On 8th November we enjoyed anevening of both inspiration andachievement at Park House, whenwe were joined by guest speakerDanny Crates to celebrate thesuccesses of ex-Year 11 students atour Annual Prize Giving Ceremony.

As Athens Paralympic 800 metre goldmedallist, world champion and worldrecord holder, Danny spoke inspirationallyabout overcoming hurdles and settingnew personal challenges to the audienceof past and present students, parents,Governors and friends of Park House.You can read more details about Danny’s

inspirational achievements in the specialprofile on page 4. Danny was, of course,also a particularly fitting choice as guestof honour, as he had already workedclosely with a number of our students asa sports mentor during the two years oftheir GCSE and BTEC studies.

This was truly inspirational PrizeGiving, which celebrated the many andwide-ranging achievements of ourstudents. Certificates and prizes wereawarded for both academic achievementand students’ contributions to the schooland the wider community. There werealso outstanding performances by the

school’s highly successful Swing Band,which includes members of the ex-Year11 year group who deservedly receivedtheir Music Colours.

The evening was rounded off by a postpresentation reception for students andguests, generously hosted by the ParkHouse School Association.

Full coverage of the evening, togetherwith a complete list of this year’s prize-winners follows on pages 2-3. This setsthe tone for an edition of Personal Bestwhich reflects of another term of inspiringachievement by students at Park House.● Derek Peaple, Headteacher

Issue 8 – Winter 2006/7Park House School & Sports College Newsletter

Inspiring achievement!

PH

OTO

: Wad

del

l Dig

ital

Issue 8 – Winter 2006/7Park House School & Sports College Newsletter

2

Poonam AnandInformation Technology

Matthew GreenPhysical Education

Michael GreenhalghChemistry, Latin

Mathematics, Music Full ColoursThe Neil Jones Memorial PrizeThe Gil Appleby Memorial Prize

Christopher HarperMusic, Music Full Colours

The Gil Appleby Memorial Prize

Mark HaywardFood Technology

The Gil Appleby Memorial Prize

Gemma LeggPhysics

Helen BateBusiness Studies

The J. Roberts SHield

Tom BishopThe Eileen Hanks Cup

James CartwrightMusic Technology

Abigail ClementsFrench

Year11PrizeGiving

As ever, the swing bandwere on great form

Head GirlVicki Maggs

Danny Crates – humourous andinspirational

3

Thomas OverendMusic Colours

Alice BillingtonMusic Full Colours

The Governor’s Prize (Community)

The Gordon Clews Memorial Prize

Matthew CollinsMusic Full Colours

Rosie WareMusic Full Colours

Names?Drama?

Name?Prize?

Name?Prize?

Name?Prize?

Name?Prize?

NamesPrizes

James MetcalfeGeography

Hannah SmithThe Schneider Memorial Prize

Katie TownsendTextiles

Stephanie TownsendDance

Thomas WatersGerman

The Paul Barker Memorial PrizeThe Gil Appleby Memorial Prize

Name?Prize?

Fiona OsbourneArt

Helen PirouetDouble Science

Sarah RyanEnglish Language

Oliver SimpsonResistant MaterialsMusic Full Colours

Following inspirational visits in the last twelve months by Sir CliveWoodward and Dame Kelly Holmes we were delighted to hear an equally

inspirational, but as yet untitled, Danny Crates at our Year 11 Prize Giving.

Looking forward to a promising rugby career, Danny lost his right arm in an horrificcar crash in 1994 after which, he admitted with a wry smile to an enthralled ParkHouse audience, that he followed the Jack Daniels approach to rehabilitation. Ofcourse by this he didn’t mean he intended becoming an alcoholic. Instead, hetook the view that in order to get used to his loss he may as well confront ithead-on by socialising as much as he could!

Undeterred by his so-called disability Danny then resumed his previouslysuccessful county and club Rugby career, frustrating many a team byoutpacing “able-bodied” opponents on the wing, particularly enjoying anincident when half of the opposing team tried and failed to catch him! As

the UK’s only amputee rugby player, Danny attracted a lot of worldwidemedia attention – however, his fame wasn’t yet as its peak...

Determined to live life to the full Danny took up scuba diving, eventuallybecoming a fully qualified instructor working in Australia. This then led to

another new-found level of fame when Danny returned to the UK to work in aSea Life centre as a shark-diver. As he said “I wasn't sure it was their bestdecision to employ a one-armed man to swim with sharks!”

A chance meeting led Danny to be inspired by a paralympian athlete totake up running competitively. Danny prides himself on his positiveoutlook, but admitted to an all-time low when after just two years ofpreparation he entered the Sydney Paralympics and finished in bronzeposition. Many of us might see that as a success story but not Danny,

“I went back to my room and threw the bronze medal on the bed indisgust. I had missed gold by the narrowest of margins and I knew I

could have done better...”

However, having overcome worse, Danny was more determined than everto achieve his aim of gold and did so with great style in Athens in 2004 ayear in which he also achieved the 800m world record. Looking ahead toBeijing 2008 as 800 metre gold medallist, world champion and worldrecord holder, Danny had one last bit of advice for the Park House

audience, “We all face difficult challenges, no matter how small, on adaily basis – the trick is to recognise them as opportunities and face

them positively.” ● C Waddell

4

Danny Crates on his wayto Gold in Athens

Danny Crates– born to run

A star in the making?Oh no she isn’t...Oh yes she is!From the early age of eight, Clare Butler hasperformed annually in pantomimes at The NewburyCorn Exchange. For five years this was under thedirection of Jeff Clarke with ‘Opera Della Luna’performing in Cinderella, Robinson Crusoe, Aladdin,Sleeping Beauty and Robin Hood in numerous rolesfrom Peko the Pink Pekinese to Gandolf the Bulldog!

Since then, for the last three years, the ‘Hiss and Boo’company have taken pantomime production over at TheCorn Exchange under the direction of Cal McCrystal. Aperformance in Jack and the Beanstalk was followed by aClare’s role as understudy to Cinderella at the age offourteen. This was a new level of pressure for Clare, “I hadtwo weeks to learn Cinderella’s script and musical numbersas well as learning my other part. It was an amazingexperience to work closely with the choreographer, musicaldirector and other lead actors.”

This year Clare is busy rehearsing for her third ‘Hiss andBoo’ production, Dick Whittington and will be playing no lessthan three roles – Sultana, Cat’s girlfriend and the Sailor’sgirlfriend. “Once rehearsals begin I have to put on hold all myother outside activities – dance, drama and music lessons,”Clare explains. “As we usually only have two weeks torehearse, pantomime becomes my main commitment,rehearsing everyday after school and all day on Saturdays.”

Clare describes auditions as nerve-wracking. Often actorscompete against 150 other hopefuls when the director mightonly be looking for twelve young actors. The actual auditionprocess can sometimes take as long as four hours .

“I have been fortunate to be chosen each of the last eightyears to perform in the local pantomime. I have worked with some amazing actors, directors, choreographers andmusical directors, They have all taught me a great deal.My

pantomime days will remainwith me forever and I amvery sad that this is the lastyear I will be able to auditionfor a part in the chorus.” ●

5

Clare in her roleas Cinderella’s

understudy last year

Clare is an extremely talented andreliable member of the cast and

has a delightful stage presence. Herabilities and commitment are of a fullyprofessional standard, belying her young age… I will keep an eye on herfuture career and look forward toworking with her on other projects. She is a pleasure to work with and avery good influence on youngermembers of the team.

Cal McCrystal, Comedy Director, Cirque du Soleil

‘‘’’

Whilst many were having theirusual Saturday morning lie-in onthe 8th July, a group of fortypupils, ranging from years 8 –12, embarked on 10 days ofsoaking up the sun in the southof France on the FrenchExchange. This year’s trip provedto be one of the most successfulwith the largest intake ofstudents, all of whom wereexcited and raring to go.

After a day racing throughthe countryside on Eurostarand TGV, we finally arrivedexhausted but ready to meetour hosts. Having all gone ourseparate ways, it would beanother three days before we allofficially met up again.Meantime many of us foundourselves sat in street caféswatching the World Cup Finalbetween France and Italy,surrounded by chantingFrenchmen. After the 90minutes was up the moodturned rather sour as thestreets of Bagnols-sur-Cèzebegan to flood with Italians. Itwas a hot topic when we allmet up again – the question oneveryone’s lips being "Did youwatch the match?".

The first major excursion wasa packed day of boating on theMed, lounging on the beach,shopping in Montpellier and

Alors que la plupart des gensfaisaient une grasse matinée le 8juillet, un groupe de quaranteétudiants, des Years 8 – 12, allaitembarquer pour un séjour de dixjours sous le soleil du sud de laFrance.

