Private School News
Northern Ireland takes on the GFORCE
Schools and Colleges in Northern Ireland are certainly taken with the new GFORCE range. Only recently two more Schools of distinction in the Province have signed up to the GFORCE product range. Belfast High School and Ulidia Integrated College have both chosen to mix more traditional sporting garments with very contemporary garments, indicative of the flexibility and variety inherent within the GFORCE range.
This boom in the market in Northern Ireland is the result of a number of factors. Distribution has recently been stepped up with several suppliers stocking both the GFORCE range and Gymphlex, the Classic Collection. In addition Gymphlex now benefit from the expertise of Sam Thompson, a well respected name in the school sportswear field who is now acting as Gymphlex’s representative in both Ireland and Northern Ireland.
BETT moves into the Middle East
The organisers of BETT, the educational IT schow held each year in London, have launched a new event in the Middle East. With more than 90,000 schools and more than 50 million students in the Middle East, the opportunity is vast and fast growing.
BETT Middle East is endorsed by the Abu Dhabi Education Council and invitations will be sent across the region including the education ministers and government representatives from The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt and Oman.
BETT Middle East is free to attend and will take place at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre from 21-22 November 2010. Building on BETT’s reputation as the leading global event for educational technology and solutions, BETT Middle East will feature over 100 exhibitors and three conference theatres.
BETT Middle East will feature a Software Zone, Special Educational Needs Zone and a Training Zone. Visitors can view practical product demonstrations and hear inspirational speakers. The central feature in association with Professor Stephen Heppell will be interactive giving visitors the opportunity to engage with learners using ICT solutions in a real learning environment.
For more information visit www.bettme.ae.
New chance for cadets
Sutton Valence School, near Maidstone, Kent, is pioneering a national scheme for the 220 pupils in its Army, Navy and RAF sections of the cadet force to earn academic qualifications on top of their military skills.
The school is now pioneering a two-year BTEC qualification in Public Services, equivalent to an A level, which 12 student cadets will be sitting as part of their weekly commitment to cadet activities held at the school on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings.
RAF cadet Tom Hurrell, pictured above, was selected as one of only 26 cadet ambassadors to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace and visit Downing Street as part of the cadet movement’s 150th anniversary celebrations.
In addition, the school’s cadet force has been invited to represent the cadet movement at functions held by the Guild of Educators, the City of London livery company. Meanwhile, CCF commanding officer Anne Wilkinson has won promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, the highest rank attainable by an adult officer supervising a cadet force.
Quentin Blake backs young painters
For the fifth year running, international development charity Sightsavers, is inviting primary age school children across the UK to take part in the 2010 Junior Painter of the Year competition and paint their vision of the future.
The competition, run by Sightsavers in partnership with the Royal Academy Schools, aims to promote the use of paint in school classrooms, whilst encouraging children to reflect on sight and blindness amongst their peers. Last year over 15,000 entries were submitted by children aged 4-11 and this year’s theme Visions of the Future is set to generate even more.
The winning young painters will have their work exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, alongside works by Quentin Blake and the Keeper of the Royal Academy of Arts, Professor Maurice Cockrill.
Quentin Blake says about the competition: “I am delighted to once again be part of such a creative and innovative competition. To have the opportunity to see the works of young artists depicting their interpretation of the world around them is something I find very exciting. As an artist and illustrator it gives me such pleasure to see the world's future artists creating their own vision of the future.”
Three national winners, one from each category (4-7 years, 8-9 years and 10-11 years), will be selected from a list of regional winners. They will then enjoy a fun-packed day out in London with their teachers in the autumn and attend the awards ceremony at the Royal Academy of Arts where their paintings will be the central focus of the exciting exhibition. The teacher judged to have inspired their pupils’ creativity the most will win a one-of-a-kind painting by Professor Cockrill.
For more information, www.sightsavers.org/juniorpainter or ring the competition helpline on 01444 446 768 for a free awards pack. Entries must be submitted by 14 September 2010.
School uniforms go green
Makara Apparel, the Portsmouth based school wear supplier, has launched a new eco-range of school uniforms made from blended fabrics incorporating Fairtrade/Organic cotton. Makara has worked closely with Greenwich Council and the Fairtrade Organisation to source a suitable factory to produce the range.
The search finished in India where the company located a factory that offered everything under one roof, from the processing of the raw material right through to finished garments. Using this factory offers many ecological benefits.
A huge reduction in the amount of water needed to treat the material - 85% of the required water is collected during the Indian monsoon season. Using 100% organic cotton means that potentially harmful, chemical and pesticide residues are not found in the finished garments. Organic farming methods lead to improvement in soil quality and helps prevent water contamination.
The factory has committed resources to help local projects, including healthcare, education and animal welfare.
For further information, samples and prices please call 023 9266 5772 or email steve.linn@emjltd.com
Children's Book Week circles the globe
The theme for Children’s Book Week 2010 is books around the world. The week will celebrate inspiring books for children of primary school age that take them on magical journeys to discover new places and meet new people. It will take place from 4-10 October with thousands of events across the country. The week, organised by the Booktrust, is supported by the Children’s Laureate, author and illustrator Anthony Browne.
