STAFF REPORT December 2013

Lisa Lewis

Support Staff Governor

Joanna Varnava

Teaching Staff Governor

Drama and Theatre Studies This is a very busy term for Drama and Theatre studies because we are working hard to get the college production „We will Rock You‟ ready for performance on the 11th, 12th and 13th December. We have sold out on the Friday but still have tickets available for Wednesday and Thursday. Students will be on Nottingham Hospital radio on Sunday 8th December with DJ Kev Castle. Alan Geary will be coming from Nottingham Evening Post to write a review.

Here is the YouTube URL to watch the cast in rehearsals http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hod1W9B_ntM

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Year 13 Students went to see Richard III at Nottingham Playhouse on Thursday 7th November and are using Twitter to post some exciting research for the original performance conditioned and social Political and Cultural context.

Andy Coxon, a former student who trained at Mountview School of Acting came in to do a fantastic Musical Theatre masterclass with the „We Will Rock You‟ cast. Andy has been in numerous West End shows including „Les Miserables.‟ We also got some great press coverage from this event.

Next exciting event is the trip to see Simon Stephens‟ new play „Blindsided‟ at the Manchester Royal Exchange Theatre. Even more exciting is this famous playwright who is currently in

New York for the premier of another play will be visiting the college on 19th March to meet our students. This is very prestigious and should again interest the press. Sharon MacInnes secured this event through the power of Twitter again!!

Simon Stephens Page | 3

Sharon MacInnes Curriculum Manager – Drama and Theatre Studies and Mike Bowler Tech Assistant - Drama and Performing Arts

Careers & HE Information, Advice and Guidance Expert Guest Speakers We have had a very busy term of guest speakers in to provide accurate, up to date information and guidance on a range of opportunities open to students. 17th October Yvonne Haynes from a Year in Industry came to talk on the opportunities in STEM as part of a paid year out placement. 5 students attended – www.yini.org.uk 31st October – Emma Szembek from the University of Nottingham came to talk about the widening participation scheme for Year 12‟s – Nottingham Ambition. 13 students attended www.nottingham.ac.uk/ambition 1st November – the University of Lincoln Roadshow – 40 students attended in the Student Support area - www.lincoln.ac.uk 4th November – Student Finance England – 5 students www.direct.gov.uk/studentfinance 7th November – Nottingham City Apprenticeship Hub – 12 students www.mynottingham.gov.uk/apprenticeships

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20th November – A Star Future – International HE Opportunities – 30 students www.astarfuture.co.uk 25th November – De Montfort University Roadshow – 25 students www.dmu.ac.uk

In house Talks

22nd November – Careers in Business and Finance – 12 students presented by Carol Magner 9th December – Sponsorship for Higher Education & Apprenticeships by Carol Magner.

Admissions Interviews Year 13‟s are starting to receive invitations to admissions interviews for University. This year Kirsty Wilkinson from De Montfort University has been in college to offer face to face guidance to our students. 25 students signed up for her workshop support on 28th and 29th November.

Careers & HE Fair 13th March 2014

Planning is well under way for our annual Careers and HE Fair 13th March 2014. We have over 60 exhibitors confirmed. We will have a strong presence from the Russell Group members including the Universities of Nottingham, Sheffield, Bristol, Imperial College London, Manchester, Newcastle and Leeds. We will also have some very prestigious employers including Boots, RIBA, Kaplan, ACCA and URS. Tiera Owen attended our Careers Fair last year and as a direct result, was inspired to spend a month in Madagascar with Frontier – a not for profit company working in conservation and biodiversity. Teira‟s achievement was in the Nottingham Post 20th November and we hope Teira will be on the stand at our next fair. See press article. Newcomers for the fair include the New College of Humanities, London, Central Film School London, Financial Skills Partnership and National Information Technology Partnership. We are delighted that many of our regular visitors will also be attending including Derby, Coventry, Nottingham Trent, Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam, Bishop Grosseteste University and our local colleges – NCN, Vision West Notts and Central and Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies.

