Inside this issue

BBC News School Report ........... 2

Warhammer Semi final ............... 2

Football results ........................... 3

Creativity day events …. .............. 3-5

The Y9 Apprentice ...................... 5

Y7 Netball Team ......................... 6

Term dates/Maths Challenge ..... 6

Ski trip report ............................. 7

Student Leaders supper .............. 8

Y7 BP Engineering visit................ 8

Did you know. .............. You can hire facilities at Langtree School. Please see page 8 for further de-tails.

MESSAGE FROM THE HEADTEACHER

Easter 2014

School closes on Friday 4 April and re-opens on Tuesday 22 April 2014 for staff and students.

Langtree Lectures “Flying into the Eye of the Storm”

On Tuesday 25th March we were lucky

enough to welcome Dr. John Methven,

Associate Professor in Atmospheric Dy-

namics from the Department of Meteorol-

ogy at the University of Reading into

school. Dr Methven talked about a re-

search flight in to the eye of a Cyclone

that he had been involved in. He ex-

plained how wild weather like the weath-

er experienced in the UK this winter de-

velops, how weather trends during partic-

ular seasons of the year are being used as

climate change indicators and how re-

search flights like the one he was leading

are being used to improve the forecasting

of weather. As weather is all around us Dr

Methven’s lecture was a window into how

weather works.

Mary Taylor-Lane

Community Co-ordinator

It is that time of year again: the clocks have gone forward, the evenings are lighter, and GCSE revision clas-

ses are well underway. As we all welcome the onset of spring, we also wish the very best to our Year 11

students who are embarking upon the most critical phase of their school career. Over the coming weeks,

staff will be helping the students to plan their revision timetables and to prepare as fully as they all can for

the final exams. I hope that this work will begin over the forthcoming Easter break, and there will be plenty

of help and encouragement this week to support Year 11 in the process. On behalf of all the staff, I would

like to wish every student all the very best for the exam season.

But we are not simply abandoning our class of 2014 just to work independently at home! Year 11 have

been invited back into school during the holiday on Tuesday 8th April to revise their set text, Steinbeck’s Of

Mice and Men. Katch 22 theatre company will be in school to provide what we hope will be a memorable

performance and we hope that all Year 11 students will want to attend.

I am sure that all those of you who were lucky enough to have secured a ticket for West Side Story will

agree that the show was an absolute triumph. A total cast of 78 students – almost 15% of the entire school

population - took part in the production, which was one of the most impressive shows I have ever seen at

Langtree. We are extremely fortunate to have such talent amongst our students and staff to be able to

launch a production of such an ambitious scale in a school of such a small size. Well done indeed to all

involved. You were all stars!

Our second and final Creativity Day of this academic year was another huge success, and you can read

reviews of the wide range of activities offered to all students inside the newsletter. We ought to be very

proud indeed of the fact that, in such a small school, we can offer such a rich range of experiences for crea-

tive learning at Langtree. There really is nothing like this on offer in any other local, larger school and it is a

huge privilege to see staff and students working together in such a creative environment during the day.

Creativity Days will feature again in our calendar next year!

We are delighted to welcome Sarah Stanton, newly appointed Food/Textilies Technician who has settled in

well and is already providing excellent support in Food Tech. We will be very sorry to see Mrs Beeusaert

step down from her part time teaching of Year 8 and Year 9 German this Easter, owing to medical reasons.

We wish Mrs Beeusaert a speedy recovery and hope that she

will be again part of the Langtree team next year. We are

pleased to have recruited a subject specialist to cover these

lessons until the end of the academic year.

I do hope that all of our students and parents enjoy a happy and

restful Easter holiday.

Many thanks again for all of your support of Langtree School

this term.

Langtree School secures 6th Place out of 31 in the extremely competitive Warhammer 40000 Semi Finals!

We began the Langtree’s BBC school

report at the beginning of this term and

we worked hard to create our reports.

