The West Bridgford School - A Specialist Technology College

IMPORTANT DATES

• SCHOOL CLOSES FOR THE SUMMER HOLIDAY ON THURSDAY, 22 JULY 2010 (1:13PM)
• REMAINING UNIFORM SALE DATES ARE 11 AUGUST (10.00AM - 2.00PM), 19 AUGUST (10.00AM - 2.00PM), 24, 25, 26 AND 27 AUGUST (7.30AM - 4.30PM)
• A2 EXAM RESULTS DAY IS THURSDAY, 19 AUGUST 2010 (9.30AM)
• AS EXAM RESULTS DAY IS THURSDAY, 19 AUGUST 2010 (10:30AM)
• GCSE EXAM RESULTS DAY IS TUESDAY, 24 AUGUST 2010 (10:00AM)
• SCHOOL RE-OPENS FOR STUDENTS ON TUESDAY, 7 SEPTEMBER 2010 (8.30AM FOR YEARS 7 AND 12 AND 10:30AM FOR ALL OTHER YEAR GROUPS)

SPORTS DAY RESULTS 2010

On the penultimate week of term the PE department ran four consecutive sports days for our new year groups 8-11. On possibly the wettest week of the year to date, some windows of reasonable weather ensured all four events went ahead as planned. As anticipated there were some outstanding performances and numerous school records broken (16 in total!!).  Nathan Boswell (U13 100 metres) 12.03, Georgina Elliott (U12 100m) 13.35, Abby Fish (U12 Javelin) 14.76m, Daniel Hardy (U14 Long Jump) 4.75m and Sam White (U14 Shot Putt) 11.5m, wer just a selection of the new records set this year.

Well done to everyone who participated with such enthusiasm and determination in such difficult conditions. A special congratulations to form groups 8D, 9D, 10F and 11E for winning their respective year group title, the competition was particularly fierce this year!! 

Full results of the four sports days, along with the updated school records, can be found in the PE folder on the website.

Bandwagon (Young Enterprise team 2010) UK finals (12-14 July)

Our Young Enterprise team was made up of thirteen Year 12 students who took part in the UK final this year. They were one of twelve finalists out of 3000 companies, so getting through to this stage was a fantastic achievement in itself. Although they did not come in the top three, they won two of the three separate awards; one for best financial management and one for best marketing. To win one national award was good but to finish with two was a marvellous achievement, ending a year with 11 overall awards at area, regional and national level. A great all round experience for everyone!

U19 Netball team win team of the year

At the Rushcliffe Sports Awards on Thursday evening, the U19 girls netball team picked up the trophy for Secondary Schools team of the year. Congratulations to the girls who have had yet another incredibly successful season, getting to the National Finals at Roedean School in Brighton. Congratulations also go to the U13 boys football team and the boys golf team who were shortlisted for the award.

Festival of Sport

On Thursday 1 July West Bridgford hosted its annual Festival of Sports for the five feeder primary schools. This involved fifty of our year 10 sports leaders running a sporting event for 125 year 2 and 3 primary school children from the area. The primary children took part in ten different sporting events throughout the morning, with our year 10 children acting as coaches, announcers, timekeepers, organisers and numerous other roles.

The event was a huge success and the experience that both West Bridgford students and primary school children received was fantastic. A big well done to all our students involved throughout the whole event; their extraordinary efforts made the event the best yet!

UK Final of Young Enterprise

On 12 - 14 July Bandwagon are taking part in the UK Final of Young Enterprise. The year 13 students have won the East Midlands final and now compete against companies from across the UK. The company's joint Managing Director was interviewed by the Daily Telegraph this week - details of which can be found on The Telegraph Site

Year 7 Cricket Team - COUNTY CHAMPIONS 2010

Congratulations to the year 7 cricket team who became County Champions on Monday 5 July, after beating Holgate School in the final at Sherwood and Gedling Cricket Club. Being put into bat, West Bridgford scored 162 runs which although fewer than we had managed in previous games, looked a good score in difficult batting conditions. In reply Holgate started very positively but some timely wickets and accurate bowling ensured the match came down to the final ball. Holgate needed 2 to win the game but a good length delivery from Jacob Davies made it difficult for the batsman to make a solid connection and in their attempt to score 2 runs Jack Boothroyd took a run out to give Bridgford the win. A great end to a very exciting and successful season. Josh Magson was named player of the match but a big well done to all players - Jack Boothroyd, Ezekiel Kingham, Alex Davies, Jacob Davies, Harry Simpson, Callum Dring and Abdullah Chowdhery. The team now go on to represent Nottinghamshire next year in the National Competition.

