Aspire | Believe | Achieve

OO sseeNNeewwssOusedale School magazine May 2017

Year 12 Politics - Visit to WestminsterReport inside by Ryan Farnes 12KT

Message from Sue Carbert, Headteacher

Dear Parents/Carers

The exam period is in full flow, with Years 11, 12 and 13 sitting external exams. We have been very impressed with themature approach that Year 11 are taking to these exams. They are also continuing to access revision lessons which isgreat.

Staffing news: We are recruiting an Art and History teacher this week and are still looking for a Maths teacher for September. After halfterm Mrs White returns to the Olney campus from her maternity leave. She will be teaching RS at Olney along with Mrs Chadwick and MsMoulds from Newport Pagnell. Our new full time RS teacher who has trained with us at Newport will move to Olney full time in July. MrsPassfield is acting Head of PE while Miss Green is on maternity leave.

PTA: Our first PTA meeting was most enjoyable and we look forward to the next one. The group were asked for feedback on our 1 to 1advice and guidance process and we explored, with a falling budget, how parents might support the school going forward. It is a verychallenging time for Milton Keynes schools, with less money coming into each school from Milton Keynes Council. We are working hardto try and balance our budget for September - it is not easy and we are having to make difficult decisions to save jobs, keep the bonuseson our core subjects and to keep class sizes smaller. Certainly the mantra that ‘education funding is protected’ is just not true.

Questionnaire results: We have now completed gathering all our data from parents and students. The results look fantastic thank youvery much.

Whole SchoolStudent Questionnaire Results

% Strongly Agree/Agree

2015 2016 20171 I am happy at school 94 96 992 I feel safe when I am at school 97 99 1003 I am making good progress at school 96 98 994 I am well looked after at school 98 98 995 I am taught well 95 96 996 I am set appropriate homework 77 88 897 Behaviour is good during lessons 82 86 918 Behaviour is good around school at break and lunchtimes 85 89 899 The school deals effectively with bullying 84 84 9310 The school listens to the views of students 82 82 9211 I know how well I am doing at school 91 94 9512 The school is well run 96 95 9513 I would recommend this school to a friend 96 99 100

ParentQuestionnaire Results

% Strongly Agree/Agree

2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 National1 My child is happy at school 96 96 97 882 My child feels safe at school 99 98 99 913 My child makes good progress at school 98 99 98 834 My child is well looked after at school 99 98 99 875 My child is taught well 99 99 99 826 My child is set appropriate homework for their age 96 91 95 797 The school ensures students are well behaved 95 95 95 808 The school deals effectively with bullying 93 91 94 669 The school is well led and managed 98 97 97 7910 The school responds well to any concern I raise 94 95 95 76

11I receive valuable information from the school about my child’sprogress

94 91 92 81

12 I would recommend this school to another parent 98 99 99 83

Governors’ Corner |

I have been a parent governor since the summer term of 2016. I joined because I wanted to ‘give somethingback’ - use my skills and knowledge to make a difference outside of the work environment. I also wanted tolearn new skills and experience a bit of how a dynamic, high achieving school such as Ousedale is run. I amnot sure if I have done the former, but a few days back I definitely did the latter, when I visited the school’s HistoryDepartment.

I was instantly impressed by the way the Department is navigating the challenges of a changing curriculum at GCSE and A level,especially as the coverage is now exhaustive. The teaching is competent and lessons are designed to maintain consistent standards buttailored to suit pupils’ ability levels and topic areas. Every lesson starts with an ‘enquiry’ or a question, encouraging students to beinquisitive and curious, and use sources and evidence to substantiate statements.

When I visited, Year 10 students were covering the Vietnam War. The lessons were very interactive, with lots of visual aids, and studentswere engaged and participating in class. They were learning all the main facts, whilst preparing for different sorts of questions that couldbe asked on the same topic. Writing down what’s being taught is clearly important, and I also noticed that teachers had taken time togive lots of feedback. I must also add that based on my one visit ie sample size of one, I can confidently say that behaviour isexceptionally good at the school!

