November_2018_Uckfield_College_Life

 

UCKFIELD COLLEGE LIFE

November 2018

Meghan meets Royalty!

During the half term holiday Meghan Ullman in Year 8 got to present to, and meet, the Queen
of Holland and HRH Prince Edward. Thank you Meghan for your report below:
“On Wednesday October 24th, I had the opportunity to meet Queen Maxima of the Netherlands
and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex. Wizenoze, a Dutch AI (artificial intelligence) company was
selected to showcase their "web for classrooms" during the visit and had asked me if I could
present and explain it to the Queen and Earl.
It was in Mansion House in London and we had to do a dress rehearsal the day before. I really
enjoyed it and I was allowed to join a business dinner that evening. The Queen was very
friendly and the Earl came up to me and complimented me on my presentation. It was a
fantastic experience and one that I will never forget.”

We are very proud of you Meghan!

 

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Rix and Kay support Uckfield College students

A huge thank you to David Ashton, senior partner at Rix & Kay's Commercial property team in
Uckfield, who volunteered to give mock interviews for two Uckfield College students this
morning.
The students who benefited from this experience were Aisha Collins and Lizzie Moisan who are
both applying to read Law - Lizzie at Cambridge and Aisha at Oxford. Both girls described it as
very useful experience and we are really grateful to David for the time he kindly gave us.

East Sussex Youth Cabinet

Congratulations to Edward Peasgood in Year 10, who has been elected as Uckfield College's
representative in the East Sussex Youth Cabinet. Hundreds of our students cast their votes last
week during their PDT time. Edward promised to "[fight] for people who aren't always heard"
and identified LGBTQ+ rights and young people's mental health as key priorities. He said, "I
cannot wait to roll up my sleeves and get to work to make East Sussex a county we are all
proud of." The vote was organised by two of our Year 13 student leaders, Aisha Collins and
Joanna Sippetts. They coordinated the whole election process and even took the candidates on

 

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the campaign trail to visit tutor groups in Years 7 and 8.
Edward will attend a Takeover Day at County Hall at the end of the month, before taking part in
monthly meetings alongside representatives from schools across the county.

Creative writing inspired by 100 years of Remembrance

To mark 100 years since the end of WW1, students across the college took part in creative
writing challenges inspired by the Wilfred Owen poem, Dulce et Decorum Est. They wrote their
own poems, diary entries, imaginative descriptive pieces and dramatic ‘blackout’ poems.

 

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Masterchef 2018

The annual Uckfield College Masterchef competition took place in the first week of term with a
selection of chefs from across multiple year groups taking part in a bid to show off their culinary
skills, with a wonderful array of ingredients and prizes being provided by the Rotary Club.
Furthermore, Matt Ridley generously included a meal for 2 at the Highlands for each winner.

The standard of dishes this year was very high; the judges, Matt Ridley of the Highlands and
Martin Doyle, were extremely impressed with the amazing food our students produced. Over
the two hour cooking session every student that took part performed very well to professionally
produce their two chosen dishes. The winner was Finn Goulson in Year 12 with runners up
prizes being given to Robyn O’Connor (8U) and Poppy Beard (9E).

 

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The winning menu comprised of a main of “Roast oyster mushroom, sous-vide mushroom
tartare, shallot confit and a white chocolate velouté” followed by “Ginger sorbet, passion fruit
curd, meringue shards and white chocolate snow”.

 

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This year a new award group was create called “Dish of the Day”. This is for an outstanding
food item and was awarded to Imogen Kemp (9K) for her delicious and well balanced turkey
burger.

Thank you very much to Ron Hill (HillPhotographic), for these images of our Masterchef 2018
winners and judges.

 

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Well done to every student who took party in this year's competition. As always you have made
the Food Department of Uckfield College extremely proud!

 

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Wealden Challenge Masterchef

The Masterchef round of the Wealden Cup took place at Uckfield College on Wednesday 31st
October. The Wealden Cup is a multi-disciplinary competition between local 6th Forms, which
involves a University Challenge round, a Sports round, a Debate round and the Masterchef
round.

