Anglo European School
Bulletin - w/c 7th June 2021 (week 2)
ANGLO INTERNATIONAL FRINGE
This week, we are celebrating 'Internationalism' at the school with a programme of activities and day visits as well as the Anglo Arts Week for Y9. There is a great atmosphere around the school as the students learn about international poetry in English, set up an international business plan in International Enterprise Day, learn about Darwin and his journeys in Science and much, more more!
We are very excited that our day visits to Rochester for Year 7 and the Hindu Temple in Year 8 went off without a hitch on Monday morning. We were all extremely happy to stand at the front of the school after such a long time and wave off our students as they excitedly got on coaches and went to see something different. The Year 7 students greatly enjoyed laying siege to Rochester Castle and their tour around Rochester Cathedral. Our Year 8 students had a wonderful time touring the huge Hindu Temple in Watford and sharing a meal cooked there together.
We look forward to much, much more this week from the Fringe and we hope that your children are coming home each night full of new learning and stories from the day.
Wellbeing Wednesday
For Year 7 and Year 8, we are delighted to be offering our students the chance to make some memories together and learn away from screens. Students will be participating in a programme involving Games Cafe, Stone Painting, Mindfulness, Creative Writing, Debating and Reading Cafe. Some students are taking part in a Sorobhan workshop and learning ancient methods of Maths from Japan, others are tending the Anglo garden and others again are having a day outside learning outdoor skills. We sincerely wish all our students a wonderful 'Wellbeing Wednesday'.
N.B.: Please encourage your child to participate in our International Menus this week at the canteen. On Wellbeing Wednesday, we have an Italian menu with vegan options and on Friday 11th June, we have American Day at the canteen, which is always a favourite.
Changes to the Risk Assessment and Arrangements for after half term:
With Year 11 and Upper Sixth students leaving, we have some more space available at lunchtime. The train times have also changed which means the earlier train for Year 7 and 8s is now not running so we have adjusted the departure times at school to co-incident with these. Changes will be as follows:-
1) End of the school day :
- 3:25pm departure for Year 7 & Year 8
- 3:30pm for the rest of the school
This will maximise learning and reduce disruption to lessons, whilst staggering the departure times sufficiently to avoid congestion in the front playground.
2) Playground Arrangements:
Year 9 and Year 7 are going to switch playgrounds again:
- Year 9 will have the back playground and pod. They will also have access to the MUGA for supervised games
- Year 7 will have the front playground and G4 dining hall.
- Year 8 will stay the same (A/L/D block space, a section of the back playground and dining hall).
What a send-Off!
We really enjoyed our last week with our Year 11 and Upper Sixth students. We have very fond memories of these year groups and there were lots of nostalgic recollections of past visits to Ebblinghem and photos of their antics from younger years. Just a reminder that they do have lots of preparation work for the next stage of education or training to do. They will also have a wellbeing check on Thursdays and an opportunity to meet with their tutor via Showbie duing Day 4, Period 3 (tutor period). Transition activities include:-
i) GCSE Knowledge Gaps – supplementary and enrichment work on a range of GCSE courses to ensure you have a solid foundation for IB or A Level study in that subject with enhanced knowledge.
ii) Year 11 to Lower Sixth Bridging Work – this introductory work in each subject is designed to develop your confidence and interest and is compulsory for all new AES Sixth Form students
iii) Eton X course – an excellent free course to help you develop your critical thinking skills, which is a key determinant of success in the Sixth Form
iv) Transition videos – some short videos from the Sixth Form team and Head Boy/Girl team with top tips to help you transition into the Sixth Form
We have received some lovely parental comments including: "Thank you so much for all the effort that was put in to making sure Year 11’s last couple of days at school were memorable. It gave them the chance to reflect on their time at school, say goodbye to their friends, rejoice in the past and look forward to the future."
Parental Forum
We would like to thank those parents who joined our latest Parental Forum that took place just before half term on the topic of the school's new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy. There were some excellent contributions from the participants that really helped to inform the policy from the viewpoint of parents, which will now be reflected within it. This, once again highlights how useful the Parental Forums are in order to give a voice to all stakeholders in our unique school.