Overall, I came out feeling confident and proud of being a governor at a school that is delivering a complex Humanities subject such asHistory well, dealing with transition, and achieving good outcomes for pupils and potentially inspiring many to continue the subject intheir careers beyond their GCSEs. I believe significant numbers go on to do History in their A levels.

I would like to do more of these visits if only to appreciate and be humbled by seeing how hard teachers work to improve outcomes forall pupils, especially those that are bright but from lower socio-economic backgrounds and need that extra bit of encouragement andattention.

Urvashi Parashar

The first in a series of Governor updatesby Urvashi Parashar, Parent Governor, Personnel Committee

A total of questionnaires have been completed by parents of students across all year groups and both campuses.The national figures are taken from OFSTED Parent View National Statistics for Maintained and AcademySecondary Schools 2015-16.

As you can see above the % scores for each question have produced a very high set of results. However, we are nevercomplacent and I shall be sharing with you the 5 key priorities for the school going forward in the last edition ofOusenews for this academic year. Enjoy reading Ousenews and have a great half term.

Sue Carbert | Headteacher

News from the Careers Centre

Don’t forget, if you need any help or guidance withyour applications for September, speak to MrsGriffin (Newport Pagnell) or Mrs Campion (Olney).

We can help with information, applications, CVs,interviews – anything related to your future options.We’re here to help should you change your plans,whether before the end of the summer term or inSeptember.

Year 11 and 13

Placements have been offered and students should be activelyseeking placement opportunities; our apologies to anyone whohas missed out this year. Work experience is such a valuableopportunity that we strongly recommend all students to considerlooking for placements during the holidays as an alternative.

Did you know that the Saturday job is a dying tradition? 10 years agoalmost half 16-17 year olds had a part time job. By 2014 this haddropped to 18%! As well as providing extra spending money, youlearn vital employability skills and commercial knowledge - anotherway you can stand out from the crowd.

Year 10 Work Experience

Mrs Griffin & Mrs Campion | Careers Advisors

This year, twenty Year 12 and 13 students entered theChemistry Olympiad run by the Royal Society of Chemistryand seven students were awarded as follows:-

Bronze Certificates: Tyler Mitchell, Alex Heaton, LydiaJestice, Amsalu Gabriel and Lana Camp

Silver Certificates: Katie Foster and Izzi Graves

Congratulations to everyone that participated. As always theRoyal Society of Chemistry sets extremely high standards andthose that received certificates have shown themselves to be verygood at the subject. Nationally, bronze certificates were awardedto 1619 out of 5389 entrants (30.0%) and 1374 achieved silvercertificates (25.5%).

Because this improves the standard of Chemistry at A Level, aspecial course is being run after school each Tuesday afternoonto help those that wish to enter next year to improve theirprowess in this discipline.

Bruce Rae PhD CChem FRSC

Chemistry Olympiad 2017

Chemistry Quiz1.  A nitric acid molecule contains atoms of which three elements?2.  What are the products of combustion in excess oxygen?3.  Why is a Bunsen safety flame yellow in colour?4.  What is the only yellow element?5.  Give 3 units in which temperature may be measured.

6.  Why does aluminium not rust away like iron?7.  What is the relative charge on the sulfide ion?8.  There are only two liquid elements on the periodic table - name them.9.  At room temperature, which is heavier: a litre of oxygen or a litre of nitrogen?10. How many hydrogen atoms are there in a molecule of propane?

The Year 8 Bletchley Park Challenge is an annual competition wherestudents are invited to enter after the February half term and fourstudents are then chosen as finalists to represent the school at anevening held at Bletchley Park’s mansion. The finalists this year were ZacFreeland, Emily Cuddeford, Saskia Chaplin and Oliver Whittington.Congratulations to all the students; especially to Oliver who was amember of the winning team on the evening.

