governors term 2 2016/17
FOCUS ON SPORT
We have continued to blaze a trail in sport this academic year, competing in a very wide range of competitions which has led to participating in over 100 fixtures. Notable successes so far include:
- Both the year 10 and Year 11 girls Netball team won their respective Varsity Leagues. The year 10 team has since progressed onto the Leicestershire school’s final against Loughborough High School following victories against Ashby and John Ferneley.
- The under 13 boys table tennis team won the varsity competition and thus qualified to represent Rutland at the level 3 final where they came 5th out 10 teams.
- The year 8 boys and key stage 4 girls’ basketball teams are showing considerable promise in the Varsity basketball league both winning their opening 3 games.
- The cross country teams continue to perform well with over 25 students competing at the weekend in the Leicestershire & Rutland Cross Country league. The junior boys are currently joint second, 2 points behind 1st. Best individual position so far has been Marcus Francis, finishing 7th, with most finishing in the top 25.
- Leicestershire & Rutland Cross Country cup the Junior boys finished 4th competing against predominately older teams.
- In English Schools Athletics Association cross country cup the junior boys qualified for the regional round of the traveling to Leeds finishing 7th out of 12 with a number of excellent performances.
- In addition to basketball, indoor athletics and active clubs ran by the sports team this term Ian Bartlett from the English Team is helping to prepare the year 7’s for their first Varsity Rugby by running a rugby practice after college on a Monday.
In the varsity competition we are currently second, which is our expectation at this time of year. We are once again aiming to be varsity champions by the end!
My thanks go to the sports team who give so generously of their time to coach teams to such success.
LANGUAGES
We are entering a National Spelling Bee competition for Y7 French. We have all pupils competing at a class level at the moment and getting themselves onto a leader board following a series of tests/challenges. The pupils have been learning 50 words in French and have to spell the word correctly using the French alphabet including the correct accents, also said in French. The winners of the class stage will then go on to compete for the top spots in the year group in front of the whole of year 7 with careful coaching given by the year 11 French Ambassadors. The winners of that will get the chance to go to the regional then national finals. This is proving very popular amongst the boys who at the moment are by far outperforming the girls.
TRIPS AND VISITS
There have been a rich variety of extra-curricular experiences this term encompassing the theatre, cultural experiences in Peterborough and hosting students from Spain as part of our first exchange visit. In total around 400 students have had such an experience this term.
| Oakham Castle Trip | Simon Parker | 1&8 November 2016 | 7 | 120 | History |
| Bosworth Battlefield | Judith Green | 2 November 2016 | 8 | 130 | English |
| Spanish Exchange | Claire Dodson | 2 – 9 November 2016 | 9 | 30 | Spanish |
| Cambridge University | Lee Coupe | 9 November 2016 | 10 & 11 | 30 | Careers |
| Active Rutland Awards | Beth Smith | 16 November 2016 | Selected | 5 | Sport |
| Oakham School Choir Performance | Luke Donnelly | 18 November 2016 | 7-9 | 25 | Music |
| Royal Albert Hall, London | Luke Donnelly | 27 November 2016 | 8 – 11 | 49 | Music |
| Mosque and Gurdwara | Judith Green | 30 Nov & 7 December | 8 | 180 | Cultural |
| A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night | Leanne Mitchell | 1 December 2016 | 10 & 11 | 46 | Drama |
| Clothes Show Live | Kim Hincks | 6 December 2016 | 10 & 11 | 40 | Art |
Latest Posts
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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!
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Introducing our Head Girl and Boy for 2017
This year, competition was once again intense for the positions of Head Boy and Girl. Students who applied submitted a video audition, and alongside this…
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Iceland Photography Tour 2018 – what to bring?
This is one of a series of posts regarding the College’s upcoming trip to Iceland, the introduction to this trip can be read here. Weather…
-
Failing to succeed
A key instruction to all students at Catmose is to fail more often. In fact, to go out of their way to choose activities that will…
-
Principal’s report term 4 – Trips analysis
This term I have focused on the cost of trips, which follows discussion with governors last term. Specifically, are there enough trips that are affordable…
-
Iceland GCSE Photography Tour 2018
We are preparing to take a tour to southern Iceland to enhance our GCSE photography students portfolio. The tour will give students the opportunity to…
