Twycross Times

Twycross Times

TWYCROSS HOUSE SCHOOL | THE GREEN | TWYCROSS | NEAR ATHERSTONE | WARWICKSHIRE | CV9 3PL | T: 01827 880651 1 TWYCROSS HOUSE SCHOOL | THE GREEN | TWYCROSS | NEAR ATHERSTONE | WARWICKSHIRE | CV9 3PL | T: 01827 880651

TWYCROSS HOUSE SCHOOLTWYCROSS HOUSE PRE-PREPARATORY SCHOOL

SPRING 2016

TIMES

2 THE HOLLIES | THE GREEN | TWYCROSS | NEAR ATHERSTONE | WARWICKSHIRE | CV9 3PQ | T: 01827 880725

The Hollies

Science InvestigationsScience InvestigationsIn our short topic about water, the children thoroughly enjoyed our science investigations. We had lots of fun stirring and mixing things in water to see what would dissolve. We then investigated which materials would make the best umbrella for Winnie the Pooh by using a pipette to place drops of water onto different materials.

First Years

SpaceSpaceIn order to celebrate the amazing success of our home-grown astronaut, Tim Peake, all of the children at The Hollies have been learning about Space. Making rockets, astronaut puppets with moveable arms and legs and painting scary aliens were some of the highlights of our topic in the First Year.

E-SafetyE-SafetyWe are never too young to learn how to keep ourselves safe when using the computer. In the First Year, Smartie the Penguin taught us a song to remember an important safety tip:

“Before you click, click, click,

You have to think, think, think,

And tell someone!”

The Easter Egg HuntThe Easter Egg Hunt

First Year CookingFirst Year Cooking

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The Hollies

Second Years

Noah’s Ark ConcertFollowing our topic work on Noah’s Ark Mrs Dally, our music teacher, prepared the children to perform songs and dancing about the characters in the story. What good singers our second years are becoming!

Well done, Mrs Dally, for all your hard work.

Chinese New YearChinese New YearTo celebrate Chinese New Year we made beautiful paper dragons. The second year children are born in the year of the Ox (2009) or the Tiger (2010).

Second Year Trip – Gladstone Pottery Second Year Trip – Gladstone Pottery The second years had a delightful day at Gladstone Pottery. We

experienced the history of the pottery and were shown how a vase was made on the potter’s wheel. Our afternoon activity was painting a plate in the style of Clarice Cliff. We received many compliments about the impeccable behaviour of our children.

Well done, second years!

Second Year ConcertSecond Year ConcertThe traditional Biblical story of ‘Noah and the Ark’ was retold by the Second Years with script and nine challenging songs.

Great fun was had by all, although ‘God’, played by Archie Potter, was there to keep the animals in order! With the biggest, loudest and quietest, happiest and saddest and the coldest

and warmest; Noah (Oliver Timberlake) and his very effi cient and organised wife (Ella Walker) managed to snuggly fi t them all into the ark.

The projection and clarity of their singing and script was a credit to them all. We certainly had some very proud parents and needless to say teachers.

Second Year ValentinesSecond Year ValentinesBiscuitsBiscuits

Valentines DayValentines Day

Painting - Painting - Noah’s ArkNoah’s ArkHere we are painting some animals for our concert.

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The Hollies

Third Years

MaterialsMaterialsIn January we learned about plastics and recycling. During the half term break we recycled plastic bottles and made new useful items. We got lots of help from mums and dads!

ForcesForcesWe did an experiment to fi nd out about gravity. We dropped two balls of different weight/mass at the same time and from the same height to see which would hit the ground fi rst. What do you think happened?

We used air pressure to make rockets move. Mrs R pumped air into the ‘rocket car’ made by Anmaul and her dad. The force made the cork shoot out and the rocket car zoomed off into the distance. Mrs R got soaked in the process. Mrs Winfi eld pumped air into a rocket made by her husband. The rocket zoomed upwards with great force and landed in a tree!

We did an experiment to show how air pressure would make a balloon move along a string.

ElectricityElectricityLast term we learned about electricity in Science. During the Christmas holidays we made some brilliant working models and toys using motors and circuits. Our family members enjoyed the project, too!

Religious StudiesReligious StudiesFor our RE topic this term, the Third Years compared two places of worship. We visited the Holy Trinity Church in Ashby de la Zouch and the Shree Krishna Temple in Coventry.

We have learnt a lot about how Christians and Hindus worship. We also learnt about two important religious celebrations - Easter and Passover.

Madelaine brought in her family’s Seder plate to show us.


The Hollies

Fourth YearsEaster ActivitiesEaster ActivitiesThe 4th year have worked hard with a needle and thread to make lovely hand-

stitched Easter cards. Next time a button needs replacing you know who to ask for help!

Easter Hat ParadeEaster Hat ParadeWow, what a spectacle! The children at The Hollies brightened an otherwise gloomy spring morning with a wonderful display of Easter hats decorated with eggs, chicks, fl owers and bunnies.

Thank you for your support in the making of these masterpieces!

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TWYCROSS HOUSE SCHOOL | THE GREEN | TWYCROSS | NEAR ATHERSTONE | WARWICKSHIRE | CV9 3PL | T: 01827 8806516

Twycross TimesThe Hollies

Mothering SundayMothering SundayThe children made lovely cards for Mothering Sunday. The school provided each child with the gift of a pretty primula plant for the occasion.

World World Thinking DayThinking DayAs a special treat any children who currently attend a Guide or Scout group (including R a i n b o w s , Brownies, Beavers and Cubs) had the opportunity to come to school dressed in their uniform. This was to celebrate ‘World Thinking Day 2016’ which promotes international friendship. Don’t they look smart?

Easter Chicks Easter ChicksMrs Taviner-Hodge very kindly brought some young chicks into school for the children to see. They were adorable and the children really enjoyed stroking and holding them – the chicks appeared to enjoy all the fuss and were so relaxed that

one almost went to sleep in a child’s hands!

Thank you! Thank you! So far we have raised £7684.68 for Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

Retirements RetirementsMrs Lilley told me some time ago that she would be retiring in summer 2016 and she has been helping me to plan for the future and for a smooth transition next September. I have already made two key appointments:

Mr Tim Buckton, whom some of you will know already as father of Thomas (S1) and Hannah (F4), will leave his post as a highly valued vice-principal of a large school in the E. Midlands and join us in the role of Associate Headteacher. He will start at Twycross straight after the Whitsun half-term to give him time to get to know everybody and have a hand in the detailed planning for 2016/17.

Mrs Grace Williams will join us in September also as Associate Headteacher after an illustrious spell as Assistant Headteacher at a large comprehensive in Aylesbury. Her daughter Eva starts at the Hollies in the autumn.

Both these people understand very clearly how much we all value our ethos, independence and individuality of approach, and they admire tremendously what is being achieved here both academically and pastorally. They are both excellent teachers and highly experienced school managers who, I am confi dent, share my fi rm vision for the future development of the school. They will complement and strengthen our leadership team and help maintain the school’s forward momentum.