Après une journée devoyage en Eurostar et TGV,nous sommes enfin arrivés, surles genoux, mais tout excitésde rencontrer noscorrespondants. Il nous restaitencore trois jours avant qu’onne se voit à nouveau, car nousallions tous dans nos famillesrespectives, mais pourtant lejour suivant, on s’est retrouvésdans des bars ou cafés, afinde regarder tous ensemble laCoupe du Monde à la télé –France contre Italie.

Mais 90 minutes après,l’atmosphère dans les ruess’était dégradé, et les rues deBagnols-sur-Cèze avaient étéinondées par les fans italiens.C’était un grand sujet deconversation sur nos lèvresquand on s’est vus la foisd’après – « Où as-tu regardé lematch ? Et avec qui ? Qu’enas-tu pensé ?…»

La première excursion étaitune journée à faire du bateau,s’allonger sur la plage, faire lesmagasins à Montpellier et puisle patinage, qui avait déjà

C’est le Fun!then putting all of our energyinto le patinage (ice skating)…unless of course you wereEmily Hodges who managed toput all of her energy intofracturing her elbow.

A few sweltering days laterwe all regrouped once again tovisit le marché d’Uzès, atypically provençale town witha bustling street market sellingall kinds of antiques. Followingthat came one of the highlightsof the trip – a tour of theHaribo factory. Here, it’s fair tosay we were all kids in a candyshop, grabbing kilogram bagsof our favourite Haribo sweetsto take home.

Those of you who were onthe trip will remember the neverending coach journey to ournext destination where thecoach driver successfullymanaged to lead us out in tothe middle of nowhere and thenrealise he was lost. Upon oureventual arrival at the waterpark, La Boucarasse, we wereall set to escape from the heatof the bus and refresh ourselvesin the pool.

Outside of the groupexcursions, our hosts neverran out of things for us to do.For the third consecutive time Istayed with my partner,Romain who wrote an article

for Personal Best in Spring2006. Romain took me leapingoff cliffs at la Roque-sur-Cèze,windsurfing on the Rhône andcanoeing down the Ardèche.Other hosts frequently heldparties, the most memorableof which was at a girl calledAnaïs’ house involving a pool,a huge buffet and a horrificmess the end!

The French Exchange reallyis a memorable experience andI’d recommend it to anyone. Itgives you a network of friendswith whom you can keep intouch, and lets you fullyunderstand the way in whichEnglish and French culturesdiffer. After doing this exchangeyou’re bound to see the Frenchin a different light!● Andrew Stevenson,

Student Editor

“The FrenchExchange reallyis a memorableexperience andI’d recommend

it to anyone.”

PHOTO: Andrew Stevenson

PHOTO: Andrew Stevenson

C’est le Fun!

épuisé toute notre énergie (àmoins que vous ne soyezEmily Hodge, qui a mis touteson énergie à tomber sur lapiste et fracturer son coude !)

Après quelques jours d’unechaleur étouffante, nous noussommes retrouvés pour visiterle marché d’Uzès, une villetypiquement provençale avecun marché vivant et animé quivend une variété de produitslocaux. En parcourant la ville,on a visité le musée d’Haribo –probablement le clou duséjour – où il est juste de direque nous étions tous commedes enfants dans un magasinde bonbons ! Ceux d’entrevous qui avez fait l’échange,vous souviendrez du voyageen car qui a suivi après. Leconducteur s’est perdu au

trou du cul du monde et nousnous sommes retrouvés aumilieu de nulle part. En arrivantau parc aquatique, appelé LaBouscarasse, il nous tardaitd’échapper à la chaleur et serafraîchir dans la piscine.

En dehors des excursions,nos correspondants avaienttoujours quelque chose ànous faire faire. Pour latroisième fois, je restais chezmon corres’, Romain, qui m’aemmené sauter des falaises,faire de la planche à voile surle Rhône et faire de canoë lelong de l’Ardèche. D’autrescorrespondants ont fait lafête…la plus marquante étantcelle d’ Anaïs où il y avait unepiscine, un immense buffet etquelques chaises cassées à lafin !

L’échange est uneexpérience inoubliable et je lerecommande à tout le monde.Il établi un réseau d’amis surl’autre côté de la Manche avecqui tu peux toujourscorrespondre, et il vous laissedécouvrir une culturecomplètement unique. Aprèsavoir fait cet échange, vous neverrez jamais encore lesFrançais dans la mêmemanière !● Andrew Stevenson,

Editeur Etudiant

PHOTO: Andrew Stevenson

PHOTO: Andrew Stevenson

Creativity in design and technology was the theme for the West BerkshireCOSMIC challenge which took place at the end of the Summer term.

Following an exhibition at Bayer’s Newbury offices, the panel ofjudges had their work cut out to select just two pieces of work fromeach age range, Key Stage 3, GCSE and A-Level. Park Housestudents Oli Simpson (GCSE) and David Gould (A’ Level) entered twosuperb pieces of work. Oli had produced a point of sale display foran electric guitar vs acoustic guitar CD.

David’s work also had a guitar theme; a scale prototype of guitarwith an interchangeable body together with a point of sale display.Oli’s work was awarded the runner up place at GCSE. David’s workwas selected for display at Avonbank House, as they are expecting avisit from OFSTED shortly! The judges commended both students forthe creativity and high quality of their work. ● Mr Wilson

RISING TO THECHALLENGE…

David Gould – commended by the judges for his point of sale idea

Oli Simpson – his work was also commended by the judges

This time last year in issue five of Personal Best wefeatured Year 13 student Gareth Waters who wasmaking a name for himself in the world of Karate. Since then we have been joined by Gareth's brotherTom who is also following his lead by making a namefor himself in Karate.

Both members of the Su-Ha-Ri Club where they practisethe Wado-Ryu (Way of Peace) style. The brothers havebeen succesful in this year’s selection for England’s squadwho attended the European Championships this year.Gareth qualified in one fight for the full squad in the under70kg category while Tom qualified in three fights winningtwo of them for a place in the 15-17 age group.

When we last spoke to Gareth, who left us in Summer2006, he was hoping to have a gap year doing some workexperience and volunteering with MENCAP. As for Tom, wellhe's studying hard this year for exams in Maths, Biology,German, Economics and English Literature. And of courseyou can see Tom in our line-up of Year 11 prize winners! ●

The Waters Boys

Mark Forrest is certainlybecoming well known in theworld of athletics. He hasrecently achieved a veryimpressive time of 51.76s in the under-15 age group.This was the best result this

season in the south east and sixth fastest in the UK – see www.powerof10.infofor more information on rankings and achievementtargets. We hope he will be somebody to watch out forin the 2012 Olympics.

Mark is running frequently in competitions achieving highplaces in the AAA’s English schools and South of Englandcompetitions. Mr Peaple commented, “I have seen Markrun at a ten-mile charity event and he reminds me of ayoung Steve Cram – I was impressed by his strength!”

Mark is also a keen football player and has had trials withSouthampton, which he is waiting to hear about, althoughas yet he remains undecided about his future in sport. ●

Settinga pace

The Park House School Association has been busy thisterm with its AGM in October and some new membersbeing voted on the committee. The PHSA has steppedin to help at lots of school events this term. Maybe moreimportantly we have given the school a cheque for over£5,000 towards the “Wish Lists” of various schooldepartments which include laptops, musicalinstruments, smoke machines, cameras, interactivewhite boards along other items. The money raised camefrom an advent bizarre, Years 7 and 8 discos and variousquiz and bingo nights. The money also includes asubstantial amount of matched funding from Vodafone.A big thank you to all parents for your help and supportover this last term.

Our current fundraising activity is aimed at replacingdamaged lockers and providing additional new lockers forall students and also supporting the 2007 department wishlists! Next term we are having a Quiz Night on 26 January2007 and an evening of Bingo towards the end of the term.

Remember, if you are a Vodafone employee and happy tohelp in any capacity – even if it is donating a raffle prize –it would be very useful if you could let yourself be known tothe PHSA because Vodafone can help us raise even moremoney for the school by matching funds already raised oncertain events – up to 5 times a year! Perhaps the

Coming up withthe goods again...

Break-in ResponseShows Strength of Spirit

Sue Shelley of PHSA, presenting Mr Peaple with a most welcome cheque!

The strength and spirit of the Park House community was clearly demonstrated earlier this term whenit took us less than twenty-four hours to recover from the mindless vandalism that occurred across theschool site during the early hours of 26 September.

Entering the back of the site through the Monks Lane Field, a group of hooded vandals began by smashingvirtually every window in the Modern Languages, Humanities and Design Technology Blocks. They then brokeinto the main corridor, where they destroyed the computers which had been newly installed in the Sixth FormStudy Centre as well as shattering the glass petition which separates the Dining Room from the main corridor.Vending machines in the Sixth form Common Room were also destroyed.