The teams had 90 minutes to prepare and cook a two course meal (main and dessert) for two
people. T​ hey had to plan their own menu and had a maximum spend of £20 per team. All of
the teams worked incredibly hard and the standard of the food that was prepared was very
high. The team from Uckfield College performed superbly to win on the day, with Sophie
Godbold, Louis Blissett, Chloe Cranfield and Milly Volkova preparing a very impressive meal of
pan-fried duck breast with a blackberry sauce (served with roast potatoes and steamed
broccoli) and a dessert of raspberry and mascarpone opera cake served with a passion fruit
coulis. Well done to all!

 

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The L3 Food Science and Nutrition students produced
their Heston inspired Savory "sweet" products

Finn made roast vegetable liquorice with a cranberry sherbet- "Sherbet Fountain"
Charlie made Pea puree with a horseradish cream and steak centered "twister lolly"
Bliss made vegetable sushi "Liquorice Allsorts"
Dan made cream cheese centred and dyed salmon rolled "strawberry pencils"

The aim was to think outside the box and embrace new and imaginative methods to cooking.

 

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Uckfield College students are winners in tough engineering
challenge

Students from Uckfield College, Heathfield Community College, Chailey School and Hailsham
Academy took part in an IET Faraday Challenge Day (FCD). The students became real-life
engineers for a day when they researched, designed and built solutions to real engineering
problems as part of the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) Faraday Challenge
Day on Tuesday 9th October.

Natalie Clerke, IET Faraday Education Manager, said: “Students who take part in the Faraday
Challenge Days this year will experience working as an engineer through hands-on and practical
engagement with real-life challenges relating to the James Webb Space Telescope.”

 

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“There is huge demand for new engineers and technicians and we’re confident that this will
challenge young people’s perceptions of engineers and inspire the next generation by giving
them an insight into the life of a real engineer, the variety a career in engineering can offer and
just how exciting and creative engineering is.”

The events aim to encourage more young people to study and consider exciting and rewarding
careers in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) by using creativity, innovation
and problem-solving skills.

Meghan Ullmann, member of the
Uckfield College winning team, said,
“On the Faraday Challenge Day we
had to make a prototype for the
James Webb Space Telescope. It
could be be a prototype for the
people launching the rocket and the
engineers or a prototype for the
launch of the rocket. My team chose
to make a prototype for the launch
and we had to make it from scratch.
There was a shop which we had
money for to buy the resources we
needed. We also had to plan, write a
log and present our piece. The
things that I learned through the
day were what an engineer was and
how to connect wires with the
resources given. I also learned what
the James Webb Telescope was and
how it worked. The most interesting part of the day was making the prototype because I
learned new things and my teamwork improved. I also enjoyed presenting my prototype.”

Many congratulations to winning team members Meghan Ullmann, Tilly Ruanne, Hamish Paisley,
Oliver Beatty, Amalie Blackmur and Emmie Stapley.

Hugh Hennebry Principal of Uckfield College added, “It was a privilege to be able to listen to the
final presentations. It was inspiring to see how well all the students who took part rose to the
challenges of this day. Not only did it stretch their scientific and engineering knowledge, it also
stretched their creative problem-solving, financial, oracy, presentation and team-work skills. We
are proud of everyone who took part. It was great to see schools working together to create
such a challenging extension of the curriculum for our more able students. Well done to them
all!”

 

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Selective universities information evening

On Wednesday 17th October, Uckfield College received a visit from Dr. Matt Bullimore of
Churchill College, University of Cambridge. Dr Bullimore began the evening in the Sixth Form
Centre, meeting with the 12 Year 13 students who have applied to either Oxford or Cambridge
Universities this year and answering their questions about the next stages in the interview
process. Dr Bullimore then delivered two entertaining and highly informative talks in the LRC.
The first of these was aimed at students in Years 9, 10 and 11 who may have aspirations to
study at one of the country's most prestigious universities, encouraging them to follow their
academic passions and start thinking about their future A-level choices. The second was aimed
at students in Year 12 and provided more information about the processes involved in applying
to a highly selective university. Dr Bullimore remained after the talks to answer questions from
individual students and their parents. The evening was very well attended and we were
pleased to be joined by students from Chailey School and Hailsham Community College.

