HIGHLIGHTS
2019/2020
WEDNESDAY 4TH SEPTEMBER—-FIRST DAY
7ABk, 7BR, 7CM, 7DMc, 7KS, 7MBa, 7RD, 7RMa, 7RP
Focus on Biology
Success, Success, Success
August was a fantastic month again for the Biology department, we continued our
success with our A level results with 5 A grades and 2 A*s
So well done to Rachael, Izzy, Josh, Grace, Holly and Patrick They all thoroughly
deserved their success as they had worked tremendously hard throughout the two
years of the course.
The GCSE results continued to be excellent . Special mention must go to Libby, Zak,
Isaaq, Molly, Lucy and Cameron who obtained 9s in all three of the science subjects.
Overall all the results in the Science Department continued to be excellent and were a true reflection of all the hard work that
both staff and students had put in over the previous two years.
18 Year 9 students are mentoring
the Year 7’s this year, which in-
cludes a number of responsibili-
ties, from giving up their own
time, to helping out in registration
time once a week. This week they
have been at Court Hill helping
and supporting the students. Well done to the following students for being chosen as a mentor.
Maxwell, Bella, Amelie, Lili, Jade, Alex, Molly, Nina, Ben, Luke, Sophie, Rhianna, Charlie, Katie, Freddie, Ashton, Phoebe, Oliver
Rehearsals for our upcoming performance of Hamlet at the Cornerstone, Didcot.
Uganda 2019 This year 22 students
and 2 staff travelled to
Uganda for our annual
trip to
visit
our
partnership school.
CROSS COUNTRY NEWS
It’s been a busy few weeks for the Sports Leaders and cross country runners. The
Sports Leaders did a fantastic job acting as marshals for the Faringdon Primary
event and then recently for the
Vale competition which involved
over 400 children.
A special mention to Izzie in Year 7 who came first overall and Rosie who finished in
third. Also Phoebe in Year 9 who came third.
Finally, a huge thankyou to Lord Faringdon and his family for allowing us to use the
beautiful Buscot Park for our events.
Well done everyone. Mrs Kenyon
Congratulations FCC Rugby players.
Vale champions: Year 9 team and Year 10
team
TENNIS NEWS….
On Wednesday 25th September, 4 boys from Year 10 and 11 took part in the Tennis
Division 2 Regional Finals at the White Horse centre in Abingdon. They were able to
qualify for this tournament as they had won their division the previous academic year,
so they knew the standard of competition would be high on the day. The boys each
played a singles and doubles against three other schools, with some standout singles
performances from Max, winning all his matches.
The high standard of tennis being played by all schools was noted by the match
referee, and the FCC boys played some great matches.
Well done to Ollie, Jack, Max and Charlie!
Mr McHenry
On the 11th hour….of the 11th day…… of the 11th
month…....We shall remember them…………..
Almost 1400 staff and students observed a two minute’s silence.
Students who are involved in the services cadets’ programmes wore
their uniforms and laid wreaths. The students
behaved impeccably and were very respectful
throughout their time on the courts.
Words, words, words. (Hamlet, Act II, Scene II)
Words are all we tend to think about when considering the plays of William Shakespeare
but the cast of the Shakespeare Schools Festival production of Hamlet gave the audience
so much more than the lines written on
the page. Their steampunk circus version
of Hamlet provided a telling of revenge,
murder, love and madness through the
storytelling magic of music, movement and ensemble work, all layered on top of the
beautiful language of Shakespeare
SPANISH TRIP TO BARCELONA
41 Spanish GCSE students travelled
to Barcelona along with 4 teachers.
This was to help us all improve for
our upcoming Spanish exams, but
to also introduce us to the culture
within the city as well.
Oxfordshire Book Awards Ceremony 2019
On the 13th November 12 students from FCC
attended the Oxfordshire Book Awards at
Oxford High School. We had read the
shortlisted books and voted for our favourites
and this trip was our chance to watch the prize
giving ceremony and meet the winning authors.
On Monday 2nd December FCC Singers and FCC Boys Choir participated in the
NPSCC Christmas concert held at All Saint’s Church in Faringdon.
The evening was a huge success, raising over £800 for the charity. It was fantastic
to be part of a community event and both groups sang beautifully.
