d'Overbroeck's Sixth Form News

A Career in Law

2012-01-27T01:16:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday 25 January we were delighted to welcome Marc Howe back to d’Overbroeck’s to speak to a group of Lower Sixth students interested in studying Law at university or pursuing a career in Law. Some years back, Marc worked for the College as a teacher of A Level English, before leaving to take a Law conversion course and qualify as a practising solicitor. He is currently Senior Lecturer in Law and University Teaching Fellow at Oxford Brookes University.

Marc Howe, talking to Lower Sixth students

Marc gave a lively and wide-ranging talk in which he introduced students to the range of careers and areas of legal specialism that they might consider. He also covered the various stages of education and professional training and discussed the options of either studying Law as an undergraduate degree, or taking a first degree in another subject, followed by the Graduate Diploma in Law (Law conversion course). Students’ appetite for the cut and thrust of the legal profession was whetted by watching an extract from a mock criminal trial organised by Oxford Brookes, which introduced to them the complexities of handling legal evidence. We are grateful to Marc for providing such a helpful and interesting introduction to students thinking of a degree or career in law and in due course we will be organising further activities to help prepare those who decide to apply to study Law as their first degree.

An African Adventure

2012-01-26T06:34:00.001-08:00

Further to news regarding the forthcoming trip to Namibia (see Namibia 2012), the story has been featured in today's Oxford Mail (see below).

As reported in today's Oxford Mail. Click on the image to view a PDF of the original story.

A transcript of the story is as follows:

Most children get a week abroad in Europe for their school trips. Not so for a group of pupils at an Oxford college who will be travelling to Africa to help revamp a deprived school.

A group of 20 sixth form and Year 11 pupils from d'Overbroeck's College in Banbury Road, will spend two weeks in Namibia in July including a week refurbishing classrooms and a playground. It is the kind of activity usually associated with pre-university gap years, but trip leader Johny Richards said there had been no shortage of interest

Mr Richards said: "The primary focus is a school in a deprived area of Namibia. We want our students to get more cultural awareness, find out a bit about themselves and find out what it's like for children in other parts of the world – and hopefully give something back."

The pupils at the fee-paying independent school have paid about £2,500 each to go on the trip, and are fundraising to collect about £5,000 between them to pay for building materials for the work.

In Africa, they will spend the first day sourcing materials before moving to the school they are helping for a week.

Mr Richards said: "It will be all hands to the pump to try and get as much as we possibly can done in a week. While we are there, we will be cooking for ourselves every night and camping all the time. They will be roughing it 24/7. It will be hard work both physically and mentally."

The youngsters have been split into different fundraising teams. One is approaching organisations to seek sponsorship and items which can be auctioned off in aid of the cause. Another will organise supermarket bagpacking, and other fundraising events in the pipeline including a school safari dress-up day and a cake sale.

Mr Richards said: "This is about giving back to a less fortunate community, and that is why most of them wanted to go."

The school organised a similar trip to Zambia in 2009.

Jackie D Williams

2012-01-26T03:48:00.000-08:00

Some of you may remember a former student of ours, Jack Williams, who studied at d'Overbroeck's between 2006-08. Jack (known professionally as Jackie D Williams) has since graduated from the prestigious Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts and will be performing his 'distinctive fusion of soul, funk, rhythm and blues' this Saturday at The Jericho Tavern in Oxford, supporting Lindi Ortega.

"Music is something that we are never pushed into, we simply discover and grow with it. It's the one thing that holds us together but makes us so different." Jackie D Williams.

You can read more about Jack and follow his career by visiting his website: http://www.jackiedwilliams.com/.

Enrichment Programme

2012-01-26T03:39:00.000-08:00

Our enrichment programme for the Lower Sixth takes place on Monday afternoons and aims to provide a mix of stimulating talks and workshops to inform and engage our students.

This term our programme includes:

A Motorsport F1 presentation from GoMotorsports.
Sue Bennett Head of Careers and Skills at the University of Warwick who will be giving students an introduction to the university admissions process. University applications may seem a long way off but students need to start their research early to ensure they make the right choices.
Antony Jinman who will be describing his experiences on polar expeditions. Antony has been involved with the centenary celebrations of Captain Scott and his expedition to the South Pole. He is a motivational speaker who encourages students to aim high in order to achieve their own personal goals.
Doulla Croft is the Business Development Director for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. She will be discussing the way this exciting project has developed and changed over the years/months, giving an insight into this huge event as it rapidly approaches.
Emma Lee Potter, a novelist and freelance journalist will be discussing the opportunities and challenges of these careers.
Filda Mary Abelkex-Lukoyomoi lived for many years in Uganda and was forced to leave the country. Her talk will be on her personal experiences whilst in this country during its civil unrest, what the situation is now and on her plans to return for a visit to see her family.

Polar explorer, Antony Jinman

Later in the term, the Oxfordshire Fire Service will lead a workshop on 'Safe Driving'-a topic that is seen by the emergency services as a subject all young people should take on board whether they are drivers at the present time or not.

Reports on each these talks will follow.

Namibia 2012

2012-01-19T08:29:00.000-08:00

Later this year, 20 of our Sixth Form and Year 11 students will be going to Namibia to work on improving the facilities of a local school by refurbishing classrooms and building playground areas. Our students will also help with activities and teaching whilst working with local pupils.

"Education is a high priority for Namibians, especially in the more remote regions where schools are more isolated. By working alongside communities to upgrade recreation and education facilities so to assist the daily education of Namibian pupils our education projects are intended to provide a meaningful and sustainable exchange for groups who wish to get closer to a rural community." according to 'Schools Worldwide'. The College organised a similar trip two years ago to Zambia which is featured in the photos.

To raise money for the materials to be used in Namibia, students have organised several events over the next few weeks, including two cake sales, a 'Safari Day' and Quiz Night. More information on these will be posted in due course.

Alongside these, a number of other social events have been planned for the term ahead, including:

a trip to the Oxford University v The Army rugby match at the University sports ground on 7th February
an ice skating disco at the Oxford Ice Rink on 24 February
d'Overbroeck's Got Talent in March

Annual 10k Race

2011-12-14T08:25:00.000-08:00

On Sunday 11th December, the d’Overbroeck’s Sixth Form running team headed to Bicester Sports Ground for the annual 10k race. For several of the d'Overbroeck's team it was their first 10k competition and thanks are due to George Vlachonikolis who has been busy training the runners. Amazingly, George also ran the race despite having had an appendix operation just 10 days before!

Annie Hutt was the first of the team to finish, coming 32nd in the ladies competition. The rest of the results are as follows:

	Gender Position	Overall Position	Time
Annabelle Hutt	32	225	47:40
Joe More	247	316	52:20
George Vlachonikolis	253	326	52:52
Vendula Dohnalava	80	354	54:35

Unfortunately, Vladimir Milic's chip failed to record both his time and place, but we can confirm he was seen crossing the line with a big smile on his face somewhere in the lower 50+ minutes!

Well done to all who took part.

In the Spotlight: Andis Cekuls

2011-12-05T01:41:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to one of our first year sixth students, Andis Cekuls, who recently performed at the Albert Hall with the Oxfordshire County Youth Orchestra. Andis is an extremely talented musician who previously studied in Riga where he was a member of two orchestras: the Jazeps Medins Riga 1st Music School Symphony Orchestra (conductor Laura Staša) and the Kazanovas Orķestris (conductor Toms Rēķis).

Since coming to Oxford this year Andis has joined the Oxfordshire County Youth Orchestra playing the double bass. This orchestra, along with a mass choir and the brass section of the Oxford Schools Symphony Orchestra, recently performed a new work called "Oxonia" by Dr John Traill at the last night of the Music for Youth Schools Prom at the Albert Hall. Dr Traill is the Director of Music at St Anne’s College and Lecturer at St Catherine’s College, Oxford. Oxonia explores the many facets of Oxfordshire’s history, starting with a geographical journey along the River ISIS/Thames, then answering the question – that appears on so many Oxfordshire postcards – ‘The more we study, the more we learn, the more we learn, the more we forget, the more we forget, the less we know, so why study?’, with verses dedicated to Oxford politicians, world leaders, Olympic medal winners, scientists, literary figures, musicians, and more.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

2011-11-28T02:50:00.000-08:00

A Midsummer Night’s Dream - tickets now available!

This is an exciting, vibrant and edgy reinterpretation of one of Shakespeare’s best-loved plays. After setting The Tempest in the distant future on a floating wreck of computer parts, d’Overbroeck’s Drama department is relocating A Midsummer Night’s Dream to 1960s America, where the preppy, ordered world of Athens will be rocked to its core by a merry band of freaks and lunatics living on the edge of society. Featuring a range of classic rock and pop songs of the period, this promises to be a dream that no one will ever forget.

Where and when will the shows take place?
The production will be held at Wychwood School Hall, 72 – 74 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6JR.
Shows will take place at the following times:

Wednesday 7 December: 7.30 pm
Thursday 8 December: 7.30 pm
Friday 9 December: 7.30 pm

How do I reserve my tickets?
To reserve your place for one of the performances, please contact me, email hannah.johnson@doverbroecks.com, or telephone 01865 888938. We’ll allocate tickets on a first come, first served basis.

Tickets are £10 each for adults and £6 for under 14s and other concessions.