Mrs Cartlidge is also retiring this summer, having made a huge contribution to the science teaching, sixth form and general leadership of the school of which we are extremely appreciative. This has led to a third key appointment:

Mrs Charlotte Lauder will join the staff in September as Head of Biology and Head of the Lower Sixth. She also comes from a large comprehensive and brings a whole range of skills, interests and leadership experience.

We are already busy working on the arrangements for next year and Mrs Lilley will, as always, be working through the summer holiday to ensure a smooth start in September. I know how much she will miss Twycross House and we, of course, shall miss her very much, too. However, I am pleased to say she shares my confi dence that the school will continue to provide the same education and pastoral care which we know has long been valued by parents and pupils. The combination of new and long-standing school leaders will make a very effective and capable team.

S.D.Assinder

The uniform shop is open during term time from 8:00am - 9:00am and 3:00pm - 4:00pm

in the grounds of the hollies.

we also provide a full school uniform fitting service which can be arranged by appointment only.

full school uniform fittings can be arranged throughout the summer holiday period to make sure your child has

everything they need in preparation for the new school year. A reminder that some garments need to be specially

ordered, so we advise to book your fittings early.

Find us online at www.jillybeans.co.uk

Twycross House School Uniform Suppliers

For further information please contact us via

Tel : - 01827 881 396 e-mail : - [email protected]

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Twycross Times

TWYCROSS HOUSE SCHOOL | THE GREEN | TWYCROSS | NEAR ATHERSTONE | WARWICKSHIRE | CV9 3PL | T: 01827 880651 7

Sixth Form Christmas StampsSixth Form Christmas StampsEach year the Sixth Form sell charity stamps for the internal delivery of pupils’ and staff’s Christmas cards. This year £162.30 was raised for the charity War Child.

War Child supports and improves the care of young people who live with a combination of insecurity, poverty and exclusion in some of the worst confl ict zones around the world. They help children suffering some of the worst effects of violence which includes child soldiers, sexual violence, abduction and children living and working on the streets.

In addition to the £162.30 from the sale of stamps, Mrs Karen Williams donated £50 from her exercise classes making the total amount sent to the charity £212.30. Thank you everyone for your support.

World Book Day at Swallows HillWorld Book Day at Swallows HillOn Thursday 3rd March, Swallows Hill celebrated World Book Day by creating hats that represented well-loved books. Those judged to be the most representative won sweets and a book. Pupils covered books from ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ and ‘Spy Dog’ through ‘Harry Potter’ to ‘Lord of the Rings’ and the ‘Diary of Anne Frank’.

It was extremely diffi cult to choose the best and we had to have special commendations for those who were very close runners-up.

Clearly such a lot of thought and effort had gone into the hats that we had to involve several members of staff (and pupils) to come to the fi nal winners.

Many thanks to all of you for the effort at home.

Winners1st Hannah Buckton

2nd Kristian Howe

3rd Abbie Mitchell

CommendationsErin Haycock, Sofi a Michaelides, Maisie Wharton and Lewis Duffi eld.

Mrs A McCabe

The fi rst stage of this challenging competition took place in December and entailed an intensive three hours of algorithm implementation in C# to crack given problem scenarios. Euan pitted his wits against other Lower and Upper Sixth pupils from around the country to become one of only fi fteen selected for the fi nal, which will be held over Easter.

Meantime, all fi fteen fi nalists have been asked to sign up to the American “USACO training program” for programmers at http://train.usaco.org/usacogate. This interactive resource encourages those British Sixth Form and American Senior High School pupils amongst others, who are daring enough to create algorithms with as effi cient a code as possible

for given problems. The site has six levels of increasing complexity, all clearly designed to make one’s brain hurt. The organisation holds international contests throughout the year and for the February 2016 contest all the British Olympiad fi nalists were automatically entered at Silver Award level. Those who know Euan will not be surprised to learn he scored 100% at this level and was subsequently automatically moved up to the Gold level contests. Wow!

We wish Euan every success with these pursuits and especially for the fi nal of the British Informatics Olympiad taking place in Trinity College, Cambridge at the beginning of April.

(Mrs van Arkel)

Euan Tebbutt – British Informatics Olympiad 2016 Euan Tebbutt – British Informatics Olympiad 2016 Euan Tebbutt has shown his prowess in developing computer programs by reaching the fi nal of the British Informatics (Computing) Olympiad 2016 competition.

2p Challenge2p ChallengeOur pupils at Swallows Hill brought in 2p coins to create a line around the building. Starting by Form 3Y’s classroom it went up the stairs, around Form 4X’s classroom, along the corridor, around Form 4Y’s classroom, then down and back up the other stairs to fi nish halfway along Form 4Y’s classroom. A competition with prizes was arranged to guess the length of the line, the weight of the coins and their total value. The winners were Isabella Cockrell 4X, Laura Critchlow 3X and Jacob McMahon 3Y joint fi rst with Samuel McKenzie 3X. Runners up were William Simmons 4Y, Oliver Tallis 5X, Abigail Brogan 4X and Theo Zuzarte S4. The coins weighed 17.13 kg, stretched 62.3m and raised £48.12 for Cancer Research, the charity nominated by the pupils.

Mrs G. Leney

Honour Mark AssemblyHonour Mark AssemblyThe spring term Honour Mark Assembly took place on Friday 18th March. Numerous certifi cates were awarded. The top class were Form 3Y with an average of 38.93 honour marks per pupil and the top house was Hillary.

Isabella Kluger pipped Tayla Forman at the post as winner of the most Honour Marks in Swallows.

Well done Isabella and Tayla.

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Twycross Times


Fame Jr.The house lights dimmed, the chorus sang their fi rst number and the audience knew from the very outset that they were in for a really entertaining evening. Miss Clift has nurtured the younger talent revealed in previous shows and now soloists are coming forward for the fi rst time and proving themselves more than worthy of their roles. The acting, too, was impressive with clear delivery, confi dent use of the small stage and some nice portrayal of character.

So …. the students enrolled at New York High School for the Performing Arts and quickly had to get used to the teachers played by Isabelle Fellows, Ellen Oberheim, Francis Mayes and Will Toon. These four sang in style and really looked the part. The students were a disparate bunch: the fame-seeking Carmen (a winning performance by Isobel Morgan), the rather serious Schlomo (Oliver Duby singing and playing the keyboard), the rebellious Tyrone (an unnervingly authentic portrayal from Tanatswa Kubara), the romantic duo Serena and Nick (lovely singing from Polly Bill and Alfi e Hytch), Joe Vegas (surely a role just made for the ebullient Kit Lumb)

and Mabel (Keeva Morrell hitting those high notes again) – not forgetting Taylor Grice and her elegant balletic moves. All of these were supported enthusiastically and tunefully by a radiant chorus of fellow-students as talent was developed, friendships were forged and show-biz careers launched.