Rushcliffe Schools Athletics Championships News

Congratulations to the year 7 and year 8 athletics teams who competed at Toothill School, Bingham on Monday 21st June. On one of the hottest days of the year the students were fantastic and produced some outstanding track and field performances. In total 11 School Athletics Records were broken and many other students set personal bests.

In the overall competition the year 7 team finished a respectable 3rd place and in the year 8 competition we finished in 1st place. These results, as well as the year 9 and 10 results in May, continue to highlight the talent and enthusiasm our students show towards athletics. In addition to the 64 athletes competing, we also took 9 Sports Leaders who assisted with the timekeeping and scoring of the event and were a real help to the PE Department on the day. Full details of the results and the updated schools records can be found in the PE folder on the website.

Bandwagon, our Young Enterprise Team are through to the UK Finals in London

On Monday 14 June, the schools Young Enterprise Company, Bandwagon, made up of year 12 students, won 4 out of 7 awards at the East Midlands Final including best overall company and now progress through to the UK Final held at Park Lane Hotel in London for three days in July. They have already beaten 192 regional companies and will now compete against 11 companies from across the UK. In addition, at the Awards Ceremony fellow year 12 students Joy Mumford and Harry Knight provided entertainment to over 200 local business people.

West Bridgford wins Rushcliffe Partnership Athletics Championships

Congratulations to West Bridgford U14 and U15 Athletics team who, on Thursday 27 May, won the Rushcliffe Schools Athletics Championships, beating the other six schools. A combination of some exceptional track performances and some solid throwing and jumping culminated in a total points score of 339, which was 40 more than Rushcliffe School who finished second on the day. This is a fantastic team effort and one that the U12 and U13 teams will be looking to repeat at their championships on Monday 21 June. Well done to all who competed!

Young Enterprise students through to the East Midlands Final

On 5 May, Bandwagon reached the East Midlands Final. Made up of thirteen Post 16 students, launched in September 2009 to produce and sell high quality customised wristbands. They successfully fought off competition from around Nottinghamshire to win the best company in the County Final. They had to hand in a ten page company report outlining their year to date, including financial accounts and then present to a team of judges, marketing their product. Bandwagon collected three out of five prizes on the night and will now face the best company from each of Derbyshire, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire, with the outright winner going through to the UK Final at Park Lane Hotel in July.

U15 Cricketers through by narrowest margin!!

On Thursday 6 May the year 10 boys cricket team defeated Nottingham Bluecoat by just 1 run in round two of the County Cup!  Put into bat first, Bridgford made a solid 130 runs with Ieuan Marks-Venables scoring an unbeaten 68* runs and Gagandip Sehmbi (16) and Maneesh Mishra (24) also making valuable contributions with the bat. In replay the Bluecoat openers started well and for the first 9 overs were ahead of the run rate required and well on track to overcome the 130 target. However, a couple of well deserved wickets and solid bowling meant 14 runs off the last 6 deliveries was required to win the match.

In a nail-biting final over, where mistakes in the field could have proved costly, Bluecoat needed 3 runs off the final delivery to tie the game, but go through due to fewer wickets being lost. Fortunately for Bridgford, a mistimed shot led to just two being scored!  A very exciting match and one our lads were extremely pleased to win. Well done

Student representing Great Britain at Softball

Congratulations to Francesca Meakin (Year 9) who has been selected for the Great Britain Softball team. On Friday, 23 April, she travelled to Prague with the GB U16 team for a three day tournament, competing against teams from countries including Russia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The GB team came 2nd in their group and ended up 4th overall.  Well done Francesca on this fantastic achievement! Francesca has received a conditional offer for financial support from Nottinghamshire County Council.

