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| News Archive |
Lord Sugar
Sixty Five pupils between the Third Form and the Removes met Lord Sugar who came into school for a question and answer session. For over an hour they bombarded him with excellent questions about his business, how to be successful, his involvement in football and the current economic situation. We hope that a few future captains of industry were inspired by what Lord Sugar had to say. |
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Steven Sweet at the London Marathon
Sixth Former Steven Sweet joined celebrities, athletes and fun runners in the 26.2 miles London Marathon. He completed the course in 3 hours and 55 minutes. Although he missed his target time of 3 hours and 30 minutes, the amount he raised for charity, over £1700, cheered him up no end! |
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Fun Day, Sunday 9th May
Fun Day, Sunday 9th May
Everybody is invited to join the Family Fun Day and Run on Sunday 9th May. All funds raised will go to charities supported by the School. Attractions will include craft stalls, delicious food, merry-go-round, a bouncy castle and a gladiators’ ring.
Please download here the Sponsorship Form.
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Our excellent ISI Inspection Reports
Chigwell School is celebrating two excellent inspection reports.
Click here for summary and report downloads. |
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Spelling Team raises £600 for Cancer Research UK
On 11th March, the Third Form Spelling team presented a cheque for the magnificent sum of £600 to Mr Richard Witney, a representative from the local branch of Cancer Research UK. The money was raised through the efforts of a large number of pupils from the Third Form who were sponsored for their spelling tests, encouraged and supported by their parents and English teachers. |
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U14 Boys' Hockey Team through to National Finals
On Tuesday 9th March the U14 Boys’ hockey team made it through to the English National Schools Championships National Finals. It is the first time ever that a Chigwell School team, boys or girls, has gone so far in the premier national hockey competition in England. Having won their group in the East Rounds at the end of February, beating renowned big hockey schools such as Bedford School and The Perse on the way, the team travelled to St Ives in Cambridge to compete in the East Finals. The task was simple: come in the top two out of the three remaining teams and qualify! And they did it, beating Gresham's 4-1 and qualifying in the second position. Runners-up medals were collected and the team will represent the East of England in the National Finals in the first week of the summer term.
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ISFA U9 Football Festival
Chigwell hosted the first U9 Football Festival on Friday 5th March in glorious spring sunshine. The event was a great success with over 70 boys participating from four local Prep Schools. The pupils were divided into four groups and trained in ‘skill stations’ over the course of the afternoon. FA Tesco Skills Coaches from the Essex Team, under the leadership of Mr Matthew Joseph, put the boys through their paces and, at the same time, encouraged them to enjoy the game. The children gained confidence from 4v4 matches and also acquired new friendships with boys from other schools.
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Brentwood Cathedral Concert
Over 140 Chigwellians—among pupils, parents and staff—and 20 pupils from Loyola Preparatory School took part in the concert at Brentwood Cathedral on Saturday 27th February. The Choir set the scene with Brahms’s “How lovely are thy dwellings” from his German "Requiem" and this was followed by a wonderful performance of Mendelssohn’s “Hear my Prayer”, with Nina McMillan, winner of last year’s Chigwell Musician of the Year Competition, as soprano soloist. However, the highlight of the evening for many was Karl Jenkins’ dramatic and moving piece “The Armed Man”, which proved to be a very popular choice for both performers and audience alike. There were also some very impressive solo performances from within the Choir and everyone who took part, not least Director of Music Miss Amanda Lapwood, should be congratulated. |
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U13 Essex hockey champions
On Wednesday 24th February, the U13 boys’ hockey team won the Essex rounds of the Yazoo National U13 Schools Cup and qualified for the East Rounds as Essex champions. In a round-robin tournament the boys won all their matches, including beating Bancrofts 4-0, Coopers Coburn 3-0 and, in what turned out to be the final, they beat Felsted 2-1, having been 1-0 down, with both goals coming from Conor Caplan. This is the first time that any Chigwell team has qualified as the best in Essex and the boys deserve huge praise for the quality of their hockey and the consistency of their performances throughout the day. |
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JS raises £3,100 for the Haiti Earthquake Appeal
We are absolutely delighted to report that £3,100 was raised in the Junior School on “Silly Hair Day”. The funds raised will go to the Haiti Earthquake Appeal. Donations included two West Ham tickets in the Directors' Box with dinner, which were sold to the highest bidder and one pupil raised almost £200 making and selling bracelets. Students and teachers enjoyed colouring their hair and sporting various eccentric and colourful wigs, all agreed that it was a fantastic way for raising money for the people affected by the Haiti earthquake. |
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Jazz evening
Those who were lucky enough to be at the annual Swing Band and Jazz Evening on Saturday 6th February enjoyed a wonderful evening of music-making. Following some fabulous numbers on the piano by our very own Head of School, Chris Wilson, the Swing Band had everyone’s feet tapping, and even succeeded in getting some people up to dance! In addition to these numbers, there were some fantastic jazz songs by many of our accomplished singers accompanied by the staff quartet, who also performed its own pieces.
With the informal setting of tables, a bar and a dance floor, this really was an evening to relax and catch up with friends and, most importantly, £881 was raised in aid of the Nordoff-Robbins charity, which specializes in music therapy for disabled children and adults.
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Chigwell's promising cricketers
Cordelia Griffith and Beth MacGregor, pictured here at the Super 4s Tournament in Wellington last August, are continuing to reaffirm their position as the best young cricketers in the country. From 27th March for two weeks, Cordelia will be touring South Africa with the England U17 Team, whilst Beth, who has been selected as a member of the England Women's Cricket Academy squad, will be attending a High Performance Training Camp in Bangalore, India, between 13th and 26th March. Beth is attending her second year at the Essex Academy and Cordelia is in her first year of the Essex Emerging Players Programme. On the boys’ cricket front, Saf Imtiaz has also been selected to attend the Essex Emerging Players Programme. |
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Oxbridge-bound
We are delighted to be able to report that eight Chigwell students have been given conditional offers by Oxford or Cambridge Universities. Those who hope to take up places at Oxford are: Wojciech Bazant (Mathematics, Somerville College); Yunlin Chen (Mathematics, Balliol College); Joshua Ding (Electrical Engineering, St Hilda’s College) and Xiaolu Liu (Engineering, St Catherine’s College). The Cambridge-bound candidates are: Oliver Midgley (Politics, Psychology and Sociology, St John’s College); Felicity Osborn (Theology, St John’s College); Egor Tsiaulouski (Engineering, Magdalene College) and Christopher Wilson (Land Economy, Fitzwilliam College). Headmaster, Mr Michael Punt, commented that a total of eight students corresponds to 10% of our Year 13 and we are very proud that once again such a large proportion have gained offers from these highly selective universities. Year on year, the competition for places becomes ever fiercer and the success of these students is a tribute to their hard work and ability as well as the preparation that they have received from their teachers.
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New Head of Junior School
When Mrs Jenny Gwinn, Head of Junior School, announced that she was going to retire at the end of the summer term, we knew that her successor would have a tough act to follow. We had a large and strong field of applicants and were delighted to appoint Mr Simon James who is currently Head of Junior School at Rossall School, Lancashire. Previously he was Junior School Director of Studies at the King’s School, Chester, Head of English at Cheadle Hulme Junior School and teacher at The King’s School, Macclesfield. Mr James visited Chigwell at the end of last week and spent time meeting with existing and prospective Junior School parents and staff. He is married to Jill and they have two daughters, Freya (aged 8) and Phoebe (8 months). They are looking forward to the move south and to meeting as many Chigwell families as possible in the near future. |
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The School Shop Sale
Mrs Beverley Levitt, the School Shop Manager, is delighted to inform all parents that a huge sale will start on 1st February, until 5th February, from 12:00pm to 5.00pm. Many items will be greatly reduced.
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Debating Competition runners-up
Sam Jones and Jonathan Lloyd-Evans were the runners-up in the Epping Forest Schools Debating Competition held on 20th November at Chigwell School. As holders of the handsome cup donated by Mrs Eleanor Laing, MP, it was Chigwell School's pleasure to host this year's Epping Forest Schools Parliamentary Debating Competition. In what was described as the best competition in the last ten years, our students were runners-up to a formidable team from Debden Park School. The audience of around fifty, mainly teachers and parents, were very impressed by the high standard of debating, as were the judges.
