Varndean Eye Easter 2012

w w w . v a r n d e a n . c o . u k

S p r i n g 2 0 1 2

Inside this issue:

First Day of Summer TermMonday 16th April

Staff LearningPM(EarlyClosure)Thurs 19th April

Varndean Links ParentsGroup Meeting in theLibray ALL WELCOMEThurs 3rd May 7.30pm

Bank HolidayMonday 7th May

Page 2 King Lear

Page 5 Baroness Prosser

visits Varndean

Page 6 Dance Festival

Page 9 CHOCS

Page 10-11 Sports round-up

Varndean Eye

Varndean SchoolBalfour Rd, Brighton BN1 6NP

Editorial and advertisingcontact: Vanessa [email protected]

Olympic Diver visits Parkour Club

Follow us on twitter atwww.varndean.co.uk or

www.twitter.com/VarndeanSchool

Regular school updatesand information

On Tuesday 28thFebruary Varndean PEDepartment had thepleasure of the companyof Olympic diver PeterWaterfield.

His specialism is the 10metre platform event,both as solo competitorand in the synchronisedevent. For the 2011season, Waterfield was

paired in thesynchronisedcompetitions with 2008Beijing Olympiccompetitor Tom Daley .Peter has just won aBronze Medal in the 10mevent in the WorldChampionships at thenew Olympic Swimming

venue in London.Peter has also won anOlympic Silver medal inthe 2004 Athens Olympicsand commonwealth Goldand Silver medals. Peteris confident of qualifyingfor the London Olympics inAugust and in doing so willbe participating in hisfourth Olympics, aremarkable achievement!

Peter was at the school aspart of the Sky SportsLiving for Sport project.This is a project thatpromotes all types of sportin schools. Schools areasked to submit a sportsproject that will helpstudents develop.Varndean submitted the

Parkour project - a freerunning gymnastics sportsclub held at lunch time.The Parkour club will havea demonstration afterEaster to raise money forcharity.

Peter spent time meetingand taking questions from

the students about hiscareer, how he got intosport and the personalbenefits sport has givenhim. He also broughtalong his medals for thestudents to see and hold.Students wereparticularly interested inhis Olympic silver medal.Peter also talked to thegroup about the 10msynchronised event withTom Daley.

We are hoping toorganise a second visitwhere he will leadstudents in a practicalsession; the group is veryexcited about this!

Paul Taylor, PE Teacher

Peter meets students

Drama Focus

2

For our Y11 play Mr Taljaard chosethe challenging King Lear - thecheery plot of lies, murder andbetrayal. I, along with many othercast members, 'um'ed and 'ah'edabout whether or not to participatein the play. Although most of us doit every year, the thought of mocksand real GCSEs, seemedoverwhelming. We unfortunatelylost a few members of the cast tothe stress. However, thankfully,some amazing people stepped in atlast minute, frantically learninglines and made the characters theirown. A huge thanks to SophieScott, Lauren Kane-Simmons,Indigo Edwards, Luke Clapham andCharlie Suff - the play couldn't havehappened without them.

Mr Taljaard always gave us cakeand squash to make decipheringShakespearean language moreappealing. It was a struggle tounderstand our lines but I think weall learnt a lot from it. The complexplot took a few weeks to figure outbut it was really satisfying and awelcome challenge to play suchcomplicated characters. Thechallenging roles of two-faced,murderous, resentful villains reallygave us something to sink our teethinto. It was very enjoyable.

I would recommend taking part inschool plays: it is very rewardingand builds a community spiritamongst the cast. Despite thestress of juggling King Lear,mocks, Les Miserables, schoolconcerts and GCSEs I would do theplay again.

I am hugely appreciative to MrTaljaard who puts so much timeand effort into the plays. I hopewhen I go the college I will havesuch a dedicated and inspiringdrama teacher.

Lydia Johnston, Y11 Student

Hamlet in an hour was one thing.But King Lear? Dual plots; theultimate representation of madnessand the disintegration of Humanity?

Seriously Ed, what were you thinking?They’re fifteen…

The play opened with Ned Wall's Learstriding around a large map of Britain,deciding to divide his Kingdom in threebetween his three daughtersaccording to how much they love him.The first two, Goneril and Regan,played by Abbie Standing and OliviaSewell, fool him with lies and reaprewards with land, orchards andvineyards. The youngest, Cordelia,played with strength, yet with a gentleinnocence by Ruby Phelan, expressesher love truly ‘according to my bond,no more, no less’. Lear misinterpretsher honest expression of love forbetrayal and blindly casts her out intothe wilderness. Events then spiral outof control through war, madness andhideous violence.