The sheer volume of broken glass on key areas of the site obviously posed a major health and safety riskand meant that we had no choice but to only open the school for our examination classes in Years 11, 12 and13. These were rapidly re-roomed in the unaffected areas of the school by Mrs Foster and Mrs Mittell. In themeantime, whilst Business Manager Mrs Futcher handled the inevitable media interest generated by thepartial closure notice issued on the radio, Site Manager John Cheney worked tirelessly throughout the day toensure that learning would not be further disrupted and that the damage would be repaired as quickly aspossible. As a result of his outstanding efforts, and the support of both Castle Windows and cleaning companyICM, we were able to reopen as normal for lesson one on Wednesday 27th September!

I am most grateful for all the messages of support which we received following the incident and for theunderstanding shown by parents and students throughout our response. The police investigation into theincident continues. ● D Peaple

company you work for already do a fund matching schemeplease call Jo Brunsden on 01635 255501 to discuss.Thank you to all those Vodafone parents who have alreadyhelped us this term.

Best wishes to everyone for Christmas and the New Yearwe look forward to seeing you at our next event.● Jo Brunsden & Sue Shelley PHSA

STOP PRESS – PHSA 200 club winners – Mrs Gayle Futcher (no relation to Sue!) and Mrs Sophie Parker-Hodds.

GoingGreenA group has been specificallyset up to work alongside thenew school council and existingpond building club. It aims tofocus on various key areas todo with the environment, suchas encouraging healthy living,reducing the amount of litter andrubbish around the school, increasing the amount of recycling and raising awareness of the amount ofenergy we use. The eco-action team hopes to persuade students to be healthier and plans to providemore healthy snacks and to ensure that the green machine is stocked up regularly by the schoolcouncil. The team would like to encourage both students and staff to use yellow recycling bags andwill be recruiting recycling monitors from each form. We will be asking teachers to turn off lights whenthey are not in use, in order to reduce the amount of energy used. The team aims to provide a noticeboard, which will be up-dated regularly, in order to inform the school of the group s progress.

We would like to work towards the Eco-Schools Green Flag award, given to schools with highachievement in their programme, and are looking forward to making a real difference! If you would likeany more information please contact Miss Clark in the art department or visit the Eco-Schools websiteat www.ecoschools.org ● Nick Whitworth 10 Gamma (Nick’s Andy Goldsworthy style sculpture appears top right)

Park House has recently taken the very positive step of joining thenational Eco-schools action plan and is well on the way to establishingitself as an environmentally friendly school.

This year’s Year 10 art GCSE students have started their first unit of course work by looking at publicsculpture. They were able to experience sculptures first hand at the Roche Court Sculpture Gardensnear Salisbury including the work of Richard Long. The act of looking at sculpture in a location has somuch more impact than looking at photographs of the work in a book. Students were able toexperience the scale and texture, walk around the work and in some cases walk through it! Thisenabled them to experience and feel much more of what the artist intended.On returning to school students were introduced to another ‘land artist’, Andy Goldsworthy, andenjoyed the experience of creating sculptures in the environment (in this case the school groundswhich were looking very beautiful with all the autumn colours) using natural materials. The studentswere extremely inventive, sewing leaves together using pine needles or piercing leaves in spirals ontothe bark of a tree trunk using twigs – all techniques inspired by Andy Goldsworthy.Students are now going on to create more permanent sculptures in clay, but there is still evidence oftheir transient sculptures if you look hard enough in the wooded area near the cricket pitch. ● L Waddell

Goldsworthyesque? By that we mean that our Year 10 students have beenworking in the style of Andy Goldsworthy. It could be argued that AndyGoldsworthy is the most environmentally friendly sculptor there is because heonly uses readily available natural materials in the place where he finds them.

Goldsworthyesque

Nathan Hart following in AndyGoldsworthy’s leafy footsteps

It’s fair to say that student lifeaway from Park House and homewas a real eye-opener for HollySimpson. However, after someearly misgivings and thoughts oftransferring to another college,Holly is now settling in nicely atRoyal Holloway, University ofLondon where she is studying fora BSc in Management withInternational Business.

“Some of the PHd students runsome of our workshops which, because of the diverse range of nationalitiesand languages present, are sometimes difficult to understand. It is fair to saythat although contracted to do it some of the PHd students clearly don't likegiving these lectures” explained Holly. “I am relieved to say that I am nowused to these differences and I am looking forward to the rest of my timehere although I have already had two accounting exams this term!”

Founded as a female only university in 1879 by Thomas Holloway, atypically philanthropic Victorian who made his fortune by selling patentedmedicines, Royal Holloway only allowed male undergraduates in 1965. Thebuildings continue to house The Royal Holloway Collection – a Victorian artcollection which is further evidence of Thomas Holloway’s generosity. Thisgenerous tradition has been continued in the award of £1000 BedfordAcademic Scholarships to students achieving three A’s at A-level withoutretakes – Holly being one of the well-deserving recipients this academic year.

After moving in to the amazing student halls in the Founder’s Building Hollydescribed the accommodation as, “something like Hogwarts – Harry Potter’sschool – but not as clean and tidy. It can also be cold and draughty and forthe first few days of term we had no hot water at all!” Despite not having thecreature comforts of home the halls provide a welcome opportunity for Hollyto socialise with fellow students – her corridor alone has 60 rooms – “Everyone gets to know each other when we use the wireless internet in thecorridors because it doesn't work in our rooms!”

So apart from studying and the obvious student pastimes in the college barwhat else interests Holly? “I have joined a choir called Absolute Harmony –we perform everything a capella. And I’ve also thrown myself into a newhobby of cheerleading and I have joined the Royal Holloway Tomcats team –

Shock of the new?

a co-ed team which supports thecollege American Football teamcalled the Vikings.

“We just entered the BritishCheerleading Association SouthernClassic Competition in Brighton onSunday 3 December. We came thirdin the Senior Intermediate AdvancedCategory for cheer but did less wellin the dance category.” It all soundslike an easy hobby. “Not at all! Wetrained hard for eight or nine weekson weekdays and at weekends witha thirteen hour final rehearsal beforethe competition. Competition dayitself was seventeen hours!”

Holly is clearly enjoying mixing atuniversity and has been elected as Management Representative for First-yearundergraduates voicing students’ concerns at council meetings. “I've enjoyedmeeting people from different cultures. I have made friends from Germany,Hong Kong, China and America among other countries.”

So what about the future? “I would love to get an Internship in the Summerand go to New York! There is also a slim chance of taking part in an exchangeyear with an American university. Eventually I can see myself in InvestmentBanking or maybe even Events Management.

“In the meantime I am looking forward to Christmas and meeting up withmy friends in Newbury. We've all been keeping in touch via facebook,myspace and internet!”

We look forward to hearing how Holly’s academic career goes in futurealthough we don’t doubt that she will do very well in whatever direction she chooses. ● C Waddell

For more information on Royal Holloway visit www.rhul.ac.uk

Personal Best catches up with ex-student Holly Simpson…

On Sunday 17th September, Park House hosted the Inter-SchoolsShow Jumping at The Royal County of Berkshire Show.

A total of 30 teams from schools all over the area entered butPark House accrued the most points overall, therefore winningour own shield!

The 2ft team came 1st, the 2.6ft team came 2nd and the 3ftteam came 5th.

Mr Peaple and Mrs Robinson Slater were on duty to presentthe prizes and only some nifty footwork on their behalf meantthat they weren’t squashed by several horses and ponies leapingaround when the hot air balloons were launched and the KingsTroop guns were fired!!

Many thanks and congratulations to the whole squad: Ben Bishop, Jack Bishop, Rebecca Blackburn, Hannah Brown,Biz Dance, Katie Dyer, Alice Gorman, Lizzie Harris,Georgie Homersham, Rosie Jolliffe, Vikki Lambell,Vicky Osborne, Glenn Ryder-Phillips, Jamie Ryder-Phillips,Annie Ward, Katie Yockney. ● Jane Brown. Photos used withkind permission of Greg Knight of Ruiral Shots.

Equestrian Success

Winning the Bayer world cup tournament in May seemed like a lifetime ago. However, when 25th September came the year 9 Girlsfootball team were keen to hand in their passports and prepare fortheir prize of a trip to Germany.

It was 4.30am(!) when I met the students and I thought that they wouldstill be half asleep, but the excitement must have kicked in as I had toremind them that local residents were probably still asleep. Once Mr Treehad arrived we could set off.

This was very different to most school trips. Firstly, we were beingaccompanied by the winning boys’ team from Trinity School, and twoemployees of Bayer who had been involved in the organisation of the event.Secondly, we were flying over to Dusseldorf – a treat as school journeys toEurope normally involve long coach journeys. Thirdly, the students didn’tpay, this was an all expenses paid trip funded by Bayer.