The standard of this production was very high and every single person involved in it can feel very proud of what they contributed and achieved. Thanks to Joe Morgan (U6) for technical support and also for training up Alex Holmes and Holly Limer; to the backstage stalwarts Jessica Callaghan and Emma Slater; and fi nally to the inspiring and tireless director/producer Miss Clift with assistance from Mrs Morrell.

Mrs N. Lilley

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Form 3Y REForm 3Y REIn Religious Education we have been learning about John the Baptist. In 3Y we have been talking about experiences of christenings and baptisms, so pupils brought in personal memorabilia from their own baptisms. Emily Dipple brought in her christening gown, while Taylor Foreman, Thomas Blackwell and Erin Haycock brought in photos of their christening experiences.

Mrs H. Williams

Holocaust CentreHolocaust CentreDuring English this term we have been studying and analysing ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’. The visit to the Holocaust Centre was informative and interesting. First we looked around the exhibitions and saw a few different views of the Holocaust and life in the ghettos. Then we looked around the garden and commemorative roses for people who wanted to be remembered. There was a large pile of stones which had been placed by previous visitors as a mark of respect to 6 million Jews who were killed. We also placed a stone to show respect.

A guest speaker who survived the Holocaust was there and his name was Steven Frank, a cousin to Margot Frank. Steven was at three camps and was liberated when he was nine. It really made me wonder about a very important word. Why? Why did the Nazis do what they did and why did they think it was right to mock the Jews and shred their lives apart without a care in the world?

The Holocaust Centre made us all aware of what humanity is capable of. I think it also made us step back and think how lucky we are and not to let anything like the Holocaust ever happen again.

Francis Mayes, Senior 3X

Library News!Library News!Chinese New Year! Many thanks to all the students (especially our Student Librarians) who helped to put together an informative display in the library depicting many aspects of this annual celebration. Lunchtime activities included the making of very colourful Chinese fans and lanterns, as well as ‘Year Of The Monkey’ greetings cards. The theme culminated in a Chinese Quiz, where students were required to use their observational and book research skills to answer both historical and current questions. Friendly competition was evident, as every correctly answered quiz paper earned the competitor the right to pick up a sweetie - but using chopsticks, of course!

World Book Day! To celebrate books and the amazing skill of reading, we held a big book swap. Students kindly donated one of their unwanted books in return for a different one. Swallows’ Hill also held a competition for the best decorated hat, donating £1 per hat to the charity Book Aid International. We had some brilliantly inventive hats, with special mention to Abby Mitchell with her Harry Potter Hogwarts Sorting Hat. It’s so realistic that we asked to borrow it for our very own Hogwarts library. Perhaps Mr Assinder will let new students try it on to sort them into our school houses!

Easter Time! A short term meant that lots of busy lunchtimes were spent making Easter baskets full of brightly decorated eggs ready for our stairwell display. Students patiently tried their hand at paper weaving to create the colourful baskets. This year Mrs Lington asked the Easter Bunny to visit our library but to make our egg hunt a little more challenging than usual. So....

each egg was left in a book, the title of which had to be deduced from clues. Some titles were harder to guess than others in order to challenge a wider age range - because you’re never too old for an egg hunt!

Mrs A Lington

Tim NewtonTim NewtonSome of you will know that Tim Newton, who went missing on Ben Nevis with his girlfriend in February, was a former pupil of the Hollies and Twycross House. All who remembered Tim were shocked at the news and deeply saddened to hear the recent confi rmation of their deaths in an avalanche.

Tim was a bright, talented and popular young man whose loss will be widely felt. After achieving straight A grades at GCE, he spent a year at the Oxford School of Acting before reading for a degree in physics.

Our thoughts are with Tim’s parents and his elder brother Edward, also a former pupil of the school.

Twycross Times


Form 3 Roman Projects Form 3 Roman ProjectsIn history, Form 3 have really enjoyed learning all about Roman life in Britain. The children have discovered how many aspects of Roman life still impact on our lives today, from Latin words to straight Roman roads. The topic ended with an impressive exhibition of their personal research projects which demonstrated a wealth of knowledge, enthusiasm and hard-work.

An Incredibly Powerful ProductionAn Incredibly Powerful ProductionIn January our L6 English Literature group went to see Arthur Miller’s ‘Death of a Salesman’ at The Curve theatre in Leicester. Although we had studied the play in lessons, watching it on stage gave us an incredible insight into the emotions of the main characters as the tragedy unfolded.

Brendan Stanley portrayed Willy, the salesman of the title, as a vulnerable, worn out old man. By abruptly changing from a quiet to loud delivery, he portrayed Willy’s fear and confusion and also his sometimes uncontrollable anger. These fracturing changes in emotion showed how mentally unstable Willy is, creating sympathy for his suffering. Willy’s dreams and memories were played out in the same space as his real interactions with the other characters, which poignantly portrayed his madness. The scene in which Willy was standing in the spotlight on a darkened stage, with the other characters circling him and speaking at him in both present and memory form, visually suggested that Willy feels completely encircled and trapped by his present reality and past memories.

To sum up, watching the performance helped us to empathise with the characters and drew us into the everyday family situations of the plot and the themes of the play. Because of this we felt the play was a true domestic tragedy as it enabled us to see Willy Loman, an ordinary man, as a true tragic hero, who demonstrates the fate of the anonymous people who support a system which cruelly casts them aside when they need it most.

Review by Amy van Zyl, Bronté Dufour, Paris Eddy, Jonathan Gardner, Natasha Bate and Isobel Sinclair.

Times Table CompetitionTimes Table CompetitionForm 4 and Form 5 were challenged to complete an 8 x 8 column times table grid. The fastest Form 5 pupil was Lawrence Cockrell in 1 minute 20 seconds, followed by Oliver Tallis in 2 minutes 3 seconds and Ellen Burton in 2 minutes 10 seconds. In Form 4 the quickest time was 1 minute 57 seconds, second was Harry Thomas in 2 minutes 11 seconds and third was Annabelle Crew in 2 minutes 26 seconds. The record has still not been broken which was Sebastian Hart in 1 minute 6 seconds. Prizes were awarded accordingly.

Mrs Leney


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Twycross Girls Raise Money for Myton HospiceTwycross Girls Raise Money for Myton HospiceTwycross House pupil Jessica Callaghan with eight of her S1 school friends devised and ran an amazing charity event to raise money for Myton Hospice where Jessica’s father used to go. They raised an incredible £356.74.

Jessica said, ‘At the fundraiser we sold candy fl oss, popcorn, doughnuts and cookies. You could also take part in games such as knocking over cans, guessing how many sweets were in the jar, naming the teddy and a tombola. It was really good fun and thank you to everyone who helped. We also had a visit from Mrs Clare McDowell from the charity who came to explain about the work at the hospice. Thank you also to Mike Bines from MBPTS who donated £50 from a boot camp he ran at school.