The cast was impressive. LydiaJohnson's Edmund was presented asa wiley, slimy, two faced plotter. Sheensnared the audience into his eviland manipulative plotting. Ned Wall‘sarrogant and bewildered Learsuggested an old head on youngshoulders. His descent into madnessand subsequent self discovery washandled with power and humility. AsGoneril and Regan turned against himand reduced him from King to nothing,he found solace in a wacky andchipper Edgar (Ellen Wood) whooffered much welcomed light relief,and Kent (Luke Clapham), playing therole of Lear’s Fool and guide indisguise, who threw his lines outhilariously as though they just didn’tmatter.

There were the usual left-fielddirectorial techniques you’dexpect from Taljaard and McEvoy.Ellen’s Edgar disguises himself asPoor-Tom by simply donningrabbit’s ears. When Gloucester(Seren John Wood), Lear’s loyalfriend, has his eyes gouged out bythe sinister Cornwall (playedseamlessly by Jack Grant),because of his loyalty to Lear,they are represented by welder’sgoggles, taking a much needededge off the horror. .

The stand out scene was Lear'sreunion with the forgiving andever-loving Cordelia. Wall's Learawoke from a healing sleep that"balmed" his "broken sinews" anddreamily tells his daughter,"Come, let's away to prison;/ Wetwo alone will sing like birds I' th'cage." He delivered it with adelicacy and a tenderness notseen in his Lear until that pointwhich was wonderful to see in anactor so young.However, it was Standing andSewell's combined performanceof the evil daughters, Goneril andRegan, that really stole the show.They played their vile andtraitorous roles brilliantly andwith a disconcerting ease. I reallyenjoyed the way they werecompletely absorbed into theircomplex roles; for that hour, theyhad me totally gripped.

Paul Offord, English Teacher

Ned Wall Y11 plays King Lear

King Lear

3

Varndean Eye Spring 2012

74% Campaign. The final push - will you be one of the 74%?Our Year 11 students are veryambitious. Recent collegeapplications are higher than theyhave ever been and an amazing 176students (74% of all Y11s) in the yeargroup are aiming for a Level 3 course(equivalent of ‘A’ levels) next year.

To get onto (and succeed on) thesecourses, each student will need atleast five GCSEs at C grade or better,preferably including English andMaths. 176 students achieving atthis level is far in excess of thetargets set for the school so it won’tbe easy but we want to do all we canto help them be one of this specialgroup, one of the 176 (74%).

The 74% campaign (launched afterFebruary half-term) is aboutinspiring and helping studentsdevelop the specific skills andknowledge they will need to succeed.All students should attend booster

classes, revise thoroughly andfollow the specific advice from theirteachers.

With the right support at home andat school we look forward to allstudents achieving their ambitions.

Gareth Hughes, Deputy Headteacher

Eco-Club is currently getting verybusy working towards achievingEco-School Green Flag Status.We are hoping to develop awildflower meadow and plant amini-orchard at the back of theschool in partnership withBrighton Permaculture Trust.This will increase the amount ofbiodiversity that we have atpresent in the school grounds.

Eco Club News

Stephen Ford,Y7, feeding chickens

Y11 Reward SchemeA fortnightly raffle style rewardscheme has been launched for Year11 for students who have doneexceptional work or made extraeffort towards their GCSEs. Everyfortnight there is a draw in the year11 assembly and the studentchosen will receive a reward forthem and a friend.

So far the winners have been:Lizzie Jones, Grace McDonnell andJosh Scott. Well done Year 11 andkeep working hard.

Jo Neville, Y11 Co-ordinator

Music Departmentupcoming events

Thurs 26th April – Year 11 CreativeTask Exam

Sat 5th May – Childrens’ Parade(Brighton Festival)

Thurs 10th May – Upper SchoolConcert

Thurs 5th July – Lower SchoolConcert

Eco-Club is also working towardsorganising a green-themed non-uniform day. Proceeds from thiswill go towards developing a newpond that will be used as a teachingresource by the school and broadercommunity.