We were only in Germany for the day but were looked after extremelywell. Once we had arrived in Germany and the girls had tried to translatesome of the signs at the airport, we were taken to Bayer Arena,Leverkusen. Here we were greeted and taken to the VIP restaurant forlunch. The restaurant was overlooking the pitch and the restaurant hadbrought in the chef especially to cook for us. There was an amazing rangeof food and we all did our best to eat as much as possible, whilst sat athigh stools looking at the pitch. You could imagine how great this would beon a match day. Obviously, students were keen to take photos of everythingto remember the day and share with family and friends when they returned.

Following on from lunch we had a tour of the stadium, including the cellwhere hooligans were previously taken, the changing rooms where DavidBeckham had sat, the press conference room and of course themerchandise shop! The final part of the day was a free kick competitionand awards of a goodie bag. Prior to us leaving there was one more thingto do and that was to meet Ulf Kirsten. He has earned 100 internationalcaps for Germany, including playing in Euro and World Cup tournamentsand scored 35 international goals. This former Bayer Leverkusen playerpresented signed photos to all students and joined us for a group photo.

Considering most tournament winners are generally presented with acertificate and medal this trip, during the World Cup year, was a wonderfulreward. The students thoroughly enjoyed it and will remember it for yearsto come. ● Miss Hayes – Team Coach, photos by Megan Bullock

Winning Girls Fly to Germany...

Football in the autumn term focuses on the Newbury District 5-a-side tournaments and the English Schools Football Association(ESSFA) Cup matches.

Newbury District 5-a-side TournamentsThe season started well for the Under 15 girls; team. In the 5-a-sidecompetition that was held at New Greenham Park, they had to settle forrunner-up. This was unfortunate as the team had not lost any games andhad not even conceded a goal. Sometimes luck is not on your side and afew more goals could have meant winners instead of runner up medals.

Well done girls for an excellent team effort, we know what we have to do tobring the trophy home next year.

The Under 14 Girls team were reigning 5-a-side champions and were notwilling to give up the title easily. They had the added pressure of ParkHouse Boys Team winning their tournament the day before. For the girls itwas a positive start. We played Trinity in the opening game and won. Thiswas unusual, we normal have a slow start in tournaments. The groupstages were not easy, but thanks to Ruby Oliver converting a penalty ParkHouse was ahead and met St. Bartholomews, the in form team, in thefinals. This was going to be tough. We had an early goal that settled thenerves and scored a second. We knew when St. Bartholomews moved theirmost dangerous outfield player into goal that we were secure. The Finalscore was 2 -0 and once again the Trophy came back to Park House.

An excellent result!

More success...

STOP PRESS!English Schools Football Association (ESSFA) CupA superb performance from the team on 4 December! As you can the see from thephoto below the weather was perfect for a cup match. After hitting the cross barand then conceding the first goal the team showed great spirit to equalise.Katherine Evans showed great composure to slot the ball past the keeper. It wasthrough Katherine’s determination that she was able to set up the second goal forRuby Oliver. Final score 2-1 winners and we’re into the next round!

We started the 2006/07 academic year with the news thatthe Youth Sport Trust had nominated Park House as aPartnership School to work with it in developing newpartnerships between Sports Colleges. As one of onlyseventeen Sports Colleges to be nominated in the UK, wewill be instrumental in developing new partnerships betweenSports Colleges with a view to sharing of best practice.

Involvement in the Partnership School Programme isbased upon a combination of outstanding exam results and

Youth Sport Trust announces Partnership schools

The art of success

evidence of a commitment to supporting achievement andpromoting opportunities both within other schools andacross the wider community.

Mr Peaple said, “I was delighted to attend theannouncement of this programme with head teachers fromthe other Partnership schools. This programme is exactlywhat specialist schools were set up to achieve and deliverand our involvement is yet more recognition at a nationallevel of our continued success and innovation.” ●

Our gallery of sports painting are fast becoming famousand rightly so! As you can see the images have beenfeatured in Athletics Weekly recently. Karyn Reidy ofAthletics Weekly commented: “The Headteacher of one ofthe country’s leading sports colleges has expressedbacking to Roald Bradstock’s vision to promote athleticsand the Olympics through artistic imagery.” RoaldBradstock is, for non-athletics enthusiasts is a formerOlympic thrower with an art degree.

Mrs Waddell, Alberte Lauridsen, Emily Walker & Holly Waldronrecently produced a new painting in the style of Hundertwasserrecognition of Danny Crates visit to our Year 11 prize giving – acopy of which was presented to Danny on the evening.

And, there are now additional opportunities to rewardstudents with the introduction of ‘Personal Best’ postcardsfeaturing the first nine of these paintings. Each term teachingstaff will nominate three students per teaching group for goodeffort, good achievement and good improvement. Chosenstudents will receive a postcard through the post from theHeadteacher. Students who achieve the most postcards will beinvited to a meeting with the Head and senior staff and will beput forward as a candidate for the Wall of Fame situated in theMain Hall! ● Cate Robinson-Slater

Get your motor running,head out on the highway...Well, alright just as far as the Harley dealer anyway. Vicki Maggs reports on the October 2006 USA Trip

Throughout October half term a number of students rangingfrom years 8-13 braved an 8 hour plane journey (and its‘delectable cuisine') to visit the east coast of America -Boston, Massachusetts.

After two plane journeys, and countless mimicking of theAmerican accent, we finally reached Boston Airport ready for thefinal part of our journey into what would be 'home' for the nextfive days – the characteristic town of Laconia. And we certainlytravelled in style, chauffeured by none only than the typical bigyellow school bus.

Reaching the town, but more specifically the high school, was asurreal experience. We were introduced to the school in stylewith a personalised welcome message for Park house displayedoutside the school grounds, and a large crowd of excitableAmericans gathering near the bus. They were soon to be joinedby equally excitable “British kids” and once again began themimicking of the two accents, something of which lasted wellinto the trip!

After a night with the homestays we were ready to face amorning in the high/middleschools – a very early morning,starting at between 5-6am!Needless to say, everyone wasup for the event and ready toexperience the Americanschools. These schools wereno exception to those seen onTV, it was incredible to see so many differences between ParkHouse and the Laconia Schools – they even served DominoesPizza in the canteen! The day also brought us to the HarleyDavidson superstore where some lucky or perhaps madindividuals were kitted up in Harley Davidson helmets and Bikesto ‘test for comfort’ – including Mr. Watkins and Ms Stubbs! Thiswas just one of the amazing activities we shared while touringthe surrounding areas of Laconia, including numerous shoppingsprees, the opportunity to create our own ice cream sundaes,

and trips into the WhiteMountains, and that was justin the daytime. Our homestays provided an excellenttimetable of entertainment forthe evenings, with socialgatherings, trips to arcades,water sports, more shopping,trips to the cinema, or even atrip to the corn maze – whichprovided a ‘scary experience’ according to fellow sixth formers!On Saturday we experienced a typical American football game,complete with the marching band and cheerleaders and nationalanthem. It was fantastic to see so much enthusiasm going intoone football game! The five days we spent with out home staysseemed to fly by, and by Monday no one wanted to leave! Thereare some ‘wicked cool’ people living in Laconia (phrase of theholiday) that myself and others have now become so close to,we cant wait to have them back in February!

After saying goodbye to the home stays, the final five days ofthe trip saw us staying in a local hotel, where pizza wasdelivered a countless amount of times to the corridor of roomswe were staying in! Throughout this time we ventured on to visitthe sights and surroundings of Boston, Cape Code, RhodeIsland, and Provincetown (to name a few) where we experiencedWhale Watching, visited the Salem Witch Museum and finallydiscovered Harvard University – where everyone had to get theirHarvard hoody, ready to wear home that evening.

The American Exchange was a fantastic and enjoyableexperience. Not only did we all take part in and learn about theAmerican way of life, but we all created new friendships, bothwith students from the school itself but also with those stayingaround Laconia. There was always something to do, with a widerange of activities available to see or take part in throughout theten days we stayed in America. It was an amazing trip, and somany were sad to see it end.

We can’t wait to have ourhome stays back in February, which will no doubt be as enjoyable as the trip to America proved to be in October. ● Vicki Maggs, Head Girl

“I am always amazed at howmany parents speak to meand express the wish thatthey had learned a languageat school. They often regretthat their careers would havebenefited so much if theyhad improved their foreignlanguage skills. In fact Year12 and 13 students oftenexpress the same regret.”

Steve Oxley has been atPark House as Head ofModern Languages for just

over a year, having joined usfrom Theale Green. With eleven years experience Mr.Oxley’s has great enthusiasm for teaching modernlanguages and is looking forward to widening the uptake of foreign language courses at the school as well asinvestigating the possibility of adult language learning atPark House. “We offer our students plenty of opportunitiesto take trips to Europe to support their school work. MrsStubbs is organising a Year 7 trip to Paris in July and wealso have annual French and German exchanges plus workexperience placements in France and Germany inFebruary.” The school also offers after-school Spanish andGerman GCSEs as part of its enrichment programme.