The Cast
Egeus: Alex Mincks
Theseus: Donald Craigie
Hippolyta: Elle Seville
Nick Bottom: Sophia Saban
Peter Quince: Katie Stoner
Francis Flute: Will Nicolson
Starveling: Morgan Lee
Tim Snout: Inigo Townsend 
Tom Snout: Jack Valentine
Hermia: Olivia Johnson
Lysander: Dominic Crisp
Helena: Flora McGivan
Philostrate: Mark McCleary
Oberon: James Gemmill
Titania: Lydia Hassan
Puck: Sam Rigal
Snug: Hovnan Eayrs
Starveling: Morgan Lee
Chorus 1: Sophia Peters, Tom Penman, Benji Godley, Jake Rose, Ben Miller, Clemmie Jackson, Audrey Monteith, Yuna Lee, Jack Turner
Simran Kamal, Robert Spence, Felicity Hughes, Ellen Kay, Hugh Nicolson, Ethan Clay
Chorus 2: Anastasia Yakovlev, Annika Heinrich, Oria Hallward, Michelle Lindner, Bella Martin, Izzy Nicolson, Lina Sarma, Elle Seville

The Band
Sam George: Lead guitar
Jack Neil: Rhythm guitar
Paddy Hoban: Bass
Kit Harris: Drums
Ned Williams: Trumpet
David Child: Trumpet
Jane Cockerill - Clarinet
Anna Maria Grill: Violin
Anne-Marie Jones: Cello
Andis Cekuls: Double Bass
Maria Rybina: Keyboard
Ed Yeo: Piano
Rob Dixon: Tenor Saxophone

Mathematical Trust Team Challenge

2011-11-22T04:48:00.001-08:00

On the evening of 21 November, four of our students participated in the Regional round of the United Kingdom Mathematical Trust Team Challenge. Our team was wonderfully represented by Clifford Carr, Carey Chen, Ken Wei and Charles Wu. The competition took place at Wheatley Park School where our team matched wits against 24 other teams from the Oxford area.

There were three stages to the competition: a group competition (answering 10 questions in 40 minutes), a cross number round and a mathematical relay race. Our team finished in a very strong 6th position.

Further to this Carey has also been invited to participate in the first round of the British Mathematics Olympiad.

Winter Concert 2011

2011-11-14T07:13:00.000-08:00

This year’s Sixth Form Winter Concert will take place at the Jacqueline du Pre Music Building, St Hilda’s College, Oxford on Tuesday, 29th November at 7.00pm. One of the highlights of the Sixth Form calendar, the concert will feature a wide range of performances, from classical music to rock & pop, drama and dance, not only from those students studying A level Music and Drama, but also those who participate in the performing arts outside their academic programme.

Please do come and support our performers at what promises to be a very enjoyable evening.

To reserve seats please telephone Hannah Johnson on 01865 888938 or email hannah.johnson@doverbroecks.com.

Please note there is limited parking at the venue and around Cowley Place, but St. Clements car park is just a short walk away (next to the Angel and Greyhound pub shown on the map - please click the link below the map to view larger version).

View Larger Map

Oxfordshire School Biologist of the Year Awards

2011-11-14T06:58:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to d'Overbroeck's student Francesca Beaulieu (pictured above) who was winner at the Oxfordshire School Biololgist of the Year Awards 2011.

Award winners from secondary schools throughout the county received prizes in a ceremony at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History in Oxford.

26 state and independent schools were represented at the event, hosted by the Oxfordshire Independent and State School Partnership (OISPP) and the University of Oxford. Students were given a tour of the museum before joining parents and teachers for a lecture given by Timothy Walker, Director of Oxford University Botanic Gardens.

Mr Walker talked about the positive changes that Biologists can make to reduce the extinction of a wide range of plants across the world. The award winners were then presented with certificates and book tokens.

OISSP Project Director Tom Kempton said: "This event is an excellent opportunity to celebrate the outstanding effort being made by students and their teachers in all schools across Oxfordshire. We are particularly short of students opting to take sciences at A level and this award recognises the efforts being put in by high achieving students. We hope that by recognising their efforts, they will be encouraged to continue biology-related courses at university."

Congratulations Francesca from all at d'Overbroeck's!

Fright Night

2011-11-08T05:37:00.000-08:00

Almost 90 students from the upper and lower sixth dressed up last week to celebrate Halloween. Attired in various costumes, from the usual witches and vampires to a chilli pepper and Barney the purple dinosaur they watched scary movies, ate, danced and apple-bobbed in the ghoulishly bedecked Common Room.

Best fancy dress went to Marko Stupar who spent over two hours wrapping himself in bandages!

It was a great opportunity for students to get to know each other and, more importantly, have a lot of fun.

Christmas Fair 2011

2011-10-31T03:38:00.001-07:00

It may seem that Christmas is still some way away, but it's coming early to d'Overbroeck's College! On Saturday 26th November, between 11am and 2pm, you are warmly invited to join us at Leckford Place for our annual Christmas Fair. There will be an array of stalls and games for adults and children - the perfect place to snap up a few presents - with refreshments available, including mince pies and mulled wine. All money raised will go to local children's charities.

There is also the opportunity for you to have your own stall or to help with the running of the fair, so if you'd like to be involved or would like more information then please contact anne.brooks@doverbroecks.com.

We look forward to seeing you there!

International Trading Game

2011-10-14T02:34:00.000-07:00

The Lower Sixth Enrichment programme recently involved an International Trading Game. Students were working in groups acting as different countries. Each country had a certain amount of resources in terms of e.g. scissors and paper and had to produce items to sell on the world market.

The game leads to alliances being formed between 'nations', groups trading resources amongst themselves, some countries exerting their power over others and major switches in production as world prices change. The game brings out many issues in world trade such as ethics, the spread of technology as one country finds a new way of producing, the volatility of commodity prices and the impact of such changes on suppliers. It also highlights the disparity between 'rich' and 'poor' nations and the potential effect of this on future growth.

Students engaged extremely well with the scenario setting up sophisticated production lines and entering into numerous deals and partnerships to maximise their profits.

Chariots of Fire

2011-10-14T02:13:00.000-07:00

"It’s not about Olympic champions, celebrities or sports people, it's about people who have made an important contribution to the community."

These are the words of Sir Chris Hoy MBE speaking on the Olympic Flame promotional video and one of those people whom he describes is our very own Jo Kalies, who alongside the excellent teaching, support and coaching she provides to d'Overbroeck's students, works as a volunteer at Summertown Stars AFC, the largest youth football club in Oxfordshire. There, she not only manages and coaches the girls' under 12 team, but has also set up a football team for the visually impaired.

Next year, on 18th May, the Olympic Torch Relay will begin in Land’s End and over the following two months, the famous flame will be carried by a succession of 8000 runners on its way to the Olympic Park in London, where, on the 27th July, the games will be formally opened. Jo has been nominated to carry the torch - when it reaches Oxford on 9th July - by Po Yung, a former colleague here at d'Overbroeck's, who writes:

"I used to work at [d'Overbroeck's] College with Jo Kalies where she is a Sports Co-ordinator. I don't know anyone with as much energy as Jo and also capacity for giving. Her life is sport as well as giving this gift to others. Apart from her day job, Jo gives up her Saturday every weekend to coach football to young girls who are blind or partially sighted. She also manages the girls Under 12's and Under 15's squad. She is an FA Level 2 qualified coach and recently qualified for her UEFA B Coaching license. She is also disability officer for the club she works for and this year she has won Oxfordshire Coach of the Year awarded by the FA. She has even written a book on exercises for children in her spare time. She runs her own business coaching football as she believes strongly in its importance in children's lives. She deserves to be recognised and would value the honour of being a torchbearer."

Being a torchbearer is an honour for which Jo feels privileged to have been nominated. "I feel so many people in the world do inspirational things," she told me when I asked her how it felt to be described as 'inspirational'; "I just really enjoy what I do."

Family, friends and colleagues are certainly proud of both her achievements and her nomination. If she is selected I asked her, will she be nervous when the big day arrives? "Definitely. I will be really nervous on the day. I go bright red from two minutes on a treadmill let alone carrying a torch around Oxford."

Like all the other nominees, Jo will have to wait until the end of the year to find out if she’s been selected. All we can do is keep our fingers crossed and hope she receives the honour she so richly deserves.

Seminar at the Independent Education Exhibition

2011-10-03T04:44:00.000-07:00

Following our recent presentation at The Good Schools Show we were pleased to be asked to present at The Independent Education Expo last weekend. This exhibition was held at Alexandra Palace and included a number of seminars on key educational issues. Andrew Gillespie,one of our Director of Studies, spoke about the strengths of the A level system and developments in sixth form education such as the AQA Baccalaureate. Other speakers included Patrick Derham, Headmaster of Rugby School and Dr Stephen Winkley, Headmaster of Rossall School.

This Year's Sixth Form Scholars

2011-09-27T08:30:00.000-07:00

The College offers a number of scholarships and awards each year to students who show outstanding achievement and potential as well as the willingness to make a significant contribution to the life of the Sixth Form and student community. This year, nine students have received awards including four Academic Scholars, one Art Scholar, one Performing Arts Scholar, one Music Exhibitioner and a Scholar from our International Study Centre.

This year's scholars and their chosen subjects are as follows.