There was lots of planning for the big

day and we were all determined to

complete our reports. When we decid-

ed on reports there were many hard

tasks to complete, we had to get in

contact with different people, we had

to gather information about our re-

ports so that we knew what we were

talking about and working out a sched-

ule for getting our reports done.

We had a journalist from the BBC that

helped us to improve on our journalism

ready for the big day. He gave us some

interviewing tips and helped us to get

an idea of how to present our reports.

We also had a picture editor from the

Daily Express who gave us some useful

information to help us get our reports

done.

On the big day we started straight

away. We had to get our filming and

writing done, we had to get our editing

done and we had to do our interviews

and calls. All of the contacts were hap-

py to help which was a big part in com-

pleting the reports. The day was very

busy and full of hard challenges we had

to face but the day helped us to realise

just how hard it is to be a journalist. At

the end, the videos were uploaded and

we were all happy to know that we had

successfully completed our reports. The

school report was a fantastic oppor-

tunity and we all enjoyed it a lot.

Jimmy Gladwin, 8RB

2

After the competitive regionals, the Langtree School gaming team

was able to progress to the national semi-finals. This was a highly

competitive competition in which four Langtree team members

battled to achieve sixth place as a team amongst around one

hundred and eighty other team-members. It was a highly enter-

taining experience for team-members who were all pleased with

the wonderful opportunity to represent Langtree."

Henry Stevens, Year 11

Once a year, Games Workshop host a “school league” for the game Warhammer 40000. In the first round of this, schools attempt to qualify by playing against 3 or 4

other schools at local Games Workshop stores. Those few that are successful qualify for the national semi finals at Games Workshop headquarters in Nottingham.

Here begins an extremely fierce competition between 30 schools who have all prepared carefully with a mind to reach the final! Tactical strategy, analysing probability

and a little bit of luck choose the winners. This year, Langtree got 6th place against a host of larger schools, schools with an “A team” and schools with big budgets for

the most expensive models and troops! The Langtree team were excellent sportsmen throughout the event and should be extremely proud of their achievement.

Mr Nonweiler, Teacher of Maths

BBC SCHOOL REPORT DAY

Year 7

Highdown 5 a side tournament

winners

Carterton W7-0

Cheney L4-0

Icknield D3-3

Gillotts L2-1

Chiltern Edge L 4-3

Year 8

Highdown 5 a side tournament

winners

Wallingford L6-2

Gillotts L5-1

Chiltern Edge W6-5

Year 9

Wallingford L6-0

Icknield L4-1

Gillotts L5-2

Year 10

Lord Williams W4-3

Gillotts L3-1

St Birinus D3-3

Wallingford W8-5

Icknield W8-1

Chiltern Edge L5-3

Year 11

Larkmead W5-0

Wallingford W3-2

Icknield W2-0

Gillotts W6-2

Matthew Arnold cup semi- final

this Thursday 3rd April.

Congratulations to the Y7 boys

cross country, Y8/9 boys and girls

swimming and the Y7 girls Netball

teams who have all gone through

to the County finals to be held in

Abingdon this Wednesday 2nd

April.

Mr Blower, Head of PE

3

FOOTBALL RESULTS Creativity Day events

On Creativity Day the whole year group were based in the hall and split into groups of 5, in 4 teams, each named

after a famous entrepreneur Our team was called the Bridgewater Boffins. Our design brief was to create a new

FAIRTRADE snack for a Traidcraft competition. Miss Bridges talked to us about the life of Georgina, a Ghanaian girl

who lives in a small village in the heart of Ghana with her family, who have a cocoa farm. She also explained what

FAIRTRADE is and how it affects the lives of the farmers and their families. In our group, we put our ideas together

and came up with a brand new snack. We decided on Jungle Tastic, a mouth-watering FAIRTRADE fruity chocolate

bar. It is a pineapple shaped chocolate bar filled with succulent tropical fruits. We then had to design the packaging

and make adverts to promote out product. We did a poster for a magazine, a website homepage, a sticker and a

mascot.