Public events to celebrate Children’s Book Week are also taking place across the country. Bookshops, supermarkets and festivals, including Starlit Festival in Shoreditch will host author and illustrator talks and book swaps throughout the week. Children’s Book Week is run by Booktrust and sponsored by Crayola. This year’s lead publisher sponsor is Frances Lincoln.
Anthony Browne says: “This year’s Children’s Book Week theme of books around the world provides a wonderful opportunity to explore and celebrate difference, as well as to read books that transport us to new places and introduce us to new cultures. One thing that my travels have taught me is that children around the world have a lot in common; hopes, fears, joys, but most of all, a love of stories.”
Free downloads of all of the Children’s Book Week pack contents are available on the Booktrust website at www.childrensbookweek.org.uk
Staying on the winning streak
Brentwood Preparatory School’s Football Team won the Under 11s District League Championship for the eleventh time in eighteen years as well as the District Cup. A total of nine teams competed for the trophy over six matches from October to March. The Preparatory School gave a particularly strong performance being undefeated throughout the competition and dominating not only the score line but also the championship.
The U11 Football Coach, Andrew Matthams, says: “I am extremely proud of the U11 team, the boys deserve great credit for all of their hard work, and the massive improvement that they showed as a team, particularly over the last two months of the season. The School has a strong footballing tradition and it is a real achievement to have won the trophy eleven times.”
Governors go online to save time and money
Online Governor is a web-based tool, which provides a paper- free administration system designed for use by school managers, governors and committee members. Education watchdog Ofsted has judged it to be “a highly effective way of organising the work and administration of the governing body”. The system offers participating schools an initial saving of at least £2,650 per year and would represent an annual saving of more than £70M if it was adopted by all state schools in England and Wales.
Created by Michael O’Grady, headmaster of Seacroft Grange Primary School, Leeds, and Terry Ayres, the school’s chair of governors, Online Governors enables users to create, edit, distribute and store minutes and reports, circulate notifications to other users and upload and access documents. Mr O’Grady said: “Schools and colleges are facing ever increasing pressure in regards to their budgets, funding, time management and legal obligations - not to mention environmental issues. We recognised that there was a huge gap between the efficiencies technology could provide and how traditional boards of governors were still operating. Online Governor has been created to be easy and intuitive to use, while offering real cost and time-saving benefits to Governors, enabling them to deliver their objectives as effectively as possible.”
In addition to significant time and cost saving, Online Governor also offers safe storage of documents; easy distribution of minutes and reports among members; easy access of archived documents; an efficient alternative to expensive service agreement and an eco-friendly paperless solution.
For further information, please contact Dan Phillips or Emma Franklin on 0845 450 3210 or email dan@greencmomms.com / emma@greencomms.com.
Children welcome Royal Anglians home
Children from King’s Acremont, the Pre-Prep of the King’s School Ely, helped plant a flowerbed beside the west door of Ely Cathedral in the colours of the Royal Anglian Regiment. The 200 plants - red and gold French marigolds and light blue lobelia - were sponsored by the school for the regiment’s homecoming service in the cathedral on Wednesday 16 June.
Dr Lynda Brereton, head of King’s Acremont, said: “The children are all very excited to be making this contribution towards the regiment’s homecoming and they were looking forward to waving their flags outside the cathedral on the day of the service.”
The 1st Battalion of the Royal Anglian Regiment - known as the Vikings - have been on tour in Afghanistan. Hundreds turned out to watch the soldiers march through the city’s streets.
Adding flavour to the summer
Pupils at a leading North Yorkshire prep school have been helping a local ice-cream maker come up with some tempting new flavours. Each summer term, youngsters at Belmont Grosvenor School, based at Birstwith, Harrogate, enjoy the weekly Friday Chill Zone, when they are able to buy ice-cream cornets after school to help raise money for school funds.
But this year, the school’s PTA and Nidderdale-based Birchfield Family Dairies, which supplies the ‘Chill Zone’ ice-cream, has asked pupils to devise some new flavours - with the best three produced by Birchfield and sold at the school.
During the past few weeks, pupils at the co-educational school have had to decide between Mix of Mess, a mix of raspberries, strawberries and meringue, Chocolate Forest, vanilla ice cream, chocolate muffin, marshmallows and black cherry ripple, and Peachy Pie, a combination of peaches and cream ice cream with marshmallows and digestive chunks.
With the votes cast, nine-year-old Henry Exley’s Chocolate Forest has been chosen as the best and his ice cream will now become one of Birchfield Family Dairies new flavours. Henry and his fellow Year 4 classmates will also enjoy an exclusive tour of Birchfield Family Dairies, based in Summerbridge, and see his ice-cream flavour turned into one of their top-selling tubs.
Other flavours that didn’t quite make the short-list included Tiger Tiger, a chocolate and orange ripple ice-cream, Honey Bee, a combination of honey and vanilla ice cream with chocolate and Ice Ice Baby, vanilla ice cream with jelly babies.
Martin Whitley, who runs the family ice-cream business, said: “Chocolate Forest was a really good flavour and a good combination - everyone who tried it loved it. It will be a new flavour for us, and we will launch it at this year’s Great Yorkshire Show.”