Going in the right direction? Careers Guidance in Schools from Sept 2012 – Ofsted Ofsted published in September 2013 a report on how well schools are carrying it‟s legal responsibility for securing access to independent and impartial careers guidance. We have looked at ways of improving our service based on this report. For example:

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The careers staff have continued to work closely with the Assistant Principal and Senior Tutors to ensure that Careers Education is integral to the tutorial programme. For example in promoting Labour Market Information, Apprenticeships and CEIAG software. We have ensured that the CEIAG Entitlement is displayed throughout the college, appropriate software is maintained and updated, and we are gathering more evidence of Work Related Learning. We have publicised the National Careers Service on our website, posters and plasma screens and have ensured it is mentioned in the tutorial programme. Career Action Plans – records of discussions are sent to student‟s email account and logged on Columbus. Our CEIAG budget continues to be ring fenced. More posters around college promoting subject specific progression and the Qualifications Framework. Ensuring we have a lead officer from the Governing Body. Boots hosted their first ever Stand Out Careers Event on 8th November. 6 members of staff and 5 students – Demi Holden, Olivia Rawlings, Ivy Harrison, Sarah Elvin and Tanveer Ghaffar attended to find out more about the range of opportunities with Boots. We are delighted that they will be attending our Careers Fair on 13th March 2014.

College Ambassador Scheme 2013/14 We have recruited some Year 12 College Ambassadors to work with staff to promote and market the college over the next calendar. All candidates will work towards the Chartered Management Institute Certificate. Well done to: Ghada Amaireh, Beth Clarke, Daniel Crump, Abi Falade, George Fisher, Demi Holden, Naz Khan, Puja Merwaha, Ruth Page, Birinderjit Singh Nahal, Avinash Parekh, Maria Pullen,Aimee Russhard, Esther Samson. We really look forward to working with them all.

Carol Magner and Helen Holden Careers and HE Managers

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Geography College Expedition to Slovenia 2014: Training Weekend 27th to 29th September 2013 The College Expedition 2014 team travelled to the Peak District for a training weekend of camping, hiking and planning for the final expedition to Slovenia in July 2014. The two teams planned the weekend themselves, including shopping for and preparing the food for the weekend for the whole team. A challenging full day training hike with full rucksacks was undertaken around the beautiful Derwent Edge, close to Ladybower Reservoir. The teams bonded very well and supported each other throughout the weekend, including the process of planning the trip itineraries for the final expedition through the beautiful Julian Alps of Slovenia. The teams are planning a mixture of multi-day hiking, white-water rafting, relaxing and two contrasting community volunteering projects including supporting the excavation/renovation of world war one relicts and helping a rural community clear hiking trails and rebuild stone walls. The trip promises to be an excellent experience for all involved – the students are now concentrating on fundraising the rest of the trip costs and working on their fitness!

Excellent energy futures talk with Former local MP and energy expert Alan Simpson An excellent and highly informative talk was provided to a group of our A-Level Geography students by former Nottingham South MP, and parent of 2 Bilborough Alumni, Alan Simpson. Alan is an energy policy consultant who works with Friends of the Earth and campaigns for a radical change of approach to energy policy and futures in the UK. His talk perfectly complemented our A2 Geography unit on energy security and energy futures, and inspired our students to both think outside the box on energy, and to consider the role we all can play in challenging the current energy impasse. Alan is very experienced in this field and played a key role in the introduction of the Feed in Tariffs (FITs) which the college now receives in return for the energy generated by its huge solar installation on the sports centre which produces around 79,000KWh of energy per year. The talk was informative, motivational and insightful; it certainly gave students plenty to think about and expand upon in their Geography work and more importantly in their future lives – in all our interests!

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Climate Change Practical Experiments in College from the International Polar Foundation In November we were able to borrow the International Polar Foundation‟s http://www.polarfoundation.org/ Class Zero Climate Change practical experiments kit. Several groups of AS Geographers and International Baccalaureate Environmental Systems and Societies students really enjoyed and learnt a lot from conducting the experiments to show some of the key principles of climate change.

The kit allowed the students to investigate in a hands-on manner the abstract and hard to grasp principles of albedo, sea level rise, ice sheet melt, paleoclimatology and acidification of the oceans through climate change. It was a great workshop and fitted in excellently with both AS and IB courses as part of the work on the impacts of climate change and positive feedback. Hopefully we can create our own resources that work in a similar way for future use if we are not able to get hold of the IPF workshop in future as it is in high demand across the UK.