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Lessons with Mozart
Nicholas Dixon was approached by Golden Radio, an independent production company, to play the 18th-century English composer Thomas Attwood in a dramatised documentary. Lessons with Mozart tells of his time as Mozart’s student, and is based around a manuscript showing details of how teacher and pupil worked together. In a reconstruction of their exchanges, the two composers discuss aspects of music theory. Attwood was only nineteen when he started studying in Vienna, so an adult actor would not have been appropriate; also important was the ability to make sense of the musical vocabulary. The documentary was heard on BBC Radio 3 on Boxing Day. |
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David Albon
Miss Amanda Lapwood, Director of Music, is delighted to report the success of David Albon, one of Chigwell’s MVI Music Scholars. David is first and foremost a flautist and following his success in the Essex Musician of the Year Competition last year, he has now been offered a place to study at the Birmingham Conservatoire next year. He has also received reserve offers from The Royal College of Music and Trinity College of Music. We congratulate David on these fantastic achievements and look forward to watching his career progress! |
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Football in the snow!
Games-time carries on as usual at Chigwell, despite the continuous snowfall! Our LII, UII and III Form boys were able to play football yesterday, January 12, thanks to our Grounds Manager, Tony Barrett, and his team, who cleared three 7-a-side fixtures for the boys to use. Chigwell must have been one of the few schools in the country able to play on a grass pitch not covered in snow! |
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Junior mathematicians
Mrs Linda Joughin is delighted to report that four of her UII pupils, Shomi Basu, Lauren Keiller, Anand Bahri and Prakash Singh, have reached the finals in the Primary Mathematics Challenge Competition. More than 94000 took the paper in November 2009 and our four young students have been invited to display their mathematical abilities in the final, which will be held on Wednesday February 3rd. |
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Snow Patrol Hero
Despite the heavy snowfalls of the last days, Chigwell is one of the few schools in the area that is open for business. This could not have been possible without the dedication of our fantastic grounds, porters and maintenance team and people like Mr Paul Cook (pictured) who were up and working at 5.00am to ensure that the School’s quads, car parks and paths were cleared before the pupils’ arrival. On the first day back from the Christmas vacation, 7th January, two thirds of the pupils arrived for lessons together with all the teaching and support staff. This is what makes Chigwell outstanding. Well done, everyone! |
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Little Shop of Horrors
Emily O’Connor writes: “The Drama Department’s latest project, ‘Little Shop of Horrors’, directed by Ms Amanda Bailey, was an outstanding achievement. The impressive live band, conducted by Miss Amanda Lapwood, was the foundation for a fantastic musical. The chorus line’s choreography was incredibly entertaining and Jack Pewsey’s catchy and realistic dance moves added to the infectious atmosphere of the night. The acting was excellent with star-performances from Nina McMillan, as the vulnerable and beautiful Audrey, and Ryan Peterson, as the adorable Seymour. Impressive performances also came from Ben Hiam and Ben Connor, whose brilliant acting abilities enhanced the musical further. What also made the night so memorable was the set and technical production under the expert guidance of Mr Andy Hill.” |
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Top of the bench
Four very promising chemistry students worked extremely hard and qualified for the final of the 2009 Chemistry Mastermind Competition held at King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford on December 3rd. The team (Tiffany Shum, Abhijit Jha, Marianne Schonle and Albert Padfield) performed well under pressure and were narrowly beaten by Colchester Royal Grammar School. Dr Alan Osborne, from the Royal Society of Chemistry, presented the students with their prize. |
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Musical talents
Hana Edwards and Gopal Kambo have been selected, amongst fierce competition, to take part in the London Symphony Orchestra's 'Next Generation Scheme'. In total only 15 students, who demonstrated exceptional musical potential, were selected nationwide and they will spend four creative days per year training with LSO musicians, under the supervision of the scheme's Creative Director. At the end of their first year students will perform in the LSO “On Track Celebration Concert” at the Barbican. |
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Christmas Concert
The Christmas Concert on December 3rd was a huge success, with audience carols adding to the festive spirit! There were some outstanding performances from the main groups and choirs, with perhaps the Orchestra’s performance of Stravinsky’s ‘Berceuse and Finale’ (from the Firebird Suite) being a real highlight. Very impressive solos were given by a number of our scholars and the Chamber Choir did well to perform music entirely different from the pieces sung in the beautiful candle-lit Advent Procession just three days earlier |
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Theatre Trips
The English Department has had a busy November. The entire LV were taken to see ‘An Inspector Calls’-- the JB Priestley’s play that deals about social responsibility -- at the Novello Theatre in the West End. All classes are studying the play for their GCSE Literature coursework. The MVI A-Level English students travelled to the Arcola Theatre to watch a modern and grisly adaptation of Thomas Kyd’s ‘Spanish Tragedy’, to help them better understand the elements of gothic revenge tragedy being studied for their A2 examination. Finally, a group of LVI students travelled to the Barbican Centre to watch ‘Bright Star’ to help them in their study of Keats’ poetry, which is on the AS syllabus. The film tells the tragic story of the last two years of the poet’s life. |
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Junior School Concert
New Hall was once again full to capacity for this eagerly-awaited evening of music-making on Tuesday 17th November. The audience was treated to a wonderful variety of music, from the Junior Orchestra playing Scott Joplin’s ‘The Entertainer’ to the Third and Fourth Form Choir singing ‘Adiemus’ from Karl Jenkin’s ‘Songs of Sanctuary’. It was a delight to hear so many young people performing in a Chigwell Concert for the first time, not least the First Form Choir. There were some wonderful solos from our new Music Scholars, too, and we now look forward to the next Junior Concert in the Summer Term. |
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Katie Marshall's musical achievements
We are delighted to report that Katie Marshall won a Piano Solo Class at the Southend Music Festival for 13-16 year olds on Sunday 22nd November. Katie, who is only 13 years of age, played Brahms’ Rhapsody in G Minor, which she had performed a few weeks earlier at one of the School’s Prom Concerts. |
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U13 reach the ISFA IAPS National Final
The U13 Football team reached the final of the ISFA IAPS Six-a-Side Tournament, which was held at Shrewsbury School on Sunday 22nd November. The team had already qualified for the finals after winning the regional tournament held at King’s School, Ely, last October. Chigwell drew in the opening game against Moulsford, but then won the next four games to finish top of the group and ensure passage into the semi-final, which they won 2-1. In the final, Chigwell came up against a very impressive Parkside School who won the final tie 3-0. Chigwell should be extremely proud of their achievement in reaching the national final after two very long journeys and playing in torrid conditions in both tournaments. |
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African Art Day
Chigwell School junior pupils were given the unique opportunity to experience and learn from the fascinating art of African Tribal Sculpture thanks to a special workshop run by Mr Peter Wengraf, who visited the School with his travelling mini-museum on 18th November.
Mr Peter Wengraf, who is the Director of Arcade Gallery Wengraf in Devon, brought into New Hall a varied collection of authentic traditional sculptures, masks and artefacts, which were all displayed for the children to look at and touch. The first part of the workshop consisted of an illustrative talk about the ancient civilizations and tribes that populated Africa and how the people used the artefacts in their daily lives and rituals. In the second part of the workshop the children drew the artefacts from close proximity. |
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Chigwell Intelligence!
