June_2019_Uckfield_College_Life

 

UCKFIELD COLLEGE LIFE

June 2019

SSAT National Award

We were delighted, once again, to be awarded an Educational Outcomes Award for Exceptional
Student Attainment for our GCSE results.
This was in recognition of being in the top 20% of schools nationally for student attainment.
Mr Hennebry and Mr Wynne Willson received our award at a celebration event in London last week
and are pictured below with Sue Williamson, Chief Executive of the Schools, Students and Teachers
Network (SSAT).

 
Mr Hennebry and Mr Wynne Willson were very proud to accept this award on behalf of the students,
parents and staff who worked together so well to enable this exceptional achievement to happen. Well
done to everyone involved.

1 

 
 

 

The East Sussex Spelling Bee Champion is .... our very own
Hamish Paisley!

Hamish was absolutely amazing - getting all of his spellings correct and taking the trophy! He was up
against stiff competition from the other schools (8 in total) and beat them hands down!
Our celebrity guest speaker was Jenny McLachlan, famous author and ex Uckfield College teacher!
Well done Hamish!

2 

 
 

 

Extended Project Qualification

It was wonderful to be able to see and listen to the brilliant work that our Year 12 students have done
in their Extended Project Qualifications (EPQs). The Year 12 students set up visually stimulating
displays on their projects and they all made a presentation about their research. All of the
presentations were fascinating. They covered a diverse range of topics, e.g. the Umayyadd Dynasty,
the financial implications of marriage and divorce, the laws and procedures around missing persons
and the impacts of social media on people’s mental health and emotional wellbeing, to mention just a
few.
The way each student spoke with passion and knowledge about their chosen project was outstanding.
Well done to them all and thank you to the parents who came along to see the excellent work.
 

3 

   
   

 

4 

 
 

 

 

Salters' Chemistry Festival

Year 8 students attended the Salters' Chemistry Festival held at Brighton University, where 21 other

schools also took part. They participated in 2 lab based competitions and a tCohtehme iCstorlyleqgu​ei.z . All of the
students loved the experience and were exceptionally well behaved; a credit

5 

 
 

 

Workshop with Rachel Burge, author of The Twisted Tree

On Wednesday 5th June we were very fortunate to welcome Rachel Burge, author of The Twisted
Tree, to the College.
 
Some of our budding authors in Year 9 had read The Twisted Tree in advance of her workshop so
were able to hold a very insightful discussion with Rachel, as well as giving her some tips and ideas
for a sequel... so just watch this space!
We are very grateful to Rachel for giving up her time for us.

6 

 
 

 

Year 10 BTEC Engineers visit two multinational engineering
companies in Brighton

Year 10 BTEC Engineers took the school minibus to visit two multinational engineering companies in
Brighton; Ricardo and Paxton Access. The group was led by Mr Macbeth, their Engineering teacher
and Mrs O’Riley, our Career’s Advisor.
At Ricardo, the group were given a tour of the top secret facility - camera phones had to be left on the
minibus! Ricardo are most famous for helping to design and assemble McLaren ‘hypercar’ engines.
Our Engineers were able to assess design decisions, such as how ‘desirable’ different engine sounds
were, were shown the engine test facilities and the high-tech production line, where the engines are
assembled by hand. They were also shown the latest technology for camouflaging concept vehicles
from photography and averting hackers from taking control of modern cars.

7 

 
 

 
The minibus took the group on the scenic route through the docks at Southwick to see the steel yards,
timber yards and cement works. Upon arrival at Paxton Access the students were issued with name
badges, which were programmed to open some of the doors within the Engineering Offices. We were
welcomed by a group of STEM ambassadors and engineers… and a pile of Dominoes pizzas!
Once hunger was sated, the students learnt about the different engineering roles within Paxton and
learnt about the mechanical, electronic and software engineers who work on their systems. There was
a timed activity, where students had to connect a Paxton control panel to an intercom and video phone
in the shortest time possible. Niall and Kim both did extremely well at this.
Throughout the day, the students learnt about the ‘journeys’ different apprentices and engineers took
to get to where they are. From one person who studied Mechanical Engineering to Masters level to
one young lady who dropped out of her A-Levels to take an apprenticeship, to a man who got poor
GCSE results, worked in Tesco and then took a job answering phones at Paxton - he then worked his
way up to Software Engineer. It was encouraging for the group to see that there is more than one
route into an enjoyable and well paid job - the key ingredient is determination.
 

 

8 

 
 

 

 

9 

 
 

 

Rocket Car National Finals 

Jacob Baker, Felix Stitt and Rosalyn Trauntner, all in Year 7, were at Duxford Imperial War Museum
on Thursday 27th June for the Rocket Car National Finals.
Following ‘Race for the Line’ on Deep Learning Day, the winning cars went to the Regional Finals and
our students are now at the National Finals!

10 

 
 

 

11 

 
 

 

Art and Photography A Level Show

We are delighted to share with you the fantastic work by our Year 13 A Level Art and Photography
students.

12 

 
 

 

13 

 
 

 

14 

 
 

 

15 

 
 

 

16 

 
 

 

Feliz pascua and Joyeuses pâques as students learn about
strange Easter traditions 

Year 7 and 8 MFL students yet again threw their hat in the ring as they entered the MFL Easter poster
competition (sorry for the delay in posting this!). This time round, the task was to research Easter
traditions in France or Spain and design a poster to inform other MFL students all about it.
Students quickly found that traditions can seem quite strange when you look at them from a new
perspective, for example the bells - not the bunny - bringing the chocolate eggs in France, and the
medieval costumes worn by pious participants in the Spanish Easter parades.
There was a healthy combination of beautiful design and lively descriptions of traditions and the Year
9 language leaders found it tough to decide who would be the final winners.
In the end, the winners were:
Year 7 French - runners up: Poppy Chesson and Bryony Constable, Winner: Rosa Coghill.
Year 8 French - runner-up: Mia Banham; winner: Gracie King
Year 7 Spanish - runners up: Ben Morris and Preston Burnett; Winner: Layla Holford.
Year 8 Spanish - runner up: Max Adams; Winner: Shannon Stevens
There was also a special prize for Tessa Chevassut in Year 7 French for the strength of her poster
design.
All students were awarded chocolate chickens - des poulets au chocolat or los pollos chocolates - as
the traditional Easter prize.

17 

 
 

 

18 

 
 

 

Harry Baker in Year 10 selected
to play in Sussex County
Basketball tournament  

Massive congratulations to Harry Baker in 10E for
being selected to play in the Sussex County
Basketball tournament.
Harry has had a fantastic season at Sussex Bears and
ended it with being awarded Most Valuable Player. In
addition to this he has just received fantastic news
that he has also been selected to play for South East
England team in a tournament in Manchester!

19 

 
 

 
 

Charlie Mifsud, Year 9, in the final
Sussex Under 14’s Cricket squad 

Charlie Mifsud, 9N, was selected into the Sussex Cricket
Pathway programme in September last year. Following a
winter training programme and subsequent trial matches,
this spring he has successfully gained a place in the final
Sussex Under 14’s squad. He will now be representing
Sussex at County level against counties from all over the
country.

20 

 
 

 

Please keep in touch!

We always love to hear news of our students’ achievements out of College, so please do e-mail to
keep us updated with the fantastic range of activities they are involved in. Please e-mail details to
Toni Fletcher,​ ​[email protected]​.​ We look forward to hearing from you. Thank you.

21