Simon Holland Teacher of Geography

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Bilborough College Christmas Concert 2013

Bilborough College Gilly Archer Theatre Tuesday 17 December 2013 7:30pm Admission £3 by Ticket only Available from Simon Lee in the Department of Music All Welcome!! Page | 9

ALL FOR CHARITY MOVEMBER!!

Andrew Felfoldi At this time of the year we are all looking forward to Christmas and spending time with family. However, some children are suffering from all types of loss and Christmas is not always a happy time for them. Having experienced the loss of a parent close to Christmas during childhood, I decided to do something to help other children who may be in this position now or in the future. I believe it is important to help local charities and local children as it may help them in later life. We have many tutees who experience loss of a parent from death, divorce or separation and do not always get the help needed to cope with this. I have therefore decided to collect money for Sue‟s Place, something close to my heart. I initial wanted to dye my hair red however, I couldn't get a suitable dye, so I have gone one worse in my opinion, particularly as it is so cold at the moment!! I am hoping to raise at least £50, so please donate what you can and make the next few weeks seem less painful. I have left an envelope at reception. It has surly got to be worth a donation to see me walk round for a few weeks with no hair!!

http://www.sues-place.co.uk

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Children in Need The college has raised £470 for children in need so far!! There was a cake sale, busking in the canteen and students wore PJ‟s – staff donated but didn‟t really get involved – except maddy on student support who came in PJs!

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MINDFULNESS I was invited to lead a workshop as part of an NHS conference on Mindfulness in Nottingham. The NHS is increasingly interested in using methods rooted in meditation as treatments for stress, anxiety and depression. The conference focused on one of these approaches, MindfulnessBased Cognitive Therapy, which randomised control trials have shown to halve relapse rates for people with depression. I have a long-standing interest in this area and regularly teach meditation retreats. More recently I have developed skills in evidence-based mindfulness programmes and now regularly teach eight-week courses with my own business, Nottingham Mindfulness. Around 250 NHS staff attended the conference and approximately 80 people took part in the workshop. The conference also included presentations from leading academics in this field such as Professor Paul Gilbert from Derby University, an expert in compassion-based therapies, and Rebecca Crane, from Bangor University‟s Mindfulness department. In Nottinghamshire, there is now a great deal of interest in incorporating mindfulness based approaches in both primary and secondary care services within the NHS. The methods have also been explored within education too, most notably by the Mindfulness in Schools project. In the past I have offered some mindfulness courses at the college, which were featured on BBC East Midlands today, and is likely I will to do so again as part of Health and Diversity week.

http://nottinghammindfulness.com Jake Dartington Teacher of Ethics and Philosophy and Advanced Philosophy

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IB English Local author, Nicola Valentine (aka Nikki Valentine and Nicola Monaghan) came in to talk to Year 12 IB students about her novel „The Killing Jar‟ which is set in Broxtowe and its environs and studied as part of the IB English course.

Nicola also read from the novel and answered a variety of interesting and sometimes probing questions. Although the session lasted for 90 minutes, students were still mobbing (in the nicest possible way) the English workroom to talk to Nicola after the end of proceedings. We look forward to the presentations inspired by Nicola‟s visit which students will be giving for their Individual Oral Presentation, a formal IB assessment which takes place in January.

Isobel Dams Curriculum Manager – English Literature

Work placement and community involvement For all of us this term is extremely busy but I thought I would share with you some of the events I have organised this term. This is just a snapshot.

5th Nov lunch time session

A group of Law Undergraduates from the Law Society called “Outlaw” at Nottingham University came into Bilborough to do some of their Probono work. They came in to demystify the LNAT and to discuss and help with law personal statements. Luc Chignell, the main schools lead from this society is now helping to organise practice Oxbridge style interviews for a couple of our Bilborough students, Karen Chu and Sam Beale with the help of his team back at the university.

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On the afternoon of the 6th of Nov the WAMS medical team came into Bilborough and delivered and afternoon of learning and fun to our future medics and dentists, i.e. those in year 13 and who had applied to either Medical or Dental School. WAMS stands for Widening Access into Medical School. I gave them a brief to engage both medical and dental students with some first year practical medicine and ethics, and to discuss interview skills and techniques and the different formats of interviewing. They    

covered: Ethics and the 4 principles Eye examinations with practical learning Blood pressure Muscle reflex and tone

Interview skills, from the basics as to what to wear, to how to manage with the new style mini interview. They gave an example of a past mini interview. What happens when one of the interviewers turns their back on the student. Yes it happened and a tricky one to deal with. Our students could now manage this situation confidently with the help of WAMS.

