Hello! Welcome to the February/March Issue of Bullers Bulletin, featuring all the latest news and achievements from the School. We hope you enjoy it.

Contents Crystal Palace Premier League football tournament Year 8 football tournament U16 football tournament Fashion Show Fashion Show picture gallery Design Ventura Awards Lucy Sefton diving competition Red Nose Day Year 11 trip to Cambridge University BBC School reporters Mock Magistrates’ trial Mansfield College application workshop Library news “I’m a Scientist get me out of here!” Attention Parents/Carers: don’t let your son or daughter miss that trip!

Our year 8 football team played in the U13 Crystal Palace Premier League 6-a side football tournament. All of the girls played extremely well and got to the final. Overall they came 2nd place after losing the final match to the Priory. All the team members deserved their success after all their efforts in training this season. Congratulations goes to: Lily Coady Alex Covill Madison Hornsby Sade Kamara Dilara Narin Ellis Oulton

Crystal Palace Premier League Football tournament

Our Year 8 football team participated in the Ravensbourne Year 8 Football Tournament and played extremely well to reach the semi-final where they lost to Hayes. Due to an earlier injury they had to play one short but they gallantly persevered just losing 2-0 which were the first goals they had conceded in the tournament. Congratulations go to: Ellie Bracey (F) Megan Ellis (G) Maddie Hornsby (E) Sade Kamara (B) Dilara Narin (B) Ellis Oulton (F) Vikita Vaghela (D)

The U16 Football Team won 4-2 against St Paul’s in the semi–final of the Bromley Cup today with goals from Emily Clarke, Vicky Mahy and two from Charlotte Simmonds. Congratulations go to: Becky Ansley, Amrit Basi, Georgina Covill, Vicky Mahy, Estelle Okpaire, Charlotte Simmonds, Georgina Simpson, Julie Akwu-Kachi, Emily Clarke, Katy Corner, Georgina Hosie, Annabelle Underdown, Iman Zaabalawi and Sarah Rowland.

Year 8 Football Tournament/U16 Football tournament

On the 12 the March Year 12 and 13 Fashion students organised and ran Bullers Wood’s 6th Fashion show. This was a wonderful opportunity for students to showcase their work and gain valuable experience in organising and running an event. The evening was a huge success and this year outfits and clothes were designed in response to the theme ‘Dark Fairy Tales’. Year 8 students also presented there work in their own section and the creative and innovative designs were impressive. The Bullers Wood yearly fashion show also raises money funds ‘The Mountain Trust’, a charity which pioneers education and healthcare in Nepal. The money we raised this year will directly support Brahmajyoti Primary School. The school has 65 students from the age of four to nine and they are all desperately poor. Although the children pay no tuition fees they are responsible for exam fees, their uniform and lunch. The 400 rupees (£2) it costs to take an exam is often earned from several days working in the bazaar.

With our support these students now

have access to an education. We are

proud to partner ‘The Mountain Trust’

and thrilled that this year raised £1500

which will go a long way in supporting

educational initiatives in Nepal.

Fashion Show

Fashion Show picture gallery

Fashion Show picture gallery

Prior to half term members of the Design Technology department along with the Headteacher, Mr Greene, were excited to attend the Design Ventura Awards Ceremony at the Design Museum. Shortly before Christmas Tai Liddell, Scarlett Sargent, Amber Fremaux and Ella Graveney learnt that they had achieved a place in the shortlist of 10 schools, from an original 900, for the prestigious competition where they had to design a product in response the word ‘connect’. The team designed and created Enviro-card; an environmentally friendly postcard that is embedded with wildflower seeds. Due to their seamless communication skills shown during their pitch, as well as the excellent graphics in their design the girls were awarded a

commendation for communication. An excellent achievement. Enviro-card is now displayed in an exhibition at the Design Museum alongside the current exhibition showing work from the most influential female fashion designers entitled Women, Fashion, Power. We would like to congratulate all of the staff and students involved in this competition and thank Miss Russ for overseeing the project.

Design Ventura Awards

Congratulations to Lucy Sefton in Year 8 who, at the recent diving competition held during half term, was placed 5th in the Platform and 3rd in the 1m events. The competition competed for the Armada Cup held in Plymouth. Lucy is now due to attend G-Star, in Leeds, from Thursday through to Sunday this week, where she will be competing on all 3 boards, 1m, 3m and Platform comps. Well done Lucy!

On Friday 13th March, Bullers Wood had an own clothes day to support Comic Relief. Each student was allowed to wear their own clothes by making a £2 donation. Overall, the school raised approximately £1100. Thank you to everyone who took part.

Lucy Sefton Diving Competition/Red Nose Day

Year 11 were lucky enough to be offered the chance to visit Cambridge University and meet some current students to get a flavour of what life was like there. The trip was very successful and they all enjoyed it. Once they had arrived at Christ’s College which was to be their base for the day, the students’ met their tour guide Andy, who was a former student. He took them to the Classics faculty via some of the more famous colleges including Kings. They were able to get a feel of the city itself and see some of the beautiful architecture of some of the colleges. At the Classics faculty, the students’ were given a tour of the plaster cast museum which had plaster replicas of many of the famous Greek and roman statues and muses. They were then taken back to Christ’s where they had lunch in the college canteen along with current students who were going about their daily routine.

The next part of the day was probably the most interesting as the students had a question and answer session with current students. This gave them the biggest insight into life at Cambridge because they could ask anything they liked to people who had been through the admissions process and gained a place at the university. During this session they were also told lots of different facts about the university, for example, there are more state school students than private school students. Overall, the day was thoroughly enjoyed by all of the students’ and they had all learnt more about university life in general as well as how they can apply to Cambridge itself.