The regional final of the UKMT Junior Team Challenge was held atCaroline Chisholm School in Northampton on 21st April. This is a fullday out completing four Maths challenges as a team. Congratulations toOliver Anderson, Barbara de Koning, Hana Murray and Ben Wharpshirewho represented the school. We were unfortunately unsuccessful inmoving on to the final but the students worked really hard and we areso proud of the efforts they made. On 27th April a large Year 8 groupparticipated in the Junior UKMT Individual challenge. Congratulationsto Ivo Duncan, Benjamin Wharpshire and Benjamin Li who gained aGold certificate. Well done also to the 23 students who achieved Silverand the 30 who achieved Bronze.

Mrs J Murray | Teacher of Maths

Key Stage 3 Maths Competitions

Can you answer some of the UKMTRegional Final questions below?

Find three positive numbers which have a sum of19 and a product of 240

In a group of eight friends, each pair have a dailytelephone conversation. In total how many phonecalls is this per week?

The four numbers 1,2,3 and 4 are written in a rowso that the sum of any two adjacent numbers is atleast 5. How many different ways can this be done?

Find the product of any four consecutive integersand add 1. What special type of number do youalways get?

1

2

3

4

Answers on Page 11

Answers on Page 9

On Friday 21st April, the Year 12 Politics students headed for London for the day. However, this was no ordinary trip: we werevisiting Westminster and even better, we were going inside.

We arrived at a daunting, colossal building towering over us. Big Ben chimed five as we headed inside and passed through security,which felt more like an airport than a palace. We made our way to the main room, walking through enormous wooden doors and foundourselves in Westminster Hall, the oldest part of Westminster, used for speeches from the likes of Obama and Mandela. We waited awhile for our tour guide, and then began the tour, ready to delve into the history and significance of Westminster.

We began by walking to the end of the building, finding ourselves in an immense room, with intricate walls, paintings, murals, andeverything else you’d expect of nobility. This was no coincidence, as we were following the Queen’s exact footsteps when she attendsWestminster. We followed this through to her robing room with our mouths in awe of the massive paintings and artistry, accompanied bythe tour guide telling us all sorts of information and facts.

We then headed for the House of Lords, the second chamber of Parliament, where the Lords and Bishops sit and debate laws. For aplace so crucial to our country, it was incredible just standing inside, amazed by the gold-adorned throne and the royal-purple that waseverywhere. This was a stark contrast to the House of Commons where we walked next.

There, we were shown the division lobbies, where MPs vote onlaws, and entered the House itself, where the MPs jovially and oftennoisily debate. Although we didn’t see any debates, it was stillincredible to be in a place which you hear so much about in thenews.

We finally headed back to Westminster Hall, where our tourconcluded. It was an incredible experience, and opened our eyesto just how interesting Parliament is.

Ryan Farnes 12KT

Year 12 Politics | Visit to WestminsterReport by Ryan Farnes 12KT

Congratulations on achieving Music Exam Grades

Grade

Polly Bennett Flute 10MG 6 PassMadeline Bhebhe Flute 8KAL 3 PassOlivia Brandon-Graham Flute 10GD 3 MeritAlyssa Brown Flute 8JNB 3 MeritBethany Dicks Flute 12CD 5 PassIsla Rogers Flute 12SA 5 MeritOlivia Smith Flute 7FW 4 PassRebecca Woodward Flute 12MS 3 MeritCressida Duncan Violin 7SMG 1 MeritAlessia Farr Cello 10CR 5 PassAmsalu Gabriel French Horn 12DK 8 DistinctionJake Hilton-Aston Guitar 11DB 5 PassEmma Luckin Guitar 13CM 6 PassTyler Mclntosh Guitar 12EY 4 DistinctionSophie Tokarski-Mclean Guitar 8JA 1 PassGoda Vadeikyte Guitar 9JB 1 MeritTom Mills Clarinet 10JOM 5 MeritGeorgia Morris Music Theory exam 9LLW 5 DistinctionGeorgia Morris Piano 9LLW 3 DistinctionMadeleine Bates Piano 9KM 3 MeritIsla Rogers Piano 12SA 8 DistinctionEsin Zemzem Violin 7RC 2 Distinction

Congratulations also toHrydai Bajwa-Patel 7MTM

Hrydai recently competed in theMilton Keynes Festival of the Arts forMusic, Dance and Drama and wasawarded a Bronze medal in thebeginner Keyboard category.