Students were invited to comment on the session: What did you enjoy most? Connie Tse (applied to Birmingham, Edinburgh, Nottingham and Oxford for Medicine) said “I really enjoyed being able to try out the different clinical skills as it is not something that we normally get the opportunity to do. It gave me a valuable insight into what being a medical student involves and the types of things that will be taught at medical school.” Faisal Ayub (applied to Bristol, Exeter, Leeds, Keele and Leicester for Medicine) said “I enjoyed the interview session along with the ethics workshop as it is more relevant to us at the moment. The group interview session with a WAMS student was also really good, as it helped us analyse answers and learn from our mistakes.” Bahar Yuksel (applied to Leeds, Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester for Dentistry) said “The interview practise was very useful and gave me an idea of what to expect during the real interviews. I have really appreciated the advice from the medical students.”

All students were asked, “What could we have done differently?” and almost all students said whilst they were very appreciative of the interview skills and tips and really enjoyed the practical skills they wanted more interview help.

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On the afternoon of the 13th of Nov a member of the SCRUBS team came to Bilborough to deliver some surgical practical skills and offer interview advice to our yr 13s who had applied to medicine or dentistry. SCRUBS is the University of Nottingham Student Surgical Society. BUT with their comments in mind from the WAMS event the students were given a choice and voted to spend most of the afternoon discussing interviews. The SCRUBS member who came was Francesca Pickwell a 5yr Medical student and in fact an ex Bilborough student. We did manage some surgical practical skills and learning how to put on a theatre gown, is much harder than you think to remain bacteria free! The feedback I have had from students has been very positive indeed. What did you enjoy most? Isobel Seddon (applied to Cardiff, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle) said I really liked talking to Francesca about how her interviews went, and how she reassured us not to panic I think the workshop helped me feel less worried about getting interviews and informed me what to look up to do with what questions they may ask. And Jessica Whitney enjoyed the practical skills! Here she is with Francesca

19th Nov Journalism talk. Nicola Allen our PR Consultant came in and gave a talk to our prospective journalists both year 12 and year13. Students were interested to hear about her career and how to get into journalism. They learnt about this demanding yet very fulfilling career.

27th Nov Law afternoon

Nottingham Trent Law undergraduates delivered lectures on: 

Careers in law and access to the legal profession

3rd Dec Ed Arthur from Teach  Human Rights Right to Die to First came to –Bilborough deliver a talk.  Freedom of expression and social media.

20 students attended a lunch time session and listened to a route into teaching. Interesting Lots of debate and freedom of expression was facts and evocative Utube videos for the allowed within the classroom! students to watch which would inspire anyone into teaching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI5EULnShOA

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Other exciting news: I have submitted 6 names to Rolls Royce for consideration for work shadowing. Waiting for news on this and not likely to hear anything until early February. This may not seem like many but under Rolls Royce‟s new Work Experience programme and the geographical position of Bilborough, we were not allocated any. With much deliberation we were then given one! I feel it has now been sensibly increased to six, but students are in order of priority. Fingers crossed on this one.

8th Nov Boots Careers Event: I attended this event at their headquarters on Thane Rd in Nottingham along with a few other members of staff. I found the afternoon to be very interesting and full of information to bring back to our students. A company full of opportunity and open to so many different pathways of education. The great news is they are now attending our Careers Fair in March.

Jenny McGeehan Work and Community Placement Officer

Chemistry Dan Mitchell , a PhD student from Nottingham University recently came and gave a talk about his research interests to different groups of students in the department. His research, on ionic liquids, linked in well to the topics that both year 12 and year 13 are studying at the moment. It allowed students to see how even the most basic chemistry, such as ideas about bonding, are still of use at such a high level. The talks were well attended and enjoyed by the students. Dr Ross Hatton, associate Professor of Physical Chemistry at Warwick University came and talked to year 12 students about studying chemistry at university and his research. He talked about the advantages you might have when studying at a research led university, and the wide variety of careers that a chemistry degree might lead to. He also talked about his research in solar power and global warming, which students will be studying at the end of year 12.