At the moment, however, Mr Oxley is practising anotherlanguage – baby talk. “With a two year old and an eightweek old baby, life is very hectic. In fact I love playing squashand jogging but my time is limited. I have done the GreatNorth run before but finding time in my busy schedule fortraining for the next one is almost impossible!” ●

Martyne Ellard has enjoyedher first term here as Head ofEnglish. Joining us here fromWaingels Comprehensive inWoodley near Reading whereshe was also Head ofDepartment. “My firstimpressions of Park Houseare very good. I am pleasedto appear in the schoolnewsletter as it is something Ihave been involved in beforeat my previous schools. I amkeen for English Language

students to contribute more toPersonal Best as there is a big

difference in journalistic writing styles compared to prosestyles. It would be good experience for some of thestudents to work with the Personal Best Team.”

“We have some interesting highlights coming up in theEnglish department this year – our Year 11 students arestudying ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee as a set textand we will be taking them to London to see an adaptationof the book.

“And, in March our Year 9 groups who are studyingShakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ will be joining aday-long workshop here with The Watermill Theatre.”

As for Mrs Ellard’s spare time she is a keen rambler – shewalked much of the coastline around Studland Bay inDorset during half term. “I have also walked the twelve-mileLambourn Valley Way recently. But, it’s important to remindthe students of my main hobby – reading books!” ●

The PE department hasappointed Cerys Mumford’sreplacement and was pleasedto be joined by Alex Marshallin September who will mainlylook after Girl’s hockey in theWinter terms plus Summersports including athletics.Miss Marshall also has theadded responsibility of being the new House Tutorfor Beech House.

Miss Marshall joins usfollowing her sports degreefrom Oxford Brookes and herteaching certificate from Reading University. “We are lookingforward to house sports competitions. We came secondoverall in House Dance (see page XX) and we expect to dowell in Rugby and hockey and recently had a clean sweepin Badminton.”

As a regular hockey player for Reading Women’s teamMiss Marshall’s competitive streak is clear. “I wasparticularly pleased when I and the Park House Girls hockey team visited my teaching practice school – TheCharter’s School in Ascot - and won!” With that kind of spiritwe’re sure Miss Marshall will help us in our tradition ofsporting success. ●

Chemaine Challenger – anexcellent name for somebodyfacing the recent politicalissue of a lack of interest inscience education. Howeveras you can read opposite,Miss Challenger and the restof the science department aremaking sure that Park Houseencourages students toachieve their best in Science.Chemaine is also new HouseTutor for Cedar House.

Having worked previously atthe AWE in Aldermaston as aresearch scientist Miss Challenger brought a wealth ofexperience to the Science department when she joined usthree years ago. “I am enjoying teaching and in particular Iam pleased to see that the AWE has implemented amentoring scheme which our students are benefiting fromand will hopefully encourage some of them into sciencebased careers in the future.”

And what about House activities? “Let’s just say that Ihope Cedar perform well in the forthcoming House Sportscompetitions and that I am grateful to my student team –Miles Evans, Luke Jenner, Katie Ward and Louis Evans fortheir help and support!” ●

Staff meeting… Introducing new and not-so-newteachers at Park House School

We were recently selected by the Physics Department torepresent the school in the annual Science and EngineeringChallenge organised by the Atomic Weapons Establishment(AWE) in Aldermaston, one of the biggest employers of sciencegraduates in the South of England.

Our team of six Physics students, consisting of Jake Noden,Michael Greenhalgh, Calum Stapley, Nick Weston, Oliver Simpsonand Kourosh Newman-Zand, travelled to Tadley Community Centreto pit our engineering skills against 11 other teams. These teamsincluded several local sixth forms and colleges, a team ofundergraduates from Thames Valley University and even threeteachers’ teams. Against such tough competition we weren’t surewhat to expect, but we were confident that we would be able tocome up with the goods somehow.

The challenge was to build a self-propelled vehicle from a varietyof modelling materials, including wood, balloons, CD’s andmousetraps! The vehicle had to pass four challenges to test itscapabilities - a speed test over 4 metres, a long-distance run, anaccuracy test and finally a speed knockout tournament. The pointsfrom these events were added up, along with those from a toughPhysics quiz we did over lunch, to give the overall rankings.

Three hours might sound like a long time to design and engineera simple vehicle, but in fact we needed every minute available. Weexperimented with various different methods of propulsion, butdecided in the end to go with the god old-fashioned elastic bandsas they provided the best thrust. Several of the other teams,

INNOVATION ABOUNDS AT AWE’S SCIENCE CHALLENGE

Fifteen pupils in Year 10 have had the opportunity to talkto special Science Mentors from AWE about science inrelation to careers and general scientific issues. The AWEmentors come in every six or seven weeks and so far wehave had two sessions.

During the first session we showed them around the schoolwhich gave them a chance to ask any questions they mighthave. We then had a question and answer session so theycould get to know us a bit better. We now know our mentorsvery well and they are trying to give us guidance and help usmake decisions about our futures which may include careersin science. however, they don’t just guide us down thescience path they also discuss other careers options with us

– discussing what subjects we like and which might be bestsuited to us.

The mentors are all really nice and friendly and definitelyknow what they are talking about. It is a good way to discussyour career, your ambitions in life and what you plan to doafter you’ve left school. And, although their main focus isscience we sometimes get carried away and start talkingabout other subjects including our hobbies and generalinterests. We even know what the mentors interests andhobbies are.

We think that we have been very lucky to be given thisopportunity as not everyone gets this chance. it has reallyhelped us and guided us and we are all looking forward tothe next sessions. Thank you to the mentors for giving uptheir time to come and talk to students and thank you to MissChallenger for organising it. It has really helped us all.● Alex Graham & Peter Holdway

including Dr. Singh’s, designed incredibly complex systems, andlooked on in horror as our simple car beat them at every test. It mayhave looked as though it was made purely from gaffer tape, yet itdid the job better than any other vehicle.

The propulsion and grip that the rear wheels provided to thevehicle was our greatest advantage. No other team had used all fourCD’s across the rear of the vehicle with such a wide wheel width,along with glass paper to provide extra grip on a slippery floorsurface, as well as we did. Also our front wheels were just bearings,something that no other team had managed to use as they couldnot see how to attach them.

We were amazed, and more than a little excited, that we had wonthe overall challenge, especially since our only target at the start ofthe day was to beat St. Bart’s! In addition to the honour of winningsuch a prestigious event, we also took home a lustrous silver trophyand £500 for the Science department, which is being put towardsan end of year revision trip.

We weren’t too sure about entering the challenge at first anddidn’t know what the day would hold, however we were really gladwe gave it a shot. It was immense fun and we enjoyed theexperience of working as a team to engineer a winning vehicle,something that is far more fun than normal classroom study. Best ofall, we proved that 24 years of university education on the part ofthe teachers was no match for us! ● Jake Noden 12 Alpha

For more information on AWE visit www.awe.co.uk

Science Mentors

High EnergyAn electric atmosphere overrode the air ofcompetition in the Main Hall on the 18th October asthe four houses came head to head in House Dance.The event, which was mainly dominated by Beechand Elm, saw a mass of students from all yearscompeting, split into two categories with Years 7 – 9in the junior competition, and Years 10 – 13 in thesenior section.

Over 200 dancers gave it their all in the stunningperformance, being constantly cheered on by a highlyenergetic audience. A variety of solos, duets and groupsperformed in a huge range of styles, which made thecompetition very exciting to watch, but also very difficult tojudge for the panel of judges who came from all corners ofthe country. Tom Croft, an ex-student from Park House, whohas recently made it into England’s rugby 7’s side, travelleddown from Leicester to help judge the event. Will Llewellyn,another ex-pupil who is currently in his 3rd year at theRambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance alsohelped to judge the event alongside former teacher PEteacher Mr Pryor and many others.

The prize for best dance was won by Chris Scott, Clare Butler,Charlie Kingston and Kirsty Smith from Beech Year 11, whowowed us with their dance ‘Around The World’; an energeticcombination of ballet contemporary and street dance.

The award for the most original and entertaining dance,without a doubt, has to go to the 6th form dancers fromBeech, who created a hilarious piece based on a game oftennis. It contained everything from high-tension rallies to astreaker, and even had realistic sound effects!

A special mention should also goes to James Cousins,Naomi Knight, Liam Lockhart and Steph Townsend whoended the competition with a fantastic version of ‘Footloose’.

As we waited for the judges to announce the winning Houseand dance, we were swept away once again with a livelyperformance of ACE Dance Company’s new work,choreographed by Sioda Martin of Motionhouse DanceTheatre. The light-hearted, humourous piece which usedmusic form ‘Dirty Dancing’ and the Arctic Monkeys hit ‘I BetYou Look Good On The Dance Floor’ was a perfect ending toa string of stunning performances, and really encapsulatedthe fun and energetic mood of the whole evening.