This made the total £406.74!

Twycross House School Junior Maths Team take part in Regional FinalsTwycross House School Junior Maths Team take part in Regional FinalsIn March a team of talented young mathematicians travelled to Rugby High School to represent Twycross House School at the Regional Heat of the UK Junior Team Mathematics Challenge.

This is a national competition which combines mathematical, communication and teamwork skills and offers pupils another way to express and develop their enjoyment of mathematics. The challenge promotes mathematical dexterity, as well as team working abilities and communication skills. Our team, made up of Sebastian Hart (S3), Ethan Tebbutt (S3), Alex Jackson (S2) and Daniel Whitehall (S2) competed against 18 other teams of top young mathematicians from the local area.

The team competed in four rounds: a group round, during which the team had to solve 10 puzzles in 40 minutes; followed by a mathematical cross-number round, with one pair from the team solving the across clues and the other pair solving the down clues; and a shuttle round, where each member of the team solves part of the puzzle and information passed from other members of the team is needed to solve the relay completely. The fi nal relay round had the teams running around the hall passing questions and answers between their pairs. The last ten minutes were very exciting as the four boys raced to complete as many as they could before the whistle was blown.

After a really challenging day the results were announced and the team from Twycross came sixth out of the nineteen teams, which was a fantastic achievement for their fi rst team challenge.

The team would like to thank Euan Tebbutt (L6) for running an early morning maths club for a group of pupils from S1-3, giving them lots of puzzles to solve and extending their mathematics in new directions.

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh Gold AwardsGold AwardsOn February 2nd 2016 Chris Lington, Amber Morgan, Chen Liu and Abbie Gardner attended St James’s Palace to collect their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award certifi cates. HRH The Earl of Wessex along with celebrity guest Anton du Beke presented the awards. The ceremony included a surprise dance routine from Anton and his partner!

Thanks to all of the school Duke of Edinburgh team, especially Mr Holder and Mrs Paul - it wouldn’t have happened without you!

Mrs A Lington

Twycross House Lower Twycross House Lower Sixth – Going for GoldSixth – Going for Gold!Congratulations to the three Gold groups who successfully completed their Duke of Edinburgh Gold practice in Mid Wales. The fi nal will take place this summer in Snowdonia.

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Twycross Times


Kingsbury TripKingsbury TripOn Wednesday 9th March the Form 3s went on a trip to Kingsbury Water Park. They had been studying maps and map reading for several weeks as part of their geography course and this was a chance to put what they had learnt to the test.

Despite the wet, cold and windy weather, they braved the elements and with maps and compasses at hand ventured off around the park. After a lot of splashing in some very large puddles, many discussions about directions and much twizzling of maps, everyone managed to complete the course successfully.

A productive, educational and fun morning was had by all.

Mrs C Fellows

Egyptian TreasureEgyptian TreasureForm 5 historians were hard at work over half term producing a visual display related to their study of the Ancient Egyptians. Their brief was to produce an educational model or poster on a topic of their choice.

The pupils exceeded expectations in terms of the quality of research, the level of detail and most of all the imagination and creativity they demonstrated. Choosing winners was exceptionally diffi cult, but after much consideration the prizes awarded were as follows:

Most original idea: Oliver Tallis (5X) and Micah Brown (5Y)

Most artistic: Joshua McLean (5X) and Louis Debono (5Y)

Most informative: William Meadwell (5X) and Ella Houston (5Y)

‘Wow Factor’: Oliver Harness-White 5X and Lawrence Cockrell (5Y)

Congratulations and thank you to all involved.

Mrs S du Sautoy

Royal Society of Biology Royal Society of BiologyOn Saturday 12th March two students, Mimi Henry (U6) and Adam Dodd (S4), attended the Royal Society of Biology event at Leicester University. The event was sponsored by the Society of Endocrinology and we attended a lecture from Professor Saffron Whitehead from Royal Holloway, London concerning endocrinology and the effects of hormones on the body. There were also hands-on activities and lots of information relevant to diabetes and other hormone-related illnesses. Our students produced an essay or poster to take to the event and were required to talk about their research. Prizes were awarded for the best entrant. The posters will be displayed at Leicester University Botanical Gardens for the next few weeks.

Thanks to Mimi and Adam for their participation. It is a pleasure to have motivated students who are interested in science beyond the classroom.

Mrs M Cartlidge


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U20 National ChampionshipU20 National ChampionshipFour teams from Twycross played in the U20 event. The fourth team gained valuable experience and moved up from 22nd seeds to 17th place. The second and third teams again met in the 11/12th play-off, and again the third team came out on top. The fi rst team strolled through Saturday’s pool play with comfortable victories and eased into the semi- fi nals where they met Arthur Terry School from Sutton Coldfi eld, who last year knocked them out of the tournament. It was another tight game but Twycross always had the edge and made it through to their fi fth national fi nal. Their opponents were reigning champions St Peter’s from Exeter who were looking for their fourth straight title. Twycross played unbelievably well with intense defence and calm offence. St Peter’s struggled to score and Twycross quickly pounced on any mistakes. Twycross won 8-3 and George Pickens won Most Valued Player of the fi nal.

Now the indoor season is complete the focus shifts to the outdoor championships in July. Many of our students have trialled and been successful in making the Great Britain junior squads for this summer’s European U17 and World U20 championships.

M. Beavan

U17 National ChampionshipU17 National ChampionshipTwycross entered four teams into this division. The girls’ team, who came second in their national competition, entered this open tournament to challenge themselves and improve against tough opposition; after early victories they played some fantastic ultimate but fi nished in 24th position. The second and third teams battled hard throughout the weekend before facing off in the 11/12th play-off with the third team victorious. The fi rst team comfortably played

through their pool on Saturday before facing last year’s winners in the semi -fi nal. As underdogs Twycross played outstandingly, frustrating a talented team from St Peter’s in Exeter. With time over, the scores were tied at 2-all. Euan Barlow reached for a lay out D to regain the disc for Twycross and Ethan Morrell found Billy Roberts in the end zone to knock out the favourites. Twycross would then play Exeter’s second team in the fi nal, again frustrating St Peter’s with a well

organised zone. This time at the buzzer the scores were tied at 3-all. Ethan Morrell tried to fi nd Billy Roberts again for a repeat of the semi-fi nal heroics, but this time it didn’t come off and St Peter’s went down the other end and scored to clinch the title. Ethan Morrell won Most Valued Player for the U17 division. The semi-fi nal and fi nal were two of the most exhilarating games of ultimate I have ever watched. All the teams played amazingly and the fi rst team will get another shot at the title next year.