Sir David Pepper, KCMG, (OC), gave a brilliant talk on British intelligence operations to students and staff in the Drama Centre on 12th November. Sir David Pepper retired last year as director of the British intelligence agency, GCHQ. After leaving Chigwell he gained a doctorate in theoretical physics from St John's College, Oxford, and joined GCHQ in 1972, working in intelligence operations. In 1995 he became Director of Personnel. In 1998, he transferred to the Home Office, returning to Cheltenham in 2000 as Director of Finance, and taking over the role of Director in April 2003. He was knighted as a KCMG in 2005. |
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French and Spanish speed-dating
GCSE students from Chigwell and Kingsford Community School, Beckton, took part in a speed-dating style speaking practice event in New Hall after school on Thursday 22nd October. French and Spanish students had to answer a series of questions, spending five minutes with each other and being marked for their content, pronunciation, accent and originality, with prizes for highest scorers. This was one of the first of many planned joint initiatives between the modern languages departments at Chigwell and Kingsford Community School, which is a specialist Languages College. Head of Languages Mr Simon Coppell and Kingsford’s Head of Languages, Mr Gene Aidam—who was himself a Chigwell pupil from 1989 to 1996—said to be delighted with the event which was a perfect example of an independent and a state school working closely together on a very practical and mutually beneficial activity. |
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Budding poet: Jack Stannard
Middle Sixth students, Jack Stannard and Patrick O’Hanlon, hosted the Festival of the Spoken Word on Thursday 22nd October in the Drama Centre. There was certainly a huge amount of talent displayed, however, the audience favorite performance was the reading of one of Jack’s own poems . Jack is indeed a very promising poet and recently he was awarded a prize —at a reception in the Royal Festival Hall —as one of the 85 poets in Foyle’s Young Poet of the Year Award 2009. The fashion magazine Vogue has also chosen Jack for one of its features on young people who will shape the next generation. We all look forward to reading more about this talented young student. |
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Emma Hollis in Iceland
We are delighted to report that Emma Hollis added a silver medal to her already impressive medal tally after a strong performance on the second day of competition at the European Paralympic Swimming Championships at Reyjkavik on 19th October. Emma came second in the 100m breaststroke, knocking over two seconds off her personal best and smashing the British record. Emma, who last summer was promoted to the British Swimming Development Squad, hopes to qualify for the World Championships and the 2012 Olympics. |
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Chigwell Girls' Hockey Academy
Mr Glenn Kirkham coached Chigwell Girls’ Hockey Academy first session on Tuesday 13th October. Mr Kirkham was England hockey captain for 2006-07 and currently he is serving as vice-captain. He also teaches sport at the Perse School, Cambridge, and participated at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where the Great Britain Hockey team finished 5th. The Girls’ Hockey Academy is a new initiative set up with the aim to develop and improve the skills of our most promising senior hockey players who, potentially, could represent the School at county level. The next two academy sessions will be coached by the following two hockey professionals: , Mr Leroy Phillips (South African international) and Mr Ali Bray (OLHC Men’s XI Captain and OLHC Women’s 1st XI Coach). |
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Election fever
Election fever struck Chigwell Senior School last week with two sets of elections. Some pupils were standing in the Epping Forest Youth elections while others were competing for seats on the Chigwell Senior School council. There was a high level of turn out and voters were able to exercise their democratic right in polling booths supplied by the Epping Forest Youth Council. The results will be announced shortly. |
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Yasmina Siadatan ……. you are definitely hired!
Apprentice winner, Yasmina Siadatan, gave an exclusive talk to a large audience of students and parents in the Drama Centre on Thursday 1st October. Yasmina talked about her life and the experiences that made her what she is today. A graduate from LSE — she hugely enjoyed her time at university and grammar school prior to that—she stressed the importance not only of grabbing all the opportunities that a student’s life has to offer, but also of getting the right balance between having a great social time and producing good work. After her talk, Yasmina answered a multitude of questions from the floor and at the end the audience was left with no doubts that Lord Alan Sugar hired a real diamond. And the secret of her business success…as Yasmina said: “Business is about a simple formula. Make more than you spend. That’s what I do, I keep business simple and it works. I am good at it.” |
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The most promising cricket player of the year
We are delighted to report that Beth MacGregor’s contract with the Essex Cricket Academy has been extended for a further two years. Following her performances for the England Women's Academy team v Best of Europe in August, Beth has now been selected for the England Women's Academy winter squad for 2009/10. Other Essex players chosen are Lauren Onajafe and Jo Cook. In addition, following a nomination from the ECB, Beth has been chosen to receive The Cricket Society's 'Most Promising Young Woman Player of the Year Award'. |
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UXI Football & Netball Tournaments
Chigwell School hosted its annual U11 Football and Netball Tournaments on Saturday 26th September. It turned out to be a glorious sunny day with the many spectators enjoying some superb football and netball. 25 teams from local schools competed in the Football Tournament, which saw good quality football being played in a six-a -side format. St Aubyn’s were the eventual winners when they beat St Anthony’s in the final on penalties. 24 teams competed in the Netball Tournament. The standard of play, as always, was impressive and it was fantastic to see over 200 girls play a total of eight games each over the course of the morning. The final stages of the competition were very close, however, it was a real pleasure to be able to award the trophy to The Ursuline Prep School as they had not won the competition before. Second place went to Woodford Green Prep School and third place to Park School for Girls.
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ISFA Six-a-Side Tournament
On Sunday 13th September, Chigwell School hosted the Independent Schools Football Association National Six-a-Side Tournament. Thirty-two teams from around the country, including teams from Manchester, Newcastle and Jersey, competed in eight groups of four with the top two progressing through to the Cup competition and the remainder going through to the plate competition. Chigwell came 2nd in their group and was defeated in the last 16 by a good Hampton side. Bradfield College was the eventual winner of the cup competition, beating Bedford Modern School in the final. ISFA officials were very grateful to Chigwell School for allowing them to use the facilities of the School and the day was considered a huge success. |
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GCSE results
Chigwell GCSE students had every reason to celebrate having achieved the best ever GCSE results, breaking the records set in the last two years. 72% of grades were either A* or A, and 99% of results were between A* and C. The vast majority of the 65 boys and girls in the year group have every reason to feel proud, however, particular congratulations go to Hannah Matson, who gained 10 A* grades, to Amelia Hunt, Ben Hiam and Nicholas Dixon, who gained 9A*s or better, and to Alastair Morton, Benjamin Connor and Adrian Leibovitch who have 8 A* grades or better. The Headmaster commented: “ I am delighted that once again Chigwell students have achieved these excellent results and that for three years in a row, GCSE results have got better and better. These young people have met ambitious targets while taking rigorous subjects that will stand them in good stead for study at A level and beyond. However, I am very aware that the results would not have happened without the talent, dedication and sheer hard work of students and their teachers and I am very pleased for them all.” |
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A Level results
Students and teachers were delighted with the excellent A Level results. 53% of grades awarded were at A grade and 79% were either A or B. The pass rate was 99% and of the year group of 86 students, 30 achieved at least 3 A grades, 11 achieved at least 4 A grades and 4 gained 5 A grades.
The Headmaster, Mr Michael Punt, commented “We are always delighted when students work hard and achieve the results that they deserve. Many of these students have led very busy lives at Chigwell and have contributed much to the wider life of the School. With these results many are moving on to their chosen university courses, including eight who will be going to either Oxford or Cambridge. I am very grateful to all the teachers who have worked so hard to help and encourage them so well, and wish the students every continued success and happiness”.
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Grace's race for life
Grace Boxall, who will be joining Chigwell’s Third Form next September, did something amazing. She took part in Race for Life in Epping Forest on 15th July and raised the incredible amount of £2,400! |
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Darren McQueen's winning goal
Darren McQueen (Rem) scored one of the two goals that made his U16 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. team the winner of the Schwan Tournament in Minnesota, USA, on Sunday 19th July, 2009. The tournament, sponsored by Puma, is one the largest youth competitions in the world and it must have been absolutely thrilling for Darren (who is only 14 and the youngest player in his team) to have been selected to play in such a prestigious competition and to score a goal in the final, thus ensuring that the trophy went to the 'Spurs'. |
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Chigwell's Essex Young Musician
We are delighted to report that David Albon (LVI) got through to the semi-finals of The Essex Young Musician of the Year competition, winning a prize for one of the best U18 performances. David, who played the flute in this competition and would like to be a professional musician, entered the preliminary round with the piece Syrinx by Debussy and Fantasie by Faure; at the semi-finals on 5th July he played the 1st movement of Sonata in G minor by J.S Bach and Concertino by Chaminade. |
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Speech Day 2009
Speech Day on Saturday 4th July once again gave us a chance to come together as a community of pupils, parents and staff and recognize the qualities in each other that make Chigwell School the unique and vibrant place that it is. This year’s guest speaker was Ben Shephard, OC; today he is a very popular GMTV anchor presenter. His presence and speech made the event a very special and happy occasion. He spoke with great confidence, remembering the time when he was a Chigwell music scholar and what he learnt then that contributed to make him the person he is today. In particular, he told the 1,500-strong audience of a piece of advice given to him by music master Mr Michael Bradley, which is something that still serves him well in his profession today, and that is to always strive to prepare and research well in advance in order “not to get things wrong” – as opposed to try and “get things right”. |
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¡Hola! ¿ Qué tal?