Front row from left to right:

Octavia Pearce, Academic Scholar studying Biology, Chemistry, Maths, Physics and the AQA Baccalaureate
Carey Chen, ISC Scholar studying Chemistry, Economics, Further Maths, Physics and the AQA Baccalaureate

Back row from left to right:

Tom New, Academic Scholar studying Chemistry, Geography, Further Maths and Physics
Sam Rigal, Performing Arts Scholar studying Drama, Film Studies, Music Technology and Photography
Jack Neil, Music Exhibitioner studying English, History, Music, Politics and the AQA Baccalaureate
Lorelei Smith, Academic Scholar studying Biology, Chemistry, Geography and Maths
Alex Latcham-Ford, Academic Scholar studying History, Maths, Physics and Sociology
Clifford Carr, Academic Scholar studying Art, English, History and Further Maths
Abigail Cooper, Art Scholar studying Art, Film Studies, Philosophy and Photography (not pictured)

This year we have introduced an Enterprise Award for entry into the Sixth Form in September 2012. This is intended for a student who can demonstrate exceptional entrepreneurial skills and who will continue to develop entrepreneurial initiatives whilst at the College. We also have an Environmental Scholarship for a student who can demonstrate a well informed awareness of environmental issues along with initiative and leadership qualities to promote such issues within the College.

The Archant Good Schools Show

2011-09-19T03:58:00.000-07:00

We were delighted to be invited to speak at The Archant Good Schools Show at Olympia over the weekend. The two day exhibition is an opportunity for parents and students to explore their school options.

Andrew Gillespie, one of our Director of Studies, gave a talk on the A level system to visitors, explaining the strengths of the system, developments such as the A* grade and new opportunities such as the AQA Baccalaureate. Other speakers included Jim Hawkins, the new Headmaster of Harrow, outlining the importance of the independent sector, Tony Little, Headmaster of Eton College, discussing bursaries and Alice Phillips, Headmistress of St Catherine’s School in Bramley, explaining the merits of A level compared to other sixth form qualifications.

Summer cooking and inspired teaching

2011-09-19T01:51:00.000-07:00

The following article was first published in the Oxford Times Educational Supplement on September 15th 2011.

Sami Cohen, the Principal of d'Overbroeck's, reflects on the essential ingredients that make for outstanding teaching and learning.

Not an avid TV watcher, I was nonetheless captivated by Jamie Oliver’s recent programme on summer cooking. Working outdoors with no kitchen in sight, it was fascinating to watch him crush fresh ripe avocadoes till they oozed through his fingers, squeeze juicy lemons with great gusto, turn a holey old bucket into a serviceable fish smoker and whip up a cake out of hastily cooked pancakes and the enthusiasm of a bunch of three-year olds. With the most makeshift of equipment and the minimum of pretension – but with passion, flair, a deft touch and plenty of joie de vivre, he was able to bring the best out of his ingredients and to turn out exquisitely succulent results.

It struck me that good teaching had much in common with this. Good teaching comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes; there is no single recipe for it. Nevertheless it seems to me that the best teachers are often not those who revel in convoluted teaching strategies or who aspire to create beautifully conceived model lesson plans. The best teachers are those who have a rich reservoir of energy and passion, who enjoy their subject and love to communicate it; those who make a point of really getting to know each and every one of their students and who aspire to kindle in each of them a combination of inquisitiveness, enthusiasm and a desire to think for themselves to want to know more.

Such teachers are often passionate, driven people who are motivated by a desire to inspire and to draw the best out of every one of their students. The result is usually a very special kind of ‘dedication’; a dedication that is shared by both students and teacher – and, where the alchemy really works, such dedication need by no means be earnest or sanctimonious. It is usually more robust and runs deeper than that. ‘Where there’s laughter, there’s learning’, as our founder was fond of saying. When students are comfortable and at ease, that is when they are most prone to be receptive and engaged. And the benefits are mutual: students can bring the best out of their teachers, just as much as teachers can bring the best out of their students.

Every school has to have, and to publish, a ‘statement of aims and ethos’. You are most welcome to find ours on our website. It starts as follows: ‘We aim to maintain a lively, close-knit yet relatively liberal community in which pupils feel engaged, happy and at ease with themselves and with their school environment; in which the relationships between staff and students are ‘comfortable’ and built more on mutual respect than on imposed formality; in which pupils are encouraged and stimulated to develop academically and personally, and to grow into themselves as confident, thoughtful and considerate people who are ready to move on to the next stage of their lives.’

In my view, outstanding teaching sits at the very core of this and none of the rest would be possible without it.

Click here to read more articles on our 'In the Media' page.

New work by artist and former d’Overbroeck’s student Emmie van Biervliet

2011-09-12T06:56:00.000-07:00

One of our past students Emmie van Biervliet is presently exhibiting some of her art work at the Sarah Wiseman Gallery in Oxford. Inspired by her travels, her partial upbringing in France and historic sites in Oxford, Emmie's exhibition runs from now until the beginning of October. For more information, please visit her website.

After studying her A levels with us, Emmie graduated in 'Applied Arts' in 2006. Her work has been inspired by her travels in South America and Cuba where she feels that life within the buildings is far more visible and ‘on display’ than in Northern Europe. Houses appear to have been constructed in a very creative way with a variety of materials and it’s this idea that Emmie wants to reflect in her work. She uses a variety of media including coffee, spices, circuit boards and gold leaf as well as paint to built up intricate layers.

Amber Light on Broad Street by Emmie van Biervliet

Recently, Emmie has been commissioned by ‘The Apprentice’ runner-up Saira Kahn, to create a piece of work for her newly adopted daughter, Amara. The work tells the story of Amara's journey from Karachi, Pakistan to her new home in the UK. The experience was filmed for a documentary, ‘Saira Kahn Adopts Abroad’ recently broadcast on BBC2.

Emmie's painting is in the style of a storyboard and uses images to tell a story, echoing the ancient medieval tradition of icon painting. Birds represent Saira’s family members and the river Indus, which dissects Pakistan, winds through the work down to the huge port city of Karachi and the sea, representing the ups and downs of life. Buildings from both London and Karachi signify the huge journey, both physical and emotional, made by Saira and Amara.

Emmie has exhibited in London, New York and Chicago. She will exhibit in Singapore later this year. Emmie was also winner of the Diana Brooks Award at the Art for Youth exhibition at the Royal College of Art in 2010.

Amara's Journey by Emmie van Biervliet

Activities Fair

2011-09-06T07:41:00.000-07:00

With over 30 clubs to choose from, Sixth Form students have been busy selecting their activities for the forthcoming year. From Art to Chess, Music to Tennis, Spanish, Rugby and Yoga, students have every opportunity to indulge their passions whether creative, intellectual, linguistic or sporting. Cookery club is new on the menu, along with Trampolining, Textiles, Bridge and Running; so as well as the prospect of a stimulating academic year ahead, students are sure to be just as stimulated outside the classroom.

Looking forward to another year of creativity, fun and outstanding achievement!

2011-09-05T08:04:00.000-07:00

Today was the start of another exciting year at d’Overbroeck’s College with over 130 students joining, meeting teachers, making friends and receiving timetables helped by our team of new student mentors (pictured above). Lessons begin tomorrow when there’ll also be time to find new hobbies or develop existing interests at the Activities Fair.

With d'Overbroeck's students achieving such great results this summer, new and returning students will have a lot to live up to. Amongst the many achievements by students last year were the fantastic performances in the College Musical and Winter Concert, a Maths Gold Olympiad triumph, a top entry in the Royal Economics Society national essay competition, a successful Target 2.0 team, 5 distinctions in the AQA Baccalaureate and two students selected for the Goldman Sachs management course ‘Women in Business’.

When you add to these successes events such as the annual ski trip, a History and Politics visit to the USA, charity events for the Japanese tsunami, the College ball and numerous social and sports activities it was a truly busy and fulfilling year, one we’re looking forward to repeating this year!

Shakespeare, foolish men and sheep: this year's AQA Baccalaureate results

2011-08-30T06:16:00.000-07:00

This year's results for our students in the AQA Baccalaureate Diploma included an impressive 5 distinctions and 6 merit awards.

A Distinction, the top award, requires an A grade in all of the AQA Baccalaureate components (the extended project, enrichment and critical thinking) as well as in three A level subjects.

Distinctions were awarded to:

Fame Cheerapatanakom for his project entitled " How original are Shakepeare's Roman plays?"
Susannah Cohen: "Men are fools: why is so much male behaviour seen as foolish and irrational by women?"
Edward Hornsby: "An assessment of water quality at a sewage outlet point in the Oxford area; an ecological investigation"
Madeleine Hurry (pictured above) "The biological basis of HIV and its connection to the development continuum"
Bella Maine: " Is the stratification of the UK sheep industry beneficial to flock health?"

Students achieving a Merit award were:

Praise Izinyon: "Should patients completely trust their GPs?"
Grace Kirby: "What can explain the criminal punishment of animals in early modern Europe?"
Rebecca Love: "How legitimate is the classification of Shakespeare's final plays as romances?"
Chrystal Pereira: "The Tunisian revolution- was it inevitable?"
Charlie Richards: "The causes and impact of the deforestation of the Amazon"
Charlie Skegg: "The Seven Deadly Sins- a photographic portfolio"
Noel Thompson: "A comparison of a selection of fossil fuels"

In its feedback the Board commented that "the centre should be applauded on such an interesting array of projects". On the Enrichment part of the qualification the feedback stated that" the centre clearly participated in a range of valuable and meaningful enrichment activities" which students have "clearly enjoyed". Well done to all those involved.