There was a high standard of dance throughout the eveningand the atmosphere was buzzing with energy from start tofinish. The competition was neck and neck all the waythrough, however Elm were the overall winners, beatingBeech by the skin of their teeth. A huge congratulationsmust go to Mrs Llewellyn who put so much hard work intocreating such an enjoyable competition and making theevening run so smoothly. However without all thecommitment and enthusiasm from all the dancers thisevening wouldn’t have happened and have been soenjoyable to watch. Well done to all who took part, and Ican’t wait for the next one! ● Andrew Stevenson, Student Editor

photos courtesy of David Llewellyn

An Enriching ExperienceThe students worked extremely hard and the staff enjoyedworking with such enthusiastic, gifted and talented students.Mr Watkins described the Psychology group as “an absolutedelight to teach. I can honestly say that they always came tothe lessons with inquisitive minds, ready to learn more aboutPsychology.” He was delighted with the results and wanted tocongratulate the group for their exceptional results.

The Drama staff commented that “It has been a trulyrewarding experience to work with such an innovative andcreative group of Drama students. Without exceptioneveryone collaborated and performed to the best of theirability creating the most outstanding work the departmenthas seen. The group now performs under the name of ‘ExitStage Left’ and are currently working towards a performanceat the Edinburgh Festival in August 2007.”

The Economics Group was a small group of four studentsand Mrs Langford-Holt commented that “Working with a groupof highly motivated pupils was very enjoyable and rewarding.Initially I was worried about all of us maintaining ourconcentration at such a high level after school for two hours,but time always sped by and there was always a lively banterabout economic matters, with a number of very interestingdebates in between the share out of the drinks and biscuits.”

The History Group achieved some excellent results with thirteen students taking the examination in Year 10. Many ofthese students have now gone on to study AS History with MrLardner in Year 11. The school is delighted with the results fromthese enrichment groups and would like to congratulate thestudents and staff for their enthusiasm and their high grades atGCSE. ● Sharon Mittell, Deputy Headteacher

PHOTO: Waddell Digital

A total of 33 students took part in the enrichment GCSE lessons last yearculminating in some excellent examination results.

Berkshire Girls Choir Jersey TourBerkshire Girls Choir went to Jersey to compete in an InternationalChoir Competition. Choirs from all around the world competed in thecompetition.

While we were in Jersey we also did some extra concerts for aprimary school and in a local Methodist Church which attracted lotsof local Jersey town members who wanted to hear us and a coupleof other choirs sing.

The girls who are in Berkshire Girls Choir and all went on the Jerseytour are: Freya Poole, Natalie Powers, Kay Douglass (Year 9), ChloeAnderson (Year 8) and Hannah Green (Year 7). Unfortunately ourchoir didn’t win the competition but we did get some very goodcomments from the adjudicators. We were told that:

● Our singing was sensitive

● We were well prepared

● There was tremendous contrast in our singing and

● We have great potential!

Some other choirs that competed in the competition are Abbott’s HillChamber Choir and another Berkshire Girls Choir which were bothfrom Reading. The winner of our group was DPZ Gimnazjie Celjeform Slovenia and the runners up were Abbott’s Hill Chamber Choir.Overall it was a very fun trip and a great experience. ● Freya Poole

Year 10 Enterprise DayA very successful Enterprise event was held for Year 10 recently forwhich an Enterprise Company, Speakeasy came in and ran the dayalong with various members of staff. The theme was centred onstudents inventing and developing a new product.

The winning team consisted of Ottavio Columbro, David Robson,Sophie Weir, Lucy Cooke, Natasha Deacon, Holly Perkin, RachaelPankhurst and Hayleigh Freemantle who produced an outstandingpresentation on their Company Safe and Secure Locking Systems –“Where Safety really is in the palm of your hand”. The product wasdesigned to help solve the common problem losing your keys. Theirdevice would help people gain access to their homes without theuse of a key. The winners received a cash prize of £10 each whichwas awarded by Mr Peaple. Comments from the team included:

Ottavio Columbro: “What a fantastic experience, I am so gladthat we won. It was a great team work effort.”

Sophie Weir: “To perform in front of the panel of judges and ouryear group was petrifying, but I did manage it and enjoyed theexperience.”

David Robson: “I am so glad that everyone enjoyed ourpresentation, and I really thought we would not win, but to becalled as the winners was something out of this world.”

Mater Maria College from Sydney, Australia arrived in UK in September fora tour of England, Scotland and Wales. Arriving in Newbury in October theywere hosted by Park House students. After looking around local places ofinterest their first matches were played on Friday 13th. Park House 1st VIINetball team were really looking forward to their match as they played anAustralian school last December and lost heavily to them so the pressurewas on! The girls were all very nervous as most of the upper school hadcome out to watch the match, but once the warm-up was under way theywere totally focused on the task in hand.

The game began and Park House got off to an excellent start, each teamscoring from their own centre passes the quarter ending 8–7 to MaterMaria. Park House's GK Clair Priest made some fine interceptions whichgave the team great confidence and with a few changes in positions theteam definitely benefited as they came back to win the quarter and levelthe scores at 19–19. The 3rd quarter which always proves to be theweakness in the Park House game arrived far too soon and unfortunatelythis is when the Australian’s took full advantage of our mistakes gaining a31–23 lead.

Some hard talking and more team changes for the park house teamfollowed, and at last Park House re-motivated and re-focused started backout to regain some points lost. Both shooters Helen Bate and LucySmallridge continued their fine form with some great shooting, butunfortunately it wasn’t enough and although Park House actually won thisquarter it wasn’t quite enough to win the game and Park House lost thematch 30–36. Mrs Clarke the coach was exceptionally pleased with theteams performance as this was a very high standard of Netball played andputs them in good stead for the District Tournament at the end ofNovember. A special thanks must go to Mrs Iris Seager and Mrs DebbieGoddard who umpired both the Ist and U16 game so well. ●

The following students have all worked hard to achievesuccess in learning various musical instruments:Mark Shepherd Keyboard Grade 1 DistinctionClaire Whitworth Piano Grade 1 MeritNick Gallo Piano Grade 1 PassClaire Whitworth Flute Grade 1 PassJennie Nash Flute Grade 2 MeritMichaela Day Piano Grade 2 PassHannah Green Flute Grade 2 MeritJasjeet Saund Keyboard Grade 2 PassWilf Lewis Snare Drum Grade 3 MeritKirstyNunn Flute Grade 3 PassHannah Green Recorder Grade 3 MeritPeter Estdale Keyboard Grade 3 DistinctionAmy Lucas-Knight Flute Grade 4 PassNick Gallo French Horn Grade 4 PassBertie Lewis Drum Kit Grade 4 PassMark Shepherd Drum Kit Grade 4 MeritHayley Peterson Flute Grade 5 PassDaniel Harris French Horm Grade 5 PassAndrew Scoles E-flat bass Grade 5 MeritRichard Sheircliff Drum Kit Grade 6 PassOliver Simpson Euphonium Grade 7 MeritJamie Ryder-Phillips Drum Kit Grade 7 MeritMichael Greenhalgh Clarinet Grade 8 Merit

WELL DONE! Please let us know when you pass musicexams so we can add you to the list!Congratulations also to Josh Poole in Year 11 who hasbeen successful in gaining a place as a saxophonist in theNational Youth Wind Orchestra of Great Britain. TheOrchestra will be touring in Prague and Northern Bohemiaduring August next year.

Over the summer Josh also successfully auditioned for theNational Saxophone Choir of Great Britain. This is a groupof 30 saxophonists, mainly adult, who perform around thecountry and internationally - they are touring China this yearand recently been on BBC television. Superb achievements– well done! ● H Oxlade and J Garnett

Music Notes

On Tuesday 19th September a small selection of studentsfrom Park House School were given a taste as to what life islike for Hollywood stars as their film was shown on the bigscreen at the Corn Exchange. After strolling down the redcarpet and settling into their seats, Park House’s film openedthe premiere evening of the West Berkshire Cineclub.

Make way for Hollywood

The club had been formed after volunteers accepted thechallenge of creating their own film from scratch in only twelveweeks – 18 hours. After a quick course in camera angles thegroup decided that they wanted to create a film on bullying sosplit into three groups with each group taking ownership of eitherthe beginning, middle or end of the film. Once story boards anddirectors were decided it was on to the filming where SophieHilali, Sophie Evans and Tom Metcalf excelled themselves inbeing the main characters. All students had a chance to be eitherthe director, camera operator or appearing as an extra during thefilming. Once everything was done it was on to the editing andafter a master class from a Cineclub representative, the groupused their new found skills to edit the film down to four minutes.

