langleyschool.co.uk

Summer Edition: Issue 21

LANGLEY NEWS

Welcome to our final issue of Langley News. We are looking forward to Jon Perriss joining us in the new academic year; and he will be overseeing a fresh publication with a potentially wider remit than just the academic at the Senior School. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy another action-packed issue. Following a brief ceasefire during exams, teachers have come out all guns blazing to provide a vast range of exciting enrichment activities. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them all for bringing their subjects to life through their seemingly endless energy, creativity and drive. I would also like to thank pupils for getting so involved and making the most of the opportunities Langley has to offer. For those who are awaiting external examinations, we wish you the very best of luck and look forward to seeing you in August.

Young Writer Merit TripNACE

Oxford University held its open day this Wednesday and Cambridge scheduled theirs the following day. Our Oxbridge pathways programme led by Miss Kisiel ensured pupils could visit either and find out a little about the 330+ courses on offer. If that wasn’t enough to choose

from, the Heads of Sixth Form also organised another trip to take a further 26 pupils to Nottingham University. Pupils were able to download apps to plan their days which include getting a feel for the colleges, finding out about student life and, of course, taking in some lectures.

We feel pupils should set their sights high and become as acclimatised as soon as possible to the environment of some of the top universities, so that the application process and later interviews are less daunting. A huge thank you to those organising and running these trips.

A Trio of University Trips

First and Final Week!Whilst this week may seem like the last for most of the school, we have turned it on its head for our prospective Year 12 pupils who have come in for their transition days and to make a start to their Sixth Form studies. This is an ideal opportunity to bridge the gap

between GCSE and A-level and to acquire a head start on the courses. Pupils will also be checking that they have made the right choices in terms of subjects. Following GCSEs pupils will want a well-deserved rest, but with nine weeks until the start of

the next academic year, we believe there is much that can be done over the summer to prepare pupils for what can be a rather large step up to the next rung of their studies. So, there will be something to take home too!

Langley News: Issue 21

RAF Cadets

The English Department is delighted to announce three winners of its Bookmark Design Competition: First Place Prize went to Isabelle Mercer in Year 12 for ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. Second Place Prize went to Corlisa Kwong in Year 7 for ‘Alice in Wonderland’. And Third Place Prize went to Oscar Holt in Year 7

for ‘The Witches’. All three pupils were awarded gift vouchers for their efforts. The designs have been professionally printed and the bookmarks can be obtained from English teachers or the Marketing Department. Thank you to all pupils who submitted entries for the competition.

This has been another busy term for our Senior RAF cadets. Lance Corporals James Bussey, Joshua Mills, James Pelham and Corporal Joshua Yates are well on their way to achieving their bronze flying badges after successfully completing their bronze, part-task, trainer gliding course. Joshua Mills and Joshua Yates are now instructors after passing the Method of Instructors course and delivering lessons on control surfaces and forces acting on a glider. Joshua Yates is now eligible to apply for the RAF Air Cadet pilot

scholarship scheme after completing an aerospace course at RAF Cranwell, where under the supervision of RAF flying coaches, principles of flight theory were brought to life using simulators. He also completed flight planning and navigation exercises using virtual reality and RAC simulators. All these cadets justly deserve their promotions. We are now looking forward to our Summer Camp at RAF Shawbury which is the home of the Defence Helicopter Flying School so we’re expecting some exciting flying experiences.

Bookmark Design Competition

Langley School launched its annual two week Readathon, sponsored read for Years 6-8. It was a fun event with emphasis on encouraging reading for pleasure and to re-focus reading and relaxing after the pressures of school exams. Pupils could read whatever they chose, from fiction and factual books to magazines and e-books, even audio books are included. Throughout the Readathon we had various

events to encourage reading, as well as reading in form time. The theme for week one was D-Day, to coincide with the 75th Anniversary, with teachers reading poems, and clips of interviews from veterans being shown. Empathy was the theme for the second week and related books were read during the ‘teacher reads’ at lunchtime. Students were also invited to the rose garden for picnic reads during PSHE lessons.

We are delighted to announce that Otis Headon in Year 6 has been short-listed from over 200 entries to one of seven prize winners in the Young Norfolk Writing Competition at the National Centre for Writing in Norwich. His winning entry was a comic, rhyming poem

called Baa Baa Black Sheep. Otis has been invited to perform his poem at an awards ceremony at Dragon’s Hall on 5th July. Otis’s awesome poem can be found on our website or by clicking here.

Young Norfolk Writer

We announced our membership of NACE (National Association for Able Children in Education) at the start of the academic year. Since then, we have been collecting information from various sources on all our pupils to build a multi-dimensional picture of abilities. Thank you to all parents who have already identified activities outside the school which their children are attaining at an above expected level for their age. If you have not already done so and wish to add to the list, please click here to take the short survey. As part of the NACE challenge award we will be developing various programmes to further help support, challenge and stretch the most able and this information will be helpful in determining the provision required.

The Big Bang Science FairTaking place on 4th July 2019, the Big Bang Fair Eastern is a big celebration of everything STEM. There will be demonstrations, careers advice, interactive quizzes, presentations, displays, activity stands, competitions and even planetarium shows held in the UK’s largest portable planetarium. All activities will, in some way, encompass the three sciences, Maths, Engineering and Computing. We hope to get some photographs of the day’s event on our website. With any luck, all our STEM students will find something of interest.