Williams and McCartney

2011-08-26T04:59:00.001-07:00

Congratulations to one of our past students, Jack Williams, who has just graduated with a 2:1 from The Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts and shook Sir Paul McCartney's hand in the process! Jack has been in the studio recently recording an EP and is due to sign a record deal in the near future.We'll keep you posted.

A level results 2011 — 85% A*–B

2011-08-19T05:46:00.000-07:00

This year's Upper Sixth succeeded in achieving our highest ever tally of A*–B grades (an impressive 85%) with 19% of all grades received being A*s.

More than a quarter of our students gained all A/A* grades, and subject highlights included:

100% A*/A in Ancient History, Classical Civilisation, German, Japanese and Russian
82% A*/A in Economics
65% A*/A in Maths
63% A*/A in Art and Physics
63% A*/A in Biology

The photograph above shows Femi Gibson celebrating his results — AAB in Economics, Sociology and Business Studies — securing his place at York University to study Sociology.

Particle Physics Masterclass at the Rutherford Laboratory

2011-05-05T08:38:00.000-07:00

A view from above the beam pipe at the Diamond Light Source. This shows the red and yellow magnets around the beam pipe used for deflecting and focusing of the beam. We could walk above the beam pipe on the protective concrete blocks.

We took 15 Year 12 students to the Rutherford Laboratory for a day of varied activities centred around Particle Physics. There was a tour of the Diamond accelerator, a space-age looking silver doughnut shaped building where electrons are accelerated to very high speed and then as they circulate they emit intense radiation, for example X rays, that can be used to interpret the structure of complex molecules in Medicine or Engineering. We walked above the beam pipe on the metres thick concrete that protects the technicians from this radiation trying to get into our heads the fact that this 235 metre diameter building is today’s ultimate microscope!

A view of one of the computer images from the detector at the LHC in Geneva. Around the beam pipe at the centre are different detectors to identify the kinds of particles emitted from each collision process. Our mission was to find the elusive Higgs Boson, a rather unfair test as it was not on any of the slides our students investigated!

There were also lectures on the Large Hadron Collider at Geneva and Dark Matter; lectures that took no prisoners! Quite high level work, avoiding any of the maths but introducing many quite challenging concepts such as anti-matter, virtual particles and charm! Each speaker exuded the excitement and importance to them of scientific discovery — such a good example for students who wonder why they need to study; the more you study, the more interesting it gets!

We also did a computer exercise the students in pairs analysing images from the LHC detector, identifying the type of particle released by the proton-proton collisions. There was a prize for the group that discovered the Higgs Boson, a particle that they are looking for at CERN and there was one image that had been made up to reveal the Higgs. Unfortunately this year it wasn’t us that won; back to the drawing-board!

Perhaps most important of all to some of the students were the copious croissants, cakes, lunch and coffee available on the day and free to all. Everyone took on board many, many Higgs Bosons and got heavier and heavier!

The Rutherford staff were excellent throughout the day, answering all our questions and enthusiastic about all the work being done. I hope we left the wiser, if heavier, and in class we have launched into the AS study of Particle Physics; the Masterclass served as a really good introduction to the topic.

— Words by Paul Baily, Head of Physics

Blue skies, panther suits and wipeouts — Ski Trip to La Thuile

2011-04-08T02:16:00.000-07:00

Last half term, 30 students and three brave d’Overbroeck’s teachers left Oxford for a week’s skiing in the Italian Alps. After a 'luxury' 14 hour coach journey, 3 hours of trying on ski boots and a stop off in the beautiful Courmayeur, a tired yet excited bunch arrived at the hotel in Pre-Saint-Didier, lying in the shadow of Mont Blanc.

The snow conditions were fantastic, which, coupled with ideal sunny days and blue skies, made a fantastic start to the skiing at the resort of La Thuile. With the opportunity of skiing five hours a day, competition was high not to be nominated to wear a famous pink panther suit on the slope.

With sleep levels running low, wipe-outs were frequent and hilarious, as students and staff took advantage of amazing instruction, a snow park and the opportunity to ski across the boarder to France. By the end of the week, everyone had improved their skiing massively, and it was with bleary eyes and exhausted legs that the group made the long journey back to the UK after an unforgettable trip.

— Writeup by Bella Maine, Upper Sixth

From Graffiti to Typology — AS Photography trip to London

2011-04-06T02:24:00.000-07:00

'Seb with Graffiti' by Edd Sampson (Lower 6th)

On Wednesday 2nd March, AS Photography students headed down to London to take photographs and visit galleries.

Having taken the train to Paddington and then the tube to Waterloo we walked over the river and along the Southbank to the Tate Modern. Despite the chilly breeze, students spent time documenting sights and events — such as the colourful graffiti, and a photo shoot happening on the river ‘beach’.

At the Tate we took in the view from the top floor and visited an exhibition called Typologies, showing artists who use photography to approach themes systematically, creating multiple images of similar subjects.

'Edd at The Tate' by Paige Tully (Lower 6th)

We then walked over Millennium Bridge and took the tube to The Whitechapel Gallery to see an exhibition of collaged photographs by John Stezaker and for a walk down Brick Lane.

— Writeup by Elina Medley, Photography teacher

Historians hit the heights of DC and New York

2011-03-25T03:09:00.000-07:00

In February half-term the History department embarked on its annual overseas adventure — this time with a party of 20 A level History and Politics students, to explore the sights of Washington and New York. For most of us, this was a first trip to the two cities and there was a palpable excitement as we gained our first glimpses of the White House and Capitol on arrival.

Our two days in Washington were spent seeing all the iconic sights that are so familiar from the TV and films. Highlights included a tour of the Capitol itself, circumnavigating the White House (we almost saw Obama — we were assured at least that it was his motorcade!) and viewing the Mall from the top of the Washington monument.

 A coach journey brought us to New York, where we were awed by the impact of the night-time Manhattan skyline. If our spirits were briefly dampened by our somewhat basic accommodation, they were rapidly lifted by our proximity to Central Park, stunningly beautiful after a recent snowfall. The sights of Wall Street, the Ellis Island ferry and the Statue of Liberty continued to excite us and we enjoyed a full immersion in American culture in the form of an evening at Madison Square Garden and the New York Knicks basketball!

A more serious tour of the United Nations HQ followed, along with a sobering visit to Ground Zero and a touch of culture for some in visiting the Metropolitan or Guggenheim art museums. All this, with an exhilarating ‘sky ride’ to the top of the Rockefeller Centre, night-time walks down Broadway, evening meal in Planet Hollywood in Times Square and a good dose of Manhattan shopping completed a wonderful week of tourism, fun and, who knows, maybe even a little education!

— by Alastair Barnett, Head of History

View a slideshow of photos from the USA trip

How to manage your money...

2011-03-23T07:08:00.000-07:00

As part of their ongoing enrichment programme, Lower Sixth students listened to a talk by financial adviser Charles Cozens.

Charles covered a variety of topics, including methods of protecting your online bank accounts, defending yourself against identity theft and the delights of taxation and credit cards — dispensing indespensible expert advice at every stage.

So now perhaps more of us will take to checking for video cameras when we're at a cashpoint. As to whether anyone's been converted from a spender to a saver — well, I'm not totally sure!

— by Kate Palmer, Enrichment Coordinator

Basketball team reaches League semi-final

2011-03-23T03:02:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to the Sixth Form basketball team for reaching the semi-final of the Oxfordshire U19 Schools Basketball League — an impressive achievement. Their next match, against Oxford & Cherwell Valley College, will be later this term.

Below are match reports from the team's two most recent league games, written by the basketball team captain, Rhys Tong-Jones.

d’Overbroeck’s vs Bicester (Home)
d’Overbroeck’s 41
Bicester 24

In the first game following their defeat to Henry Box, and dealing with new positions for a number of key players, d’Overbroeck’s managed to pull off its 5th victory of the season to lift the team into a tie for second place in the league. Now only needing to only beat Woodgreen to guarantee a place in the Oxfordshire U19 league playoffs, the team will need to stay focused over the half-term break in order to be the first d’Overbroeck’s side to make the play-off’s.

d’Overbroeck’s vs Woodgreen (Away)
Woodgreen 25
d’Overbroeck’s 42

With a place in the semi final to play for, d’Overbroeck’s turned in its best performance of the season so far. Although only leading by only 4 points at the end of the first quarter, d’Overbroeck’s slowly but surely continued to put points on the board to edge further in front.

That was up until halfway through the fourth quarter, at which point the game became a blowout.

With foul trouble hampering Woodgreen, they couldn't be as aggressive as they wanted. d’Overbroeck’s took advantage, displaying some excellent offensive play and converting their chances in style to comfortably win the match.

The first half was all about d’Overbroeck’s excellent defensive work, optimised by the newly starting centre Peace Aphichutniran. Substitutes Roman Sokolov and Matthew Anderson continued this good form and added some fancy scoring of their own.

An outstanding performance from a maturing team, lead expertly by their point guard Justin Aphichutniran. League statistics so far: 6 Wins, 1 Defeat. Next stop: Playoffs.

Man of the Match: Rhys Tong-Jones

Golfing and Goosebumps in Sixth Form Enrichment

2011-02-16T05:52:00.000-08:00

John Hoskinson came to talk to a group of 60 of our Lower Sixth students during one Monday afternoon Enrichment session. He has a clear and informative style of speaking and certainly has a strong message to get across. He spoke about his career in the world of professional golf, and drew a connection between the skills you need to develop at a high competitive sporting level and those required of a successful A level student: drive and determination, the ability to take yourself out of your comfort zone, and an appetite for hard work.