U14 National ChampionshipU14 National ChampionshipTwycross entered fi ve teams for this year’s U14 National Indoor Ultimate Championship. Each team improved massively over the weekend against some tough opposition. Unique to Twycross was the fact that four of our fi ve teams were mixed, showing the depth of our female ultimate players at the school.

The fi rst team battled through to the semi-fi nals before losing to the eventual winners from Plymouth. They fi nished the tournament in style, however, by coming third with standout performances from Frank Burton and Toby Nicholas. This team also won the ‘spirit of the game’ award, showing the way they played was not only competitive but also demonstrated great sportsmanship.

Ultimate Report 2016

BadmintonBadmintonDuring this term the U14 boys and U14 girls completed their Badminton School League. The girls continue to come to badminton practice, showing both commitment and enthusiasm for the sport. Their skills and confi dence have progressed and with continued practice this will only improve further - well done!

The boys also show their dedication by putting in practice every week. Much praise must go to the U14 boys who won the league after playing Hartshill, Ash Green, Higham Lane, Polesworth, St Nicholas Chamberlain and George Eliot. They played extremely well throughout the whole competition, usually playing opponents who were a year above them. Congratulations!

Miss S Robinson

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Twycross Times


Spring Term Netball Report 2016 Spring Term Netball Report 2016 It has been a busy term for the U12 and U13 squads with over eleven matches and two tournaments in nine weeks.

The U12 team have won fi ve out of six matches and played some very good netball, especially against Market Bosworth school where the opposition failed to score a goal! Even though we had an ever-changing squad against Etone and Polesworth schools, the girls still managed two great results (winning both) with only eleven players out of fourteen in the former match and playing against two older teams from Polesworth. Stoneygate School always prove a challenge but the U12 squad played fl uidly to score 26 goals to 16 showing ever-improving centre court play and learning some new moves in defence!

A very good year, then, for the U12 squad with lots of girls eager to fi ll places when necessary. With the area tournament still to come, I am sure the girls will be looking forward to facing the challenge of Higham! Well done to Luisa, Tara, Cynthia, Jessica B, Emma, Yee Lee, Niamh, Lucy, Jess C and Zoe.

The U13 season has been interesting with some great battles and notable successes. We started against Polesworth where the girls faced an older team and only narrowly lost – they just needed to fi nd the goal a little more reliably! Next we had a good win against Etone with a very depleted team, but thanks to valuable support from S1 we managed. Market Bosworth proved a tough match, as did Stoneygate, but we came back in redoubtable fashion against Lichfi eld and had an added compliment from the opposition: “You have worked very hard with your teams”. With their league season not quite fi nished, I am sure we can put our hard work to the test. Well done to Hannah, Aania, Laura, Mia, Keeva, Isabelle F, Emily B, Ellen and Georgia.

Well done to all the girls for consistently coming to practice and supporting the teams.

Mrs R Sharrott

Netball NetballOnce again the S3 netball team have been committed to lunch time practice and after school fi xtures. This term they entered two area tournaments playing Higham Lane, Hartshill, Queen Elizabeth, St Thomas More and Etone. In both tournaments Twycross were runners up, so congratulations to all the girls who took part. In particular, I must mention how brilliantly the girls played throughout their most recent tournament. It wasn’t until the semi-fi nal that they conceded a goal and even then it was only one! The fi nal saw Twycross House play Higham Lane with both teams eager to win. The fi rst half was very exciting, with cheers from the side line as Twycross took the lead with 1 goal up. Tension was high and Twycross put the pressure on. However, by the second half Higham Lane managed to take the lead and win 15-5. Despite the score sheet Twycross played tremendously in the fi nal and should feel very proud of themselves! Congratulations to everybody!

Junior Netball ReportJunior Netball ReportThe junior netballers have had yet another superb term with some great results. The U10 teams started with friendly fi xtures against Stockingford and Bournebrook Primary Schools. Three Twycross teams competed against each school with three wins against Stockingford and a win, a draw and a defeat against Bournebrook. The girls even played against each other on these nights for some additional practice, with Evie Gibbs from Form 5 assisting with the umpiring with great confi dence.

These friendly games gave the girls the confi dence and practice needed to perform well in the NPSSA leagues. Played over fi ve nights the B team managed two wins and two draws allowing them to fi nish fi rst overall, which was a great achievement. Nine wins and one draw saw the A team on level points with Milverton, with an amazing forty-seven points in total. Despite scoring an incredible fi fty-two goals and only conceding six, it turned out that Milverton had a better goal difference so we ended up in second place out of eleven schools.

Alex Wylie scored seventeen goals and showed great agility and passing skills throughout. Team mates Olivia Cox and Lorna Thomas offered great support in defence, as did other squad members Hannah Buckton, Lucy Jarvis, Eileen Nistelberger, Emily Gibbs and Bea Pound.

The U11s competed in the Abbots Bromley School’s Netball Tournament on one of the few sunny days of the term. Playing seven-a-side for the fi rst time in a competitive game with higher posts and a larger sized ball, this was certainly a challenge for the team. They faced three schools in their league, beating the host A team 10:0, Abbots Holme 6:0 and Lichfi eld Cathedral 8:0 to win their league easily. Next game was the semi-fi nal against Abbots Bromley B team. Excellent shooting from Evie Gibbs and Hollie Pickering as well as excellent defensive work from Lily Coates and Anouska Beck gave them a 13:1 win. The centre court was dominated by Charlotte Hicks, Madeleine Richards, Ellen Burton and Saffron James. Newcastle-under-Lyme were the second fi nalists. The girls went 2:0 up but the opposition then went into the lead 4:2. With only minutes to spare the girls played some superb netball and with great passing, interceptions and shooting they clawed back three more goals to win in the dying seconds of the game 5:4 and make us the champions. There was real delight at their success!

At the end of term Milverton visited school to play the U9s. The girls made a great start to their netball: they all played and the results were one win and one defeat.

The grand fi nale to the term was the Inter-House netball tournament which saw Hillary, captained by Anouska Beck, in 1st

place, Scott 2nd and Drake 3rd.

Well done to all the girls for their efforts and enthusiasm this term. Next term they will play a friendly fi xture and their area tournaments.

Mrs J Thomas


Twycross Times

16

Tag Rugby Tag RugbyAlthough only the tag version is played at school, rugby continues to play an important part in the school’s sporting life and we are delighted to see the progress of club players such as Toby Marshall (who has worked with the Leicester Tigers Academy), George Rutter, George Pickens, Billy Roberts (involved at District level), Jake Bhakta, Henry Banks, Johnny van Zyl, Ben Bridgen and Frank Burton (also involved with Leicester Tigers). Well done to these players.

House rugby was keenly contested over 24 matches, including for the fi rst time S3 and S4 girls following games sessions with Mr Beavan. A follow up session from an RFU appointed coach is planned for next term to further the girls’ interest. With wins in every age group bar S5 boys and S4 girls it was no surprise that Hillary, captained by Jake Bhakta, fi nished top with Scott in second place.