Football News!

Saturday morning (24 April) saw an early start for our year 8 and 9 football teams, who took on Gedling in their respective South Notts Cup games. Year 8 proved too strong for their opponents, running out 4-2 winners; Tyler Walker scoring all 4 goals. Year 9 were also victorious with a 1-0 victory. Pierce Bramley scoring the winning goal. Later in the morning year 10 took on Arnold Hill in their final. Early mistakes proved costly as Arnold Hill took a 4-0 half-time lead. The second half saw a determined fight back and the score line ended 4-2.

Having already won the year 9 Forest Vase and 2 South Notts trophies, we are still involved in three other finals. Details of these are below and, as always, all support is very much appreciated.

Tues 27 April - Yr 8 County Cup Final v. George Spencer. Kick-off 5:30pm at Burton Joyce FC

Mon 17 May - Yr 10 County Cup Final v. Bluecoat. Kick-off 7pm at Notts County FC, Meadow Lane

Mon 17 May - Yr 9 Gordon Mills Trophy v. Bluecoat. Kick-off 4:30pm at Notts County FC, Meadow Lane

Young Enterprise Success

Congratulations to Band Wagon who have won the Nottingham Area Young Enterprise Final and are now through to the County Final on 5 May 2010.

Success at Notts Golf Championships

Congratulations to those who competed in the county championships over Easter. We won the team event.

Isaac Walker had the best gross score (76) and became U16 champion and Tony Wells had the best net score (65).

The team now goes on to represent Notts in the Nationals in Dorset on 7 July.

World Record Attempt

On Thursday, 11 March at 9:15am, I and my Geography class (7A), went outside to participate in the BBC world record attempt at the largest number of people interactively recording the weather. First of all, everyone in the group was given a thermometer one between two. Afterwards we went outside in the shade, the weather was quite sunny but a bit windy, and the temperature wa around 7 degrees!  We measured the degrees in Celsius. PC Sandy Lammond and David Fittro watched us at witnesses. Then we went back into the classroom and wrote down our temperature, and then our teacher wrote down the average and emailed it to the BBC weather.

Schools from Jersey to the Shetland Islands took part, and around 250 schools were successful in taking part.

We did it to attempt a world record and we are eagerly awaiting verification if it was successful. I really enjoyed it; it is great that we could go outside. I wish we did it for a bit longer

Year 7 student

Update (15 April 2010) - verification received - the attempt was successful and we are once again in the Guinness Book of Records!

Year 7 Netball Success

Two year 7 teams competed in the County Netball tournament on Tuesday 16 March, with great success. Both teams were unbeaten in their respective sections and went through to the semi finals where, unfortunately, they had to play each other!  The A team emerged victorious and went on to play Nottingham Girls High School in the final, who they beat 4-2, becoming COUNTY CHAMPIONS! 

This is a fantastic achievement for both teams. Well done to all the girls.

Sport Relief 2010

The following dates have been set aside for four year groups to take part in a Sport Relief Mile, to raise money for the charity. Many students will have seen the adverts over the last few weeks or so, promoting the event and this is a chance for them to show their support.

The SPORT RELIEF MILE RUN slots that have been allocated are the usual 'B' lesson (second lesson of the week) for KS3 and the Games lesson for year 10 groups. This means that the run will not interfere with other subject lessons. Students need to be aware of the date of their Mile Run, so they can remember to bring with them a voluntary £1 donation which will go to the charity. This means that for this lesson only, students should not bring their usual PE kit, but kit that they would like to run a mile in.  Under no circumstances is face paint, hair dye or fancy dress to be used, as once the students have completed the mile they will change into their normal school uniform and continue with the normal school day. Students are encouraged to wear red clothing when taking part in the event to show their support for Sport Relief!

10yGames - Tuesday 23 March (Period 3),  9xPE - Wednesday 24 March (Period 5),  8yPE - Thursday 25 March (Period 1),  8xPE - Thursday 25 March (Period 2),  7xPE - Thursday 25 March (Period 5),  9yPE - Friday 26 March (Period 1),  7yPE - Friday 26 March (Period 1),  7yPE - Friday 26 March (Period 2),  10xGames - Friday 26 March (Period 5).