Some simple suggestions we are looking to act upon are advertising teaching positions in our parental bulletin to allow us to promote these across the school community to reach a more diverse potential pool of candidates. In addition, we are looking to set up some competitions next year where we ask for contributions from both students and parents to try to capture the cultural diversity of our school population through different forms of media such as photography for example. This artwork can then be used around the school to celebrate what makes Anglo such a special place, or as one parent called it on the night, 'like a mini-UN'!
We would also like to hear from our parents about future topics that they would like to contribute to as part of the Parent Forum schedule for next year. Therefore, if you have any potential ideas for topics that we can incorporate alongside our own, then we would be grateful if you could add them here: https://forms.office.com/r/khLpy1y8MT. We look forward to working with as many parents as possible so please make sure you look out for the next Forum which will take place on Wednesday 7th July at 4.30pm.
Terracotta Warriors
8C enjoyed their second virtual trip to China visiting the Terracotta Warriors. One student said: "I think these sessions are great, we learn so much from one zoom. They make us feel like we are there experiencing it. Over these sessions, I have personally learnt so much and enjoyed it, learning about the Terracotta Warriors and the Great Wall of China. We were shown around in detail like we were actually there! These are amazing opportunities for us, students, to see and learn. I would personally love to have another virtual trip, as we are not there in person to see it. Thank you to the school and teachers that organised these amazing trips for us. Another student said: "I loved the virtual trips to China, especially the one to the Terracotta Warriors. China is such an interesting country with a culture different to others. It felt as if I was actually there in person to discover new facts to add to my deep understanding of Chinese culture. 期待亲身体验中国 (looking forward to experiencing China in person).”
Regional Mountain Bike Champion, Oliver Beale
Year 8 student, Oliver Beale, regularly races in competitive cycling events and as it is the summer it is the mountain biking season. He recently competed and won the Under 14 Eastern region mountain bike championship so is now the regional mountain bike champion. This achievement has given Oliver access into the national series, where entrants are selected on their points ranking. We wish Oliver well in these national events over the next few months.
Stokes Bay Catamaran Open Event - Report by Julian Bosch, Lower Sixth Student
As Hugh Macgregor said “any landing where you can re-use the boat is a good landing”. This proved evident during the third race on Saturday, which was started without even being able to use the trapeze and ended with high winds and a few boats cutting the final race short!
I arrived at Stokes Bay on the Friday and was greeted by the welcoming conditions of winds touching 30kts and severe chop. This was not encouraging for the weekend, although it the forecast was still predicting ideal winds for Saturday. At this point, it looked as though the racing would be cancelled on Sunday, however there was still time for this to change.
I made my way to the club early in the morning to allow plenty of time to rig up the boat and meet some of the other sailors at the event. Unfortunately, due to the changeable forecast, only one other A cat would be at the event. A foiler sailed by Dave Roberts.
The first race was due to start at 12:00, and I launched quite early to help get used to the conditions. From the get go it looked as though the racing would be tough. I had only sailed the boat in the sea once before, and never in any sort of chop. The metre high waves proved to be quite a challenge to consistently foil through, however as the warning signals began, I felt as though I was getting the hang of it. After the start, I was able to get into clear air relatively quickly and managed to pull ahead of the F18s. I was only just behind Dave on this leg, as he had the home advantage, and seemed to powering through the chop more effectively. Despite this, I wasn’t far behind at the top mark. On rounding the mark, the first gybe of the downwind leg was parallel to the direction of the chop. This turned out to be extremely difficult to foil in as the boat would lift off and then lose grip out of a wave every time I tried to accelerate it! A lot of the time on this gybe, I was experimenting with the best way to get the boat foiling effectively, however one cannot learn these skills overnight. Before long I decided to gybe. This meant I was perpendicular to the waves, and as a result foiling the boat was far easier. Looking around I saw Dave was struggling to get the boat foiling in the relatively light winds. For this reason, I decided to capitalise on this tack, and really push the speeds to the limit in the conditions. This allowed me to build up a fair amount of distance after the first lap. The second lap told a similar story, however Dave had sailed well and managed to be close behind through the gate. On the final upwind, I fell behind Dave slightly, meaning it was all to play for on the final downwind. Due to my higher flight times downwind, I was able to pass Dave and finish the race just ahead in the first race!