Tamsyn East, Science Teacher &Eco-Club Co-ordinator

Varndean Eye Spring 2012

4

Headspace

Dear Varndean Families,

I was sitting on the school stage lastnight during the dress rehearsal forLes Misérables. As well as negotiatingmy way through the score, not havingplayed the French Horn since the lastnight of South Pacific last year, – I wasconscious that the view from the stageof the hall, where around 130 studentswere performing, was a very particularone of our school. The audience will beseated ‘in the round’ so that theperformers will be seen from allangles. It will not be possible foranyone to hide behind anyone else.This more public view has meant thatthe performers have had to work extrahard and to a higher standard this year.Many of you will have seen the show bythe time you read this article and willhave witnessed what I describe. Aswith the vast majority of our students,you will have seen self-assured,confident young people pushingthemselves to take the risk ofperforming very difficult materialunder close public scrutiny. The workthat the staff do with your children, notonly in the arts, is about enabling them

to lead for themselves with a healthydose of ‘push’ in the mix. We don’ttake no for an answer. Varndean staffare full of belief in your children; theyhave a ‘can do’ and ‘will do’ attitude.I’m in the privileged position of seeingthis in action on a daily basis, in andout of lessons.

This is one of the most industriousterms. We work from Septemberthrough to the February half term – wecall it the long winter term. In this waywe drive progress over the Christmasbreak. The second half of the springterm is where we check where we areand adjust what we do, to respond tothe needs of our students. This iswhere we are at the moment - a bitlike teachers spring cleaning. This isalso the time when our Y11s aremaking their final preparations fortheir exams. Many of them areworking flat out and taking fulladvantage of the additional supportfrom their teachers. I know that you’llbe doing your bit at home, keepingthem focussed and healthy. It can be astressful time for all, so I encourageyou to contact the school if you needinformation or support in this finalphase of Y11. The students are movinginto a much more uncertain world thanyou or I experienced and I hope thatVarndean has given them the tools, the

resilience and the confidence to stepout into the next phase of their lives,to enable them to cope with thechallenges they will face.

The most immediate challenge is theensuing revolution of the openingnight of Les Misérables where I haveno doubt our students will meet thechallenge head on with their innategrace and pride.

William DeighanHeadteacherVarndean SchoolChallenge and Pride

A warm welcome to Ms Carter ournew Deputy Headteacher (Teaching &Learning) who joined us this halfterm from The Addington School inCroyden. She will be predominantlyfocussing on classroom practice.She was the successful candidatefrom a field of over 80 applicants. Weare expectinggreat things fromMs Cartercongratulationson yourappointment andno pressure.

The Cybersmile Foundation is theonly charity in the UK dedicated tohelping the victims of cyberbullyingand hate campaigns and are workingclosely with Sussex Police andBrighton & Hove City Council to playan active role in reducing the numberof incidents of cyberbullying acrossthe City.

With the problem becoming worsedue to the advancement of socialmedia we are offering vital advice,support and guidance to anybodyaffected by cyberbullying.

Our advice is available from ourwebsite www.cybersmile.org whichis available from the 2nd April 2012.We are also planning to provide afree counselling service and wouldwelcome all enquiries [email protected] regarding this.

New cyberbullying advicewebsite

OPEN HOUSE INVITATION

On Saturday 26th May, VarndeanSchool will take part in BrightonFestival’s programme of Artists OpenHouses.

Student work will include paintings,collages, mixed media and ceramicsalongside current GCSE work. ATextiles Fashion Show will alsoshowcase student designed clothesand accessories.

Musical entertainment will alsofeature, and refreshments will beavailable.

Please join us between 11am-4pm on Saturday, 26th May 2012

Varndean School, Balfour Road, Brighton BN1 6NP Telephone: 01273 561 281

www.varndean.co.uk

Krissi Carter

5

Baroness Prosser speaks to Y10 Philosophy and Applied Ethics StudentsAt the beginning of the spring termwe were given to the opportunity tolightly interrogate Baroness Prosserfor around 60 minutes. BaronessProsser is a Labour peer who sits inthe House of Lords, she was givenher peerage by Tony Blair. She hasworked for theTrade Unions andis very involved inHuman Rights andequality projectsin this country.She began bytelling us how theHouse of Lordsworks and whyshe consideredthe House ofLords to be an important part of theBritish political system even thoughit is not democratically elected. Shealso told us some stories about herexperiences as a member of theHouse of Lords.