New All-weather Astro Pitch Opening

Helen Richardson (voted UK Womens Player of the Year by the Hockey Writers Club and former student of the West Bridgford School) officiated at the opening ceremony, organised by the Monarchs Hockey Club. Helen now plays hockey for Great Britain, England and Reading and has over 100 caps and represented GB at the Sydney and Beijing Olympics. 

The Monarchs Hockey Club, National Hockey Federation, Rushcliffe Borough Council and WBMHC Buy a Square, all contributed to make this project possible.  A big thank you to them all!

U19 Netball team through to the Nationals!

Congratulations to the U19 Netball team who are the East Midlands champions and will now go on to represent the region nationally! After winning the Nottinghamshire County Tournament, the team faced a tough regional tournament on 30 January 2010 at Soar Valley School in Leicestershire. They were in a section which comprised of teams from John Cleveland, Wellingborough and Trent College. The team got off to a good start with a very close 9-8 victory over John Cleveland and eventually emerged as runners-up of the section. The semi final game against Oakham School would decide whether the team progressed to the National finals and it was a hard match with the team down by 3 goals at half time. However, a fantastic performance by all players led to a 12-10 victory. The final was a re-match against Trent College who had previously beaten us 10-5 in our section. The team put in a tremendous effort and managed to pull off an amazing 11-4 win.

The girls will now be participating in the National Schools Tournament at Roedean School in Brighton on 20 March 2010. The majority of the schools in this tournament are private schools and we will compete alongside these as one of the best 16 schools in the country. Congratulations to the following players and good luck at the National Schools Tournament: Elena Martin, Zoe Shipley, Emma Jacob, Melissa Kenney, Phoebe Penfold, Sadie Penfold, Holly Gascoigne, Abigail Mellors and Charlotte Martin

Football so far.......

This season has seen continued success for our football teams. Earlier in the season the U18 girls reached the last 32 of their national competition and were unfortunate to lose a close game. The year 8 and 9 boys' teams have also been in outstanding form. Both teams are yet to lose a game in any competition!  The year 8's, as well as remaining in the County Cup and South Notts Cup, have reached the last 32 of the National Cup. They will play Roundhay School (Leeds) on Tuesday 26 January (2.30pm kick-off) at West Bridgford School. The year 9 boys' team, having won every trophy available to them last year, are busy trying to successfully defend them all. They have reached the last 16 of their national cup quest, thanks to a 5-0 victory over Spalding Grammar. Goals from Pierce Bramley (2), Danny Elliott (2) and Tony Shipley sealed a comprehensive victory. The boys now travel to Tameside, Manchester for a place in the quarter finals.

Mr Fidler (PE Teacher)

Children in Need 2009

This year our school has raised a staggering £3,000 for this charity.  Fundraising events included a Wear What you Like Day, Cake Sale, Sponsored Run and various quizzes.  Well done to everyone!

Year 7 success at the British Indoor Rowing Championships (NIA Birmingham)

Four of our year 7 girls competed in the BIRC championships last Sunday, 22 November 2009 and came home with some fantastic results. Willow McGowan-Crewe won the gold medal in the Women Junior 12 race with 517m, followed by Sacha McGowan-Crewe who came 4th (496m), Elise Hutton joint 8th (479 m) and finally Isabella McGowan-Crewe who came in at a creditable joint 14th position (468 m) out of 51 competitors.  Well done to the Hutton McGowan-Crewe crew for this huge achievement!

New fitness suite and dance studio

The school is delighted with this new facility, handed over to us by the builders last Friday. Lessons have begun in ernest and the students are making fantastic use of the equipment now available to them.  This new facility is the result of a great deal of hard work by many staff in the school and has been funded solely by the school itself. More photographs available on the website. Select 'Letters/newsletters' followed by ' whole school' then the 'fitness suite publication file'

Outstanding start to Cross Country season!