Well done to Dexter (7RD), Jonny (7DMC), Leo (8SR), James (10KPS), Harvey (7RD),
Gideon (9PSV), Lexie (9SG), Caitlin (9RM), Winnie (7MBA), Rosie (7RD), Emily
(8TF), Matilda (8DC), Lilyana (7RMA), Isla (9SG), Jamie (8AML), Ashton (9PSV), Hope (9PSV), Amelia (10KPS), Nikita (9RJ), Cassie
(8TF) and Maisie (8SR).
Library News…..
Last week saw the return of the
annual Kids’ Lit. Quiz, a world-
wide book quiz for students
aged under 14. The regional
round is held at Cokethorpe
School and FCC Library takes a
team of students to compete
there every year.
Astronomy Visit
Year 10 GCSE Astronomy cohort
visited Kielder International Dark
Sky site for the first Astronomy
residential.
The group stayed at the Tarset Tor
Eco-bunkhouse and spent Friday and Saturday night at the
Battlestead’s Observatory in Wark.
London sixth form
Art trip
On the 3rd December the sixth form
Art students travelled to London to
visit Anthony Gormley’s Art
Exhibition.
CROSS COUNTRY
Congratulations to the students who ran in the
School Games County Cross Country at Radley
College last week. A special mention to Isobel
who came second in the Year 7 girls race.
Christmas Concert 2019
On the 19th December
students performed
in the Christmas
Concert,
which took
place in the
Leisure
Centre.
Christmas hampers
FCC would like to say a huge thank you to everyone that donated
items to our Christmas shoe box and hamper appeal. In total
Megan and her team of helpers had enough donations to create
21 Hampers. These were delivered to a total of 24 Adults, 55
children and 5 babies.
In addition to the hampers, 28 shoe boxes were wrapped, filled
and delivered to Booth House in Swindon. Finally 23 shoe boxes
and 9 Christmas stocking plus a large bag of clean preloved warm
clothes were delivered to the street homeless in Swindon.
Your help and support was greatly appreciated at a time of considerable need for some of the most
vulnerable members of our community.
Youth Speaks
Faringdon Community College tasted success this
week at the annual District finals of the Rotary
Club’s Youth Speaks public speaking competition.
Mr Baker and Faringdon Rotary Group were ac-
companied by three groups of students, who all
competed against each other and a group from
King Alfred’s Academy
A Trip to CERN and Geneva
A large cohort of Year 12 and Year 13
students will be visiting Geneva in
February for a long weekend of
scientific and cultural discovery. The
main focus of the weekend is a guided
tour of the particle accelerator at
CERN. This is the site of the discovery
of the famed Higgs boson. This tiny
particle is used to explain the Higgs
field and the extent to which other
particles interact with this field determines how much mass they acquire.
KS4 Language trip to Paris
In November a group of GCSE
French students ventured to Paris
to immerse themselves in the
culture and improve our French.
On our visit we went to a language
school every day where we could
only speak French. This was
difficult, but this intense
experience greatly enhanced our
French speaking.
CONGRATULATIONS BETH,
HOLLYANNE AND SARAH
Our very talented and hard working Year
13 Theatre
students have
wowed audiences
one last time with
performances of their
final A Level
assessments last
week.
Neasden
The RE
Department
arranged a
fantastic trip to
the Neasden
Hindu Temple
last term and all
of the students thoroughly enjoyed their visit. The RE
Department were particularly impressed with the
excellent and respectful conduct of all of our students
contributing to a great cultural experience for all.
Recently FCC had the
honour of hosting
Dame Jocelyn Bell
Burnell for a lecture
for GCSE
Astronomers, A level
Physics students, and
those who are
interested in Physics. She talked about her discovery of pulsars and her
journey through her impressive education trip mainly through Cambridge. I
was intrigued by her journey and the science behind the discovery, and how
they were detected, and also what pulsars would do if you got close to them,
how fast they spin, and how they come into existence.”
FOOTBALL NEWS
Congratulations to the U13 girls football team and the U13 boys
football team, who competed in the Vale competition. The girls won
their competition, with the boys
coming second. They all
represented FCC fantastically
both in their performances and
their behaviour.
Mrs Kenyon & Mr Tribbick
SKI TRIP 2020
On Saturday 11th January 2020, 84 students and 11 staff departed
for Italy for the annual ski and snowboard trip.