After lunch we presented our pitch to the rest of our team. Ours was voted the best. The winners of each team

then had to present their pitch to the whole year group. Ours was voted the best overall by the staff judges.

We were then given another day to improve and finalise our challenge which has now been sent to Traidcraft.

It was definitely a very challenging day as we had to create a brand new product. The day was really interesting and

fun. In the beginning it was difficult to get started as there was so much to take in and think about. We were also

nervous about the thought of the final pitch as we did not know each other and had never worked together before.

However, once we started to share our ideas we got more excited and really interested in the challenge. That from

our random ideas and thoughts came our fantastic FAIRTRADE Jungle Tastic. The FAIRTRADE aspect made it even

more of a challenge and not just a snack. So it is important to have a clear idea of what is expected and not be

afraid to think outside the box. From the day we learnt a lot about FAIRTRADE and how it helps improve the lives

of farmers and their families in Ghana.

“Buying a FAIRTRADE Jungle Tastic means doing the right thing” said Jay Lusted.

By Maia Harby-Guincho, 7GP

Year 7 Traidcraft Snack Attack Challenge

GCSE PE Wembley Trip

On Creativity Day, the Year 10 GCSE PE students were given an

‘access all areas’ tour at Wembley Stadium. This gave the students a

chance to see the stadium’s main attractions such as the player’s

tunnel, Royal box, press room, changing rooms and winner’s steps. As

well as allowing students to relive some of Wembley’s greatest mo-

ments in sporting and cultural history. This trip was to support some

work they will be doing as part of their GCSE course. Altogether it

was a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting trip, particularly to be

able to stand and sit where legends and celebrities had previously

sat. By Michael Mattimore

In the music group Year 10 students had

an enriching day, divided into two ses-

sions. The morning was spent learning

about song-writing techniques and ar-

rangements. After analysing some key

features from popular songs the students

then got down to learning an arrange-

ment of Coldplay's "Clocks". This was an

apt choice as it suited the pianists' and

guitarists' skills very well indeed and they

made excellent progress. The group then

all hopped on the local bus down to Daw-

son's Music Superstore in Reading. There

they were treated to several demonstra-

tions by the music staff as well as having

the opportunity to explore and try out

some of the vast range of instruments for

themselves.

Mrs Idowu, Director of Music

Y8 Humanities trip to Hurst Castle

Year 10 Music

4

On Thursday 20th March, Y8 students

went on a field trip to Milford-on-sea to

visit Hurst spit and castle as part of our

latest topic coasts and erosion. It is be-

tween Plymouth and Bournemouth. We

were split into 2 groups each going to the

different activity. Siting on the pebbles

and drawing The Needles by the Isle-of-

Wight and walking 2 miles along the spit

to the castle were just some of the things

we did. Inside the castle was hundreds of

little alleys to walk down to uncover gal-

leries, exhibitions and bombs when it was

a prison. During the day we had to com-

plete a booklet with a series of questions

relating to different parts of the castle and

spit. Overall, the trip was a success and

enjoyable, except when the wind blew

fiercely into your faces.

Jess Arlett, 8TD

Y10 activities in Food Tech, Drama and Art

Food Technology

Y10 Food Technology students took part

in a Langtree meets Masterchef cooking

challenge for Creativity Day. All teams

produced a meal for two and the winning

dishes were Chicken stuffed with cream

cheese wrapped in pancetta served with

risotto and crème brulee for dessert. Well

done to all who took part.

Drama

Y10 Drama students spent the day exper-

imenting with physical theatre tech-

niques, inspired by Frantic Assembly.

These new skills will be used in their

GCSE devising work, and have also given

students a valuable insight into the work

of this famous theatre company in ad-

vance of our theatre visit to see their

work in May.

Art

Y10 Art students have been working on

an environment project and have recent-

ly done a sculpture workshop with Bruce

Gordon. Following on from that they had

to choose an endangered animal and

create a 3-dimensional paper mache

sculpture.