Langley News: Issue 21

Celebrating the work of our PhotographersIn Photography, a variety of work has been created as students complete their A Level and GCSE courses. In A Level Photography, Charlotte Hammond has worked intensively over the last two years exploring the representation of mental health. Charlotte used her 15 hour practical exam to create a full size gown entirely from origami. Hundreds of photographic images were carefully folded into the “fortune teller”

shape. The symbolism of this specific origami shape denotes questions, answers and hidden messages. George Pullen’s work explored memory and time. David Huang Jiang’s work is concerned with cultural identity, youth culture and subcultures of fashion. David’s images were shot on site at Langley Senior School and feature several of his fellow pupils. GCSE pupil Lydia Gurney took inspiration from Billie Eilish’s

recent music video. A selection of A Level and GCSE Photography, as well as Fine Art and Design and Technology, will feature in this Summer’s Art & Design Exhibition at St Michael’s Church (Langley School’s Chapel). The Church will be open daily and it will be open to the public from 11:00 to 13:00 hours and 14:00 to 16:00 hours until Sunday 14th July.

Pizza and PolemicThis term, with new Presidents Bella Gessner and Jess Stone in place, the Debating Society welcomed Gresham’s, Wymondham High Academy and The Open Academy.Exciting debates ensued, following an (un)healthy dose of Domino’s Pizza. We began with our ‘Beginners’ Debate and determined that those who have retired, even though they disproportionately read the Daily Mail, vote Conservative and hold views that don’t always align with Modern Society, deserve to keep their right to vote. It was deemed that this was because their experience, contribution to the world and participation in democracy, override society’s

bigotry that all the old fit into one simple category. We then addressed the case for the legalising of marijuana and the proposition won through on this occasion. Colorado was used as an exemplar test case and it was supported that this ‘Gateway’ drug had potential benefits, far beyond those offered by drinking and smoking. The tax revenue it would provide, the removal of drug-dealers as ‘middle-men’ and the potential pain relief outweighed the case of the driving problems, addictiveness and negative health implications. In the end, we had an awesome time and the next debate will be on the 21st November. We hope you can be there!

Congratulations to James Jenkins and Joe Doyle who have both been awarded Arkwright Scholarships. The Arkwright Engineering Scholarships programme is the most prestigious scholarship scheme of its type in the UK. Its aim is to identify, inspire and nurture future leaders in engineering, computing and technical design. The boys will be heading to London to collect their awards in October. We hope to have their photographs on the school website.

Arkwright Scholarships

Langley News: Issue 21

Suffragette StoriesLangley School welcomed parents, students and staff to a launch of its new magazine, Suffragette Stories. The magazine is a celebration of creative writing and artwork, and a commemoration of the centenary of women of thirty gaining the right to vote. Each of the stories by Year 9 students represents a tree that a Suffragette planted in Somerset during 1910 and 1911. The audience listened to Year 9 girls read extracts from their historical fiction stories. After the readings, Year 13 student, Jacob Ocal, played the piano, while the audience viewed the artwork on display and enjoyed some delicious refreshments from our catering team. Free copies of the magazine, Suffragette Stories, are available from the English Department and the Marketing Department.

There is so much going on at Langley this term, we don’t want you to miss a thing. Please visit our website for the latest news and results from around the school: langleyschool.co.uk

Merit Trip to see the sights of LondonYou may have read previously of the merit lottery, which is aimed at encouraging every pupil to engage in the rewards system, with each merit acting as a potential ticket to an iPad. This term the school rewarded those pupils who have collected the most merits (those pupils who have achieved the Gold Award or are amongst the top five merit earners in their year group) for their hard work and commitment with an

all-expenses paid trip to see the sights of London from land, river and air. Following a coach journey to Stratford Station, pupils took the tube to Waterloo and from there, they walked to the London Eye, to gain an aerial view of the city scape. Following lunch at a nearby Pizza Hut, the winners took a 45-minute river cruise for a closer look at many of the major waterfront sights, including great views of St Paul’s

Cathedral, the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. Finally, it was down into the London Dungeons Museum for some horror and history before embarking on the return journey. A huge well done to Mr Clark for organising the trip, with helpful suggestions from the School Council, and to all the winners for their positive attitude and contributions throughout the year. This exciting reward was well-deserved.

Balloon DebateAs the hot air balloon floated over Ancient Egypt, another fierce contest was fought for who would be crowned the new king or queen of the Year 6 Balloon Debate. Ms Corser, as Cleopatra, made the welcome and introduction speech. This year, our Sixth Form judges (Imogen Ramsdale, Caitlin Ellis and Ethan Griffin-McCleary) awarded the first place biography project prize to Otis

Headon (Jesus Christ), the first place ‘dead’ famous costume prize to Tom Harrowven (Neil Armstrong), third place biography project prize went to Henry Kerrison (Roald Dahl) and Charlie Porter earned second place costume prize (Horatio Nelson). It was wonderful to welcome Mrs Beedell from Langley Prep School and her Year 6 class for our annual competition.