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Student comments about the talk: “I really enjoyed the talk it was interesting and helped me think about taking science further and the different things you can do with it.” “I plan on going to university as it is but the talk has made me realise I need to look into more career prospects.” “I found it very informative and gave me insight to what uni would be like if I took chemistry. “ “The talk gave me something to think about as I will now look into chemistry at university as well as physics.”

Careers Evening for Chemistry Students Several Bilborough students and their parents took the opportunity to visit a „Careers from Chemical Sciences Degrees‟ evening event held at BioCity, Nottingham and organised by the local area representative of the Royal Society of Chemistry on 26th November. There were a range of companies at the event, everything from pharmaceuticals, through the energy sector to healthcare, patent law, scientific consultancy and more – all of whom employ science (chemistry/chemical science) graduates either for their transferable, or direct skills. The local universities were also present so that students could talk to them about their courses, the applications process and anything else. Students and their parents also had the opportunity to attend talks given by: Faron Jordan of Critical Pharmaceuticals about the role of BioCity itself, his career path and the future of Pharmaceuticals. Andy West of Pera Technology about scientific consultancy (an expanding industry) and his career path. June McCombie of the University of Nottingham about the UCAS process from an admissions tutor‟s point of view. Students found the event useful and found out about some local companies who they could approach for work experience opportunities.

Sarah Turton Teacher of Chemistry And Pam Richings Teacher of Chemistry

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IB Students take part in SANTA CRUISE On Sunday 1st December over 20 Year 12 IB students took part in the 'Santa Cruise' in the city centre to raise funds for the Nottinghamshire Hospice. Students are asked to reflect on their experience. I was particularly impressed by the work of Joy Khamkaw Plant and this is what she wrote. 'To be honest, I was a bit stunned and touched by how large the amount of generous people there were. I was thinking ill of people because we are humans and all have the ability to be selfish and greedy. I thought that because prices, electricity bills and taxes have risen recently, people would be tighter with their money and less likely to give. Also, due to the fact that Christmas was also on its way, I thought that maybe people would be saving up and perhaps, it wasn‟t the best time to be fundraising. However, I was proven wrong; anytime is a good time and, it‟s good to know that there‟ll always be someone who‟s willing to give no matter the situation. Peoples‟ generosity gave me hope. When I was put at my station, I was conflicted with how best to do this; whether it was best if I approached people, explained what the event was and asked for any donations or, whether, I should just let them approach me. After a few trials and attempts, I found that the best method was, although it may not have been the most efficient, to smile, wave and let people approach you willingly. This way, I didn‟t feel like I was pestering anyone or making them feel as if I‟m forcing them to donate because I‟d approached them or make them feel as if they HAD to donate because I‟d explained/ approached/ looked /asked at them. In addition, it‟d also made it more comfortable for me as I didn‟t feel rude/embarrassed/ uneasy about asking for 'donations'. Either way, it seemed fairer on both sides for me this way. If they‟d approached willingly it meant that they were volunteering; volunteering is about giving your time for others and doing something for someone else without expecting/ wanting anything in return.

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I found it amusing to see peoples‟ response to this sort of charity/fundraising event. Particularly, in their avoidance techniques used and their great discomfort/ guilt they experience when it comes to this field because, I can relate to it. Now, I also understand how other volunteers, who have approached me in the past, feel; it‟s a lot more challenging than one expects. I think you get mixed emotions and controversial feelings when it comes down to it. When approaching people, I should have been more confident and put more effort in trying to raise awareness of the hospice/cause. I would have been more successful at attracting people if I‟d been louder/more bubbly/perky/warm/friendly. Nevertheless I'm glad I could provide my services; not only did I contribute to a good cause, in the hope to improve people‟s quality of life but, I also gained valuable experiences from it. It changed my outlook of volunteering- from the point of view of the volunteers themselves. Next time, when I see a volunteer, I can sympathise with them, be more generous and appreciate their efforts. '

Maggie Burrows CAS Co-ordinator

Student Support Services Charity Himalayas Trek

My name is Pamela Cassidy, I was a pupil at Bilborough college and in summer 2013. So, in the summer of 2014 from the 25/08/14 until the 15/09/14 30 students from Oxford Brookes University, including me will be doing a 22 day trek across the Himalayas to base camp Everest. This is all in aid of a charity called Childreach international, this charity works within countries worldwide to help children get the best start to life. Within Nepal, the country I am going to the charity have already built a child care center called the Meera center. This center aims to help children reach their potential and provides the educational facilities for this. The charity also helps children within the UK with the My School My Voice project. This project aims to educated children and young people in the UK about global issues. My fundraising target for this charity is £2,650, all of which will go to projects like the Meera center. Whilst in Nepal I will visit one of the projects I aim to raise money for to see where the money will be going.