Saturday, 26 September saw this year's cross country season begin with Schools League Race 1 at Berry Hill Park in Mansfield. Taking a squad of over 45 athletes was our biggest yet and on a dry yet demanding course, our athletes exceeded all expectations. We had full teams in five of the six races and the year 7 girls managed to field 3 complete teams!  The stand out team performance on the day was perhaps the year 7 girls, where four athletes finished in the first 12 positions and in addition to the strong team results, there was a great individual run from year 10 girl, Sarah Hemington, who actually won her event, despite running against girls a year older. With so many new runners competing from West Bridgford, the signs are encouraging that we are in for another good year. Well done to everyone who competed. The full results and information on the next event will be in the P.E. folder on the website shortly.

Official opening of our wind turbine

Des Coleman from the BBC very kindly agreed to officially open our wind turbine on Monday 6 July.  This was followed by a buffet lunch with the school council reps and our chair of governors.  A feature on the BBC Midlands Today programme on 8 July followed. Our students are very proud of their achievements in ensuring this big project succeeded.

Visit to Peter House College, Cambridge - a student's report

When we arrived at Cambridge, it was amazing, the University is a beautiful place. We had a tour around Cambridge where we saw the different colleges and historic buildings. The King's Chapel is a brilliant church where we were taught about Engineering and how the arched roof of the chapel was made. During the tour we visited one of the houses where students stay which offer very good facilities. After the tour we ate lunch in the dining hall before being taught about Law by a Professor at the University. He told us about some court cases and how it works if you wish to become a lawyer. I found this lesson particularly interesting. After that it was Medicine which, again, was very informative.  We even had the opportunity to ask some existing Cambridge students all about their life at university.  I am really glad I went as it has opened up many choices for me in the future. I learnt a lot about university life and also about how you need to get good grades to achieve the best you can. 

Stephanie Skermer (Year 11)

More athletics success for Bridgford athletes

On Thursday, 24 June over seventy West Bridgford athletes participated in the year 7 and 8 Rushcliffe Schools Championships. Having practiced in lessons and at extra-curricular clubs, both age groups were confident of performing well against other schools. In the year 7 competion we managed to finish first overall and in the year 8 competition we just missed out on first place by ten points, although our combined totals put us in first place for the Championships.  There were some absolutely fantastic performances on the day and the support pupils gave each other in all the events was pleasing to see. Winning the combined event at year 7 and 8 and the combined event at year 9 and 10 earlier in the term, just highlights the talent and enthusiasm of the pupils at our school. Well done to all those who competed. The full results will be put in the PE folder on the website shortly.

U13 boys' football team lift a national trophy

Our U13 boys'  team defeated Queen's School (Herts) 2-1 in the final at Doncaster Rovers' Keepmoat stadium on 19 May. West Bridgford took the lead after 17 minutes with a goal from Pierce Bramley, quickly followed by a second from Joe Harbottle. Man of the match was Nitin Mishra. An outstanding effort from all the team. The school also took four coachloads of year 8 supporters, making this a momentous day for the year group.

U14 Cricket team success

West Bridgford U14 cricket team started the defence of their County title on Wednesday 6 May against Toothill School, Bingham. Having won the toss Toothill decided to bat first with the hope of posting a competitive target for Bridgford to chase. However, it took just four deliveries for the first wicket to fall and consistent bowling from the Bridgford attack ensured the wickets continued to fall. In fact, we managed to bowl Toothill out after 15.3 overs for 61 runs with Shakeel Taj and Gagandip Sehmbi taking two wickets each. The run chase didn't start as well as hoped as three early wickets fell but with time on our side Ieuan Marks-Venables steadied the ship with an unbeaten 31 which saw Bridgford comfortable winners reaching the 62 run target after just 7.3 overs and with six wickets in hand. Well done lads - a solid start to a promising season!

Year 9 County Football Champions!!

On Thursday 30 April, the Year 9 boys' football team became County Champions after defeating the current National Champions, Trinity School, 4-3 to lift the County Chaplin Shield. An outstanding team display saw West Bridgford build a comfortable 3-1 lead only to be pegged back at 3-3 with ten minutes to play. However, from the resulting re-start, a 50 yards wonder goal from Elliott Ackroyd ensured that Bridgford added the Year 9 County trophy to the Year 8 triumph achieved earlier this month. The effort, determination and work rate of all the players was magnificent and we are all very proud of their achievements. Well done!