After a lot of talking, arguing and experimenting the final masterpiece had been created and we nervously waited to see if ourfilm had been awarded the Cineclub certificate of approval.Luckily it did as all the set criteria had been met and VaughnHollowood and Rachel Flynn explained the process the grouphad been through to the packed Corn Exchange audience.

The second film is now well underway with Ottavio Columbro,David Eaton and Tom Metcalf taking leading roles as Italiangangsters in a poker match with a twist! With only 5 weeksleft the team are really pulling together to get the filming andediting completed ready for the second showing in January. ●

AustralianNetball Visit

Richard Golding is completing his second year of the ‘AspirantHeadteacher programme’ organised by the Specialist Schools andAcademies Trust. One of the many required assignments of hiscourse is to complete a study and submit a 5,000 word reportcomparing the practice of schools in the UK (including Park House)with that in a foreign country. A hot topic in edcuation at themoment is Personalised Learning – a very real issue facing all stateschools in the Uk. Personalised Learning has been much discussedin previous issues of Personal Best, and Mr Golding has chosen thissubject for his own individual study.

As part of my studies Mr Golding was very fortunate to have therecent opportunity to visit several schools in the city of St Paul,Minnesota in the United States. Sat on the banks of the Mississippi,the city of St Paul is the state capital of Minnesota and has apopulation of about 300,000 – similar to Cardiff.

This link was established a result of a previous visit to Park Houseby Dr Deb Henton two years ago as part of the Sports Colleges linkof Specialist Schools. Deb at that time was Principal of HardingHigh School in St Paul, but she is now Chief of Staff for the St PaulPublic Schools. This involves working with provision of education for41,000 students and working with a staggering 7,000 staff! “Debarranged for a programme to be put together for my visit so I couldlook at how the schools in St Paul are meeting the challenge ofaddressing the Personalised Learning Agenda,” explained MrGolding

Mr Golding found the experience rewarding and very unlike life atPark House, “During my week I visited seven schools in all; HardingHigh School; Monroe Community School; Highland Park HighSchool; Battle Creek Middle School; White Bear Lake High School;Adams Spanish Immersion School and LEAP International School.

“All of the schools, with the exception of White Bear Lake HighSchool, were far more diverse than Park House School with inexcess of 40 languages spoken other than English. “The generalmake up of different ethnic groups and cultures varied from schoolto school, but in each school there were Native American Indians,

Black African Americans (mainly from Somalia, Ethiopia and Liberia),Latinos (from Columbia, El Salvador, Mexico and Venezuela) andHmong (from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia). In fact St Paul has thelargest population of Vietnamese people in the USA.

Minnesota’s schools have made inroads with PersonalisingLearning in a number of different ways and some of theirapproaches are similar to those being adopted in the UK. However,the area where they are furthest ahead is with their Coaching andMentoring of both staff and Students. Schools in St Paul have theirown individual in-house systems, which are very effective. Thesesystems are built around support for academic subjects and alsohugely around sport.

The schools in St Paul use the engagement and benefit of sport bylinking it to other curriculum areas, just as we do effectively here atPark House. Community projects, such as the ‘Chosen to AchieveProject’ supports Black African American students, who are pairedup with mentors These mentors are voluntary Black AfricanAmerican members of the public, who meet with the mentee forone hour a week outside of the school day. “This project has been ahuge success, and I was lucky enough to meet some of thementors and mentees at their annual celebratory dinner, at a hotel inthe downtown area of St Paul, prior to me visiting their schools,”said Mr Golding. There are also commercial and college basedMentoring links in place too - including employees from 3M (basedin Minneapolis – the twin city of St Paul) working in school withstudents and also university and college students doing the sameto support students and help them reflect upon their work and theirlearning.

“In the USA there is no National Curriculum, which did not reallycome as a great surprise as the USA is such a vast country.However, there are recommended curriculum models in eachsubject produced by individual states. Although these are notcompulsory, these guidelines are being followed fairly closely inmany of St Paul’s schools, mainly due to the annual testing in somesubjects being set by the state!” Unlike the UK, students have topass these tests and achieve enough credits in each subjectmodule of work in order for a student to move up a year in schoolor to graduate from Middle School to High School or from HighSchool to College/University.

“The people in all of the schools were incredibly welcoming and thestaff in the schools I visited had as many questions for me as I hadfor them! The students were also highly inquisitive about where Iwas from and about the UK. The most unbelievable thing wasvisiting the LEAP International school – where many of the studentswere immigrants from some of the poorest parts of Africa and Asia,and were following courses to grasp basic literacy and numeracyskills. When I introduced myself and said that I was from the UK, I asked them if they knew anything at all about the UK. Imagine my surprise when they all said at once, “Manchester United” – now that’s globalisation for you!” ●

Building More BridgesAcross theAtlantic

Experience the ExperienceLaunching family opportunities at Park House School

As part of the new strategy for Extended Services, Park House School recently opened its doors ona November Saturday for their first Family Opportunity Day. Families from the South Newbury areawere invited to sample some of the departments’ different activities at the school ranging from tabletennis to photography, and from composing music to making tea light holders. Six departmentshelped out, PE, Design Technology, IT, Music, Modern Foreign Languages and Art, each givingfamilies a chance to work together and take home either a lasting memory or a finished product.

Three Year 11 and one Year 13 student from the school were also on hand to assist andencourage all the participants, many experiencing what is available at school for the first time.

Comments from the families were extremely positive, many wanting to know when the nextactivity would be. Families were asked for further suggestions and what they’d like to see nextwhich has given us a further base to work from.

The day was organised by Val Howard the Extended Services Coordinator, fully supported byHead Teacher, Derek Peaple,who said “This was a wonderful example of the school communityworking together. We are delighted with the pilot and now look forward to building on its success.”

Look out for more activities in the near future – further information can be obtained from ValHoward Extended Services based at Park House.

Nothing’s changed...The hair... the outfit... the tan... everything was ready! Now to face around100 of my old school friends and tell them that I’d never really left...

In September, Park House School &Sports College celebrated the ten yearanniversary of Park House Sixth Form. Ithas been ten years since the first groupof students walked into school ready toset examples, achieve academicgreatness and ‘rule the school’!

The Sixth Form is now a thrivingcommunity, having produced actors,surgeons, business managers, assistantdirectors and, of course, the oddteacher here and there! The reunionwas an opportunity for all of the OldParkonian students to return to school,catch up, gossip and mourn the loss ofour original bright yellow and purplecommon room.

One of the first arrivals was our old head, Derek Greenup. Do I shake hishand? Do I hug him? Do I throw myself into his arms and sob like a little girlfor that lost youth that will never return? No, a quick peck on the cheekwould have to suffice for now. After the hugs, kisses and ‘have you seen…?’exclamations were exchanged, the discussions turned to jobs. Some werestill training, some were still at uni, some had loved their school so muchthat after university they had decided to train to become a teacher so theycould return to the school they were once head girl of and continue to ‘rulethe school’ in a different way (how sad!!). All were successful in their ownway and pleased to revisit their fond memories of school a decade later.

The day itself was a complete success, with all credit due to the superborganisation and culinary stylings of Jane Brown, Sue Futcher and herhusband, barbeque extraordinaire, Mr Futcher!

The reunion demonstrated something that I’ve known for a long time(now PAY ATTENTION HERE!); your school days really are the best days ofyour lives (especially if you choose an awesome school like ours) and onlywhen you’ve left will you truly appreciate what you had. Many are lookingforward to the next gathering, in September 2016 – hopefully joined bymany of you. Don’t worry, I’ll still be here!! ● Rebecca Vare

Yell Reading Schools Cross-Country leagueThis competition is run over a course of 4 weeks at various venues across thecounty and Park House entered two girls teams and one boys team into theYear 7 and 8/9 competition every week, and even entered a third team whenPark House hosted the 2nd round in treacherous weather conditions. ParkHouse were defending champions at the older age group of Yr 8 /9 girls.

After the first week Park House took the lead in the girls Year 8/9Competition and Year 7 boys with exceptional performances from KatiePontin, Alex Ferguson, Michael Randall and Madeleine Gilboy. Thisperformance set a precedent and challenge for the teams and all studentswent from strength to strength – each runner improving on theirperformance from the previous week.