Well done also to the Ousedale School students who play in the MiltonKeynes Youth Orchestra. They performed the Karelia Suite alongsideMilton Keynes City orchestra, at the Milton Keynes Theatre on 12th March.

Playing side by side professional musicians was a great experience and weare very proud of their achievement.

Inter-Form Football and Hockey

At the end of the Easter term, Years 7-9 competed in the boys’ football and girls’ hockey inter-form tournament. The matcheswere very competitive and played in good spirit with all forms keen to do well.

We look forward to the rounders inter-form competitions and of course Sports Day in the summer term. Congratulations to the Easter termwinners - all listed here.

8STC - Year 8 Olney Football winners

Group Winners

Boys’ Football Girls’ HockeyYear 7 South SBB Year 7 South CH

Year 7 North RC Year 7 North FW

Year 7 Olney SMG Year 7 Olney CW

Year 8 South SP Year 8 South JA/SW

Year 8 North RV Year 8 North LRP

Year 8 Olney STC Year 8 Olney FC

Year 9 South JCB Year 9 South LLW

Year 9 North EH Year 9 North KRM

Year 9 Olney MRG Year 9 Olney NB

Enrichment with the MK DonsGroups of Year 7 and Year 9 boys took part in the MK Donsenrichment programme, focusing on confidence buildingskills through football.

The sessions included working with a MK Dons coach and a trip tothe MK Dons stadium, which were thoroughly enjoyed by all.Students were presented with a certificate and complimentarytickets to a game of their choice. Well done to all involved.

Ms Dear | Pastoral Mentor, Olney campus andMr Phipps |PE Teacher, Newport Pagnell campus

For the spring term enrichment in Design and Technology at Olney weran a chocolate packaging project where Year 7 students had to redesignthe packaging from an Easter egg of their choice.

They completed their designs on the computer, printed them out, and theneven vacuum formed their own inserts to hold the egg in place. When thepackaging was completed they were given the Easter egg to put in it to takehome, which I think was the most ‘egg’citing part to them! They were such alovely group and all of them really enjoyed the project.

Mrs Robertshaw | Coordinator of Design TechnologyOlney campus.

‘Egg’citing Enrichment!

Year 7 | Chocolate Packaging Project

Year 8 ACE Day - Mission to MarsFor the Year 8 ACE Day in Design and Technology we learnt about real life ‘Missions toMars’ and the aim of the day was to build a rocket that could carry a payload to Mars anddesign living spaces for astronauts to inhabit the planet and design edible food for the trip.

Rocket building: The aim of this activity was to design a rocket out of recyclable materialsthat can protect an egg, which would be inside the rocket when blasted into the air. Wetook time to plan the rocket, making sure it included a parachute. Half way through, thestudents making the rockets had a test go which went well. However, some studentsdiscovered some flaws in their design and had to fix them for the real flight.

Designing food: We learnt about the effects on food in space and chose what food to putin the rocket for the astronauts. We talked about what kinds of foods are used, then testedout one of the foods eaten in space - an ice cream sandwich. Many people commentedthat it was delicious! We then had to make food that was edible in space and therefore nothave any moisture on it so bacteria could not live. JJ said ‘I am really enjoying this, especiallymaking space soup’.

Making Habitats: The idea of this project was to design a home for the astronauts to live inon Mars. The building or pod had to be able to withstand and protect the astronauts fromharsh weather and to keep them warm from the extremely cold temperatures during thewinter. Khalid and Alex said they were ‘really enjoying everything, especially gluing thingstogether and looking at key features they could place within their habitation pods.’

