SENIOR SCHOOL
NEWSLETTER Friday 29th March 2019 Nchima, Malawi and Cyclone Idai
Friday 5th April will be a casuals day in aid of the Nchima Trust
For some years now, the school has generously supported a small charity based in Malawi. As well as a substantial sum of money that was used to build a schoolroom and kitchen (thus enabling girls to stay for whole days at secondary school), Sibford has donated calculators and money for essential text books. Recent heavy rains in early March caused wide-spread flooding in Malawi; the arrival of Cyclone Idai turned an already desperate situation into a disaster. Pictures from the Mozambique port of Beira have given some indication of the massive scale of distress and destruction wreaked by the cyclone. It swept across Mozambique, into the neighbouring southern tip of Malawi as well as into eastern Zimbabwe, devastating crops, houses and infrastructure and killing people. In a report on 24th March, the president of the SADC said ’The economic cost and social impact of the Cyclone to the affected countries, and indeed the entire region, is immeasurable.’ The main hub for Nchima’s work is the small town of Thyolo, in the central-southern region of Malawi. Reports have indicated that the immediate area has not been too badly affected, though information received thus far suggests, at the very least, cracked walls in houses and hospitals, ruined crops and the spread of disease. Nchima’s work reaches beyond Thyolo District and ‘on-the-ground’ volunteers are able to access some of the more badly hit areas to the south and east. Commenting on the dire situation before the final sweep of the cyclone, a UNICEF report states that ‘the Government of Malawi declared a State of Disaster due to the severe flooding in across 15 districts in southern Malawi. At least 868, 895 people are reported to have been affected in 15 districts and some 86,976 people have been displaced. At least 56 people have reportedly died in the floods and another 672 have been injured.
Displaced people have taken refuge in 173 camps, mostly located in schools.’ (downloaded 25/03/19: https://reliefweb.int/report/malawi/unicef-malawi-humanitariansituation-report-flood-situation-report-no2-22-march-2019 ) Nchima has set up a special relief fund to help meet immediate, rather than long term, need. The pupils’ generous donations during the forthcoming ‘Casuals Day’ will help Nchima to provide local Malawians with humanitarian assistance. Further information about Nchima can be found here: http://nchimatrust.org/ and on Facebook. Penny Spring (English Department)
Matt Dickinson – Everest Summiter and Author School is still buzzing from the visit of Carnegie nominated author, adventurer and award-winning Director/Cameraman Matt Dickinson on Wednesday. He thrilled the whole school and pupils from years 5-8 from visiting schools with photos and tales of his adventures including his Everest expedition; inspiring us to think of our own dreams and challenges. Matt shared how these experiences inspired his writing particularly The Everest Files trilogy. Not only did he talk about the thrill of the experience and the need for total trust in the expedition team but also the real dangers and the current problems of tourist rubbish pollution. Year 10 Media students were treated to Matt’s excellent advice on careers in the media encouraging them to start their own film or writing blogs as soon as possible. The afternoon culminated in two excellent creative writing workshops. All good stories include conflict and victims and Matt encouraged the groups to think about these different areas and discussed strong action writing including short sharp sentences, dialogue, flashbacks, metaphors and similes as well as personification and the use of senses. He explained that writers tend to talk to each other about their plots before starting writing so the participants were given time to talk to each other about a story they were going to start on the theme of being lost in a storm. It was wonderful to see the concentration during the minutes of writing and then it was amazing to hear their amazing story openings inspired by these sessions. I can’t wait to hear the completed stories! Many thanks to PSFA for funding this amazing day. (Frances King, Librarian)
Mathematical Institute visit On Monday, a team of 4, comprising 2 Year 8s and 2 Year 9s spent the day at the Mathematical Institute, an inspirational building which is part of the University of Oxford. JJ, Silas, Kara and Hester were taking part in the Team Maths Challenge regional finals which are organised by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust. There were teams from 22 different schools taking part with many puzzles to complete and not a calculator in sight! Our team applied themselves with enthusiasm throughout the whole day and at the end were introduced to a university lecture theatre which had 40 different whiteboard sections a lecturer could use! Then last but not least, getting to sit at the front of the top deck of the bus on the way back, enjoying the view and giving their brains a rest. (Helen Earle, Maths Department)
Media Students visit Sky TV
Year 10 Media Studies students visited SKY TV. They worked collectively in the SKY Academy to create a media masterpiece involving a news feature which was written, filmed, directed and presented by the pupils. The team at SKY were impressed by the final product. The group were also given a tour of the SKY sports news area and saw the live studio filming. Finally, the group met a potential Olympian from Team GB - the rock climber Molly Thompson-Smith who was touring the academy. The students learned many technical skills and worked brilliantly throughout the day. (Sally - Anne Ward, Head of English)
Support for Learning - parent conversation afternoons.
Parent conversation afternoons take place on Friday afternoons and are an opportunity for parents/carers to make an appointment to see thier child’s SFL teacher(s) for a 15minute discussion about your child’s progress and any concerns you may have. Forthcoming dates: 3rd May 17th May 7th June Please contact Frances Claydon on 01295 781200 or francesclaydon@sibfordschool.co.uk to book an appointment. We look forward to seeing you!
Netball success The Year 7 Netball team competed in their North Oxfordshire District Tournament LAST week. As they had already won their league they were drawn in the top pool competing for the shield. Their first match against The Bicester School was very close throughout with Sibford scoring in the last minute to make the result a draw. The next two games against Wykham and BGN saw Sibford taking a strong attacking lead resulting in two convincing wins. We won the overall tournament and have now qualified for the School Games County finals next week. Well done girls! (Claire Ferley, Director of Sport)
Week 2 Last week began with the Year 8 Boys who showed a lot of heart and no little skill in their first match, which saw them lose narrowly 4 tries to 3 against a talented Bruern Abbey side. The first game was to prove the highlight of the day as the boys lost their remaining 3 fixtures. Solid performances from Henry and Maxwell were a silver lining in a difficult afternoon. On Wednesday, 40+ girls took to the field to compete in the U13, U15 and U18 competition. We were thrilled to be able to get so many girls wanting to participate at all ages and even being able to field 2 teams in the U13 age group. A huge well done to the U13A girls who won the plate competition, the U15 girls who got through to the cup competition, narrowly losing in the semi final and the U18
girls who played so courageously and finished 3rd overall. We are incredibly proud of you all.
The last tournament of the week took place on Thursday. There was real optimism in the air as the Year 9 Boys had a genuine chance of success. The year had already been a success with the District Cup in the bag, but could they do the double? The group stage was a breeze with the team only conceding one try in all three games. Comfortable victories over Oxford Spires, Cotswold and Royal Latin saw Sibford top the group. The Quarter Final pitted us against Prince Henrys school who had struggled to finish 2nd in a tough group. The game started well with the team scoring a well worked try. The conversion, taken in haste, was missed and everyone knew it could cost us in a tight match. The first half finished with Sibford the only team likely to win, but complacency crept in and Prince Henrys scored a converted try right at the start of the second half. Sibford battled hard and came close to the elusive second try at the death, but a well disciplined Prince Henrys held on to the narrowest of victories. Given that Prince Henrys went on to lift the trophy the Sibford boys were rightly left wondering what might have been.