The after-school Spanish class for adult beginners has proved very popular amongst our parents, thanks to the indefatigable teaching of our Spanish Assistant, Miss Verónica Rodríguez. Head of Languages, Mr Simon Coppell, is delighted that so many parents have become model students of “ el idioma castellano” and, thanks to Verónica, the class will continue next month. |
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U9 Cricket
The U9 Cricket Team played its first match of the season on Monday 11th May against South Loughton Cricket Club. The match was thoroughly enjoyed by all the boys involved who demonstrated excellent sportsmanship throughout. |
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Family Fun Day
The Family Fun Day and Run on Sunday 10th May raised over £2,200 net for the local charities supported by the School. It was a very enjoyable day with Top Field bristling with many attractions, including craft stalls, delicious food and drinks, a merry-go-round, a bouncy castle and a gladiators ring! |
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The Charity Art Exhibition
The Art Department is pleased to announce that the School annual Charity Art Exhibition this year will be supporting Haven House Hospice. The private view and sales evening will take place on Thursday 14th May at 6.30pm and everyone is most welcome to attend it. The majority of the works in the exhibition, submitted by parents, pupils and friends of the School, is for sale for the price of £10 per piece; a selection of works will be auctioned on the evening of the private view. |
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Musician of the Year 2009
The most important occasion of the year for Chigwell School music scholars, the Musician of the Year Competition, took place on Thursday 30 April. All music scholars auditioned to an outside adjudicator (Mr Martin Palmer, Director of Music at Truro School) during the day. Eight scholars were selected to play in the final and, amidst much excitement, Mr Palmer crowned Marianne Schonle as the Junior and Nina McMillan as the Senior Chigwell Musician of the Year. Beatrice Moore and Chris Wilson were highly commended. The other 4 finalists were David Albon, Katie Marshall, Sophie Ogunyemi and Tiffany Shum. |
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Life’s Work Well Done
We are delighted to report that Nicholas Dixon’s first book was published recently. The book, “Life’s Work Well Done”, is the history or Nicholas’ previous school, St Aubyn’s, and has entailed five years of extensive research in several archives. Nicholas, who is also St Aubyn’s official archivist, not only enjoys writing and contributing with his articles to national papers and history journals, but he is also a very talented music composer. His “Cello Quartet in G” delighted the audience at the last Chamber Concert. |
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Scouts conquer Cul Mhor!
A party of Remove Scouts, with Mr Chris Lord, Mr Richard Parry and OC Mr Neil Taylor, climbed this 2,785-foot- high mountain in the far north of Scotland, as part of their Easter Expedition. The whole party, including more from the Removes and IV Form, and accompanied by Mrs Jackie Osborne and Ms Pam Rex, also ventured on overnight hikes into the wilderness, and attempted to find Britain's most remote war grave, where a Lancaster came down in bad weather in 1941. Mr Parry took them fishing for brown trout, and they visited a series of caves where prehistoric man sheltered. They also visited Elphin, with which the Chigwell School Scouts have a long association. |
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Musical extravaganza
Six schools including Chigwell and East 15 School of Acting joined forces with the local Rotary Clubs to stage a diverse musical show in aid of a good cause. “Youth Makes Music” took place in New Hall on 6th March and raised £1,600 for the Rotary Clubs’ charity “Polio”. The show featured various songs from musicals to Mozart’s arias, to the delight of a full to capacity audience, which included Epping Forest MP Eleanor Laing. |
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The School of Night's Students
A group of talented 3rd year students from East 15 School of Acting paid homage to theatre guru Ken Campbell, who died last August, with a highly energizing performance of Poltroonery Knight in the Drama Centre on Friday 20th March. Ken Campbell, who studied at Chigwell from 1952 to 1959, was a hugely talented actor, writer and director renowned for his avant-garde theatre work. At the end of the performance, one of the students, Alex Marieka Hanly, was declared the most innovative act in the show and presented by Headmaster Mr Michael Punt with a prize sponsored by the School. |
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U11s win 5-a-side tournament
The U11 football team won the Woodford Green Prep 5-a-side competition on 18th March after defeating Coopersale Hall in the last stage of the tournament. The team played four matches in total and all the squad’s members played outstanding football throughout. The star- players were: Chris Coveney, Tayo Felsted, Jevan Rana, Tom Martin, Harry Butler, Harry Jennings and Daniel Whitehead. |
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U13 IAPS Netball National Winners
Chigwell School U13 Girls' Netball team qualified for the national IAPS finals, which took place at Roedean School, Brighton, on Saturday 14th March. Eighteen teams qualified for the last stages of this competition and Chigwell, having played ten matches, were declared national champions, beating Felsted in an exciting final. The girls were wonderful ambassadors for the School and fully deserved their success. |
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Chigwell’s pupils sing for HM the Queen
On the 9th March a small group of singers from Chigwell School were privileged to take part in the celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Commonwealth by singing before HM the Queen and HRH Prince Philip during their visit to Marlborough House on Commonwealth Day. The singers, comprising members of the IIIrd and IVth Forms, had been rehearsing diligently since half term to learn the song by heart. The performance was relayed throughout the State Rooms where some 500 visitors and dignitaries were to gather for the reception. When the great moment arrived and the Queen, along with Prince Philip and accompanied by the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Mr Kamalesh Sharma and Mrs Sharma stood and listened attentively to the performance and seemed genuinely appreciative. The video may be viewed on the Commonwealth website, http://www.thecommonwealth.org/ |
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Oxbridge bound
Chigwell School is delighted to announce the success of eight Middle Sixth students who gained conditional offers at Oxford and Cambridge universities. This represents 10% of the year group. It is a tribute to the ability, commitment and competitiveness of the pupils concerned, with pride of place going to the Law and Mathematics candidates. |
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James Harrington interviews David Cameron
Chigwell School pupil James Harrington, aged 12, displayed great interviewing skills when he was invited to meet the shadow PM, David Cameron, in his office at Westminster. James was able to ask the Conservative leader a whole range of questions and probe his party’s views, from the long-term strategy to stop knife and gun crimes to plans to improve education and healthy eating in schools. After the interview Mr Cameron showed James personal photos and recalled that when he was James’ age he watched Margaret Thatcher and thought she was right regarding the big issues. |
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Dance Show
The Dance Show involved pupils from both the Junior and Senior School performing a variety of dancing styles. It was a fantastic opportunity for our pupils to choreograph pieces to music themselves and display their skills in a formal setting. |
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Hockey Achievers
This year has seen the biggest ever representation of Chigwell School pupils in the Essex hockey squads. The boys and girls in the photograph have all been selected this season in either the Essex or Essex development 10 to 13 year olds’ teams. After the completion in October of the School’s floodlit all-weather pitch, hockey at Chigwell is going from strength to strength. Head of boys’ hockey, Mr James Stedman, believes that “with a core of players having represented Essex in most age groups across the Junior School and with more and more boys and girls playing club hockey down the road at The Old Loughtonians, the future of Chigwell hockey looks extremely promising. I congratulate all the pupils who have been selected to represent their county and I wish the very best of luck to those who still have tournaments and matches to play”. |
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Chigwell's Mandarin Club
Head of Modern Languages, Mr Simon Coppell, is delighted to announce that Chigwell’s Mandarin Chinese after-school club is up and running under the tutelage of Ms Ma Yan. The Mandarin classes, for pupils from 11 to 18 years of age, started at the beginning of the Lent Term and will run till the end of the academic year. The participating students who are divided into two groups, juniors and seniors, not only study the language but are also given a flavour of the culture and have a go at tai chi, paper cutting, calligraphy, cooking and dancing amongst other aspects of Chinese life. |
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Beth MacGregor's Cricket Achievements
Chigwell School student Elizabeth MacGregor had an excellent year as captain of the Essex Cricket U15 team. Selected to join the Essex County Cricket Club Academy last November, she was nominated “player of the year” for captaining her side. A genuine all-rounder, “Beth” was also an integral part of the full Essex Women's side that won their division of the County Championship and was placed in the top 20 performers in the whole Country for both batting and bowling. If that is not enough, for the third year running, and despite being only 15, she has been selected as a member of the ECB Junior Super Fours Squad for U19 Girls. |
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Chris Wilson and all that Jazz...