The U13s enjoyed two mixed games against Manor House and the three girls Hannah Roberts, Laura Wylie and Mia Clark all really enjoyed the experience and played their part in the closely fought encounters with honours fi nishing even over the two matches.

The boys went on to play a third game against Old Vicarage School but a lack of experience and tactical nous saw them edged out in the fi nal minutes of that game. A date has yet to be set for the U11 District Tournament.

C Perry

Table Tennis Table TennisFor the third year in a row Twycross House enjoyed success at the Nuneaton and District Table Tennis Tournament to select the school team that would progress to the Warwickshire School Games later in the year. Whilst the U16 team, made up of U14 and U15 players, struggled to rediscover their form of earlier years and were clearly lacking in match practice as they fi nished fourth out of seven teams, the U13 team of captain Alex Jackson, Jonathan Vening-Richards, Willoughby Hooper-Smith and Alex Holmes played with great concentration and determined defence to fi nish joint top with Polesworth and enter a play-off to decide who would represent the district at the School Games. When the results from the four matches were totted up Twycross House just fell short to fi nish runners up, having won two games and lost two, the same as their opponents, but having taken one less point overall, although some of the results submitted were open to question! Nevertheless, this was a great effort from a team that, with the exception of their captain, lacked experience in tournament match play in a diffi cult competitive environment. Well done to all concerned!

C Perry

S5 pupils have continued their exciting program of off-site activities during games afternoons, enabling them to sample sporting activities that they may wish to pursue at University or into adult life. They came away from the trampolining session at Lutterworth with a great deal of respect for their energetic, middle-aged coach who taught them how to carry out various moves such as the pike and the half twist (with nobody getting anywhere near Amelia Springall’s record of 21 consecutive half twists). They also appreciated the amount of stamina and courage required

short safety video the novice go-kart racers were out on an initially very greasy track which made for some interesting handling problems as the slick tyres and damp tarmac combined to surprise the over-enthusiastic competitors. Heather Gibson easily claimed the Most Spins of the Day Award while, in total contrast, Ollie Burrows surprised racers and spectators alike with his granny-like caution, for which he is to be highly commended. If only more young men and women took his sensible and cautious approach when driving! Quickest lap time of the day went to Max Griffi ths with Stephen James and Luke Williams also posting some quick times.

C Perry

to perform many of the moves demanded by the sport.

Next was kayaking on the River Soar in February, an experience that will be remembered as much for the numbing cold as for the beauty of the scenery and the enthusiasm of the cheerful instructor. This was much more hard core than Bosworth Water

Trust on a balmy July afternoon!

A group then went to Nuneaton Squash Club where an excellent tournament was organized with Luke Williams comfortably proving to be the best player on the day, thanks

to many humblings on the squash court by his father. All enjoyed the friendly rivalry and it served as a great introduction to this challenging racquet sport for those who had not played before.

The fi nal outing of the term, with wakeboarding still to come, was to Sutton Circuit for a motor racing experience. After a

Senior 5 Activities Senior 5 Activities

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Twycross Times


Football FootballWith a handful of matches and tournaments still to play such as the Will Hadley Memorial Trophy, the Kirkpatrick Cup and the U10 District Tournament, and the U12 and U14 District League fi xtures to complete, it is diffi cult to give a complete picture of the 2015/16 football season, but by and large it could be summed up by the phrase if only. If only ‘so and so’ had been available or not injured, if only we had taken our chances, if only the ref had awarded that clear penalty, if only we had scored fi rst …… these were common refl ections after many matches. There were, of course, teams that performed to or beyond expectations, notably the U9s who were unbeaten under the captaincy of Charlie Blood and won all but one of their matches; and most of the teams have at times produced memorable performances, with the U15s doing particularly well under the Ranieri-like guidance of Mr Cooper. However, a combination of poor fi nishing, slack defending and a lack of steely competitiveness at times when up against tough opposition has meant that on a number of occasions Twycross House teams have not fulfi lled their potential and risen to the challenge of playing schools with greater player talent or resources.

Nevertheless, of 135 matches played so far this season, Twycross House have won 59, drawn 21 and lost 53, scoring 337 goals and conceding 322. Had the U12s and U11s not had such a disappointing run of results of late against quality opposition, the overall picture would have looked far rosier.

Although there have been 33 different goal scorers in the 11-a-side matches played to date, only one player, Jacob Youles, has reached double fi gures and looks to be in pole position to win the Golden Boot award; ten players remain in contention for the Goode Trophy (Footballer of the Year). Congratulations go to Joe Callery, the Junior Footballer of the Year and stand out player of Swallows Hill, who will still be leading the U11s in their protracted District League campaign by the time the summer term is drawing to a close!

With the U18s and 16s (other than a 3-1 win over Dixie) focusing on their exams this term, the U15s took up the mantle as the school’s senior team and produced three solid performances in defeating St George’s and Lichfi eld but losing to Market Bosworth, where the lack of a recognized goalkeeper was highly signifi cant, despite the best efforts of Max Dighton, and a

Isaac Dugas has also been a consistent performer in goal and had plenty to do!

The highlights of the second half of the U11 season have been a hat trick for Max Savania against St George’s, a hard fought draw against Dixie and the quality of the football played in defeat to Grace Dieu. The U10s played well but looked a bit rusty in losing 2-0 to a very strong Lichfi eld side but will face equally challenging teams in the upcoming District competition. How some of the older teams would like to have a James Hicks on their team! The Hollies youngster has swept in six goals in his last two matches as the U9s warmed up for the Kirkpatrick Cup with a win and a draw versus Lichfi eld and Grace Dieu.

Under the composed leadership of Ryan Shepherd and Toby Marshall, Hillary cruised to victory in the Senior House Football competition and thus secured overall top spot. Scott fi nished second in the 27 match contest thanks in part to a couple of glorious goals from a rejuvenated Euan Tebbutt. S3Y under the leadership of Ewan Clamp fi nished off the Inter Football League as worthy champions.

As the season draws to a protracted close, it is gratifying to know that Twycross House can still compete with and even at times outplay ‘the big boys’ and that so many players are getting the opportunity not just to represent the school, but to test themselves against some of the best players in the state and private sector and to hone their skills in challenging competition. If all the teams can add concentration to their effort, a hatred of losing to their sportsmanship and clinical fi nishing to their enterprise, then maybe next season there will be fewer frowning ‘if onlys’ and more broad smiles of success.

C Perry

stunning fi nish from Johnny van Zyl provided a consolation goal. All the squad have made good progress this year with Ethan Morrell emerging as a clever and potent force up front, Theo Zuzarte as a colossus in midfi eld and Billy Roberts and Tom Leyland improving their work rate and maturity in wide midfi eld roles.