The whole of year 9 took part in a

project to design, produce and market

a phone accessory. In each tutor

group, there were 7 groups of 3-4

pupils; they presented their idea to the

rest of their tutor. Each member of the

tutor group had 2 votes to vote for

their favourite product, apart from

their own. The 4 groups with the most

votes got through to compete against

11 other groups from various tutors.

There was a big range of products;

from hats with earphones, to mobile

phone cases to phone games. Every-

one still competing in the project, set

up a stall to advertise to Year 7 and 8,

who had the power to vote for their

favourite product. To vote, it cost 20p,

which was put towards charity. The

year 9 students made banners, poster

and prototypes, in order to convince

people that their mobile phone acces-

sory was the best.

Before the project, Andrew Bailey, an

extremely successful businessman

from ABRS, a specialist recruitment

agency came to ask questions and give

advice to the eager Year 9 students. I

think the whole of Year 9 were pleas-

antly surprised by the end products

and enjoyed creating a product com-

pletely alone. One of the products that

really impressed Andrew Bailey was

the “Falling Squirrels App”, he is going

to work with the students that created

the App to further develop the prod-

uct.

The winners …

1. Bangin’ Beanie

2. EVEL

3. Handwarmer

Harry Tozer 9AWL

Y10 Trip to London

5

The Year 9

Apprentice Project

On Creativity Day, the Year 10 GCSE Resistant Materials and Graphic Products students went to London for the day. We all arrived early on the morning of 20th March at Goring Station, ready to embark on an epic day, not only visiting The Design Museum but touring the sites of London's archi-tectural buildings designed by the greats, such as Norman Foster, Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano. After arriving at Paddington Station we took several tube rides to reach our destination- thankfully arriving with the same number of students (and teachers) we set out with!!

Whilst walking, we looked at several historic sites such as The Tower of London and London Bridge and then, in stark contrast, The Shard, The Gherkin, Lloyds of London, City Hall and the Walkie Talkie building. It was amazing to see such famous iconic buildings up close; the sheer size, design features and materials used had enormous impact so we took hundreds of photos for future reference. After our whistle-stop tour of the sites along the embankment, we arrived at The Design Museum. Currently showing at The Design Museum is a retrospective exhibition of fashion designer, Paul Smith's work, called 'Hello, my name is Paul Smith'. The exhibition, not only, celebrates his career to date, but explores future developments of his British label which has now become a global brand. His signature 'barcode' stripes, were everywhere- a rug, a Lieca camera, a Rover's Mini car, a bicycle, Skis, an Evian water bottle- even an HP sauce bottle! I was particularly inspired by a bedroom made from black and white card- paper clothes neatly folded on a bed. At the other end of the spectrum there was another room filled with mirrors and TV monitors which were reflected to create one large image- it was amazing. I think, speaking on everyone's behalf, we all had an exhausting but brilliant day! Thank you Mr Murray for organising it! AJ Totman 10SM

Paella anyone!

Y10 students spent Creativity Day preparing and cooking

Spanish food. We had to follow recipes in Spanish and

discuss the food at the end. In the morning we made a

Spanish breakfast which included toast, tomato pulp, garlic

and seasoning; which to the Spanish is known as pan con

tomate. After break we prepared the other three dishes:

Paella, Tortilla and Magdalenas—They were delicious !!

Spanish translation:

Pasamos el día preparando y cocinando la comida espa-

ñola. Por la mañana cocinamos pan con tomate: tomates,

ajos, tostadas, sal y pimienta. Por la tarde, cocinamos paella que es un plato muy típico en España. También

tortilla y magdalenas. Comimos todo, fue delicioso y sabroso.