Chris Wilson was a runner up in the final of the Sibelius Student Composer of the Year competition. Chris entered the jazz category with a modern composition titled Ace of Spade. People across the country voted online for their favourite composer and the winner was decided by a combination of opinions of professional judges and public votes. To be a runner up in such a competition is therefore a huge musical achievement. |
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Aminah and Felicity at the annual ASE Conference
Aminah Khan and Felicity Osborn gave a presentation at the annual Association for Science Education Conference on Wednesday 7th January at the University of Reading. Their talks were delivered to delegates from 25 nations during the plenary session of the Conference’s International Day. The Sixth Formers shared their experience of working in Africa last summer: Felicity spent a month working with orphans in Uganda whilst Aminah went to help with inoculations programmes in Ghana. |
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DoE Gold Award for three Chigwellians
Three Chigwell School former students were the recipients of the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award. Andrew Barratt, Jonathan Albon and Max Kempe, who left Chigwell last Summer, attended the presentation in St James’s Palace and received the award from HRH The Duke of Edinburgh himself! The Duke of Edinburgh Scheme is well regarded by universities and employers and we are very proud that these three students have received this prestigious award. |
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Chigwell duo inspire Essex Hockey
We are very proud to announce that Cordelia Griffith and Jessie David played
for the Essex U14 team that won the East of England Hockey League
Championship. Jessie was one of the team’s leading goal scorers. The finals
were played at Redbridge Leisure Centre on Sunday 14th December, when the
girls’ team beat Hertfordshire (2-1) and Lincolnshire (10-1) and won the
Championship. |
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Heated Debate Winners
Sixth Formers James Crouch and Jan Indracek were declared winners of the
Epping Forest Schools’ Parliamentary Debating Competition and presented
with a trophy after a heated public debate over the motion “this house
believes that capitalism is dead”. The other students involved in the
competition were from West Hatch, Davenant, St John’s and Debden Park
schools. The judging panel included Epping Forest MP Eleanor Laing and
Elspeth Bond, Headmistress at Theydon Bois Primary School. Mrs Laing said
that the debating motion was a particularly difficult one for the students and
yet the standard of debate was high; all students had clearly worked hard on
their research and delivered enthusiastic and well thought out speeches. |
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Billy Wells Soccer Success
Billy Wells was chosen as Captain of the Independent Schools F.A. Under 16 South in their match on Sunday against their counterparts I.S.F.A. North at Shrewsbury School in Shropshire.
Subsequently, Billy was selected for the full National I.S.F.A. U16 Squad for training at their camp in Lilleshall National Sports Centre, and that includes a match against Shropshire F.A. in mid December. This is a tremendous personal achievement for Billy and for soccer at Chigwell School.
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Blood Wedding, the Senior School Production
The Senior School production of Federico Garcia Lorca’s “Blood Wedding” aimed and succeeded in creating a strong visual and physical performance. Aided by imaginative choreography and flamenco music, the production became embedded in the red earth and fierce heat of Andalucia. It was a huge success, running for three evenings, from 3rd to 5th December, to a full house. |
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Advent Procession
The candle-lit Advent Procession, on Monday 1st December in St Mary’s, started with the Chamber Choir singing the Introit, “Adam lay ybounde”, as a kind of overture, and culminated with “The Matin Responsory”, heard in the depths of darkness. The Procession then moved from West to East, together with the spreading of light throughout the Church. Once again, this was a moving occasion, symbolically portraying the revelation of Christ as the light of the world. The Church was packed with Old Chigwellians and parents who enormously enjoyed the performance by our Chamber Choir. |
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Junior School Concert
New Hall was once again bursting at the seams on the evening of the Junior School Concert. The audience was treated to a wide range of music, from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, sung by our youngest choir, to a highly professional performance of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons ‘Autumn’ and ‘Winter’, performed by our Junior Orchestra. There were also some very accomplished solo performances by our new music scholars and it felt good to see that Music in the Senior School will be in safe hands for many years to come! |
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U11 Girls Hockey - IAPS Tournament
Ten U11 girls from Chigwell School attended the South Region round of the IAPS Hockey Tournament, held at Queenswood School on Wednesday 26th November. The girls, coached by Miss Amanda Lapwood, played some superb hockey throughout the day and won all six of their matches, gaining a total of 18 points and finishing as the top team in their section. This means that they will now go on, along with three other schools, to represent the South of England in the National Finals that are taking place on Wednesday 3rd December at Queenswood School. |
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The All-Weather Pitch Formal Opening
Chigwell School’s new state-of-the art floodlit all-weather pitch was formally opened on Tuesday 4th November by Mr Ben Shephard (OC) and Mrs Thelma Sullivan. The celebrations started at 3.15pm in the Drama Centre Foyer with a drinks reception for over 150 donors, followed by the cutting of the ribbon at 4.15pm and the inaugural hockey match played by Chigwell’s 1st XI girls and boys teams and watched by a crowd of parents, staff and well-wishers. |
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Mr Creag Lawrence's NY Marathon
We are delighted to report that Mr Creag Lawrence completed the New York Marathon in 3 hours and 41 minutes, this is a huge achievement. Mr Lawrence ran the marathon to raise funds for a primary school at Inungur, near Trichy in Tamil Nadu, South India. Anyone wishing to sponsor Mr Lawrence for this worthy cause should visit the website http://www.justgiving.com/creaglawrence |
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Netball and Hockey Tour
Over the October half term holiday, a group of thirty-one girls set off for Salou, near Barcelona, to embark upon a five-day hockey and netball tour. The girls, who are all in the Third and Fourth Form, took part in training sessions run by SET Sports Masterclass and as a result they all saw their skills improve tremendously. The hockey team played a match against a local club side, Terrassa, which is regarded as one of the top clubs in Spain. Special awards were given to Cordelia Griffith and Sophie Al Mudallal, as players of the tournament, and to Lauren Drabwell and Saira Rafiq, as players who most improved in hockey and netball respectively. |
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Football Tour to Valencia
A group of 18 U15 students spent the first week of the Half Term holiday training and playing at Valencia’s “Club de Futbol”. Our players found themselves training on the pitch adjacent to the one occupied by Valencia CF’s first team. Coached by Valencia CF Academy coaches, our boys’ football skills improved enormously during the week. They played two matches against local Spanish opposition and enjoyed a tour of the impressive Mestella Stadium |
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Music Festival
Chigwell hosted the 13th one-day Music Festival for 7 to 10 year old pupils from both the School and several local Preparatory and Primary schools on Saturday 11th October 2008. Music teacher Miss Felicity Leach looked after the Orchestra and Miss Amanda Lapwood, Chigwell Director of Music, was in charge of the singing. More than 120 children took part and it was wonderful to see them enjoying themselves so much whilst making music and learning new musical skills in the process.
All children had the opportunity to play in a large orchestra or to rehearse and perform a variety of songs. All instrumentalists and singers also joined together to sing the final piece. The day of music making ran from 10.00am to 6.30pm with a closing concert at 5.30pm attended by the budding musicians’ parents and friends.
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Netball Champions
Nine girls from Chigwell School attended the first round of the East Essex County Trials in September and seven of them were selected to go through to the 2nd round on 5th October. Congratulations to Jessie David and Cordelia Griffith for being selected for the Satellite Academy (which is the full U14 Essex Netball Squad) and to Lauren Drabwell, Juliette Aliker, Francesca Cummins and Sophie Bishop who were selected for the U14 Essex Development Squad. |
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The King’s Cross Poet in Chigwell
The acclaimed poet, Aidan Andrew Dun, also known as the King’s Cross Poet, came to Chigwell School on Monday 6th October and gave an unforgettable and enlightening, three-dimensional talk to our Sixth Formers and members of staff. Whilst listening to his lecture the audience embarked on a journey; aided by projected images and the sound of Mr Dun’s guitar and magical voice, the listeners travelled through time: 1973 when Mr Dun experienced what can be described as an epiphany, a revelation, and, still a teenager living in the King’s Cross squats, knew his calling for poetry, and further back, to 1873, when the French poets Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine lodged in a hotel in King’s Cross, just round the corner from the 1973’s squats. Mr Dun’s poetical journey is well grounded in the history of poetry, from Dante’s Divine Comedy to the French symbolists and Blake, and in the “spiritual” geography of King’s Cross. He is not just a writer of poems, but a scholar and a modern prophet. |
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MacMillan Coffee Afternoon
The MacMillan Coffee afternoon in Chigwell’s New Hall on Friday 3rd October was a huge success and raised £1,063 (net) for cancer research. Miss Avani Hurribunce, who chairs the School’s Charities Committee, said that the School was hugely grateful to all the parents, Friends of Chigwell, pupils and dedicated members of the committee for their hard work. |
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House Music 2008
The House Music competition on Friday 19 September was a high-energy, most enjoyable event with New Hall packed and Swallow's House winning once again this year. Their House song was Mamma Mia, both the song and the dance routine went down extremely well with the audience. The event raised a nice lump sum for our charities and we hope to send £1,000 to the Birthmark Trust. |
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A class on nutrition
Chef Mr Andrew Walker and nutritionist Ms Angela Ducker gave a class on eating the right food to our Junior School pupils. The children thoroughly enjoyed the lecture, especially when it came to the practical side of the lesson and were asked to taste chef’s exquisite, delightful sugar free all-fruit ice creams! |
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Our fastest bat-girl
We are delighted to report that Cordelia Griffith has won the Nat West U12 Girls Speed Stars Final. The event took place at Lords Cricket Ground on Saturday 13th September. She was presented by Michael Vaughan, Stuart Broad and Beth Morgan with a medal and a signed cricket bat (England V New Zealand). |
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U11 Netball Tournament
On Saturday 13th September 24 teams entered the annual U11 Chigwell Netball Tournament. As always there was much excitement and with all teams playing eight matches in total, some superb netball was on display throughout the morning. The standard of play in the top section was extremely impressive and some very close matches were played, however the overall winners of the tournament this year, for the fist time, were Coopersale Hall. Chigwell's A team came 5th, coached by ex England Netball International and Captain Miss Amanda Newton. |
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U11 Footbal Tournament
On Saturday 13th September, Chigwell School hosted its annual U11 Football Tournament. The format for this year was changed to 6-a-side and 25 teams from 22 local primary schools competed in the event. The standard of football was extremely high and this was commented by staff, parents and referees alike. The Ursuline School from Brentwood faced The Daiglen School in the final match and, after a tense 13 minutes of normal time and extra time, the match had to be settled on penalties. Unfortunately there could only be one winner and a fine save by The Ursuline’s keeper in the shoot-out resulted with the latter team winning the competition. All players had a fantastic day and excellent sportsmanship was shown throughout.