Week 3 saw a particularly difficult challenge as it was also the week ofthe English Schools competition and many of the athletes had to compete ontwo consecutive days. Once again Park House students rose to the challengeand managed to qualify for the regional round in two age groups –intermediate girls and junior boys. The English schools competition is madeup of a team of 6 with the fastest 4 to count as points. Park House boys hadone of the lowest scores ever seen in this round of the competition. TheSouth Regional round of the English Schools was held last Sat 11thNovember at Milfield Prep school. The Park House teams ran outstandingly.Particular mentions must go to Suzi Cookson and Captain Katie Pontin whocame in the top 10 a year early for their age group and to Michael Randallwho came in 2nd place looking very impressive. Overall the Girls team (KatiePontin, Suzi Cookson, Scarlett Gilboy, Giverny Barrett, and Emma Stafford –unfortunately Katie Jones was ill on the day and could not run ) came 6th outof 12 schools, beating Downe House who beat them in the first round whichwas an achievement in itself. The boys team (Michael Randall, Ben Cookson,Jack Savage, Alex Ferguson, Andrew Jenkinson & Jack Hughes) came 7th.

With the end of the Yell league fast approaching the Park house Athletescontinued on great form, especially the Year 7 girls team. Some of themmanaged to improve there final places by 10 or 12 places from the firstweek which is outstanding. Final positions were as follows.

YEAR 7 GIRLS = 3rd place YEAR 8/9 GIRLS – 1st PLACE

YEAR 7 BOYS = 1st PLACE YEAR 8/9 Boys – 5th place

A fantastic season for all athletes. The final competition will be the DistrictCross country in February time. Well done to all ● Mrs Clarke

Winter means it’s time again for the Southern Trampolining Championships.Every year Park House students gather at 6am on a usually wet Sundaymorning to be whisked away to the Isle of Wight to compete in the SouthernTrampolining Championships. This year saw our largest squad travel to thecompetition. Thirty gymnasts had been preparing themselves under thewatchful eye of Mrs Hawkins (Team Manager) and Paul Quinlan (Great BritainTrampolining squad member) and it was their chance to show off theirimmense talent. The atmosphere was filled with excitement and feelings ofapprehension as for many this was their first trampolining competition.We have a lot of talented gymnasts at Park House in this age group andwere able to enter seven gymnasts. Calum Campbell celebrated his 13thbirthday on Sunday by winning a medal – coming 3rd in his age group.The Under 13 boys A team gained qualification into the next round bycoming first in their age group. No mean feat for their first competition! Aspecial mention must also go to Isaac Szczodrowski who also qualified asan individual in second place.Not to be outdone, the under 13 Boys B team also showed greatdetermination and through a number of successful performances they alsoqualified for the next round by coming second. Well done to all of theUnder 13 Boys Team, and good luck at the Zonal competition.Next to bounce were the Under 15 boys, in the shape of Nick Sutton andToby Thorne.They were both rewarded by very pleasing scores butunfortunately due to the strength of this age group the boys were not ableto qualify to the next round. There’s always next time!!!The first of our elite competitors was then on. Sam Scott who hascompeted within British Gymnastics competitions was therefore eligible forthe elite group. He fought hard to produce two extremely good qualityroutines, but when competing against gymnasts performing doublesomersaults it was hard for him to see the light at the end of the tunnel.However, Sam should be proud of his performances which saw himshowing off a number of somersaulting moves.Competitors from the under 19 boy’s age group were also under immensepressure as they have previously been our most successful group. ChrisScott performed beautifully as usual but found himself slipping out of thequalification places into 4th position. His performance was flawless; hisonly fault was his young age! Having moved into the under 19 category hefound himself competing against Taunton’s College students who have atrampolining centre of excellence. Anyway, onwards and upwards and onto

their team results. The Under 19 Boys all performed two solid routines andwere awarded third place. Unfortunately they missed out by one place onqualification. I was beginning to think we would not have any furtherteam’s progress to the second round.Performing in the final flight were the Under 19 Girl’s Novice, Under 13Boy’s Elite, Under 13 Girl’s Novice and Under 15 Girl’s Novice.The Under 19 Girls team felt the pressure more than the rest – they all hadhigh hopes and as such put themselves under enormous stress so muchso that Johanna and Emily were unable to qualify to the Zonal’s. However,Chantelle performed a lovely routine which gained the team a veryrespectable score.Another successful qualification to the Zonal’s came in the form of CraigMcCarthy, a little unknown year 7. Craig has previously performed atgrading competitions and hence was entered into the elite category. Hehas been preparing hard and performed two highly talented routines. Hescored well enough to achieve second position in his category andqualified for the next round.The largest number of competitors we took were in the Under 15 Girl’sgroup. This group was about mass participation. There were 76competitors in this notoriously difficult group. Therefore the girls went witha clear message to enjoy themselves, and to remember any placing below40 was a bonus. None of the girls let me down. They had great team spiritand all were placed above the half way mark.It seemed we had left the best till last. The Under 13 Girl’s were ready forthe challenge of facing 77 competitors. The team qualified in a superbsecond position, again gaining qualification for the next round. These girlswere all overwhelmed by what they had achieved especially as it was formost their first competition. Flo Should also be commended for herindividual pacing of 5th, Well done Flo Jo!!!All of us were running out of steam after the excitement of the day. Werealised the enormity of our achievements and recognised the hard workthat had been put in. I am overwhelmed at the way the team representedthe school, they should all be proud to call themselves ambassadors forthe school. Their achievements were fantastic. I am finally coming backdown to earth after being blown away by everyone’s efforts.Watch this space for the results of the next round, and thank you to all ofthe competitors for giving me my proudest teaching moment so far.YOU ALL ROCK!!! ● Miss Billington

Under 13’s Bounce to Glory

Des

igne

d a

nd p

rod

uced

by

Wad

del

l Dig

ital L

imite

d: 0

1793

574

589

w

add

ell@

glob

alne

t.co

.uk

Park House School & Sports College

Andover Road, NewburyBerkshire, RG14 6NQTel: 01635 573911

Email: parkhouse@westberks.org

We need the help ofstaff and students to

produce Personal Best– thank you to all thosewho have contributed

to this issue and we’re sorry if your story couldn’t be

included this time.

Do you wish to saysomething positiveabout school life?

Please submit ideasand stories for future

issues to HeadteacherDerek Peaple.

Don’t worry if you’renot sure what to

provide, the productionteam can help youmake the best of

what you have to sayand any photos that

you supply.

Reading Rocketslaunch new clubPark House School and Sports College now plays host toNewbury Rockets Basketball Club. We are extremelyfortunate to have Steph Brownfoot as our CommunitySports Coach for basketball. Not satisfied with spendingtime coaching, she also plays for Reading Rockets in the

women’s national basketball league.

Within West Berkshire basketball is growing slowly. Last season Park House boysexperienced success by winning the league. Obviously, this reflects talent. It also means thatyoung players should have an opportunity to progress their skills by joining an out of schoolclub. At present some Park House students travel to Reading to play their club basketball. Itis hoped that in the future they will be able to train in Newbury.

Steph is spending 6 hours a week inspiring youngsters to take up the sport that she ispassionate about. She is at present working with Greenham Court Primary School both inlessons and during an extra-curricular clubs. She will be visiting other primary schools in theNew Year. The rest of her time is spent at Park House School, where she takes an extra-curricular club for year 7 and 8 students on a Tuesday 3.30pm-5.00pm and the NewburyRockets Club that is detailed below. So why not start your New Year with a new Sport?

Open To All Players In years 6 + 7Mondays 4.45 – 6.00pm at Park HouseJust £1.00 per session!

Daisy Smeddle and LucyDavey Yr8 have recentlyorganised a talent contest forChildren in Need. This was noordinary effort on their part.The competition includedmany diverse acts includinggymnastics, Karate, cardtricks, singing andbands.This extravaganzatook place not once, but overfour lunch times andproduced a worthy winner,Ben Fieldhouse from Yr7 forsinging that got the wholestudio singing along andclapping. Well done Ben!

However, an enormous thankyou must go to the girls andtheir supporters from 8Omega and beyond whomanaged to raise a fantastic£70 for Children in need.Well done Daisy and Lucy!

“Great dance routines,amazingsongs – I had the time of my life!”

On Wednesday 1st of November 2006 I went along withother members of school to Piccadilly Theatre in London towatch a musical – Guys and Dolls. Already on our way you could hear the excited murmurspreading through the coach, everybody was lookingforward to a great performance. It was set in 1950´s NewYork – when the Guys were hooked on gambling and theDolls were focused on love.Nathan Detroit, acted by Patrick Swayze bets his best mateSky Masterson that he can’t win the next doll he sees. So ofcourse the next doll he sees is the stubborn and harshSarah Brown!The second Patrick Swayze stepped onto the stageeveryone leaned forward in their seats in absoluteexcitement. Of course the dancing was amazing, the songswere great and I had a really super time and I am sureeverybody else did too! ● Olivia Lauridsen

Just a quick note from theproduction team. Thank you toStudent Editor Andrew Stevensonwho has attended all productionmeetings and contributed anexcellent standard of photographyand writing for this issue. We hopehe has picked up some usefulexperience along the way! Also a big thank you to all theother students who havesubmitted articles. ● C Waddell

Student Editor and Journalists