The U14s were taught a footballing lesson on the 3G at Measham by an outstanding Priory outfi t and deserved to get more out of the game than a 5-4 defeat to Market Bosworth and a 2-2 draw with Polesworth, but they came good with a convincing win over St George’s and have two games left to preserve their status in Division One of the District League. The season has seen the emergence of Alfi e Hytch at centre half under the watchful eye of Ewan Bryan (when injury has not robbed us of his signifi cant services), Desmond Cheung as an outstanding holding role player in the midfi eld and Seb Hart as a lively centre forward with good link-up play.

The U13s won their two 11-a-side matches with 4-3 victories over Stoneygate and Lichfi eld and were unbeaten in a number of 7-a-side matches against Dixie, Manor House and Grace Dieu. A 5-a-side tournament against Stoneygate had given all the footballers an opportunity to push for places in the team for the second half of the season and Jonathan Vening-Richards, Alex Jackson and Chris Lumb responded particularly well to this opportunity to establish themselves as regulars in the squad. Whilst the more naturally gifted players did not always deliver a mature performance, others such as Frank Burton and Daniel Whitehall were quietly and effectively consistent in their performances throughout the season.

The U12s have had a tough second half to the season and are trying to punch above their weight in the District League, but on the rare occasions that they have had their opponent on the ropes they have failed to fi nd the back of the net and then been hit with a sucker punch on the break, as happened three times against a Queen Elizabeth team most recently. They have two games left to redeem themselves and restore some pride but neither match will be easy. To their credit, the U12s have shown the best team spirit of all the school teams under the excellent captaincy of Kieran Lilley, and Max Tingay-Holt and Reuben Tunday have consistently produced an incredible level of work-rate that even Jurgen Klopp would stand and applaud.


Twycross Times

18

Twycross Hockey is Back!Twycross Hockey is Back!The U11 girls’ side won a school hockey tournament for the fi rst time in several seasons as they swept aside opposition from Old Vicarage School in Derby and Pennine Way Primary School in Swadlincote.

The team, captained by Charlotte Hicks, beat Old Vicarage School A team 6-0, Old Vicarage B team 8-0 and Pennine Way Primary 2-0 to claim fi rst place emphatically. Bea Pound was the Twycross star striker as she scored 8 of the 16 goals. However, this was a superb team performance with goals from Alex Wylie, Charlotte Hicks and Evie Gibbs completing the fi nal total.

The other Twycross girls’ sides found the going much tougher. Playing against very strong opposition and in freezing wet conditions is never a pleasant experience and the U13 team were in this situation twice, at Coventry and Warwick. The girls battled hard in both tournaments

VolleyballVolleyballThe Nuneaton Schools’ Volleyball Power League has come to a very successful fi nish for all Twycross teams. They have been committed and enthusiastic throughout the league, playing each week in a round-robin tournament from which results were collated and counted. This has created a fresh approach to each week’s matches.

All players should be immensely proud of their skill development and competitive game play, which have gone from strength to strength. This year we have achieved our best ever results, as not only did skills develop on the court but also friendships were made off the court with players from the different schools. Our chip shop run is no longer our secret, as now other schools are in the race for a chippy tea!

Team Peak for You – Isabelle Underwood, Jemima Cockroft and Alex Vero - are Power League Champions. Well done, ladies, on a well-deserved outcome to refl ect your hard work and commitment. Peak for You have worked so hard to create a strong team combination through 3-touch attacking play and an improved return of serve. Their competitive dedication and desire to improve tactically week after week are a credit to them.

By coming 4th out of 10 teams Lily Weston and Chloe James, Team L-J, have been an inspirational pair showing that persistence and self-belief pay off. They have worked hard to deliver a powerful and accurate service, as well as developing their receive of service to improve their points difference – even if their arms don’t agree! Congratulations, girls, on a fantastic league.

Throughout the Power League Lucy Dighton and Faith Littlewood’s S1 team, Have Faith, have been tremendous. They have been playing against teams in S3 and S4 on a weekly basis, which has involved them in a real volleyball learning journey. Slowly but surely the wins came and points difference was changing, as was their confi dence on court and determination to take points from their opponents. They fully deserve winning the cup as Mini League Champions!

Lucy Dighton was also nominated as the Most Valuable Player for the whole Power League, a fantastic award for a young lady whose bubbly personality has made friends across all the teams.

Here’s to a successful 2016-2017 season!

Mrs H. Williams

BasketballBasketballTwycross House Basketball has seen mixed results for the start of the new year, from heart-wrenching losses to thrilling overtime wins.

The U12 boys have continued to make progress in the NBA Jr league by pushing up into the high mid-table to make the play-offs which will take place after the Easter holidays. They played John Henry Newman of Birmingham, winning once and losing once, and won in a close game against John Cleveland. However, the elusive Bishop Vesey School showed the boys that there are indeed teams out there better than them and beat them by 24 points! Every practice, though, shows the boys are getting more experienced and talented.

The U13s played their fi rst ever game against The Friary in Lichfi eld, losing by a single point to a team consisting of older and more experienced boys. Positives can be taken from this defeat as it unearthed rising stars in the basketball world such as Ethan Shepherd, Toby Nicholas, Dan Whitehall, Oscar Young, Tanatswa Kubara and Miles Gibson, all of whom show great understanding and enthusiasm for the game.

The U14s represented the school and Warwickshire at the county school games with just 5 players (meaning no subs could be made for the 5 games they played!) as some players had other commitments. The team came an outstanding 3rd and received bronze medals for their efforts, even playing

in the 3rd-4th play-off with 4 players, as one player had to be stretchered off. However, the team rallied around this and won by 3 with a late lay-up from Jacob Youles.

The fact that the U15s had been knocked out of the English schools’ competition proved very helpful, as they stepped up to represent the school and county again at the school games in the U16 age group. (The U16 team all had their noses to the grindstone in preparation for GCSE mock exams.) The team was like a well-oiled machine until it met Grace Academy, who played a very physical and upbeat game to beat us

in the fi nal of the county showdown! Special mention was given to the team during presentation of the medals when it was pointed out that they were all a year younger than every other team there!

That same team, with the older members present this

time, are through to the latter stages of the English schools’ competition, having travelled up to Stoke on Trent for their last game. The game appeared to be lost until late defensive heroics by Oliver Burrows and Toby Whitehall led to Ethan Morrell becoming the recipient of an unsportsmanlike foul to steal the game and secure home court advantage for the next fi xture.

Although the season is drawing to a close we shall continue to play throughout the summer in a variety of friendlies designed to keep every team on their toes!

G Assinder

but were beaten into 7th place on both occasions with the winners coming from established hockey schools. However, these tournaments gave the team the opportunity to see what is possible with hard work and dedication and next year we will come back stronger!

Boys’ hockey has now also started to emerge with several youngsters coming along to regular Monday night practice. Next season will also see the beginning of a fi xture list for the boys as the popularity of the sport grows in school.