The participating schools were: Coopersale, St Aubyns’, The Ursuline, St Anthony’s, Snaresbrook College, Forest, Christchurch, Eastcourt, Brentwood, Park School, Bancroft, Fairlop, Edward’s House, St Cedd’s, Woodford Green Prep, Avon House, Hereward, St Helen’s, Manford Primary, Theydon Bois Primary and Loyola. |
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Running the NY Marathon for a worthy cause
On 2nd November, 2008, Mr Creag Lawrence will be running the New York Marathon to help raise funds for a primary school in southern India. He is hoping to run the marathon in 3 hours 30 minutes. He was drawn to this project because of the existing links between Chigwell School and the Beacon Literacy Education Service Society (BLESS) School at Inungur, near Trichy in Tamil Nadu, South India. The school at present accommodates children of primary school age, many from among the poorest families in the region. The most recent school building was built with funds raised by Chigwell School in memory of Tim Pruss, (an 18 year old former pupil who died in a tragic accident). As the children grow, there is the need to expand the school up to secondary level. Funds are also required to cover the cost of salaries of teachers and equipment. Money is donated through the Bede Griffiths Charitable Trust, a UK registered charity which supports social work projects in south India. People in India are passionate about education as they know that it is the most important force for changing lives and creating opportunities. Please sponsor Mr Lawrence to help bring education to some of the poorest children in India. |
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Trip to Iceland
The second Sixth Form trip to Iceland in July was a great success. On arriving the students went straight to the famous blue lagoon and bathed in its warm, mineral waters. The students then travelled to their log cabin accommodation in the wilds of Iceland’s remote countryside. The second day they visited two of Iceland’s most famous waterfalls. They then took an internal flight on a small aircraft to Heimaey, the island where a volcano erupted in 1971. They also took a boat trip to see the puffins on remote islands, visited a geothermal power station and saw the famous hot water geysers. The students experienced landscapes that they had never seen before and many were awe struck by Iceland’s great beauty. |
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Chigwell’s star golfer
We are thrilled to report that Jessica Kaimakami came 2nd in the U13 at the Stowe Putter on August 21. She was presented with her prize by the cricketer Allan Lamb, who was the guest speaker. It was a fantastic day, apart from Jessica being stung by a wasp on the 5th hole! Jessica’s handicap has now gone down to 6, this is a huge achievement for her age. She has recently played the national course, Wentworth, in only 4 over par! Again, this is fantastic for her age! |
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Summer Trip to the Ardeche
32 Forth form and Remove pupils enjoyed a week's activity holiday in the Ardeche region of the South of France during the school holiday. Accompanied by Mr Chris Mills, Mr Creag Lawrence, Miss Miranda Weeks and Miss Emily Hinchcliffe, the pupils enjoyed numerous adventure activities including climbing, abseiling, mountain biking, zip wire and archery. Two excursions took place during the week to Avignon and the beach, but by far the most memorable part of the trip was the two day descent of the Ardeche river in canoes, the excursion also included an overnight 'bivvy' under the stars. |
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JS Summer Football Course
During the last week of the summer holiday over 40 junior school pupils enjoyed four days of football coaching at School. Coached by Mr Creag Lawrence, Mr David Richbell and Mr Kevin Rimmer, the pupils learnt new skills, enjoyed many games and mini tournaments. All pupils showed great enthusiasm throughout the week, whilst Imogen Padwick (year 6), Oliver Morgan (year 4) and Jay Sasdev (year 6) picked up the 'Players of the Course' award as they showed great sportsmanship and effort throughout the week. Well done to all pupils who took part on the course. |
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Alex Segal, OC- West End Theatre Debut
Old Chigwellian, Alex Segal, makes his West End Theatre debut this week as one of the Producers of the Tony Award nominated comedy 'Well', starring Academy Award, Golden Globe & BAFTA nominee actress Sarah Miles. The European premiere of the play begins performances on 4th September 2008 and runs till 27th September 2008 at Trafalgar Studios in Trafalgar Square, London. After leaving Chigwell in 2005, Alex studied at the University of Portsmouth before training at the prestigious Central School of Speech & Drama. His first foray into professional theatre came at Kevin Spacey's Old Vic Theatre earlier this year. For more information on how to book for 'Well' please visit www.theambassadors.com/trafalgarstudios. |
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2008 GCSE results are the best ever
Chigwell GCSE students had every reason to celebrate this morning, having achieved the best ever GCSE results. 35% of all grades awarded were A* and 71 % of grades were A* or A. From the year group of 71 boys and girls, there were many individual successes but particular congratulations go to Richard Collier who achieved 10 A* grades; Vanessa Albert, Jack Pusey and Christopher Wilson who gained 9A*s or better and Christopher Briggs, Louise Russ and Katie Smith who had 8A*s or better.
Mr Michael Punt, Headmaster, commented that “We are very proud of all those students who worked so hard to achieve these excellent results and very grateful to their teachers who supported them so effectively. Gaining top GCSE grades has become increasingly important for candidates who will be applying for the most selective university courses but in the meantime, these students can look forward to their A level studies with confidence ." |
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Record A Level Results – Again!