Basketball update
The U13 girls recently competed in the Oxfordshire County Final against Cherwell
School, having come in the top 2 in the league. The girls all played extremely well in
a close fought game, narrowly losing out by 3 baskets. 2nd in the county is a fantastic
achievement, though, especially considering
most have them have been playing basketball
for less than 2 years! Congratulations, girls!
The U16 girls also played against Cherwell school in a league fixture recently, performing
to a very high standard. Unfortunately they lost by just a few points, but I am so proud of
the progress they have made over the years and the sportsmanship they always show.
Miss J Sutton
Winning Poem
The sun has beautifully risen from the wonderful east,
I felt so happy with the magic of life within me released,
There was a bright light, just past the red oak tree.
I saw his big ears, fluffy tail, then his quick feet,
He has to be from heaven, I do give him praise,
He left us evidence, he left us a bitten carrot
And when I got to bed that warm spring night
My mum told me why the egg was the colour white
I thanked my dear mum with kisses and laughter
I told her I loved my basket with the purple wrapper
She said, it was my granny’s idea, I’m her dear child
She said, it’s the meaning of life, to again give me a smile.
Shannon 10GGB
LOCKDOWN MARCH 2020— LEARNING FROM HOME
Gideon 9PSv
COMMENDED
Hand drawn
Easter Cards
SCHOOL UPDATE
It’s been a very different week in school. On Monday, 21 students, from families of key
workers and some of our vulnerable students were in attendance. We’ve been briefing the
students every morning, and debriefing them at the end of the day, to establish good
practice and routines, which is really important for young people. We’ve allocated each
student with a workstation, and a dedicated computer, across three rooms, with staff
supervision. We are in unusual times and the two metre distancing is something which
is really difficult for young people to comprehend. To help them understand the concept
of two metres, my explanation was that it’s equivalent to two large strides, or a Mr
Proffitt!! They are also expected to wash their hands on a regular basis, particularly around
lunchtimes and after using the toilet. On one of the days staff and students worked out to
the Joe Wickes video, which is provided us with some much needed enjoyment
and laughter . During the school day we’ve had a rota in place where staff have provided
cover for many different aspects of school life and I’m grateful for their support.
On Monday we also had our last staff briefing, for the unforeseeable future, for those staff who were able to attend. The meeting
was to establish work patterns and expectations over the coming weeks or maybe months. One of the key tasks is making work
available for the students on Show my Homework. Setting appropriate work for everyone is not easy, as people’s home
circumstances are very different. We have sent out some guidance on establishing routines, which is key, and I hope that this was
useful. We are reviewing the work we are setting all the time and Mr Bew has recently established a Youtube channel for staff to
upload videos. I’ve noticed that in a short time many staff have added to this channel and I’m sure there will be a bank of videos over
time as staff become more proficient and skilled. I gather on Thursday Ms Soto and Mrs Molloy had nearly 200 students in teams
engaging in a Spanish lesson, which is really impressive. Some staff have also been using Edulink to contact students, and the
feedback from the students has been really positive. These are challenging times, but overall I feel that in our first week of
closure there’s been a great effort from staff and students.
The newsletter was not published last week, but I’m sure you understand. For future newsletters I will be looking to showcase some
of the work students are completing at home, and also look to create some competitions for them.
Mr C. Proffitt
Headteacher
Flowers taken by Jack 11TW
The theme is the NHS and Social Care staff. I’m sure you’ll agree that the students have produced some excel-
lent work.
Olivia 7RMa and Lily 7RP Imogen 9PSv
Samantha
10GGBb
How to thank the heroes?
Oh how to thank the great keyworkers,
Battling for us every day,
Oh how to thank the unseen heroes,
Who put in the effort with half the pay?
A mural – a statue,
Something grand and great.
Respect and honour,
My skills to donate.
No – something simple,
Yet still deft and fine
Somehow I must portray my respect,
To our soldiers on the frontline.
I flip through the list, to no avail,
Nothing that I can do,
So here I am, writing this poem,
For those I owe so much to.
Thank you.
Tom 9HC
Jamie Year 12/13 Lockdown Art
Emma
Art has been important for students during lockdown
Holly—Y13
Pippa —Y12 Yasmin—Y12
Tasha —Y12
YEAR 11
ART WORK
Kaycee Eve
Lilian
Eleanor
A huge well done to current Year 10 Art
students who are continuing to make
outstanding progress during lockdown
Lily
Sali
Tasha
Pippa