Miss Fosker, Teacher of Spanish

Y9 Science trip to Thorpe Park The Science Department took Y9 on a trip to Thorpe Park to learn about

the forces that allow the rides to work and give people the thrill of riding a

roller coaster. We had a scheduled talk about Newton’s three laws and

other forces such as centrifugal force. We then were given the freedom to

experience the forces on the rides for the remainder of the day. Stealth is

Thorpe Park’s tallest ride and isn’t technically a roller coaster as it doesn’t

use a winch-like mechanism to pull the roller coaster up to a large drop

which features so often in such rides. Instead, the ride uses pressurised gas

to propel the coaster to 80mph in under 2.3 seconds. Another ride is The

Swarm that features many near misses; the near misses are very effective

due to how the human eye can measure distances. This can be used to the riders’ disadvantage and make them

feel as they are about to collide with an object in front of them. All the students and teachers really enjoyed the

day, ‘testing the rides’. Alex Smith, 9AWL

Please check the school website for a

list of student lost property. If named,

we can return it immediately but un-

named items are only kept until the

end of a term and then forwarded to a

local charity shop. If a student choos-

es to bring an expensive phone into

school, they do so at their own re-

sponsibility. We cannot reimburse

the cost of a lost phone.

School office.

Term 5 dates

On Monday 24th March, driven by Mr Vitty, Eve Poulter, Alex Smith, Jamie Sarson and I went to Oxford to attend the Regional Final of the UKMT 2014 Maths Challenge. The idea of the compe-tition was to test our abilities in Mathematics in a fun and unique way, using complicated and confusing problem solving. We had various rounds that tested our brains, teamwork and, in some aspects, our running in the relay. Forty-six schools from all over the country came to attend the contest. Of those forty-six, Langtree came sixteenth! We are very proud of our

placing as it was a very hard competition with many able students who are scarily smart. It was a challenging experi-ence but well worth doing. If any students get the opportunity to do the Mathematics Challenge next year—take it because it was great! Isabelle Carr 8TD

Some Y10 students also recently took part in the FMSP team maths challenge at the Downs School. As well as a variety of challenging and interesting rounds, the group had to learn about calculating in base 6 (a topic not covered by the curriculum) prior to the event, and then answer a series of questions on this as well. Out of a total of 18 teams, our two teams were placed 5th and 12th, a very commendable result and an enjoyable morning's work.

Mrs Windsor-Lewis, Teacher of Mathematics.

Friday 4 April Term ends (school closes at 3.30pm).

Easter Holiday date: Monday 7 April—Monday 21 April 2014

Tuesday 22 April Start of Term 5 for all staff and students

Thursday 24 April 8.30-1.00 Governors Open morning

Wednesday 30 April 8.30-12.30 Immunisations

Thursday 1 May UKMT Mathematics Challenge

P1-4 Y11 GCSE Drama Performance Exam

Monday 5 May May day Bank Holiday

Wednesday 7 May 7.00-8.00pm Governors Curriculum sub committee meeting

Monday 12 May GCSE Examinations begin

Friday 16 May 1.00-3.30pm PE Exam

Tuesday 20 May 7.00-9.00pm Governors Finance sub committee meeting

Wednesday 21 May 7.00pm Full Governing Body meeting

Friday 23 May End of Term 5

Monday 26 to Friday 30May May holiday

Monday 2 June Start of Term 6

Wednesday 11 June P5 & 6 PSHE

Wednesday 18 June Year 11 Prom night

Friday 20 June Last GCSE Examination

Monday 23 June Curriculum Enrichment week

Wednesday 2 July Year 6 Taster day at Langtree for September student intake

Thursday 10 July 7.00pm Full Governing Body meeting

Friday 11 July Langtree School Music Festival (PTA date, TBC)

Monday 14 July Welcome evening for Year 6 students and parents

Friday 18 July End of Term 6. School closes at 12.30pm

6

i-Phones and lost property Year 11 Prom fundraising event

UKMT Maths Challenge

Y7 Netball Team A huge well done to the Year 7 netball

team who won the Area Tournament.