Students and teachers were delighted with the record A level results this year. 56% of grades awarded were A grade, 85% were either A or B and the pass rate was once again 100%. Of the year group of 99 students, 34 achieved at least three A grades and 20 gained four or more A grades. Maria Listra was one of the best ten students in A level Drama and Theatre Studies for which there were 12,487 candidates, and former Head of School Michael Wilson was amongst the top ten out of 3,398 entries for A level German. Michael Punt, Headmaster, said: “We are very proud of all our students' collective success. They have achieved excellent academic results enabling them to move on to the university course of their choice and seven gained the grades that they needed to take up their places at either Oxford or Cambridge. On top of this, many have contributed a great deal to the wider life of the School and involved themselves in a whole host of activities outside the classroom. We wish all former pupils every success as they progress to the next exciting phase of their lives and we thank their teachers for their dedicated hard work and support.” |
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Young Geographer of the Year Runner Up
As one of the runners up of the Young Geographer of the year Competition, Andrew Barratt was invited to attend an award ceremony at the Royal Geographical Society in South Kensington on May 27. The highlight of the day was a lunch with the professors of this prestigious Society and meeting Mr Pen Hadow, who has contributed much in the world of geography and has recently returned from a polar expedition where he measured the thickness of the ice sheet, which apparently is getting thinner and thinner. More than 1,800 participants took part in the competition, so Andrew's achievement is significant. He also won a selection of Dorling Kindersley books,Ordinance Survey goodies and computer software for the School. Andrew has written two articles for the GCSE Geography Review Magazine, achieved full marks on a recent A Level geography paper and looks forward to taking up the offer to study geography at the University of Bristol in October. |
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The BBC School Report Project Award
On Friday May 16, four Junior School pupils, accompanied by Mr Jason Porter and Miss Elle Barrs, went to the BBC TV centre to receive an award for the BBC School Report Project (this scheme uses plans and materials from the BBC website and, with the support from BBC staff, teachers help students to develop their journalistic skills). Only 15 schools received an award, out of the 294 who registered, so this is a huge achievement for all the Chigwell Junior School pupils who took part in the project . Our pupils met the Deputy Director General of the BBC, Mr Mark Byford and Mr Adam Fleming from Newsround, as well as Mr Gethin Jones, Blue Peter presenter, among other famous people. They also visited the newsroom and saw some news readers from BBC News 24. |
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Chigwell’s IAPS Swimmers
Four U13 girls, Sarah Dudley, Hannah Jerman, Marissa Posnett and Andraea Posnett, competed in the IAPS National Swimming finals which took place in Crawley on Saturday 3rd May. Hannah Jerman qualified for the 50m butterfly, Sarah Dudley swam in the 50m breastroke final, coming 6th, Andraea Posnett swam in the backstroke final and Marissa Posnett in the 50m freestyle. Both Andraea and Marissa swam superbly, gaining a bronze medal. All four girls also swam in both the medley and freestyle relays. The girls came 5th overall in the medley relay and managed to knock a huge 7.5 seconds off their previous time. In the freestyle relay they came 6th in the final and knocked 7 seconds off their personal best time. Congratulations to the girls for doing so well at this hugely prestigious event, for working so hard on their preparation and showing such high levels of enthusiasm, commitment and support for one another both in the run-up to the event and at the finals themselves. |
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Musician of the Year
The eighth Musician of the Year Competition held on April 24, reached the highest standard ever, not least by our Junior Competitors, many of whom set the standard at Grade 7 and above. The adjudicator, Mrs Maggie Donnelly, Director of Music at the City of London School for Girls, had the unenviable task of choosing the eight musicians (from all the 34 auditioned) who performed in the prestigious final in the evening. However, all competitors throughout the day should be congratulated on their very polished performances. After much agonising, Mrs Maggie Donnelly awarded the Junior Musician of the Year to Beatrice Moore and the Senior award to David Winters, with Becky Briggs and Chris Wilson both being highly commended. The evening was a huge celebration: not just of the very high standard of music that was on show, but also the wonderful atmosphere amongst the musicians at Chigwell, who are very supportive of each other. |
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The Bunburies Cricket Charity Match
The rain did not dampen the enthusiasm of all the pupils, staff and parents who worked so hard to make a huge success of the annual cricket celebrities’ match on Sunday April 27. The fundraising event helped to raise £5,000 for the children’ s charity, Barnardo’s. The Bunbury XI this year included well-know personalities from the worlds of sport, TV and radio. David English, Sam Fox, ex-Arsenal Perry Groves, actor Bradley Walsh and cricket’s heroes, Devon Malcolm and Mark Ramprakash, were among those taking part. Chigwell’s Headmaster’s XI beat The Bunbury XI in a well-contested match. We are most grateful to all the staff, parents and pupils who helped before and on the day and of course to Mr Nick Tester, who master-minded the whole event. |
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Mr Kazuo Ishiguro’s talk to Sixth Formers
Mr Kazuo Ishiguro, the acclaimed contemporary writer, gave a most interesting talk to Sixth Formers, staff and pupils on Tuesday 22nd April in the Drama Centre. Mr Ishiguro’s novels are widely read and hugely enjoyed by many readers (and translated in 20 countries). Since his debut novel in 1982, A Pale view of the Hills, he wrote An Artist of the Floating World (Whitbread book of the year in 1989) and his third book, The Remains of the Day, was also filmed and won the Booker. Other three successful novels followed, The Unconsoled in 1995, When we were Orphans in 2000 and Never let me go in 2005. The perfect use of language, the sense of mystery and the metaphorical framework of his stories are some of the elements that distinguish his remarkable work. However, what perhaps struck the audience most were his charisma, modesty and accessibility and willingness to share with our pupils some of secrets of his trade. He also gave good advice to those who may wish to follow his muse in creative writing. Chigwell felt very privileged for his visit. |
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Fun Run raises £1,600 for charity
The wonderful Chigwell’s annual Fun Run took place on Sunday 20th April and totalled £1,600 for local charities. Mrs Gill Punt started the race (four laps round Chigwell’s extensive 70 acres playing fields) and the winner was one of our parents, Mr Ronald Daniel. It was good to see so many parents, staff and their families enjoying the day.
Those who did not run had good time browsing the many stalls in New Hall, eating delicious cakes made by parents, playing crazy golf and shooting bows and arrows. We are of course grateful to all the parents, pupils and staff who worked very hard to make a success of the day. |
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U13 Cricket Tour to Dubai
Mr Nick Tester, together with Mr James Stedman and Mrs Jenny Gwinn, led a group of 18 U13 pupils to Dubai, for a week long cricket tour, as part of their pre-season training. The tour incorporated three matches against local opposition on three different wicket surfaces of concrete, grass and Astroturf, in temperatures ranging between 33°-36°C.
On the first day the group went to the Abu Dhabi stadium to see Yorkshire v Sussex, a game in the Arabian Cricket Challenge which also included Lancashire and Essex. The pupils watched from a VIP box, had a training session in the nets and then met all the players, including England internationals Darren Gough, Chris Adams and Luke Wright. What a great start to the tour!
On the second day the group played their first match in the beautiful surroundings of Zabeel Park, but on the unfamiliar surface of concrete! Despite losing the match, impressive performances came from Albert Padfield and Sid Koak.
On the third day the group travelled to the 27,000 capacity Stadium in Sharjah to play against the Dubai Academy. Chigwell bowled economically for most of the first innings before some big hitting from the lower order led the Academy to 142-5 off their 25 overs. Cordelia Griffith, the only girl in the team and the current Essex girls U13 Captain, impressed with two maiden overs in a row at the start of the innings. In every game Cordelia played, the opposition coaches remarked how impressed they were with her cricket. Safwaan Imtiaz, (Essex boys U11 cricketer of the year last season) hit a majestic 50, an innings of class in baking hot conditions. Dominic Higgins and Sag Kugathansan also made valuable runs, however, Chigwell fell just short, losing by 20 runs. In the afternoon the group was invited to Delhi Private School in Sharjah to participate in a 6-a-side tournament to mark the retirement of the school’s Headmistress. The players were divided into three different teams and the shorter format of the game seemed to inspire them. One of our teams, captained by Asim Shamsudin, got through to the final, played under floodlights at 8.30pm, and was awarded a trophy. Individual players’ trophies were also awarded to Safwaan Imtiaz, Sag Kugathansan and Nickolai Aoun.
The final match was played on Astroturf against Delhi Private School, Dubai. Nickolai Aoun top scored with 29 but the best innings came from Neel Chudasama, who batted with great maturity and growing confidence. The opposition were initially restricted by some tight bowling from Alex Morrow and Jason Driver, however, some late hitting meant the opposition won with three overs to spare.
The last day was a tourists dream when the group visited the Wild Wadi water park, home to the world's second biggest water slide, next to the famous Burj Al Arab 7* hotel. This was followed by a 'dune bashing', 4x4 ride over the desert dunes. The day ended at the desert safari camp where the pupils were able to experience some of the local Arab culture, including the chance to have a henna tattoo, a camel ride and enjoy a belly dancing show!
The tournament made all the participants fully appreciate the passion for cricket in the United Arab Emirates and our pupils made an excellent impression wherever they went. It really was a fantastic week for cricket! |
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Brentwood Cathedral Choral Concert
This year's Chigwell School annual Choral Concert was once again held at Brentwood Cathedral ( for the 3rd year running) on Saturday 1st March. with Mozart's Exsultate Jubilate being performed with real professionalism by our music scholar from Estonia, Maria Listra. Miss Felicity Leach conducted the Exsultate. On the menu for Chigwell Choral Society was Haydn's Creation; members of our choirs, alongside staff and parents, sang with real energy under the baton of Mr Michael Bradley; the soloists were Charlotte Mobbs, Thomas Hobbs and Stuart Young and the Apollo Sinfonia performed flawlessly. |
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We are delighted to announce that many of our pupils once again took part in the Stratford Festival of Music and Drama and there were many notable performances in this, though the one person who must be named is Marianne Schonle, one of our music scholars, who not only won her category, but was then invited to perform in the Festival's Musician of the Year competition which she won, despite competing again students of 18 when she is only 12!