There was then a twist to the tale that left many of his audience a little stunned (as one girl later told me, 'I had goosebumps') when he explained about the tragic accident that completely turned his world upside down and led to a prison sentence — an experience he described vividly, driving home to many of the students how fragile our lives really are, and illustrating the need to think and act carefully when driving.

John made his own life experiences very relevant to the students and I know they had a profound effect. Hopefully they will learn from his mistakes and remember his words well into the future.

For a fuller account of John's talk, follow this link to a writeup of the talk by Charlie Skegg, one of our Upper Sixth students.

— Report by Kate Palmer, Enrichment Coordinator

Basketball team continues unbeaten streak

2011-01-26T03:25:00.000-08:00

The Sixth Form basketball team kept up their 100% winning streak in the U19 Oxon Schools League this season by posting their 3rd successive victory, this time against Burford School.

A lengthy Christmas lay-off (and possibly exam stress) showed as d’Overbroeck’s started extremely slowly. The team failed to find any real rhythm or urgency in the first half, and when into the break just one point up 8-7.

Half time allowed an opportunity for reflection and the team pulled it together in the second half, showing their superiority over a gallant yet inexperienced Burford team. In a low scoring match d’Overbroeck’s stretched out to a 10point lead and held on to the end.

Final Score
d’Overbroeck’s 29
Burford 19

Man of the Match went to Roman Sokolovs for his first points of season with two excellent offensive rebounds and well as his solid work in defence.

— Match report by Johny Richards, Sport & Activities Coordinator

Inside a film studio: tour of Pinewood & Elstree studios

2011-01-07T04:01:00.000-08:00

The stage for Big Brother (source: Elstree)

In December, the Film Studies students were given a rare opportunity to tour Elstree and Pinewood studios in north London.

Elstree was alive with activity as they were in the process of shooting the new Sherlock Holmes film. After signing strict confidentiality agreements, we were shown around lavishly constructed sets, and the students were particularly pleased to see the film’s star, Robert Downey Jr.

Pinewood Studios (source: Pinewood Studios)

In contrast, Pinewood was quiet, with crews clearing up after the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean 4. We saw the underwater stage and the vast concrete hangar of the 007 stage, and were given an inspiring introduction to the process of set design.

Many thanks to Mr James Gemmill (a scenic artist whose film credits include Sherlock Holmes, Atonement and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) for arranging this fascinating tour.

— By Emma Tinker, Film Studies teacher

Oxfordshire Chemist of the Year 2010

2010-12-03T08:13:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Upper Sixth student Megan Burton who is our Sixth Form Chemist of 2010 – an award presented annually to an outstanding Year 13 student.

Megan collected her prize at an award ceremony at Oxford University which included a guided tour of the Chemistry Research Laboratories and a spectacular display of chemical demonstrations. The awards were presented by well-known Chemistry author Professor Peter Atkins.

The Sixth Form Chemist award is an Oxfordshire-wide initiative that aims to increase scientific awareness in the community and celebrate the exceptional talents of Chemistry students. It is run by the Oxfordshire Independent and State Schools Partnership (OISSP) in partnership with Oxford University and the Society of Chemical Industry.

d'Overbroeck's Dancers Ignite Christmas Lights

2010-11-30T02:47:00.001-08:00

Last Friday evening saw Oxford's Christmas Lights Night, on which the city centre was transformed into a carnival of processions, dance, live music and market stalls to celebrate the turning on of the Christmas lights.

Our own d'Overbroeck's Dance Club performed on the main stage in Broad Street to a large crowd of onlookers:

Meanwhile, younger students from Leckford Place sang Christmas carols and songs in the Ashmolean Museum.

There will be another chance to see both groups in action: the Dance Club will perform at tonight's Sixth Form Winter Concert (Tuesday 30 November, 7pm at Leckford Place Hall), and the Leckford Place Choir will sing at the Leckford Place Winter Concert, the following week, which features performances from the 11-16 section of the College (Monday 13 December, 7pm at Leckford Place Hall). So do come along to either – or both!

See more photos of the Dance Club and Leckford Place Choir on Flickr

Ten mathematical award-winners

2010-11-29T07:36:00.000-08:00

On Thursday afternoon, the 4th November, 10 of our lower sixth students scratched their heads and battled through the UKMT Mathematics challenge. The questions were challenging and the marking regime was harsh: marks are deducted for any wrong answers!

Of the 10 students in the competition one student received a Gold Award, six received Silver awards and three received Bronze awards. Aphinya Sirinart, the gold award winner, will go on to the next round of the British Mathematical Olympiad, so many congratulations to her.

The full list of the prizewinners and their final scores:
Aphinya Siranart (97)
Zudan Wu (83)
Pan Leenutaphong (82)
Vagab Kaziakhmedov (79)
Kitiya Prombandankul (78)
Lilit Mesyan (75)
Chuhen Zhao (71)
Igor Svynarchuk (67)
Mengqian Chen (60)
Ruyi Xu (60)

Meet our new Sixth Form Forum student representatives

2010-11-26T01:32:00.001-08:00

This year, the College has launched a new Sixth Form Forum. Composed of elected representatives, it's a place for students to discuss College issues, suggest ideas and enact initiatives.

Following elections earlier this term, we thought we'd give you a quick introduction to some of the new Sixth Form Forum representatives and what they're hoping to achieve this year – starting at their first meeting, on Wednesday 8 December …

Flora McGivan
'I would like to present the students views to the members of staff and to enhance the lives of students at d'Overbroeck's. I also hope to help all the students make the most of all our opportunities!'

Storm Gonsalves
'I hope to use both my skill and insight to transform the sixth form student forum, with help from the student body, into a financialy, socially and legally stable institution with one aim: serving the sixth form students of d'Overbroeck's while setting an example for all other like-minded organizations in Oxfordshire – and hey, while we're at it, even THE WHOLE OF BRITAIN!'

'Josh' Pongnaren Jinruang
I believe in equality, freedom of speech, and mutual respect for different personal preferences. I plan to make sure that every voice is heard and every inquiry is attended to, within reason, so that d'Overbroeck's College will provide an enjoyable experience, educational and otherwise, for all.

Filipa Adzic
My aim is to consider everybody's opinion – because the Student Forum isn't about me; it's about everybody in d'Overbroeck's. So I want to get everybody to write on a piece of paper 3 things that they want in d'Overbroeck's. The thing that is mentioned most frequently is the thing we should concentrate on.

Sam Barton
I hope to contribute to making d'Overbroeck's Sixth Form an even better community and make life easier for students at a time of high stress levels and anxiety for many! I hope to do this by bringing experience from working with local youth forums, a need to talk with everyone about their views and plenty of ideas of my own.

John Morgan
One of the main things I want to focus on is the school's musical side. Aside from the Winter Concert, I'm going to push for new school organised bands (rock, jazz, pop) etc, and music collectives, where students can get together to write, create and produce music.

As well as that, I'm keen to represent the opinions of people in boarding houses/host families, as that is where I currently reside, and I feel that that aspect of the school, whilst already fantastic, needs a representative for any issues that need to be brought up within the council. 

The full list of Student Forum representatives is: Filipa Adzic, Sam Barton, Storm Gonsalves, 'Josh' Pongnaren Jinruang, Flora McGivan, Matt McNally, John Morgan, Sam Pickering.

Economics students take the Interest Rate Challenge

2010-11-24T02:28:00.000-08:00

A team of d'Overbroeck's economists recently took part in the Target 2.0 Interest Rate Challenge run by the Bank of England and The Times newspaper.

Competing teams were set the task of acting like a Junior Monetary Policy Committee: they had to evaluate current market trends and forecasts, and use their analysis to determine an appropriate interest rate in an attempt to hit a 2.0% inflation target.

After discussing the roles of food and energy prices, financial markets and borrowing conditions, consumption and retail sales, and growth trends, the team decided to keep interest rates on hold.

Although the team didn't win the challenge, the judges were impressed by their attention to credit conditions, and commended the very clear structure of their final presentation.

The team consisted of Aphinya Siranart, Dasha Doborogorskaya, Meichun Li and Isaree Tantasith.

– Report by Jagjeet Lally, Economics teacher

Giving a voice to Palestinian children: the Gaza Monologues

2010-11-17T01:43:00.000-08:00

Lower Sixth student Sam George recently performed one of the Gaza Monologues. A series of 31, the monologues were written by 13-17 year old children in Gaza, recording their experiences and feelings.

Theatre companies all over the world volunteered to perform their own interpretations of the monologues as part of a collective effort to represent the views of those whose voices are seldom heard in the mainstream global press. To Sam, it's not about taking a political position, but about directing attention towards those caught in the middle of the conflict.

Here's a short video interview with Sam in which he talks about the Monologues and his experience of performing.

Sam's studying Drama, Music, English, Politics and the AQA Baccalaureate, and ultimately hopes to pursue a career in acting. He's also an accomplished musician, having played solo acoustic gigs and in bands.

No better time to apply to university

2010-11-12T03:03:00.000-08:00

There is no better time to apply to university than right now.

It might seem hard to believe, with all the talk of funding cuts and tuition fees, but this was the message that d'Overbroeck's parent and Director of Careers and Skills at Warwick University Sue Bennett had come to deliver to our Upper Sixth on Wednesday 27th October.