As the second race began, the wind dropped off a significant amount, and foiling was rendered impossible. The combination of the light winds and rather large chop meant that I really struggled to keep the boat going and maintain good speeds. During the race, the rain came over and sailing became rather unpleasant. The combination of chop light wind and heavy rain made it tricky to read the conditions, and as a result Dave managed to pull away. The committee made the decision to shorten the race to two laps, and unfortunately, I was not able to catch up by the end.
Soon after, the third race was started and the first beat saw everyone sitting in and slowly progressing upwind. At the top mark, I was only just behind Dave, and the wind was starting to fill in. Dave sailed off downwind, and I gybed early to maximise the foiling. As the wind increased, I was taken closer to the gate. The wind was fairly strong as I neared it but I still felt comfortable.... until I went for the gybe. I had not realised how much the wind had increased, and as I gybed the boat, I did not have the weight to hold the boat down on the other side, and promptly capsized at the gate. Without hesitation, I righted the boat with the intention of completing the race. At this point, Dave had headed in, and after sorting myself out, I decided to go for the bearaway and finish the race. This was not to be. As I turned the boat downwind, it heeled over excessively, and the bows ploughed into the wave in front. Over half the platform ended up under the water and after a few seconds, the boat popped back out and swung upwind! At this moment, I realised my 62kg weight was not enough to bear the boat away and sail in. I then decided it would be best to drop the sail on the water and be towed in. It was a challenge getting the sail to unhook, but I was successful. I was really happy, as this was the first time I had ever had to attempt a sail drop on the water. Soon I was close to the beach and had the foils up and ready for landing. Breaking waves made this a new challenge but thanks to the help of my dad (who waded into the water to help) and Stuart, we managed to get the boat ashore in a reusable condition. A good landing according to Hugh!
Unfortunately due to strong winds, racing on Sunday was abandoned. However, I would like to say a huge thank you to Stokes Bay sailing club and the race committee for organising a fantastic and exciting event!
REMINDERS
We have been asked to remind parents and students that face coverings must still be worn whilst on school transport.
Lateral Flow Tests Continue
Please remember to take your lateral flow tests every Wednesday and Sunday. These are key methods of infection control and ensures we identify any possible Covid positive cases quickly and isolate potential infections, allowing our school to function with reasonable normality this half term. We continue to remain vigilant and are grateful for the very low levels of infection at present.
Congratulations to this week's Achievement Award winners:
Many congratulations to our highest achievers this week. These students have received the most achievement points for their efforts and attainment in class. Very well done!
Sissy Richards 7S
Dylan Rockliff 8P
Margareta Gibba 8P
Abigail Adelola 8T
OPPORTUNITIES
Math study club is now open to ALL year groups. It starts at 3:30pm every Monday and is on top floor of M block. It finishes at 4:30pm but students can leave from 4:15pm.
Our new Scholastic Book Club is up and running!
Please visit https://schools.scholastic.co.uk/angloeuropean/digital-book-club to browse the latest books and order online. For every £1 you spend on this month’s Book Club, our school will earn 20p in Scholastic Rewards.
Please place your order online by July 1st, 2021.
Tennis Courts
Ingatestone and Fryerning Tennis Club are pleased to be able to offer their facilities for non-members to book a court to play on. The cost is £8 an hour for up to four players. To book and pay, just go to https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/rally/ and choose your local court. Note that bookings by non-members can only be made up to four days in advance.
EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
KEY DATES
7th-17th June - Lower Sixth PPEs
7th-11th June - Year 10 Virtual Work Experience (Monday and Friday students are required to be in school
22nd - 29th June - Year 10 PPEs
TERM DATES 2021/22
Summer Term
Monday 12th April to Friday 16th July 2021 - school finishes at 12.30pm on 16th July
Anglo Communication
Finance - finance@aesessex.co.uk
Attendance - attendance@aesessex.co.uk
Admissions - admissions@aesessex.co.uk
Email: enquiries@aesessex.co.uk
Website: aesessex.co.uk
Location: Anglo European School, CM4 0DJ, Willow Green, Ingatestone, UK
Phone: 01277 354018
Facebook: facebook.com/angloeuropeanschool
Twitter: @angloeuropean73