This is a truly remarkable achievement. |
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Swimmers' success
The School is delighted to announce that six junior pupils entered the IAPS swimming competition at Bishop Stortford on February 4 and the results were:
Sarah Dudley came 1st in Breast Stroke, Marissa Posnett came 1st in Free Style, Andraea Posnett came 1st in Back Stroke and Hannah Jerman came 2nd in Butterfly. Sarah, Marissa and Andrea also came 1st in both the Medley and Free style relay with Hannah Jerman as the fourth swimmer. Alex Barnard came 3rd in Breastroke and Katie Marshall came 4th Freestyle
They will have to wait until March to hear whether they have made it through to the national finals. |
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The Hans Woyda Maths Challenge
Our Mathematics Quiz team, comprising Yuqing Zhang, Xiao Qian Lin, Andrew Liddell, Alastair Morton and Neroshen Mohan, has performed extremely well to reach the Quarter Final stages of the Hans Woyda Inter-Schools Mathematics Quiz competition. Our mathematicians won their group matches against local rivals (Bancroft's, Forest (tie) and Ilford County High School) to reach the knockout stages and then defeated Notting Hill and Ealing High School to set up a tense battle against Merchant Taylor's School (the same team that knocked them out at the same stage last year). If the team could secure victory in this quarter final it would, in all probability, set up a semi final match against hot favourites Westminster. A prospect that our team would savour! |
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U11 IAPS Hockey Tournament
On February 19 our U11 Hockey Team took part in the South East IAPS Tournament which was held at Haileybury School. The boys started against the eventual winners, Greshams Prep, and unfortunately lost 4-0 after having arrived 2 minutes before they were due to start. Results improved over the next two games with a 1-0 victory against Woodford Green Prep with William Sibley striking home and a 2-1 victory against South Lee School with the impressive Edward Tyler bagging a brace. These results ensured the team finished 2nd in their group and qualified them for the Cup competition and the top 8 of 16 teams. Chigwell drew their first game of the cup competition with their best performance of the day. Chigwell had much of the possession and the boys were extremely unfortunate not to win the game against St Andrew's. Defenders Jamie Colton, Matthew Higgins and Ravi Taheam engaged in some strong tackling which left goalkeeper Daniel Mahoney as a mere spectator in the match. Joint Captain Chris Halls showed some excellent skills in midfield. Buoyed by the performance, Chigwell knew that a victory in their last two games would probably send them through to the semi-finals of the competition and more importantly a place in the national finals. But despite creating chances against two strong teams, the Abbey School and Culford School, the boys lost both games by 1-0. This meant they had to settle for third in their group and 5/6th place overall. However, this was a great achievement considering the calibre of the opposition and the fact the boys had had only two games and no training sessions before the tournament. Hugo Blogg, Tom Turner and Ben Good also represented the team. Mr Creag Lawrence said: “ All the boys conducted themselves in a dignified manner throughout the day and were a credit to the School.“ |
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Remembering the Holocaust
Pupils and teachers attended an event organized by the Holocaust Educational Trust at the Imperial War Museum on February 5. They met Mr Ed Balls MP (the British secretary of state for children, school and families, who announced recently that two students from every high school and college should visit death camps in Poland and then speak to other students at special programs) Mr Lembit Opik (the MP of Estonian descent) and Holocaust survivor Mr Zigy Shipper. In the photo: our students with Head of Sixth Form, Mr Andy Long and hero and holocaust survivor Mr Zigi Shipper. |
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Junior Success in Science Competition
A team of four Upper Two scientists took part in the annual Forest School Junior Science Competition on Feburary 6. Our pupils competed against 21 other schools (both independent and state) and won second place, just ahead of Forest School! The winning team was from Gidea Park Primary. The children had to unravel three sets of chemistry-based tasks, working with bunsen burners, chemicals and common sense. Their technical observational and cooperative skills were tested throughout the afternoon. In addition to achieving second place, our team came back with a gift book each and a jointly held prize of a working, remote controlled model helicopter. |
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U13 Football News
The Under 13 A Football team played Brentwood School in the Semi - Finals of the ISFA Cup competition on Thursday, 24th January at home. Both teams had battled through a number of rounds to reach this stage of the competition. Brentwood started the match as clear favourites as they had three academy players and are a much larger school than Chigwell. Our team, however, played with tremendous spirit and determination and started the game well, they gave absolutely everything and never gave up despite eventually losing 3-0. Well done to every player involved in the squad. There is no shame in defeat when you show the commitment shown by every Chigwell player and with this sort of attitude they will win a lot more games than they lose. |
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Oxbridge bound
Eight Sixth Formers are celebrating because they have received offers of places from Oxford or Cambridge universities. Mr Andy Long, Head of Sixth Form, said "This is an excellent achievement and a real tribute to the hard work of these students, their teachers and tutors. Competition for places at Oxford and Cambridge becomes more fierce each year and eight students constitutes 9% of those who applied for university". Jessica Beagley, Georgia Clegg and Yuqing Zhang have offers to read Physiological Sciences, Philosophy & Theology and Mathematics respectively at Oxford University. Whilst Joshua Freedman, Jamie Macpherson, Neal Patel, Meera Ragha and Michael Wilson have offers to read Natural Sciences, Mathematics, Land Economy, Theology & Religious Studies and Law respectively at Cambridge University. |
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Snowhite raises £ 2,100 for Birthmark Support
Members of Chigwell School staff, directed by Sixth Formers James Masters and Louise Fowler, put on two performances of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the end of last week. They played to packed houses and raised £2,100 for the Birthmark Support Group. Snow White (Year 3 teacher, Mrs Helen Russell) and the Handsome Prince (Head of Government and Politics, Mr Dror Yuravlivker), together with the two directors are seen here presenting the cheque to Sophie, a representative of the Group. |
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Government League Tables
In the latest version of the Government league tables for secondary schools in England it would appear that Chigwell School has achieved a figure of 33% of pupils gaining 5 or more GCSEs, grade A* to C. The reason for this is that the tables specify that the five must include GCSE mathematics and English. Last summer, for the first time, our Upper Fifth pupils took the International GCSE (IGCSE) mathematics examination. This qualification, although highly thought of by universities and employers, is not included in Government league tables. If it were, our figure would be 100%.
We are committed to providing the most appropriate examination courses for our pupils and we moved to IGCSE mathematics, like many other comparable schools, because it provides a more interesting and challenging course for our students. Many Chigwell pupils go on to take A level maths and we find IGCSE a better preparation for this. We will continue to choose courses that stretch and enthuse our pupils and we will not be bound by league tables.
Headmaster Mr Michael Punt, Deputy Head Mr David Gower or Director of Studies Mr Neil Saunders would be happy to discuss this matter further. |
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Torch Trophy for Mr Ken Richbell
We are enormously proud to announce that Mr Ken Richbell, our splendid Head Porter and Caretaker, received the Torch Trophy Trust award from the Duke of Kent on Thursday 29th November 2007at the Army and Navy Club in Pall Mall. The Trust , founded in 1949, provides small Bursaries to assist volunteers in sport and presents Awards to individuals who have been identified as making an outstanding contribution as a volunteer in their chosen sport. The President of the Trust is Sir Bobby Charlton.
Ken was nominated by Buckhurst Hill Junior F. C., where he has been an active member since 1995, initially as a parent watching his son train and play at the club, but gradually becoming increasingly involved as assistant manager to the team in 1997, after which they won their league in season 1997/1998. Ken's constant enthusiasm and dedication came to fruition when he was voted in as Chairman of the club in 2000, when he was determined to make the club one of the best in Essex.
Shortly after his election the club faced closure as a result of an arson attack on the ground. Ken immediately embarked on the enormous task of rebuilding and restructuring the club by designating a significant amount of time and work to raise £500,000 from various grants, authorities and foundations, to enable them to purchase the land and build a new clubhouse. Thanks to Ken the club is now recognized by the FA Charter Standard and has a gold accreditation given by The Essex Sports Clubs.
Apart from his involvement in the training and development of the players, Ken can also be found contributing as groundsman, refereeing other local matches, sitting on various management and found raising committees and being the club's child welfare officer, a truly committed volunteer in every sense. |
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