They won their pool and played Walling-

ford in the final, beating them 2-0. The

team will now go on to represent South

Oxfordshire in the County Champion-

ships. The team is as follows:

Alexa Varnham, Sophie Webb, Frances

Wahlen, Rosie Turtle, Michaela Driscoll,

Millie Kent, Sophie Rainsden and Mia

Allen.

Other netball results:

Year 8—4th

Year 9—3rd

Year 10—4th

Year 11— n/a at

time of going to

press

Please pay on line for trips & visits rather than by cash or cheque. Paying online is quick and con-venient and allows you to see what you have paid and any amounts left to pay, particularly useful for school trips. Paying online also helps the school by cutting down the amount of time needed to process the hundreds of cheques we receive. If you do not have your unique pupil code please email the finance office on finance office on finance@langtreeschool.com or give them a call on 01491 683387 or 683392.

This was yet another amazing

event showcasing the wealth

of talent that Langtree stu-

dents possess. A massive well

done to the Y11 students

who organised and hosted

the concert. Thanks also to

the PTA for donations of

profits from refreshment

sales. Audience runner-up

Katie Cole (Yr9), winner

Grace Parr(Yr 8) Judges run-

ner -up Rhiannon Evans (Yr7)

and winner Hazel Drury (Yr

7)

Mrs Bryson, Teacher of PE

As our 24 hour journey came to an end, cameras came out as huge snow tipped mountains came into view. After stopping for a break, our Coach made the unnerving climb up the curving mountain road. At last we made it to the picturesque village of Torgon and could unpack and settle into our cosy rooms in our chalets. On the second day we first experienced skiing for most of us it was a lot harder than thought. Learning on a mountain had its disadvantages if our instruc-tor was preoccupied many of us had a habit of drift-ing down the slope slipping and sliding with crashing as our only way of stop. After our tiring, yet I am sure very humorous day of skiing we were greeted with a brilliant 3 course meal which impressively persisted throughout the week. After that we went to a roller skating disco which was a brilliant way to finish the day. The next day brought more success for most of us, as we learnt the basics of skiing and snow ploughed our way to mastering the nursery slopes. After two days of exhausting skiing we were all very keen to go to the thermal baths our next evening activity. They were certainly worth waiting for. We could stare at the stars and enjoy the outside yet still be relaxed by the warmth of the pools. It almost turned into a race as we now compared how high up the button lift we had skied from, the competition spurred us on to improving skiing or snowboarding as much as we could. The evening activity of the day was by far the most scary as we

were tested with skiing down the slope we had trained on in the dark with flaming torches! On the fifth day, I, among the beginners were very jealous of the advanced skiers who came back from skiing talking of adventures all the way to France where they had stopped off at mountain restaurants and taken chair lifts with startling views, but this just gave us even more determination. But this determi-nation got very competitive during the climbing wall competitions later on that day. We all raced up the wall aiming to be the first to ring the bell. On our final full day of skiing most of us were able now to ski to France, or if not confident enough, were taken by coach further in the Port du Soleil, where they met many other skiers from Langtree. It felt very rewarding as we now could master other slopes as we were shown all the famous mountains including Mont Blanc. Because of our exciting skiing or snowboarding adventures, we decided not to go to the Hawaiian dance although I am sure that we all felt Mrs Buckley singing to us supplemented this. The last day was a final chance to pack up and finish off our skiing skills. Startled at how fast the week had gone we had a brilliant final lunch then took the scary drive down the mountain. Despite us all being very tired, we were happily awoken to an exciting water park which was a brilliant experience of our last day of Switzerland.

Seb Avery, Year 10 7

Student Guidance Advisor Year 11 Prom fundraising event

Year 10 Ski Trip—February 2014

DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM? WOULD YOU LIKE TO CHAT TO SOMEONE? ARE YOU WORRYING ABOUT SOMETHING OR SOMEONE?