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Harmless On Wednesday 4th December, Harmless hosted another self harm drop in session for young people aged 11-21. Offering personal support, or for a friend or family member with trained therapists on hand to offer information or advice about any concerns about self harm. For further information email [email protected] Future adult drop-in dates: Wednesday 4th December 14:30-15:30 – Young Person‟s drop in (Ages 11-21) Wednesday 8th January 14:30-15:30 – Adult drop in (Ages 18+) Wednesday 5th February 14:30-15:30 – Young Person‟s drop in (Ages 11-21) Wednesday 5th March 14:30-15:30 – Adult drop in (Ages 18+) Wednesday 2nd April 14:30-15:30 – Young Person‟s drop in (Ages 11-21)

Ditch the Label – Annual bullying survey To date 90 students have submitted responses to the annual bullying survey. The survey runs until January, so we expect the number of students taking part to rise. The results of the survey help the charity to create appropriate resources and target the audiences that benefit the most. "Our message is clear: It doesn't matter if you're white, black, gay, straight, asexual, disabled, skinny, curvy, old, young, interested in sports, work in a salon or feel good in drag - we think you're amazing."

Tomorrow Project The Tomorrow Project had a Stand in Student Support on 26th November between 11.00-2.00, offering support to students around issues with self harm and suicide. Students were free to drop in for an informal chat, and pick up a leaflet or arrange further support.

University of Lincoln Scholarship Two year 12 students are to receive the University of Lincoln 16-19 scholarship award for widening participation, after being nominated by their tutors. Both students will receive a £1000 bursary split between year 12 and 13, as well as mentoring and support. If they choose to apply to the University of Lincoln they would also receive ongoing support and mentoring.

Maddy Varley Student Support Services Administrator

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Senior Maths Challenge Individual Competition (Maths Olympiad) This is a national challenge and certificates are awarded based on the results. We compete against hundreds of other centres including independent schools. This year we had:

9 Gold medals! 11 Silver medals! 8 Bronze medals! The top 1000 gold students in the country get the chance to progress to the next round of the Olympiad where they aim to get into the top 100: We have Connor Perkins, Alistair Benford going through to the next round (this is quite rare) In addition, we have Rebecca Peel, Quoc Luu and tianyue Gao going through to the Intermediate Olympiad where they compete for further prizes.

Senior Maths Team Challenge The UKMT Team Challenges promote mathematical dexterity, team working, and communication skills. Cathy Howell from the maths department prepared them for this at went with them for support. CONNOR PERKINS (Year 13) ALISTAIR BENFORD (Year 12) ALEXANDER WRIGHT (Year 13) DAVID JACKSON (Year 12) The team entered the regional finals and got through to the national finals! They were competing against other top local schools including independent schools. The final in 2014 will be held at the Camden Centre in London on Tuesday February 4th.

Enrichment Report: Duke of Edinburgh: This year we now have 14 students who are working towards completing the Silver Award and 31 students working towards to the Gold Award. Out of the 31 students working towards the Gold Award, 11 have opted to complete the expeditions by foot and 20 by canoe.

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All of the students have taken part in an expedition taster day. The Gold and Silver walkers had a day in the Peak District practicing map reading and camp craft. The gold canoeists had a day practicing at Holme Pierre Point. The plans in place so far are that the Silver Award students will complete their practice expedition in the White Peak and their final expedition in the Dark Peak. For the Gold walkers, they will complete their practice expeditions in the Peak District, but their final expedition will be in the Lake District and the Gold Canoeists will complete their practice expeditions on the River Trent and their final expedition will be on the River Wye. In addition to the preparing for the expeditions, the students have all been busy starting the other sections of the award (Volunteering, Skill, and Physical). The students have been volunteering at a wide range of places, including charity shops, care homes, scout and guide groups, schools, coaching for sports teams and teaching languages in the college. We are also hopeful to have a very skilful group of individuals by the end of the year! In addition to the volunteering for an hour a week, the students are spending an additional hour a week learning a new skill, which has included a range of skills such as learning to drive, learning a new language and learning to bake. For the physical section students have signed up to take part in sports ranging from football to Zumba – all the exercise should prepare them well for the expeditions!