We asked a range of questions andthe Baroness was very kind to giveher views on each topic that webroached. Apparently she said that

she felt like she had been ‘run overby a bus’ due to the variety andprobing nature of our questions. Wefound it a very interesting sessionand that the Baroness was verydifferent to what we had expected.Below is a list of the questions/

topics that the Baroness respondedto:

The legality of the war in Iraq; thestate of Britain’s economy; thefinancial issues that students faceconcerning University; the role ofAmerica in Britain’s recession;homelessness in the UK; the killingof Bin Laden and Gaddafi; euthanasiaand abortion; the death penalty;

women’s rights; the recent strikes;Issues within the media; UK riots;change of Korean leadership; roleof religion in the House of Lords;views on the causes and ‘solutions’of the recession; the EU bail out ofGreece and the UK’s role in this and

Retirement age/rights.

Overall thisexperience wasincredibly eyeopening andinteresting to hearthe voice andopinion of someoneof greatsignificance within

politics. We would like to thankeveryone involved and those whoallowed this to happen and ofcourse a special thanks toBaroness Prosser herself.

Teddy Cheung & Conrad Hartnoll,

Y10 students

Year 6 Art CompetitionIn September a group of our Y11Student Leaders and some Y8 giftedart students visited a number of local

primary schools to launch an artcompetition around the theme of‘Growing-up’. We had a fantastic

response with anamazing array of workbeing submitted. Thejudges chose onewinner, 3 runners upand 8 children to behighly commended.The winner was FejaSmith (BalfourPrimary School). Therunners up were MonaAlwakel (Queens ParkPrimary), LouisBurdick (BalfourPrimary) and Eshe &Marnie (St Luke’sPrimary).

All of the worksubmitted will bedisplayed as part ofthe Varndean OpenHouse on 26th May2012.

Judith Ford, AssistantHeadteacher

Freja Smith - Balfour Primary

Eshe & Marnie - St Luke’s

Did you know that...?

One of our afternoon cleaners Jodi

Mechen, has had a novel published

called ‘The Cure’. It's the tale of a

young woman who is fighting

demons both inside and out as she

comes to terms with a monstrous

revelation in her own past and the

revelation of a monstrous being in

her present - and her own unique

role in both events. It should

appeal to those who love the

Twilight and Underworld sagas and

can be found at both Waterstone’s

and Amazon.

6

Student InterventionGroups

2O12 has seen the D37 Inclusionteam getting their popular andsuccessful Student InterventionGroups up and running again afterthe Christmas break. The groupsare lead by learning mentors whoinvite carefully selected groups ofstudents to participate in six weekcourses (that’s one 5O minutelesson a week) focussing onvarious aspects of their learningsuch as improving theirattendance, coping with stressfulsituations, managing theiremotions or communicatingeffectively.

The assembled students getinvolved in activities thatencourage future fulfilment andpromote positive progress.Students can be recommended forthe groups by teachers, formtutors and student managers andtheir participation is permitted byparents and carers.

Brian Milburn, Learning Mentor

The Chelsea Dance FestivalStudents from Years 7 &8 competed at theChelsea dance festival inEastbourne at the end ofJanuary. The studentsspent the day watchingdance pieces fromaround the region as wellas performing their ownpiece in front of hundredsof people. The studentscreated a piece whichwas inspired by 9/11.Their performance was very movingand the hard work put in duringrehearsals certainly paid off. Theyrepresented Varndean extremely

well and I was very proud of all ofthem.

Kirsty Powell, Dance Teacher

Y7 & Y8 students performing

Talking to your teens.....February 22nd saw staff andparents from both Varndean andDorothy Stringer Schools joiningtogether to discuss talking toteens about sex and relationships.Here are a few of the parents’comments about the event:• Thought provoking! I learnt afew facts I didn’t know before.Thanks!• Great presentations – made mere-examine issues, veryinformative and fun too!• Some good ideas around how todiscuss issues etc...

• Thank you, a good start.Realised am very ignorant! • Thought provoking, reassuringand very helpful. • Very informative, opened myeyes to areas I wasn’t aware of.

Thanks to everyone that attended.

Anyone interested in future‘Talking to your Teens’ eventsplease contact Alison Browning ,Assistant [email protected]

Are you interested in Disability & Equality?

