Senior School Newsletter Friday 15 November 2019
KEY DATES
The official newsletter of
El Dorado High School teachers
DON'T MISS THE CHRISTMAS SHOPPING FAYRE Run by the PSFA, the Sibford Christmas Shopping Fayre is the perfect opportunity to shop for those thoughtful Christmas presents for friends and family and kick off the festive season! Sellers include Georgina Bywater Jewellery, The Bucks Candle Company, Belflair Chocolate and Cellar Ceramics.
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO BOOK TICKETS, CLICK HERE
The event takes place on Friday 29 November from 2.30pm - 5pm. Bring your friends as all are welcome. The cost of entry is £2.50 per adult, including a hot drink. Children attend for free. The PSFA will need plenty of helpers both prior to the Fayre and on the day itself. If you can help, please contact Jane Weaver (cadbold@hotmail.com) who is collating the list of willing volunteers.
MORE DETAILS AND THEME TO BE REVEALED SHORTLY!
@SibfordOxon
Please send in donations for the PSFA stall as soon as possible to the collection boxes in the Senior School and Junior School reception. Re-cycled gifts, toiletries and good quality second-hand / costume jewellery is required.
@SibfordOxon
@SibfordOxon
Senior School Newsletter Friday 15 November 2019
SFL LEARNER OF THE WEEK The official newsletter of
Imogen is the SfL learner of the week. She has worked very well this week. She has been keen and engaged in lessons and been really positive when facing each task. El Dorado High School teachers
Well done Imogen, keep up the good work!
INDEPENDENT SCHOOL SHOW Sibford School exhibited for the first time at the annual Independent School Show in London last weekend. The two day event welcomed parents from all over the country to come together to learn more about potential schools for their children. The event was a success and many people left the show knowing more about Sibford School and wanting to visit.
SFL PARENT CONVERSATION AFTERNOONS Parent conversation afternoons take place on alternate Friday afternoons and are an opportunity for parents/carers to make an appointment to see your child’s SfL teacher(s) for a 15 minute discussion about your child’s progress and any concerns you may have. The dates for the Autumn term are: 22nd November and 6th December. Please contact Frances on 01295 781200 or francesclaydon@sibfordschool.co.uk to book an appointment. We look forward to seeing you!
Senior School Newsletter Friday 15 November 2019
PHOENIX KIDS CAMP For three days in the second week of half term we welcomed Phoenix school, a special school from Tower Hamlets in London, to Sibford. They have been visiting Sibford for 45 years. The official newsletter of
El Dorado High School teachers
They brought 18 Key Stage 2 students and 10 staff and were hosted in Fielding boarding house by 18 of our year 11, 12 and 13 students. Each of our students was buddied with one of the Phoenix children for the 3 days. While they were here we took them swimming and on a visit to Cotswold Wildlife Park where everyone got to touch a tortoise, a lizard and a snake, along with lots of playing in the playground. Our students were brilliant, with endless energy and patience and made sure all the Phoenix children had a good time. A massive thank you to all our students who gave up three days of their holidays to volunteer.
MATHS INSPIRATION LECTURES On Tuesday morning, 11 Year 11 students went to the New Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham for the annual Maths Inspiration Lectures. We were entertained by talks on Numbers in the News – where we learned how newspapers often only give part of the necessary information to make informed judgements to make their headlines more shocking. Next we learned about how mathematical modelling can save us from an AI Apocalypse, and finally we learned about circles and spirals and how even though many things in maths have been discovered just for fun, they often have important uses too. All in all it was a very interesting morning.
DEBATE NEWS! For the third year in a row Sibford School’s senior debate team attended the Cherwell democracy Challenge, a regional debate competition held in the local council chambers organised by Victoria Prentis. The motions for this year were “This house believes that Extinction rebellion is an effective form of political protest” and “This house believes social media is a force for good”. After some incredible debating, Sibford narrowly lost the first debate and followed with an impressive win. Overall Sibford scored extremely well and achieved some personal bests. Special Mention goes to Coco (Y7) who represented Sibford (at a Sixth form Competition) for her confidence at such a high level and her clarity of points in the question time style debate. She showed immense potential and was singled out by the judges as up and coming talent. The team made up of Charlotte, Sophie, Ben, Tom, Emily and Coco all made excellent points throughout the day and have started the debating season in the perfect position to improve in upcoming competitions and develop some more winning arguments. The official newsletter of
El Dorado High School teachers
A small group from the Debate team went along to their debut debate for the MACE competition at Cheltenham Ladies College this week. The topic was 'This House would abolish trial by jury.' As the team had to make a last minute substitution, the amazing Coco stepped forward to take the role of the Summariser, accepting questions from the floor and evaluating the debate in 5 minutes. Although a novice team debating against an experienced Sixth Form students from another school, they presented a complex case confidently.
Senior School Newsletter Friday 15 November 2019
BOOK BUZZ IN ENGLISH Last week the Year 7s visited the library to collect the books that they had ordered through Book Buzz. The official newsletter of
El Dorado High School teachers
The English Department has invested in these books for the students to keep, enjoy and then possibly swap. There were several choices of books and after watching a short clip from each author about their book and a student reviewing the book, the students made their own choices. We hope this encourages the students to read widely and to create a buzz about books!
HEAR TALES OF A GRAND LADAKH ADVENTURE On July 12th 2019, on the Taglang La pass in Ladakh, a piano was heard at the highest altitude on record in a bid to raise funds for local communities! The fundraisers, Carole and Neil are coming to Sibford Village Hall to talk about their Ladakh adventure and how they raised over £6,000, enough to erect two plastic free cafes on the popular Ladakh trekking route, and to pay for a cook/carer in an old peoples home in Nepal. The talk could be interesting to those taking part in the Ladakh trek in 2021. The evening runs from 7.00pm - 9.00pm and costs £6 a ticket (with refreshments included). Call Diana on 780 506 for tickets and information.