U13 Boys football team are County Champions yet again!

Congratulations to our U13 boys, who have been crowned County Champions for the second year running after beating Toothill School 2-0 in the final at Collingham. Will Krafts scored both goals and Danny Elliott and Nitin Mishra both giving 'man of the match' performances.

County Bronze Medals for Year 7 running teams (Cross Country)

On Saturday, 14 March four year 7 Cross Country relay squads (3 runners per team each completing 1200m) competed in the Nottinghamshire Championships. All four teams performed very well over a short but tough course in Mansfield. The girls teams managed to hold off some strong opposition with our 'A' team finishing in 3rd place and the 'B' team finishing in 6th.

The boys 'A' team also finished 3rd and the 'B' team also performed extremely well, although they only had two runners on the day! Those that competed were Lara Robinson, Emily Hammond, Freya Woodhouse, Emma Sunderland, Lizzy Collard, Holly Walker, Marcus Skidmore, Harry Brown, Laurie MacDonald, Calum McManus and Andrew deBoer.

A great end to a fantastic year of Cross Country running. Well done!

More congratulations to our Cross Country Runners

Who represented the Rushcliffe District Squad in the County Cross Country Championships last Saturday (28 Feb). Particular mention must go to Marcus Skidmore, Daisy Reed, Sam Jones and Laurie MacDonald who all managed to pick up team medals for finishing in the top 6 Rushcliffe runners in their respective races. In addition to these athletes, Catherine Ross (pictured), who also picked up a team medal, managed to gain selection to represent Nottinghamshire at the English Schools National Event at the end of the month. All runners involved were an absolute credit to the school and we are very proud of their achievements. Well done!

Congratulations to our Year 9 boys' football team

Our year 9 boys beat Carlton le Willows 4-1 in the County Cup Semi Final on 2 March. An early goal 45 seconds gave the lads a fantastic start and a further goal before half time, and two quick goals after half time, put us in a commanding position with 25 minutes to play. Although we did concede a late Carlton le Willows effort to give the scoreline a more respectable appearance, the final result was never in any doubt. Well done boys!  Into the County Cup Final for the second time in three years!

Medals all round for Cross Country teams

On Saturday, 13 December our Cross Country squads competed in the final schools league event of the season as Berry Hill Park. In awful running conditions our athletes were outstanding and all 4 of our teams achieved a top 3 finish, which is a fantastic achievement considering the event attracts athletes from all over Nottinghamshire. On a day where a wetsuit rather than running vest, seemed more appropriate, a particular mention should go to Alex Skidmore (6th), Catherine Ross (1st) and Lewis Jarram (4th) who all achieved seasons bests to lead their respective teams home.

Overall league standings:  Year 7 girls (silver medals), Year 7 boys (silver medals), Year 8/9 boys (County Champions), Year 8/9 girls (Silver medals). Full results will be put in PE folder on website when received.

School Sports Partnership Cross Country news

On Tuesday (9 Dec) 45 students competed in the annual School Sports Partnership Cross Country event against athletes from the other six secondary schools in the programme. Over a flat but testing course at Toot Hill School, our athletes performed remarkably well and the school finished in overall 2nd place after finishing 2nd in both the boys and girls combined competitions. The Year 7 girls actually managed to win their team competition with Lara Robinson (2nd), leading home 5 West Bridgford athletes in the first 13 positions!.  In addition to this team achievement we had 17 individual athletes gain selection to the District Squads, to compete at the County Championships on Friday, 7 February 2009.  Full results can be found in the PE folder on the website.

Green Week

Our green week took place 3 - 7 November 2008 and raised an impressive £1049. A whole range of activities took place to make our students and staff more aware of 'green' issues.

UK Youth Parliament

Congratulations to Jonathan Bowes (Year 11) who has been voted in.

U19 netball success at county level

The West Bridgford School girls beat Nottingham High School, Ashfield and Harry Carlton schools in the finals and now go through to the East Midlands tournament next January 2009.