Sign Language: During the autumn term 20 students completed the British Sign Language Level 1 Course, and another 18 students are completing the award now.

Debating Society: In addition to the Wednesday afternoon debating society, we now have a debating society running on Thursday lunchtimes too. Four students from the Thursday group, Conrad Duncan, Max Emmett, Rebecca Short and Alistair Benford, took part in the ‘Debating Matters’ competition. They came second overall and Conrad won an award for ‘Best Individual Effort’. Ed Noel who organised the event commented that the student’s performance on the evening was outstanding and the best individual award was justly deserved. The students are hoping to take part in more competitions later in year.

Young Enterprise: We have three companies entered into the Young Enterprise Scheme this year. The two BTEC Business groups have set up a company, and there is one company that was opened up to all students. So far the groups have all been busy allocating roles and raising their start up capital for their Business. Each group has held a cake sale in college and at parents evening to help raise the initial capital. The groups all proved to have impressive baking skills – with one of the companies raising over £250! They are now all finalising their business ideas and preparing to launch them in the New Year.

New Enrichment: We have several new enrichment activities that have started up this term. The English Department have just launched a Language Olympiad which starts next week. We have started four more student led enrichment, Young People Just Ask, Evolution Enrichment, History Club and Chinese. Also new for this term are activities including, Italian, Salsa, Table Tennis Club and Yoga.

Laura Goulding Enrichment Manager and Teacher of Business Studies Page | 22

Sport and Recreation BCS England Colleges Trials Danielle Page has successfully made the England Colleges BCS team. This is a fantastic achievement. Netball – Katie Creswell will be attending the final trial for the England college BCS team in January. The trials will be held at Nottingham Trent University.

National Championships – Bath University 23 students have qualified for the National Championships in April. The students won their East Midlands tournament to qualify for the event and will go on to represent the East Midlands at Bath. Badminton – Female singles Hattie Lowe Badminton – Mixed Doubles Ashleigh Buck and Rudolf Prinsloo Cross Country Freya Shipley and Josie McCullen Netball Catherine Ross Sian Doherty Kirsty Peat Lauren Betteridge Iman Thomas Bethany Shotton Stephanie-Mae Edwards Katherine Holmes Michaela Witherden Ellie Dawson Kashia Kuziarz

Swimming Sophie Davies Hannah Clay Lauren Gill Chloe Cook Trampolining Ingrid McLaron Jessica Melling Dom Holmes

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Bilborough College Badminton Club – bringing cultures together! The college badminton club has always been popular with students and this year has been no different. Over 30 students have attended the club over the last 6 weeks. However, it wasn‟t until last week, when we started to sort through the data for sportivate, that we realised that the club has had representatives from over 8 different ethnic backgrounds. This is absolutely fantastic as it proves that the club is encouraging students from a range of backgrounds to participate in physical activity. When asked why the students attend here is what some of the students had to say: “I really enjoyed playing badminton at school and wanted to continue. I started to attend on a Monday lunchtime but wanted to play more and so started to attend the after college sessions. I like playing badminton for fun which is what the club is all about.” Aleesha Atlaf

“My friend suggested that I come to the club. I am really glad I did as I have been given some useful tips on how to improve as well as had fun. I currently just enjoy playing but would really like to start playing games once I have had a bit more practise. I have now passed on the recommendation and am hoping some of my friends will come next week. It is a great way to get to know other people.” Alaa Tagoni

“I have been attending the club for over a year now and really enjoy it. It has taught me a lot and built my confidence, so much so, that I recently went to a local club session. Here I got the chance to play against other people, the matches were much tougher but I really enjoyed it.” Waleed Javed

Katy Honeyman Sport and Recreation Manager and Teacher of BTEC Sport

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