Photography and article by:Cameron Langford 8RV, Mack Mitchell 8JA, Sophie Tokarski-McLean 8JA,Tally Scott 8STC and Georgia Wood 8STC

On 15th March 2017 Ousedale competed in the Rotary Technology competition at Denbigh School. We took three teams withus, a Foundation Key Stage 3 team, an Intermediate Key Stage 4 team, and an Advanced Key stage 5 team. There were teamsfrom all over Milton Keynes competing in all three categories.

The task they completed was to build a motorised vehicle which could be controlled remotely by switch that had to travel down a halfpipe through a tunnel. The foundation team consisting of Kyle Barbarovich 9EH, Nathan Smith 9JB, Natasha Noble 9KRM and HelenaWood 9JB had to power the vehicle forward, collecting some rubble on the way and transport it to the end of the tunnel.

The intermediate team consisting of Fatmata Karmara 10EF, Robert Hickman 10CR and Holly Pappalardo 10CR had to do the same butwhen the rubble reached the end of the tunnel they had to reverse the vehicle back.

Finally the advanced team consisting of Rebekah Lapina 12MS, Robyn Arthur 12ALM, Zac Brindley 12DK and Rudy Whitlock 12TR had topick the rubble up and transport it back with them. The build process was hard as students were not given many resources to work with.

The foundation and intermediate teams each came first in their own categories; this was an excellent achievement to take home two ofthe three shields, especially as the intermediate team did it with only three in their team when there should have been four.

Congratulations to all involved.

Mrs Robertshaw | Coordinator of Design TechnologyOlney campus.

Two Shields for Ousedale School!

Rotary Technology Tournament1.  Nitric acid is HNO₃. So hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen.2.  Water vapour and carbon dioxide3.  This is due to incandescence of very fine soot (carbon particles).4.  Sulfur.5.  Celsius (C), kelvin (K) and fahrenheit (F)

6.  Aluminium is extremely reactive and when it comes into contact with the oxygen in the air a thin layer of aluminium oxide forms on its surface which protects it from further oxidation.7.  -2 because Sulfur gains 2 electrons to form the sulfide ion (S²-).8.  Mercury (Hg) and bromine (Br)9.  A litre of oxygen.10. A propane molecule contains three carbon atoms and 8 hydrogen atoms.Chemistry Quiz - Answers

Library Corner Visit by Performance Poet, Adisa the VerbalizerIn March we had a visit from Adisa The Verbalizer, a performance poet who has visited usbefore; Year 9 students and staff at each campus enjoyed a lively and participativeperformance. Adisa then carried out workshops with smallergroups of students. For more information about Adisa and asample of his poetry please see his websitehttp://www.adisaworld.com/

In the words of Ben Preston and Leo Freeland 9MRG:‘

Excelsior AwardOur Comic Book enrichment sessions have finished now andthe books we liked the best were The Black Panther andMega Robo Bros. We have to wait until July to find out whoactually won.

We have a growing selection of graphic novels, comics andManga available to read in the library so If you are unfamiliar withthe genre come and try one!

The Carnegie book awards were established in 1936, in memoryof the great Scottish-born philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie(1835-1919). Carnegie was a self-made industrialist who madehis fortune in steel in the USA. His experience of using a libraryas a child led him to resolve that

Groups of Year 9 students have been busy taking part in CarnegieShadowing. Schools across the country shadow this as it is one of themost prestigious children’s book awards and this is the seventh yearthat Ousedale School students have taken part. Students at eachcampus meet every Monday and we have had some lovely, livelydiscussions. We also get both campus groups together for a meetingand for the final. Our aim is to read all eight of the shortlisted books.The winner will be announced on 19th June and we are all interestedto see whether we agree with the judges!

Check out our shadowing pages online, we have a group for eachcampus.

http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/shadowing.php

Mrs Campion and Mrs McCaffrey, School Librarians

Carnegie Medal

ReminderYear 11 & 13 Leavers

Don’t forget to return books and clear your library account so thatwe can sign your leavers forms!