We run a very enjoyable, interesting & useful group: the Disability EqualityFocus Group at Varndean. It’s made up of staff, students and parents whoare interested in raising the profile of issues that particularly affect anyonewith any disability who comes to, or is associated with, Varndean School.

We meet two times a year in school and have very insightful meetings. Theminutes are presented to the governors and also inform a staff lead groupcalled the Single Equalities Group. They draw up an action plan which isinformed by other groups as well as ours.

Having 'lost' some parents we are now hoping to recruit more! The nextmeeting is Wednesday, 2nd May 2012 at 3.15 - 4.30pm in D4; refreshmentsincluding chocolate biscuits provided!

To join or for info contact: Sally Newman, Assistant [email protected]

7

Varndean Eye Spring 2012

Community Partner -Seventeen years ago Stagecoach,then Brighton Theatre Arts School,found a home at Varndean School.When I joined in 2005 I found it hada long-established ethos ofwholesome, creative and artistictraining. As the singing teacher Itaught many Varndean studentsand it was a joy to see those youngpeople in action in Varndean’sconcerts, plays and musicals; I feltimmensely proud.

Since 2007 I have been thePrincipal of Stagecoach Brightonoverseeing teaching in all threediscipline: Dance, Singing and

Drama. I am so grateful that mypredecessors chose Varndean tohouse Stagecoach all those yearsago. We have benefited from thePerforming Arts department whetherin swapping props and sharingproduction ideas with Ed Taljaard orabsorbing musical inspiration andinfluences coming from RobbieMitchell and his team (I’m constantlyencouraging my students to join theschool choirs and audition for themusicals!). Students coming to bothStagecoach and Varndean benefitfrom a shared experience ofPerforming Arts resource andtraining.

Let me highlight Tom Sissons, Y11,who is also an ex-student ofStagecoach. He is a gifted actorwho, as well as writing a site-specific show for us, went on togain an award in an internationalplaywriting competition throughVarndean. He has now been cast asJavert in this year’s ‘LesMiserables’ see the show andjudge for yourself how he hasdeveloped as a performer. Havingthe precious opportunity to unleashand nurture such talent is whyPerforming Arts teachers do whatthey do and I’m sure the dedicatedstaff at Varndean would second meon this one.

Visit our website atwww.stagecoach.co.uk/brighton &come & try our two week taster!

Red Gray, Stagecoach

Approaches to Learning - Attitudes to LifeBuilding on our focus this year onpride and challenge, we haverecently launched an initiative toraise the profile of other sharedcore values such as always beingpolite and courteous, respectful,cooperative, positive and prepared.The initiative aims to emphasisethe attitudes and skills which leadto success in school, in theworkplace and in life in general.These values have been discussedduring form time and posters havebeen put up around the school.

Brian Somers, Head of MFL

Varndean Eye Spring 2012

8

Student Cabinet 2012As a newly elected member of StudentCabinet 2012, I would like to saythanks to anyone who voted for me, ormy fellow candidates. The campaignwas a short one, but tonnes of timeand effort went into this year’selection, both from students and MsEast. This year I know that the studentcabinet will endeavour to make alasting change to Varndean. Some ofthe issues that we want to focus onevaluating and improving are:

• Eco schools

• Bullying

• School concerns and student voice

• Local and national student voice

You can find out about the StudentCabinet on flipper, so have a look at what we’ve been up to online.

Orla Byrne, Y9 Student

Student Cabinet 2012

Varndean School is now a Fringe VenueMaster Illusionists Slightly Unusualhave represented the UK threetimes in the European MagicalChampionships and have just wonanother award and were the bestillusion act at the 2012 UK NationalChampionships. They arepresenting their award winning

show at the Brighton Fringe Festival2012. The show combines high techcustom designed illusions, hilariouscomedy and stunning magicalmoments you will remember forever.

We are offering all students atVarndean School 50% off the price of

tickets for themselvesand their friends andfamily. In addition allprofits from ourBrighton Fringe runwill be going to charity.This year we aresupporting twocharities 'Help ForHero's' and VarndeanSchool CHOCs charity'Afrikids'. If you wantto support two brilliantcharities and seeBritain's Biggest andBest Comedy IllusionShow then there hasnever been a bettertime.

The dates for theshows at Varndean are10th, 11th, 12th, 13th,14th, 17th, 18th and19th May.