With 84% of graduates ending up in full time employment or further study within 6 months of graduation, Ms Bennett showed that a degree is still a safe bet even in this time of economic uncertainty. Not only that: students should also resist pressure to study a specific degree merely because they think it will improve their chance of a job; instead, it's often a better strategy to study a subject that that will enjoy – and perform best on. Two thirds of employers are only interested in the fact that an applicant has a degree, and do not care about the subject studied. Most employers prioritise a "good degree [1st or 2.1] from a good university" – without specifying subjects.

And with tuition fees due to increase in 2012, it makes sense to apply for 2011 entry – for the obvious reason that those doing so will escape the rise in fees.

— By Mark Piesing, Head of UCAS Programme

Taking Geography outside the classroom

2010-10-06T07:49:00.000-07:00

Twenty two keen and eager Upper Sixth Geographer students accompanied by Kate Palmer and Louise Wheaton set off early from the Swan Building to the Field Studies Council Centre at Slapton Sands in Devon. This is a beautiful part of the country and a good place for the students to develop their Geography knowledge further.

We were here to study physical and human geography in the real world and to see the theories we'd covered in class put into practice.

The students looked at biotic and abiotic features of the ancient woods near Slapton as part of their Biogeography module and also collected data across the shingle beach ridge to see the change in plant species and soil conditions as they move inland. Other days involved the comparison of different urban areas of Plymouth and an interesting case study of gentrification of an old naval building.

The final day was a whistle stop tour around Exeter to see the redevelopment of the retail area in response to other competitiors such as Cribb’s Causeway in Bristol. The students had to devise hypotheses, collect data as part of a team, and then analyse and interpret this data back in the classroom. The sessions went on well into the evening, and were enjoyed by all. Afterwards, we had some free time to relax, watch television, play Articulate and get ready for another full day out in the field.

We were extremely lucky with the weather (which is pretty unusual for Geography fieldtrips!) The students gained some excellent experience to apply to their A2 exams – and as a group are learning ‘to think like a geographer’ much more effectively.

– Words and photos by Kate Palmer, Head of Geography

Results Day: creative communicators

2010-08-19T07:01:00.000-07:00

This year, a number of students combined creative and communicative flair.

Lulu Jones, for example, got A*s in both Photography and Communication & Culture (one of her A2 Photography pieces is shown above; more are on her Flickr photostream), as well as a B in English. She'll be heading to Liverpool in the Autumn to study Communication, Media & Popular Music – a niche course with only around 15 places, unique to Liverpool.

Since she has ambitions to work in broadcasting or music journalism, it sounds like the perfect course.

Meanwhile, Jodie Lewin combined A*s in Communication & Culture and Geography with an A in Art, and is off to read Sociology at the University of Bristol. Sasha Uss gained A grades in Art and History and an A* in Sociology, and has won a place on the highly competitive Art Foundation course at Oxford Brookes University.

Finally, Rory Matthews (whose A level photography work we've featured previously) achieved A*s in Photography and Computing and a B in History. He'll be studying the renowned Photography degree course at Falmouth. It's very rare for Falmouth to accept students without a foundation certificate, so the fact that Rory received an unconditional offer to join after his A levels is testament to the quality of his work.

View all of today's results day stories so far

Results Day: Economists excel

2010-08-19T05:05:00.000-07:00

The results achieved by this year's Economics students were truly outstanding: over half were awarded an A*. Bearing in mind the fact that the national average (across all subjects) is only 8% A*, this is a phenomenal achievement.

Many of these students are going on to study Economics or Economics-related courses at university: 10 of them have met their offers to study at either LSE or UCL – two of the UK's top universities for the subject area.

We caught up with one of these London-bound students, Kira Tritenko (photo above). Alongside her A* in Economics, she gained A* in Maths, A in Politics and B in Spanish, comfortably beating her AAA offer.

'I'm very glad about my results,' she said. 'I worked really hard to get them.' Next year, Kira will study Economics at LSE – which she's looking forward to immensely – but she'll miss her teachers at d'Overbroeck's.

'Economics at d'Overbroeck's is the best. The way the teachers explain things is absolutely amazing. The teachers go way beyond the syllabus, which really helps you enjoy the subject and do well.'

View all of today's results stories so far

Results Day: a passport to volcanology

2010-08-19T04:29:00.001-07:00

Steph Buller (above) gained an A* in Geography, a B in Business Studies and a C in Classics, easily meeting her offer from Coventry University to study the intriguingly-entitled Natural Hazards course.

Natural Hazards involves the study of earthquakes, volcanoes and the like – and will include a fieldwork trip to Iceland to investigate the island's (by now notorious) volcanic activity.

View all of today's results stories so far

A level results: 27% A* grades

2010-08-19T02:38:00.000-07:00

Once again, our Upper Sixth students have achieved an excellent set of A level results, with over a quarter of entries achieving the top grade of A*.

An impressive tally of 13 students gained three or more A*s – including two (Rachuta Ardkhean and George Liu) with no fewer than five A*s.

Meanwhile, a third of all students gained straight A/A* grades: a remarkable achievement.

There are plenty more highlights, and we'll be bringing you just a few of the results day stories over the course of the day. Meanwhile, here is our full results breakdown.

% passes A*-B: 81%
% passes A*/A: 59%
% passes A*: 27%
Average UCAS points per entry: 111.7

The Tempest: huge dramatic impact in a nuanced performance

2010-07-28T01:42:00.000-07:00

This term’s imaginative and daring reimagination of The Tempest saw Shakespeare’s last, great play relocated to a technological scrapheap in the Pacific.

With Sixth Formers joining forces with students from our junior school at Leckford Place, it brought together a wealth of talent from Year 7 right up to Upper Sixth.

The Tempest is, famously, a play that sits uncomfortably within its ‘comedy’ genre: falsehood, betrayal, absolute power and impending death are woven into its fabric. Fittingly, the d’Overbroeck’s production (directed by Drama teacher Joe Swarbrick) accentuated the text’s unsettling ambivalence.

There were moments of huge dramatic impact – as harpies writhed and shrieked, and ships were torn apart in raging seas – but also times of quiet introspection.

Lydia Hassan dominated the play with an extraordinarily nuanced rendition of Prospera, veering from rage to exhultation to troubled introspection. The resulting performance was powerfully compelling – all the more remarkable when you consider the fact that this is a role typically wrestled with by professional actors as they near the end of their career.

Tal Fineman and Will Cronk’s treacherous plotting was suitably distasteful, Felicity Hughes’ Miranda and Joe Wolfensohn’s Ferdinand enacted a haltingly tender courtship, and a troupe of shimmering Ariels were in turn impish and cacophanous.

Meanwhile, the drunken ramblings of Stephano (Sam Rigal) and Trinculo (Daisy Jordan) were hilarious – offset by the disturbing presence of Sixth Former Emma Gonnella’s brilliantly played Caliban.

View a slideshow of photos from the performance:

– Words by Tom Parnell

Staff vs students hockey match

2010-07-05T01:52:00.000-07:00

A boiling hot day greeted a capacity crowd for the eagerly anticipated staff versus student hockey match at Oxford Brookes University. Two well matched teams took to the pitch, both fielding players with regional and national hockey experience.

After a close first half the Staff Team were 1-0 up after a smart finish from the hockey coach Charlie Bennett. The second half saw Matt Way double the advantage for the staff team. However, the students rallied to score twice in the second half – once through a superb finish from Matt Thorns, then (via an excellent cross from Sarah Pearson) Simon Wilkinson also slotted home.

Unfortunately for the students these goals were interspersed by a dubious goal for the staff team, in which the umpire seemed to miss an off the ball incident that should have led to a free hit for the student team. Much as in '66, though, any doubt was cast aside when Charlie Bennett smashed home the staff's fourth to complete his hatrick, lifting the ball into the top corner after some superb wing play from Paul Bailey.

A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon with the staff regaining the trophy – for this year at least ...

– Words by Johny Richards

The Tempest: interview with the Director

2010-06-28T03:03:00.000-07:00

In anticipation of this week's College performance of the Tempest, we caught up with Joe Swarbrick – drama teacher and the play's director.

In the video interview below, Joe describes the play's aesthetic – inspired by gigantic heaps of discarded machinery – and how a 400 year-old text can tell us something today about the interplay between knowledge and power.

The video features original music written and recorded by Joe.

(Details on how to book after the video.)

If you'd like to come and see the play, hurry and book your tickets now, as we still have some seats available on both nights:

Thursday 1 & Friday 2 July, 7pm
Leckford Place Hall
Tickets £10 (adult), £6 (student/concession)

Please e-mail Emily Brooke if you would like a ticket

AS Drama: revenge, entrapment, sacrifice and suffering

2010-06-09T01:42:00.000-07:00

Emiko Yukawa

For the first part of the AS Drama and Theatre Arts Unit 2 Performance Exam, the Year 12 Drama Students had to perform in either a monologue or duologue. There were performances from The Seagull (Chekhov), Medea (a version by Italian activist writer Franca Rame), Tartuffe (Molière) and Miss Julie (Strindberg).

Ed Hornsby

In these scenes, the audience was invited to look behind the closed doors of four family homes, to listen in on the domestic discussions that are unfolding there. A young man who had grown up in the shadow of his mother’s fame confided in his uncle and tried to find his own voice, a woman betrayed by her husband prepared to exact unspeakable revenge, a young woman colluded with her maidservant to avoid marriage to a religious zealot; and two lovers, a mistress and servant found themselves tortured and entrapped by society’s expectations.