Mr M Thomas

Twycross Times


Cross Country Cross CountryFrom senior girls running in the All England Championships and juniors qualifying to represent the District in the County race, to individual runners giving it their all to improve their times on the school cross country course made deliciously muddy by the record-breaking rainfall this winter (with thanks to Mr Hughes for generously allowing the use of his agricultural land), cross country continues to play a signifi cant part in the extensive sporting history of the school and no doubt plays a signifi cant role in shortening the life of its parents’ washing machines!

Congratulations must go to Emily Negus of S5 who became Warwickshire Cross Country Champion and went on to represent Warwickshire, along with Rebecca Brayer, at the All England Championships in Nottingham, where they both ran an excellent race in very diffi cult conditions. Well done, too, to the junior runners Joe Callery, James Callaghan, Amelia Blunt, Eileen Nistelberger, Olivia Cox and Alex Wylie who qualifi ed from our area to race at Woodside, Baddesley Ensor to decide who would represent North Warwickshire

at the County event. All the runners competed very well on a challenging course and only Amelia and Eileen just missed out on selection. Hard lines, girls!

House cross country saw Drake uncharacteristically fi nish way ahead of the pack on 986 points after the six race series, with Hillary in an unfamiliar second place on

1042 points and Scott just picking up the wooden spoon fi ve points behind on 1047 points. The Senior Cross Country Shield was awarded to Ethan Morrell of Scott, who accidentally dipped on the line to rob his friend and running mate Tim Cotterill, also of Scott, of joint fi rst place and with an injured Ethan Tebbutt fi nishing third for Hillary. With Emily Negus unable to compete, the Brayer girls for Drake fi nished over three minutes ahead of the fi eld, Rebecca beating her younger sister Hannah by half a minute to claim the title. Mia Tavinor took third place for Hillary with an excellent performance given the conditions underfoot.

Two Scott boys, Alex Jackson and Frank Burton, were the top fi nishers in the Inter Boys’ race with Ethan Shepherd third for Hillary, whilst the Inter Girls’ contest was won by Jess Callaghan for Scott with Ellen Oberheim second for Drake and Tara Wylie third for Hillary. Two Scott boys also fi nished fi rst and second in the Junior Boys’ race with Joe Callery holding off James Callaghan to claim top spot and Louis Debono third for Drake. Alex Wylie for Hillary crossed the line fi rst in the Junior Girls’ race followed by Tayla Forman for Scott and Amelie Brown for Drake. Well done to those Form 3 girls, who look to be outstanding prospects.

Not all have the ability of these successful runners, but during the cross country season it was good to see how many runners improved their times to complete the course, with Will Potter, Henry Alves, George Landsborough, Yash Somaiya, Will Matthews, Joe Jabra and Theo Zuzarte the most improved in their year groups, some knocking as much as ten minutes off their time! Love it or hate it, cross country defi nitely leaves an impression on the mind and, if taken seriously, an improvement of the body.

C. Perry

Under 9 Cross Country Under 9 Cross CountryThis term the Under 9 cross country teams took part in a competition held at Grace Dieu Manor School. Eleven schools took part with their best boys’ team and best girls’ team. Congratulations to Thomas Hudson, Harry Sanganee, Jacob McMahon, Charlie Blood and Theo Holliday whose team came sixth overall!

Congratulations also to Amelie Brown, Tayla Forman, Livia Rosell, Isabella Kluger and Mila Ellis-Edwards whose team came seventh!

Junior Cross CountryJunior Cross CountryThe U11s and 10s continued with their events with six children being selected to race for the Nuneaton team against the Bedworth and North Warwickshire areas. On a fantastic course at Hartshill Hayes Country Park Alex Wylie came 2nd, Olivia Cox 10th, Eileen Nistelberger 22nd, Amelia Blunt 26th, Joseph Callery 6th and James Gallagher 30th. This was a fantastic achievement for all the children. Those fi nishing in the top twenty then went on to compete in the county race against all the other areas in Warwickshire. This event was in Rugby and saw much larger numbers of up to eighty children competing. Again we achieved wonderful results: Alex 13th, Olivia 40th, Joseph 16th and James 31st. Many thanks to all the parents who took them to the fi nal event.

Mrs J B Thomas

VolleyballVolleyballEach week a dedicated group of boys come to volleyball practice. From observing their skills in week one to where they are now, the progress is quite remarkable! In week one they were barely able to volley a ball over the net, yet now they are able to volley, dig, set, serve and play games competing against one another.

Well done!

U12 Girls’ FootballU12 Girls’ FootballAfter winning the 5-a-side indoor district tournament the girls went through to compete in the regional fi nal. The competition was high and, although the girls played well, they were unable to walk away winners this time. However, they did get to witness some fantastic play and participate in a great fi nal.

Well done!


Twycross Times

20

Athens 2016Athens 2016All fi fteen students studying Ancient Greek at school spent an action-packed long weekend in Athens at the start of the Easter holidays. After an especially punishing start (3am departure anyone?), Mr Assinder, Mrs du Sautoy, Mrs Lilley and I shepherded our charges off the plane into a grey and atmospheric Athens. We hit the ground running; having unpacked quickly, we caught the sunset on Lykavittos, a hill with a panoramic view in the upmarket district of Kolonaki. After scaling the hill in record time, we hit the Athenian food scene hard. Initial cloudbursts gave way to glorious spring sunshine on the second day, when we covered many of the main Athenian sites. The group soon found their feet, and were quick to scope out the best ice cream stops (pomegranate ice cream proved a particular hit), the best spots for ironic hats, and the way to the fi sh foot spa.

On Monday we set off for Delphi. We managed to appease the god Apollo after a spate of inauspicious omens on the road; we caught sight of the Red Arrows (training in Greece), looping the loop in front of the minibus; and we even glimpsed a hawk carrying a snake in its talons. The craze for the Delphi selfi e slowed our progress up the hilly site somewhat, but we wound our way to the top of the hill to see the stadium and enjoy the mountain air.

The staff were particularly impressed by the group’s appetite. Ice cream, loukoumades (small fried honey-soaked donuts dusted in cinnamon) and morning snacks (half an hour after breakfast) of waffl es were daily occurrences, and one group even boldly sampled octopus. It’s just as well the group had such rich food to feast on, because those monuments don’t visit themselves. Everyone, at some point, experienced ‘museum legs’ (an ancient affl iction), but aching limbs are part and parcel of visiting the impressive Acropolis Museum, and we were rewarded by getting to see Athens’ best structure yet: a Lego Parthenon.

We all arrived safely home, leaving Delphic dreams and alternative careers as street performers behind. Four days of walking the byways of Athens meant that everyone returned home fi ghting fi t, well-rested, with both vitamin D and enthusiasm topped up ready for the summer term. Some of the students claimed that they had never slept more deeply. It was a joy to take such an inquisitive and eager group of students, and we hope that this has helped to set in context the language and culture of Ancient Greece.

Dr S Assinder

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