Over the last few weeks we havewelcomed Year 5 children from allover the city. Over 50 childrenhave taken part in ‘Master Classes’at Varndean School which haveincluded: bread making,trampolining, Drama, Maths forFun and English workshops basedon Matilda the Musical.

We have had amazing feedback andthe workshops have been afantastic experience for bothVarndean teachers teachingprimary age children and theVarndean students who have beenable to lead on some of thesessions.

Thanks to all those that have beeninvolved; we hope to run somesimilar courses again next year.

Vanessa Charles, Marketing & Events

Year 5 MasterClasses

Children Helping Other Children Smile (CHOCS)

CHOCS 2011Well done to the students involvedin CHOCS 2011. They raised £4,772for SHIKA. It is good to see so manyof the students transferring theskills they have gained working inthe fundraising team to new roleson the student cabinet or asprefects.

35 students have now completedtheir first training sessions forCHOCS 2012. They have chosenAfriKids as their charity, theirreasons for this choice areoutlined below:

“One of the main reasons we choseto support Afrikids, and MamaLaadi's foster home, was becausethey aim to be sustainable by 2018.The foster home does not want tohave to depend on the AfriKidscharity - they want to be able toprovide for themselves. We thoughtthis was a very impressive andadmirable thing to aspire to.

We also chose to support the fosterhome because we think MamaLaadi is an amazing person andhas a great deal of positive impacton these children's lives. She is alocal hero in Ghana, and we hopewe can help her achieve her goal ofsustainability.”The team have started their fundraising with a book character eventfor year 7. More detail in the nextedition.Alison Browning, AssistantHeadteacher

CHOCS 2012

CHOCS charter 2012

Duke of EdinburghUpdate

Nearly one tenth ofthe students atVarndean Schoolare currentlyinvolved in theDuke of EdinburghAward Scheme.Most of these are

Y9 students working on theirbronze award. They havecompleted a hectic day of training,started their volunteering, areworking on a skill and are in theprocess of completing a physicalactivity.

We look forward to filling the stageat Hove Town Hall at the awardceremony in November again.

Alison Browning, AssistantHeadteacher

Our students need you!!!

We want Y10 students totalk to adults from lots ofdifferent areas ofemployment on June 26th aspart of Enrichment Week.Would you be prepared togive up a few hours on June26th from 11am or 1.30pm?Please email AlisonBrowning, AssistantHeadteacher if you think youcould help out. [email protected]

Authors visitVarndean

Promoting Wyrme Weald, their newseries of books aimed at theslightly older reader, Chris Riddelldemonstrated illustrationtechniques whilst Paul Stewarttalked about the inspiration behindtheir books. In addition, they werekind enough to donate signedcopies of their books to VarndeanSchool Library.

CHOCS charter

CHOCS 2011 Assembly

Varndean Eye Spring 2012

10

SpSports round-upNews

FootballY10’s Progress to BrightonSchool’s Semi-Final

The Year 10 football team havemade it through to the knockoutstages of the regional competitionafter successfully winning theirgroup. The League stage sawVarndean placed in the same groupas Patcham and, arch-rivals,Dorothy Stringer. Varndeanmaintained a 100% record in thecompetition by defeating Stringerat home 4-1 to add to victories overPatcham, 4-2 and 4-1 respectively,and Stringer, away, 3-2.Congratulations to all playersinvolved, in particular the likes ofLukas Franzen-Jones, Sid Careyand Harry Eyre for their remarkablyconsistent effort and levels ofperformance.

David Altendorff, PE Teacher

NetballYear 8

Blatchington MillThe Year 8 A and B teams playedaway against Blatchington Mill inFebruary. The B team played firstand came up against some strongshooters. Unfortunately they lostwith a final score of 5-14. Player ofthe Match was Isobel Jupp whoscored some fantastic goals fromthe top of the semi circle.

At the start of the A team game wethought it would be a repeat of theprevious game as Blatchington Millscored 2 goals within the first 2minutes. The girls fought back withsome fantastic interceptions in thecentre court and finished the matchwith a draw 11-11. Players of theMatch were Issy Ricca-McCarthy andRomy Beer.

TournamentThe year 8 teams competed in atournament at Patcham High schoolat the end of February and playedagainst 11 other teams. Both teams showed fantastic teamspirit throughout all their games.The A team finished in 3rd placeoverall and the B team finished in7th place.