MRS BELCHER, OUR STUDENT GUIDANCE AD-VISOR IS AVAILABLE AT ANY TIME, EITHER ON A ONE-TO-ONE BASIS OR IN A GROUP. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO POP IN AND SEE HER YOU’LL FIND HER IN THE HEADS OF SCHOOL OFFICE AT THE END OF THE CORRIDOR PAST THE STAFF ROOM. ALL MEETINGS ARE HELD IN STRICT CONFIDENCE.

Student Leaders have supper with senior staff !

Members of the senior staff took our student leaders out to supper on Wednesday 26th March to The

Highwayman Inn in Checkendon. This has become an annual occasion and an opportunity for the senior

staff of the school to congratulate our student leaders and to thank them for the support they have given

in their term of office. As well as reflecting on the students experiences at Langtree, this lovely occasion

provided an opportunity to hear all about the plans and aspirations of our student leaders as they pre-

pare for life after Langtree and senior staff enjoyed their wonderful company throughout.

The Highwayman

served a delicious 3-

course meal and the

selection included

Chicken Liver Parfait,

Smoked Salmon rou-

lade with cucumber

pickle, a choice of 3

main courses and a

choice of 3 puddings

including Sticky Toffee

Pudding!

D

Langtree School has a great history of opening its doors to the community. What do you as our community want? Are you interested in art classes, adult literacy, adult numeracy, ICT, zumba, yoga, pilates, body pump, what else? Are you a teacher/trainer who has the skills to offer a class to our community? Did you know that Langtree School is available to hire? The sports hall, the main hall with the stage is perfect for shows and performances. There are other spaces around school that are ideal for all sorts of other events. If you have a request or an idea for a course or would like to hire the school facilities, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Contact: Mary Taylor-Lane, Community Coordinator. Email: community@langtreeschool.com

HIRE FACILITIES AT

LANGTREE SCHOOL

The Langtree School Academy Trust Company, a company limited by guarantee. Registered in England and Wales, company registration number

07980335. Registered office: Langtree School, Woodcote, Reading, Berkshire, RG8 0RA

8

GCSE Music Performance

The GCSE Music students gave their annual public performance on Tuesday 18th March. As

always, the standard was very high with all students being well-prepared and giving some

excellent performances. The up-coming Year10 students showed much promise for the fu-

ture but most impressive were the individual performances in Year 11. Of particular note

were solos by Jack Lillie (drums), Will Goss (bass), Conrad Sedwell (keyboard), Tom Gray

(cello) and Ben Gordon-Potts (clarinet). The Year 10 band provided a rousing end to the

evening.

Mrs Idowu, Director of Music

Langtree students made a donation of £721.03 in March

following a non uniform day with a cake sale. This gift

will help provide specialist care for very sick children

and young adults, as well as respite support for their

families. Helen & Douglas house have various work

underway, creating more space for therapies, installing

plumbed oxygen and generally getting ready to look after

the many families who will need help over the next 30

years and beyond!

Thank you Langtree students for

your continued support.

Year 7 BP Engineering Visit On Thursday the 27th of March, two Y7 Design Technology classes came together for a visit

from BP. It was challenging but fun and very interesting. After being introduced to the visi-

tors, we were told about fuels. The class was asked about different types of fuels and how

they were used, being prompted by the staff and images. We then learnt about oil rigs, with

BP engineers. Subsequent to the interesting discussion, the year 7 D.T group were briefed on

their challenge, to design the structure of an oil rig using wooden skewers and marshmallows.

Each stick and each marshmallow would cost $1000000 and each group of three or four had

to try and make the most cost-effective structure, as well as all models having to hold at least

100 grams. Enthusiastically, the teams set to work, using their knowledge of strong structures

to help their competition entry. There was a buzz of competition in the air as the teams hand-

ed in their finished structure. Each one was unique as we

found when they were judged. They all held different

weight from under 50 grams to 450 grams and all cost

different amounts of money. The winning team was the

one that held one of the best weights but cost less the

runner ups. It was a very enjoyable experience and

everyone learnt a lot. I am sure that there will be a lot of

budding engineers now!

By Laura Ogden, 7GP