 

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Brighton and Hove Albion Young Enterprise Ambassador –
Scarlett Cassidy, Year 11

After taking part in a Brighton and Hove Albion Business Enterprise workshop at the Amex last
May I was asked by the charity *(Albion in the Community) to become a Brighton and Hove
Albion Young Enterprise Ambassador, which entails promoting enterprise and business skills in
the community. As a result I recently took part in their Business in a Box Enterprise day at
Bolnore Village Primary School near Haywards Heath. Over 60 Year 5 pupils were given an
introduction to business and enterprise through ‘Apprentice’ style tasks. The day helped the
students learn and apply basic business principles, develop teamwork, communication and
presentation skills. I helped co-run the event with Rob Josephs, Curriculum Leader at Albion in
the Community, along with 20 mentors from American Express, who were helping the children
in their groups.
The children worked in small teams to allocate team roles, create a company name, design a
logo, make, cost and package a Brighton and Hove Albion FC themed product (bars of soap)
presented in a box. Over the course of the day the Amex mentors helped the budding
entrepreneurs learn about their target market, costs, profit margins, marketing campaign
(posters, flyers, website page, TV and radio adverts) and to deliver a business pitch to a panel
of judges.

I was one of the judges along with Elliott Batchelor (AITC Disability Liaison Officer) and
Fernando Ferraro, Vice President at American Express, who said: ‘The session is a great way to
build pupils’ confidence, presentation skills and business acumen while having fun and working
as a team’.

 

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Rob Josephs, Curriculum Leader at AITC, said: ‘These enrichment days help introduce pupils at
an early age to valuable skills (including communication, resilience, teamwork and financial
compatibility) which will become integral to their development throughout their education and
future careers.’
*Albion in the Community is the official charity of Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club, in
partnership with American Express.
By Scarlett Cassidy, (Year 11)

 

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A busy week for A level Geographers!

After school on Tuesday 6th November, a group of Year 12 and 13 A level Geographers headed to
BHASVIC in Brighton to hear an excellent talk on how spatial analysis helped track the causes and
focus the health response to an unusual tropical disease linked to farming on volcanic soils in
Ethiopia.

Then on Wednesday 7th, another
mixed group of Year 12s and 13s
went to an excellent conference at
the Emmanuel Centre in central
London featuring fascinating lectures
from academics around the country.
The diverse topics covered included
whether the world has entered the
'Anthropocene' geological era where
humans have become the dominant
force shaping landforms and
sediment fluxes, the way in which
local communities experience and
understand place and the changing
geographies of migration and
asylum. It finished with an
inspirational and amusing talk from
Jason Lewis, an explorer who used
human power to circumnavigate the
world and took 13 years to do so.

 

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Mexican culture and design inspires students at the V&A

Frida Kahlo’s determination to promote and preserve her native mexican culture despite the
hardships that life brought upon her was the main theme in the Frida Kahlo exhibition entitled
‘Making her self up’ at the V&A this October.

A-level Spanish and Art students found much to inspire them at the exhibit, which showed
footage of the artist at her home ‘la casa azul’ with her artist husband Diego Rivera. Highlights
were the traditional mexican costumes that Frida wore as part of her everyday life, and the
room that brought to life the sheer determination of an artist who battled against pain and
disability throughout her life.

Frida Kahlo’s politics were equally apparent as the exhibition showed footage of Frida
campaigning for the rights of the common man in her country in post-revolutionary Mexico, and
harbouring Leon Trotsky in exile.

Georgia Archer, Year 12, said, “I​ found the trip to be very interesting as I learnt a lot about how
Frida’s life inspired her work. The exhibition itself was very well thought out and I’m glad I
visited it as I wouldn’t have done otherwise. Also, it was nice to look around the V&A at other
open exhibitions, despite the train being delayed!”

From Louis Bisset and Flo Beach, Year 13, “​It was really interesting seeing how her art was
influenced by her home life and the creative journey that she went through laid out in front to
see and learn from.