Kirsty Powell, PETeacher

Year 7

Year 7 girls areperforming well inthe league andcontinue to be verycommitted to theclub. The C teamhad a closelyfought matchagainst Dorothy

Stringer but unfortunately lost 1-2.The B team had a battle withTideway, with the end result being 3-3.

Year 7 have also had their Brighton,Hove and Portslade Schoolstournament where 18 teams wereparticipating. The A team finished afantastic 4th and the B team 7th.Well done to all the girls who havebeen an absolute pleasure allseason.

AthleticsVarndean took two teams to theBrighton Schools Indoor Athleticsevent in February. The boysparticipated well giving the newevents a go and a special mentionmust go to Gibril Kamara who did 2races back to back!!

For the girls, effort and motivationwere fantastic and they weredefinitely very determined. Againmost of the events were new, but thisdidn’t stop the girls winning theirsection and hopefully progressing tothe next round. Pictured with theirwinners’ medals are; PoppyHarrison, Molly Burston, ChloeWatson, Fauve Penketh, YesheBekele, Georgia Bailey and AliceChapman.

Y10 Football Team

Athletics Team

Cross CountryVarndean had a good turn out atthe Brighton schools cross countryevent in January. Some boys tookpart for their GCSE PE assessmentwith good performances fromHarry Brown and Sam Sweetman-Lefevre.

It was the girls who shone on theday with a fantastic 4th place byChloe Watson in Year 7, followed bya great run from Alice Chapman.The athlete of the day has to beEsther Lutz-Davies who won theYear 10/11 race. Esther went on torepresent Varndean at the SussexSchools event and finished afantastic 6th, earning her a place inthe Sussex Schools team who aretaking part in the National SchoolsFinal in Somerset on the 17thMarch. Many congratulationsEsther!

The Year 7 & 8 cross countryathletes visited Christ’s Hospital onMarch 15th 2012.

There were some excellentperformances in races containingapproximately 160 athletes! Welldone to Finn Bland and TaylorO’Brien who finished just outsidethe top 20.

The top 20 go on to representSussex in an inter-county fixture.Chloe Watson, Y7, ran superbly tofinish 11th to achieve a SussexVest.

Well done to all the runners whotook part.

Leanne Buxton, PE Teacher

RugbyYear 7 Rugby Team get to Finals!

The Y7 rugby team took part in theannual Brighton & Hove 12-a-sidetournament at Brighton Rugby Clubon Saturday 3rd March. In theirgroup matches they were unbeatenwith wins against Cardinal Newmanand Patcham and a draw against

Longhill. Longhill beat them heavilyearlier in the season which is a markof the progress they have made. Inthe semis, they went down by 3 triesto 1 but were competitive right up tothe final whistle. All players shouldbe congratulated for their efforts,and special mention to Lucas PearseWatkins, Jaser Arar, Alfie Flavin,Ewan Hopkins, Tom Rusbridge andArthur Hutchings.

Year 8 Rugby Team in county 10-a-side Finals

The Y8 Rugby team have qualified forthe Sussex Schools under-13 ten-a-side finals. They came second in theBrighton & Hove Tournament earlierin the year and hence earned theright to represent the area in thecounty finals. The team is in goodform with wins over Dorothy Stringerand Cardinal Newman recently. Thefinals will take place on Monday 19thMarch at Brighton Rugby Clubstarting at 1.00pm.

Paul Taylor, PE Department

Varndean CupOn Thursday 1st March 2012Varndean School held a Primaryschool girls 7 a side footballtournament on the astro turfinvolving local feeder schools. Allmatches were played with acompetitive spirit with Stanfordbeating Patcham 2-0 in their firstgame and Balfour beatingMoulscoombe 4-0. Moulscoombe,Patcham and Carden continuedbattling on with an excellent attitudeand produced some well thought outmatches. As the fixtures came to anend Balfour outperformed the otherswinning on goal difference.

Varndean students: Dan Holland,Liam McMillen, Jerome Cox-Strong,Lewis Chapman and Carima Manswere the designated sports leadersand officials on the day and did anexcellent job – well done.

A brilliant effort was made by allthose involved.