Georgie Olesen

The second part of the exam involved a performance of a cut version of The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht. Originally based on an ancient Chinese myth (echoed in the Judgement of Solomon) this is a parable advocating the importance of goodness in a corrupt and weak world.

The story follows the tribulations of Grusha Vachnadze, (a poor servant girl) who sacrifices her own dreams and wishes to safeguard the life of an innocent baby.

Along her journey she meets some amusing and larger than life characters: parodies, Buffons, hypocrites. Set against a backdrop of war, the play exposes the weakness of individuals, greed, faithlessness, the cruelty of dictatorship and the suffering of the poor.

Gabi Kol

Watch a slideshow of photos of the performances.

Words by Fran Godsal and Fizza Hussain - Directors

Building a new school in Zambia - with d'Overbroeck's students' help

2010-06-07T01:30:00.000-07:00

Today, a quick update from Zambia. Last summer, a group of d'Overbroeck's College students (from both Leckford Place and the Sixth Form) travelled to the country and – as well as scaling mountains and swimming under waterfalls – they engaged in charitable work, teaching at a village school and visiting victims of AIDS, malaria and TB.

We recently received an update from one of the Zambian charities to which we donated at the end of the trip, letting us know that some of the funds had gone towards the construction of a new school for children affected by (or themselves suffering from) AIDS.

The building is still unfinished – but they sent the photograph above to show us the progress so far.

The Tempest: looking ahead to this term's major production

2010-05-26T07:22:00.000-07:00

This term's dramatic highlight will be a d'Overbroeck's College production of the Tempest. Shakespeare's last play – a dark, brooding comedy about power, cruelty, love and magic – has been relocated to a technological junk heap in the middle of the Pacific. On this pile of discarded motherboards, monitors and technological detritus sits Prospera, usurped Duchess of Milan, and her daughter Miranda.

Caliban, their slave, the man who built the island with his mother Sycorax, plots his revenge on Prospera, while Prospera herself spies her former enemies on a passing ship. Summoning a storm with her sprite Ariel, the ship is wrecked on the shore of the island and its occupants scattered. As they all try to make sense of their new situation, they realise the island is not what it seems and that someone is controlling their every move.

A thought-provoking and visceral new interpretation of a complex and fascinating play, students from across the d'Overbroeck's family combine video, physical theatre, a cutting-edge soundtrack and exciting visual effects to bring you Shakespeare like you've never seen it before. Intense, energetic, funny and tragic by turn, this promises to be a spectacular theatrical event.

Thursday 1 & Friday 2 July, 7pm
Leckford Place Hall
Tickets £10 (adult), £6 (student/concession)

To book your tickets, please contact the Leckford Place Office: 01865 302620 / leckfordplace@doverbroecks.com

Photographs from our Artweeks Exhibition

2010-05-17T04:27:00.000-07:00

As well as sponsoring the Oxfordshire Artweeks festival, we also – of course – host our own exhibition, which was open over the weekend. As those of you who came along will attest, there was a fantastic array of work: everything from intricately detailed miniatures to gigantic cardboard sculpture; oils to watercolours; sketching to photography.

Here's a slideshow of photos taken at the Private View of our exhibition, on the evening of Friday 14 May.

Election 2010 - a d'Overbroeck's perspective

2010-05-14T08:47:00.000-07:00

For a Friday afternoon news post, we thought we'd bring you a short video on the 2010 election (and our own accompanying mock election, the results of which are shown above).

In the video, Head of Politics Andrew Colclough discusses a few of the issues with sixth form Politics students and gives his own perspective.

(Watch the video on Vimeo.com)

Artweeks Art from a d'Overbroeck's Parent

2010-05-14T03:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we visited Kevin Wooding, who is the father of d'Overbroeck's student Lucy Arque, currently in Year 9 at Leckford Place. Kevin is exhibiting a selection of his art as part of the Oxfordshire Artweeks festival – currently in full swing.

[On which note, a quick reminder that our own exhibition – featuring work by students, parents and staff of the College, as well as local artists – will be open this weekend. Please do come along! More details here (pdf)]

During Artweeks, many Oxfordshire artists throw open their studios, galleries and homes to the public. In this spirit, we pitched up at Kevin's exhibition, video camera in hand, to find out a little bit about his art. To find out more, watch the interview:

If you'd like to see Kevin's work in the flesh, the opening hours for his exhibition are on the Artweeks website. Alternatively, send Kevin an email to book a viewing.

Singing to our neighbours

2010-05-11T05:33:00.000-07:00

Not long ago, five members of the sixth form vocal group performed at Farfields Residential Home – which is next-door to The Swan Building on the Banbury Road. Students included Gidon Fineman, Samuel Barrett, Emiko Yukawa, Min Jia Pan, and Matt Thorns.

The recital kicked off with a performance of 'Takwaba' – a Zambian piece, learnt during the college trip to Zambia in 2009 and arranged by Gidon Fineman, before going on to perform a succession of songs such as 'Hallelujah', 'Fields of Gold', 'Dream a little Dream', and 'Seasons of Love' from the musical Rent.

Matt Thorns then finished the concert with a solo performance of his own composition (written as part of his A level Music course).

It was a great opportunity to build a connection with the Fairfields residents, and we look forward to similar performances in future.

The new d'Overbroeck's ad campaign: how it was made

2010-05-05T02:40:00.000-07:00

Normally we use this news feed to talk about student stories or College events. This post, though, is a little different: we thought we'd give you an insight into our Sixth Form advertising – by telling you the story of how we came up with our new ad campaign, which we launched earlier this month.

The thinking behind the ads

We wanted a series of adverts that reflected the opinions of students at the College; a campaign that wasn't us talking about ourselves, but us in the eyes of our students. It was to be eyecatching and bold, with a simple message about a distinctive feature of d'Overbroeck's Sixth Form.

Asking our students for help

So the first step was to ask a group of sixth formers to give up a few hours of their Easter holiday and come in for an informal focus group.

These generous students – Charlie, Daisy, Dani, Samuel and Will – gave us a wealth of feedback and ideas. As we talked, certain themes kept coming up. Independence. Balance. Atmosphere. Trust.

We kept coming back to the idea that, at Sixth Form, these students wanted a place that was geared towards them. A place where, as somebody said, 'It's not about what you can do for the school, it's about what the school can do for you.'

This idea seemed to be at the root of many of the qualities that our group liked about d'Overbroeck's.

... And we decided that this should therefore be the focus of our adverts.

Putting the ads together

Before our focus group had dispersed, we'd taken a few photographs of each student. We then paired up some of these with headline quotations taken from the focus group session and fitting in with our overarching theme. In our ears rang the advice of copywriter Roger Holdsworth, whose daughter Annabel studied here a few years ago: no more than 5-10 words for the headline. (Roger has had an illustrious copywriting career working for prestigious advertising agencies such as M&C Saatchi.)

At length (after a fair amount of headscratching, numerous false starts and plenty of ruthless word-pruning) we ended up with our first set of three adverts, featuring Samuel, Dani and Charlie – which are currently on display at a number of poster sites around Oxford, and have also appeared in the Oxford Times.

We'd love to hear your thoughts on the campaign!

d'Overbroeck's Open Days on the horizon

2010-04-29T02:40:00.000-07:00

Just a short post to let you know that we have a Sixth Form Open Morning coming up. So if you know of anyone who might be interested to come along (or, indeed, if you are yourself!) – all are welcome.

Sixth Form Open Morning
Saturday 8 May 2010
10am to 12.30pm
Telephone 01865 310000

Meanwhile, for those with younger children, there will be an Open Evening at Leckford Place – the 11-16 section of the College – the following month:

11-16 Open Evening at Leckford Place
Tuesday 15 June 2010
5.30 to 8.00pm
Telephone 01865 302620

Delving into the history of Berlin

2010-04-19T01:45:00.000-07:00

In February half-term a group of A level History students visited Berlin with their teachers, Alastair Barnett and Andy Latcham.

We enjoyed a fascinating and action-packed two days of intensive visits and sight-seeing. Crisp winter sunshine and snow added to the atmosphere as we explored Berlin's 20th century history.

Starting with a stroll past the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall (now a gallery of high-quality political and satirical graffiti), we went on to visit Check Point Charlie Museum, with its exhibits of heroic escape attempts over and under the wall. The human reality of the era was brought home to us by our guide, who had actually been born in a post-war Soviet prison camp in East Germany and had experienced the entire history of the rise and fall of the wall first-hand.

After lunching in Potsdamer Platz – the symbol of modern, capitalist Berlin under reconstruction – we passed the site of Hitler's bunker and visited the Holocaust memorial and were very moved by the powerful stories of individual lives and families affected by the tragedy. On a more uplifting note, we were able to visit the Reichstag, representing a revived and successfully functioning democracy, where a visit to its Dome provided rooftop views of the city and some impressive modern architecture designed by Norman Foster.

The second day involved some sombre but moving and thought-provoking visits: first to Sachsenhausen Concentration camp, just outside Berlin, and then to the headquarters of the Stasi – the East German secret police, which were even more numerous and intrusive than the more notorious Gestapo of the Nazi era. Both provided fascinating but sobering insights into the harsh realities of two totalitarian regimes – which still live in the memories and experiences of many German citizens today.