 

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From visiting the Frida Kahlo exhibition, I was given an insight into Kahlo’s Mexican roots, and
was able to explore the artwork she produced. I noticed that she used symbolism in her art
such as monkeys to represent surrogate entities, and flowers of Mexico to show her beauty and
culture. This encouraged me to investigate and include symbolism in my art to allow me elevate
the meanings behind my portraiture.
The Frida Kahlo exhibition will really push me forwards and develop my project by letting me
understand the culture she grew up in and what she was faced with, especially after her
accident. It also allowed to understand the passion she had and where it came from. Seeing her
artifacts first hand also allowed me to get a visual representation of her style and persona,
making me feel more connected and in touch with her lifestyle.”
From the year 13 Spanish class: “La historia de Frida Kahlo K y su accidente es muy
impresionante. No podía creerlo que no solamente sobrevivió a la polio pero también a un
accidente de tránsito. Su ropa era de colores vivos y las camisetas y las faldas eran muy
grandes para esconder sus heridas. Tenía muchas pinturas religiosas en su casa a pesar del
hecho de que era atea. (The story of Frida Kahlo and her accident is very striking. I couldn’t
believe that she survived not only polio but a severe traffic accident. Her clothing was brightly
coloured and her tops and skirts were very large to hide her injuries. She had lots of religious
paintings in her house despite the fact that she was an atheist.)”

 

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College Model Railway Club at Uckfield Exhibition

On 19th to 21st October seven students from our Model Railway Club attended the Uckfield
Model Railway Exhibition.

The students worked really well as a team and soon fell into a pattern of two operating the
layout from behind with one seated at the front talking to the public, whilst the others toured
the exhibition, took soldering lessons with one of the visiting demonstrators and learnt
exhibition skills by talking to other exhibitors.
UMRC members, other exhibitors and the public commented on how professionally our students
operated the layout and interacted with adults. The layout and the students attracted a lot of
attention and were interviewed by Uckfield FM and Uckfield News. The largest railway
modellers’ Internet Forum, “RM Web” also carried a post from an experienced modeller which
stated: “The show was excellent as usual. I was particularly impressed with the very high
standard of the layout constructed by the students of a local school.”
We were delighted to hear from John Quick, Hon Chairman of the Uckfield Model Railway Club
who said, “​Two of our trade exhibitors were so impressed with College Halt that, unsolicited,
they donated scenic items from their ranges to further enhance the layout. The layout
generated a lot of interest from the visiting public as well as the local press. The students’
behaviour throughout the whole exhibition was exemplary and a great credit to the College and
the town. Their confidence, care and consideration in handling their own layout and in talking to
the public impressed the other exhibitors. During the final hours of the show, all of the students
were invited to operate some of our guests’ visiting layouts, something that would not have
happened unless the owners had had full confidence in their abilities and maturity.”

 

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Thank you to all the members of our Model Railway Club for their fantastic work, but in
particular J​ ack Carter, Adam Manser, Tom Holt, Kathleen Holt, Robert Hutchison and Mia
Banham for being such fantastic ambassadors for the College at the exhibition.

 

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A relaxed evening of music

Acoustic Night in the last week of term was an excellent evening of relaxed, unplugged
performances from the talented students of Uckfield College. Students from each year group
were represented in solo and small group performances with acoustic versions of songs by
Adele, Rihanna and even a song from the West End production of the Addams Family. Staff,
family and friends enjoyed the relaxed nature of the concert and the high quality performances
of our talented students.

Our next event is the Wizard of Oz on 28th and 29th November 2018 - tickets on sale now!

 

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Luca Major-Owens, Year 10, wins Gold Medal!

Enormous congratulations to Luca, 10U, who traveled to Sheffield on the 12th October to
compete in the English Synchronized and Individual Trampoline Championships. Luca and her
synchro partner, Heidi, went into this Championship final with a lot of pressure on them having
won all of their preliminary rounds. They certainly didn’t disappoint and are now the English
Synchronized Champions, coming away with Gold! Luca Finished 8th in a very tough Individual
competition. Well done, we are very proud of you!