On 16th March, myself and other A Level drama studentsattended a viewing of ‘A Comedy about a Bank Robbery’ atthe Criterion Theatre. This play follows a chaotic group ofindividuals who all want to steal a diamond. There arepickpockets, policemen, a sneaky bank manager and a coupleof seagulls! - but nothing goes to plan. We were keen towatch the show as it contains elements of Epic Theatre andFarce which my class and I are now able to use as inspirationfor our final practical examination pieces.

I’m glad that I suggested this play and, for what has worked out to be the last Theatre trip of my time here at Ousedale, I have to say I ambeyond delighted that everyone (Year 12 and 13 alike) enjoyed it as much as I did.

One of my favourite aspects about this production was the venue itself; as you walk in you descend into the theatre and, in turn, your seats.Our seats were three rows from the front, which allowed me to see every emotion, movement and drip of sweat coming from thephenomenally energetic actors; these performers never missed a beat when it came to their exceptional comedic timing.

I highly recommend this play, for its flawless incorporation of music, genius sets and so many stupid puns that you’re left with aching sidesand tears of laughter. This was a fantastic trip to remember.

Amelia Haynes 13JLB

Year 12 and 13 DramaLondon Theatre Trip

By Amelia Haynes 13JLB

Recorded live at Ousedale Schoolon 20th October 2016

Mixed from 3 HD Camera Feeds andhigh quality condenser mics with stereo hifi sound

GET YOUR COPY NOW FROMTHE FINANCE OFFICE WHILE STOCKS LAST

£10.001 Bluray Disc

£8.50DVD Boxed set of 2DVDs Discs

1. 5,6 and 82. 28 calls per day for 7 days = 196 calls3. 1423, 1432, 2341, 3241, so4 ways4. The answer is always the square of an odd number. Canyou prove this?

UKMTRegional FinalAnswers

Following an exceptionally successful outing in 2017, the Ousedale Ski Trip is back by popular demand! The feedback hasbeen extremely positive from everybody involved; all our skiers and boarders learnt new skills and stretched themselves whileslaloming down the mountains. Many students have highlighted it as the best and most memorable experience of their schoollives so far; it is not to be missed!

This year, the trip will be open to all year groups. We will be returning to Austria and the St Johan Sportwelt Resort in the 2018 Februaryhalf term. We have even managed to secure the same fantastic hotel ‘Hotel Muhlthaler’, run by Franz & Elsa and we have also been ableto secure the services of our Ski Rep Sophie, who was brilliant when we last visited, as shown by the incredible improvements our skiersshowed by the end of the week.

The facilities and equipment are exceptionally good – just ask this year’s skiers and boarders - and we are looking to offer both skiing andboarding again. As you may expect, costs have increased slightly: it will cost a total of £1057 for skiing and £1097 for snowboarding(including a £40 supplement). This is still excellent value for money: the trip comes inclusive with a whole host of benefits for participantsincluding ski hire, mountain pass, accommodation, breakfast, lunch and dinner along with evening entertainment amongst a range ofopportunities while in Austria. This year, we are looking at a payment plan to keep the repayments monthly and spread the cost: this willhelp to keep the total price more manageable.

If you would like to go on the trip, please look out for the Ski Trip letter that will appear shortly on the school wesite. Ski tripmeetings will be held in the 2017 Summer Term, along with a data collection, equipment and information evening in Autumnterm. For all questions and enquiries, please email trip leader Ken Trevitt on ken.trevitt@ousedale.org.uk

Payment Number Payment Due Date AmountPayment 1 End May 2017 £200Payment 2 End June 2017 £150Payment 3 End July 2017 £150Payment 4 End August 2017 £150Payment 5 End September 2017 £150Payment 6 End October 2017 £150Payment 7 End November 2017 £107 Skiing/ £147 Boarding

TOTAL PAYABLE £1057 Skiing/ £1097 Boarding

OUSEDALE SKI 2018

Back by PopularDemand!!!!

AccommodationHotel Muhlthaler

25 minute local ski bus transfer to the slopes every dayEn-suite facilities in all rooms

Towels providedBB and evening meal - Lunch provided on the slopes