Bradley Pellett, Paul Taylor andStuart Tuck, PE Department

Name: Lauren KellyAge: 12Sport: SwimmingAge you started training: 10

Sporting Highlights: Currently ranked number 1 forher age in the Region for 200mBreaststrokeMarch 2012 CountyChampionships – Golds in 50m,100m, 200m BreaststrokeTop 5 finishes in 400m FrontCrawl and 50m Butterfly

Training Commitments:1 morning a week 6.15 – 7.20amEvery evening for 1 ½ to 2 ½hours including 30 minutes landtraining (strength work) onMonday and Tuesday evenings.

Long Term Plans:To compete in the Olympics

Next Sports Competition:More County championshipevents at the end of March

Hero:Michael Phelps

Favourite Food:Pasta and Rice

Favourite TV programme:What’s TV!

School/Training Balance:I don’t find it too difficult at themoment, but occasionallyhomework can build up.

Varndean SportsPersonalitySpring 2012

Lauren Kelly

School Calendar This calendar will be updated in every newsletter and every week on the website: www.varndean.co.uk. INSET days are now known as Staff Learning Days, on these days the school will be closed to students. Forcalendar updates please check the website.

April 2012Mon 16th April First day of Summer TermThurs 19th April Staff Learning PM & Twilight (earlyclosure)

May 2012Thursday 3rd May – Varndean Links Meeting, 7:15pm in theLibrarySaturday 5th May Childrens Parade (Brighton Festival)Bank Holiday Monday 7th MayThursday 10th May - Upper School ConcertSaturday 26th May Open House/Surrenden Campus ArtsLed Education

June 2012Friday 1st June Year 11 Group photograph & form photos.Year 7 form group photos.

Half Term Monday 4th June – Friday 8th JuneThursday 14th June Staff Learning PM (early closure)Friday 15th June Staff Learning DayMonday 25th – Friday 29th June Enrichment Week

July 2012Thursday 5th July - Lower School ConcertMonday 9th July New Intake ParentsWorkshop/MeetingTuesday 10th July New Intake DayWednesday 11th/Thursday 12th July Y7/8 DramaProductionFriday 13th July Sports DayMonday 16th/Tuesday 17th July Y9 Drama ProductionTuesday 17th July Summer Fund Raising DayThursday 19th July Celebration of AchievementThursday 19th July Last day of Summer Term

8

History Focus - Varndean Must Advertise

Have you ever been fascinated bythe adverts in old streetphotographs and newspapers?Which products and shops havesurvived, which are fondmemories and which havedisappeared altogether?

The ‘Varndean Chronicle’,published between 1948 and 1987,provides this on a local scale. Itwould be interesting to know whythere were no adverts before1948, although the Chroniclestarted in 1924. Most likely, thehard post-war economic timesforced a search for extra money.The 1949 Chronicle was muchshorter than usual and printed onpoor quality paper. However, oncestarted, adverts remained.

Over the years, 76 firms took spaceat least once. The most faithful wasHorton-Stephens, which thenbecame Cobleys, who advertisedfrom 1948 until 1982 – not surprisingas they were the school’s official (andonly) outfitters! No one else evencame close to matching those 35years. The nearest rival wasRobinson’s Bookshop (19 advertsbetween 1964 and 1987). Then cameBarclays Bank; The Midland Bankand Alpha Coaches (tying with 18each from 1968 – 1986, 1969 – 1986and 1965 – 1985 respectively). On 16we have White and Wilson Grocers(1965 – 1980) and PanoraPhotographs (1968 – 1983). Wisden’sSports Suppliers contributed 15times between 1950 and 1965,closely followed by Beal’s Bookshopwith 14 (1959 – 1972). Now onlyBarclays Bank still exists!

Why did firms advertise? Often therewas a school connection. Thebookshops supplied textbooks andprizes, whereas Panora took thewhole school photos. WestgateDairies used the slogan ‘school milksuppliers since 4.6 1926’. Someproprietors must have had a child inthe school. At this distance, it’s hardto be certain, but it possibly applies

to Ravens Bakery (1969);Gwendoline Page Boutique (1965 –1966), Eastwoods Nursery (1961 –70) and, I guess, the TupperwareAgent (1972)!

Financial institutions didn’tadvertise at all until 1968, butgradually became more prominent.Apart from banks alreadymentioned, Alliance BuildingSociety, Legal & General, NatWestand American Express all tookspace at one time or another.

Several adverts from the late 60’sonwards concentrated on recruitingVarndean Students to the Services(such as the RAF and WRNS). Mostwere specifically directed at theadvantages females could nowenjoy!

Judith Hodson, Archivist