Year 11 trip to Cambridge University

Our BBC School Reporters were fortunate to participate in the BBC Make It Digital campaign. Seven year 8 students and three year 10 students were filmed learning how to code using BBC School Report’s new Datapic tool, to launch the Make It Digital campaign. The film was featured in an event to launch the campaign and was screened in front of Tony Hall, BBC Director General and other senior producers and executives within the organisation. To see their contribution to the whole film, search for BBC Make It Digital, and scroll to the Partnerships section.

On Saturday 21st March, 13 Year 9 students took part in the local heat of The Citizenship Foundation’s ‘Mock Magistrates’ Competition’. The team gave a sterling performance beating six schools to go through to the regional heats in May. The team consists of: Kiarna Whiteley, Samantha Travers-Spencer, Gwen Shepherd, Alison Chandler, Leah Coy, Olivia McDowell, Nancy Andrews, Chandni Mistry, Ella Graveney, Rosie Simmonds, Fae Kemsley, Jasmine Corbin and Vanessa Chigonda. Phoebe Barrett wrote a court report which will be entered for the separate court reporter competition.

BBC School Reporters/Mock Magistrates’ Trial

On Tuesday 3rd March, thirteen Year 12 students participated on an Oxford University application workshop, where current students and tutors from Mansfield College, one of the Oxford colleges, informed them about applying to Oxford, what to expect in an interview, as well as what Mansfield College is like. After an introduction on the friendly community and facilities of Mansfield College, choosing the right course and what tutors look for in applicants, the students could choose what type of subject they wanted to look into further: Humanities, Social Sciences or Sciences. In these groups, everyone got an insight from an extremely experienced tutor and third-year students on what to expect in an interview. Everyone received packs on how to ensure that you are fully prepared for the interview and what types of questions the interviewer might ask you, based on your Personal Statement and any background reading you have done. They had some extremely interesting discussions on how to answer such questions and what important qualities the interviewer is seeking in an applicant. The tutors and students were extremely helpful in answering any queries our students had about how the subjects would be taught, what life at Oxford is like and recommended books to read in advance.

Hope Nyabienda, an aspiring Geography student said, “I found it really helpful. For a while now, the thought of having to choose the course that I want to do as well as then apply for it has seemed rather daunting. What I learnt on the day has helped me to see it all in a more positive light because I have a better understanding of what will come.” The students would all like to thank Mr

Weeks for organising the trip, as it has

proved invaluable in furthering their

knowledge about applying to Oxford.

Mansfield College Application Workshop

Recently, Bullers Wood library held a scholastic book fair lasting just over a week and a half. The books on sale included a range of age-appropriate fiction and non-fiction books for secondary school students. Pupils in years 7,8, 9 and 10 all had the opportunity to attend the fair during lessons and purchase a book if they so desired. It was a hugely successful event, with £1,200 spent on books and stationery. 25 books for SEN paired reading and 100 books for the library have been purchased from commission and are currently being stamped, scanned and covered, ready to be placed on the shelves for all students to enjoy. Prior to the book fair, the library held a themed Valentine’s Day love poetry competition. The love poetry winners were:

1st place: Sophie Wyatt- 7H 2nd place: Rosie Heald- 7D 3rd place: Lauriane Cayrouse- 7C

Congratulations to these girls for their wonderful achievement! A World Book Day event was also held in the library at lunchtime, offering students a chance to design a book token, which have been sent off for a competition. The day was well attended and enjoyed by many. Thank you to all who have participated in these events and continue to show an enthusiasm in reading for pleasure. Keep it up!

Library News

On the 10th March 7.1 attended an “I’m a Scientist get me out of Here!” Web Chat chatting to real Scientists live! They signed up to the website, had a look at what the different Scientists did and came up with some great questions to ask them once the chat started. After their 30 minute chat they voted on their favourite Scientist who won £500 for their research projects. Here’s Sophie’s account of what happened… Our ‘I’m a Scientist Get me out of Here’ Web Chat by Sophie Wyatt 7.1 The ‘I’m a Scientist get me out of Here’ web chat site is really good. All the Scientists were really happy and managed to handle a landslide of our questions. There were five Scientists but we could only talk to four, Jennifer was busy (probably with work). The four Scientists that we could talk to were called Tom, Jen, Imogen and Hephzi. Tom studies rocks from a million years

ago, Jen studies the mind and how small children think and feel. Imogen researches sea life and the plastic pollution in the oceans. Hephzi studies skin cells that she grows in petri dishes in the lab. They all answered tonnes of questions and they seemed to really enjoy chatting with us. It was amazing and we learned loads about what it is like to work as a Scientist. My team voted for Tom because he was the most talkative although other teams thought differently. It was sad when we had to say goodbye. It was a brilliant experience!

“I’m a Scientist get me out of here!”

Is your child looking forward to their summer school trip? Then the following tips may be useful: check that passports are valid for the trip and ensure that they apply for new or renewed passports now. This can now be done on-line at https://www.gov.uk/apply-renew-passport Send a copy of the valid passport to the Trips & Visits box opposite the Medical Room in Bullers Wood House, marked with the name of the trip and your daughter’s form. A European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) must be taken on all Euro-pean trips. Please check the validi-ty of your child’s EHIC; where nec-essary, apply via www.dh.gov.uk/travellers or call 0300 330 1350 now!

Send a copy of the card to Mrs Christopher, our Educational Visits Administrator.

For more information, please email Mrs Christopher at bchristpher@bullerswood.bromley.sch.uk.

Attention Parents/Carers: Don’t let your son or daughter miss that trip!