 

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BADMINTON SEASON KICKS OFF…..

Our Key Stage 3 & 4 Badminton teams took on Heathfield in the first stages of the National
Schools competition on during the evening on Thursday 18th October.

Heathfield could only field a Key Stage 3 boys team so our girls rose to the challenge of playing
the boys in a friendly match which they had a go at but couldn’t match up to their experience
and strength. We mixed and matched a bit with our boys and girls combining in some matches
to get as many points as we could off them in a total of twenty ends. This resulted in only 4
wins compared to their 16! Well done to Ruby Wood & Phoebe Shorter taking a game off their
number 1&3 players (with a small head start!)
The Key Stage 4 match was a different story with both our teams taking convincing wins!
Admittedly we did have a player from Year 12 playing down for us as we were hampered by
losing Lucy Meacher through injury so Heathfield very kindly allowed us to bring in Katie
Crouch, knowing that they were reigning champions with the Number 1 Under 18 Sussex player
in their team we knew it would be tough, however, we had the depth in numbers and Alice
Constable, Stephanie Babb and Alex Pengelly all played really well to secure a win 5-3.

The boys have been playing regularly throughout years 7-9 and knew what to expect so the
experience of Troy Southall, Oliver Fake, Zac Ruane & Evan Lester lead to a very comfortable
7-1 win. Well played boys!

Despite the losses we had, all teams do actually qualify for the next round which is the County
round to be played in February.

Uckfield teams: Ruby Wood, Lily Damazar, Poppy Bissett, Sophie Burchett, Fabian Orde, Arran
Menzies, Toby Burfield, Reuben Burfield, Alice Constable, Stephanie Babb, Alex Pengelly, Oliver
Fake, Tryo Southall, Evan Lester, Zac Ruane, Phoebe Shorter, Tiger innes, Katie Crouch

 

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Students experimented with ways to create Theatre of
Cruelty

Clare from the professional theatre company ‘Periplum’, led a workshop on the style and
techniques of Antonin Artaud for our A Level Drama classes on Thursday 1st November.
Students experienced Artaud’s ‘cruel’ theatre first hand through: physical exercises designed to
unleash the subconscious in performance; explorations into performing as a chorus using
ritualistic movement and breath; experiments with light sources in performance and ways of
interacting with an audience. Lots and lots of inspiration gained for their devised exams later in
the year. Students certainly challenged themselves physically, mentally and emotionally but
loved every minute of the day!
The first photograph shows the students doing a physical exercise and the second playing with
light.

 

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Drama Extravaganza Wowed Audiences

Year 10 Drama students performed extracts from a range of scripted plays to an audience of
family and friends Thursday 18th October. Students successfully presented playwright’s
intentions in original and exciting ways despite the huge variety in styles and genres. Both
Drama teachers are incredibly proud of the students; they worked tirelessly to interpret their
scripts and the hard work definitely paid off.

Bravo to Year 9 Drama Students!

Year 9 Drama students performed extracts from ‘The Exam’ in either a naturalistic or
non-naturalistic style at the end of their first term of GCSE Drama. Students in both classes
impressed their teachers and fellow classmates with their ability to learn lines, adapt acting
skills and techniques to suit a specific style and source costumes and props so early on in their
GCSE course. Based on these pieces and the work done so far this year, we’re very excited
about the potential of all our Year 9 Drama students!

 

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Harry Baker, 10E, selected for the new Basketball England
Aspire Programme

Congratulations to Harry Baker in 10E who has been selected for the new Basketball England
Aspire Programme. The programme is an important and fundamental part of the talent
pathway for potential England and Great Britain team players. Well done Harry!

 

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Prince William Award at Uckfield College

The Prince William Award programme offers 5 key themes: Personal Development,
Relationships, Working Together, Community and Environment, believing that an individual’s
academic success, wellbeing and mental health depends not only on traditional qualifications,
but on nurturing non-academic attributes like self-confidence, discipline and determination.

Further information about the Prince William Award can be found in this attached ​booklet.​

Below are some of the early photographs of the students conducting a leadership, problem
solving and teamwork challenge.

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.

 

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