All in all, a very instructive visit which students and staff alike found really worthwhile. We are already working to plan our next A level-related excursion – hopefully to the USA in 2011!

Words and photos by Alastair Barnett, Head of History

Inside the Foreign Office

2010-03-30T08:34:00.000-07:00

Lower Sixth student Meichun Li has been bolstering her AS level study of British politics with some first-hand experience: last week, she spent a day shadowing Labour MP Chris Bryant – Minister of State for Europe and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

During her day of shadowing, Meichun observed Bryant meeting the Foreign Minister of Kosovo and the Foreign Secretary David Milliband, as well as addressing the Scottish parliament via video-linkup on the subject of the Lisbon Treaty.

What struck Meichun about the Foreign Office? 'It's a really busy environment – everybody was working very hard, and I was impressed by the passionate attitude of the people who work there: they really enjoy working for the Foreign Office.'

Meichun is studying Economics, Politics, Chemistry, Maths and Further Maths, and hopes to go onto a degree in Economics at university. Ultimately, she thinks she might like to work for an NGO in an area related to economic policy. And she's enjoying her time at d'Overbroeck's so far:

'It's really energetic. I feel like it's a creative place – it gives you inspiration.'

Fun running for Sport Relief

2010-03-23T04:52:00.000-07:00

On Thursday 4 March, a cohort of d'Overbroeck's students and staff headed to Cutteslowe Park to run the College Sport Relief fun run.

19 participants – from experienced runners to first-timers – ran a total of 78 miles between them, with everyone running at least three miles. And many were wearing fancy dress for the occasion.

All together, the fun-runners raised a total of £577.85 for Sport Relief.

Here's a slideshow of photos from the run, with a list of the winners below.

Winners

5 mile race
1st place (women's) — Susanne Kreitz
1st place (men's) — Olly van Biervliet and Charlie Bennet (joint)

3 mile race
1st place (men's) — Simon Wilkinson
1st place (women's) — Clare Cameron

Best fancy dress
Women's — Rhiannon Lewis
Men's — Elliot Fisher and Dulith Wanigasekera

Top fund-raiser
Ben Calnan (total of £95)

Words by Johny Richards
Photos by Hannah Johnson

Photo of the month: Samuel Unwin

2010-03-16T03:52:00.000-07:00

March's photo of the month is this eyecatchingly geometric image by Lower Sixth student Samuel Unwin.

Alongside AS level Photography, Samuel is also studying Biology, Music Technology and Business Studies – and has appeared before on these news pages as one member of our high-flying Global Enterprise Week team.

Samuel decided to do Photography A level because he was already keenly interested in photography and wanted to learn more – particularly about the technical side of things, including dark room work. And he's not regreted his decision: 'Everyone is very friendly and supportive ... we all share ideas and appreciate each other's work.'

'In photography you never know what you'll find', he says, so likes to take a very open-minded approach to his work, always on the lookout for new photographic opportunities.

And how has he enjoyed his Sixth Form so far: 'I love d'Overbroeck's. It's the people who make it what it is – the friendly atmosphere continues to amaze me.'

Visit Samuel Unwin's online photo gallery.

An eerie trip to Wonderland

2010-03-15T04:06:00.000-07:00

Last week's performance of Alice in Wonderland was produced, directed and acted exclusively by Sixth Form students.

In his famous novel, Lewis Carroll admirably recreates the surreal and arbitrary nature of dreams, in which connections need not always be logical and the usual laws of cause and effect are suspended.

Taking its cue from this, the production emphasised the kaleidoscopic, dreamlike nature of Alice's adventures. At times, the dream in question seemed disconcertingly close to a Freudian nightmare, with a number of menacingly intense performances, spartan set design and music/sound (composed and recorded by Sixth Former Gidon Fineman) that veered from cacophony to eery atmospherics to maniacal jubilance. However there was also some light relief in the form of several entertainingly unhinged cameo performances.

Pacey, energetic and imaginative, the production succeeded in leaving the audience themselves feeling a little as if they – like Alice – had just emerged from a mesmerising dream ...

Below, you'll find a slideshow of photos taken at the dress rehearsal and performance.

Watch the slideshow on Flickr

'A river ain't too much to love' – AS Geography fieldwork

2010-03-08T01:31:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday February 24th, 22 keen AS students – together with Kate, our Head of Geography, and Hannah, our Social Organiser – set off to Juniper Hall field centre near Guildford. The weather was cool and wet but the mood happy and purposeful.

Day 1
In the afternoon, the students collected data regarding flood risk management. This involved the collection of land use data and percentage use of the land within selected sample sites. In the evening the results were processed using GIS to show the flood risk hazard on the floodplain of the River Wey in Guildford.

Day 2
After a class-based session giving background information of river channel changes, students went to three different sites on the River Tillingbourne to collect data such as river width, depth, velocity and gradient. This was a long and very wet day but everyone worked hard and with enthusiasm against the demands of the British weather. Write ups in the evening involved graph and analysis work to see the patterns and changes from source to mouth. A major Charades tournament followed, on the combined theme of film and geography. So teams found themselves acting out some challenging terms – 'sub-aerial weathering' and 'the Holderness Coastline', for instance!

Day 3
Morning involved work in the centre grounds to assess the changes made to interception and infiltration with different land uses and vegetation types. Form this, storm hydrographs could then be produced and analysed.

Arriving back at d'Overbroeck's on Friday afternoon were 22 tired and muddy students – hopefully equipped with more geography skills and knowledge to take with them into the summer exams.

A successful and fun trip was had by all – including Hannah, who is now a first-class geographer, though still a city girl at heart.

– Report written by Kate Palmer, Head of Geography

Below, a slideshow of more photos from the trip (see slideshow on Flickr)

Alice in Wonderland - whetting your appetite for next week's shows

2010-03-04T07:28:00.000-08:00

With only a week to go before our Sixth Form production of Alice in Wonderland, we thought we'd post this quick video interview with Daisy Grieve and Emma Gonnella – the two Sixth Form students who are directing the production (you may remember our first interview with Daisy and Emma back in October).

— So, without further ado, over to Emma and Daisy to give you a taste of what to expect, and tell you why you should book tickets to come along (if you haven't already)...

(If the video above isn't displaying, here's a link to watch it on YouTube).

To recap, the performances of Alice will be on Thursday 11 and Friday 12 March at 7pm, at the OFS Theatre in Oxford. To book tickets (£5 for adults; £3 for children/students), please telephone 01865 310000 or email us. Hurry, as both nights are filling up quickly ...

MG Harris on writing a bestselling novel - Sixth Form Speaker Programme

2010-03-02T08:32:00.000-08:00

Do you have a novel in you? How do you make sure yours is the manuscript that the literary agent actually bothers to read? What do Aristotle and Hollywood have in common – and how could they both help you come up with a bestseller?

Yesterday, as part of our Speaker Programme, we were visited by MG Harris, bestselling author of The Joshua Files, a series of books for young adults.

MG described writing her first novel in the aftermath of a skiing accident, and (subsequently) the conception and creation of The Joshua Files. She spoke particularly about the challenges of finding a literary agent and getting published – and outlined the approach that had finally worked for her: targeting and researching a specific agent and tailoring her manuscript to grab his attention.

Plot, she argued, was the most demanding (and easily neglected) aspect of the writer's craft: she spends weeks honing her narrative, ratcheting up the tension in key scenes, devoting attention to characters' motivations and the consequences of each plot device. And she pointed out that the qualities identified by Aristotle as essential to a compelling drama – all the way back in Ancient Greece – remain virtually unchanged in the modern Hollywood blockbuster.

You can read more about MG Harris on her blog, or visit the Joshua Files website.

Musical seduction, adoration and deception: Cupid's Labyrinth

2010-02-25T03:49:00.000-08:00

'If music be the food of love, play on ...'

These were the familiar words that introduced Cupid's Labyrinth – an evening overflowing with musical ardour.

We were treated to a programme of solos, duets, trios and quartets that brought together songs by Purcell and Handel, operatic arias by Verdi and Mozart and extracts from the more modern operettas of Offenbach and Gilbert & Sullivan – all unified by the theme of love.

So we witnessed seduction …

… silent adoration …

… amorous competition …

… illicit liaison …

… and more. The quality of the singing was unfailingly excellent, with a talented cast of performers – from Year 7 to Sixth Form – proving themselves more than equal to some extremely demanding classical repertoire.

Here's a slideshow of photographs from the evening:

Photo of the month: Rory Matthews

2010-02-09T02:17:00.000-08:00

The above image, by Upper Sixth student Rory Matthews, is the first of a new series of posts featuring work by some of our most talented sixth form photographers.

The photo itself doesn't require much in the way of description: dark, intense and full of narrative power, it speaks for itself.

Read on for a short interview with Rory about his approach to photography ... and more examples of his work.

When did you start taking photos?
I only really began seriously during the summer after secondary school when I was given a compact camera as a reward for passing my GCSEs.

What makes a great image?
I think that composition has got to be the most important part of a picture: anything can be made interesting if it is caught in the right way. Following closely in importance is lighting: even the most interesting of subjects can be badly lit, and this will ruin a shot.

What inspires you as a photographer?
I’m not sure why, but shortly before seriously starting to try and take photographs I began to pay attention to a world that had been passing me by. I realised that there were lots of beautiful things to see if you took the time to look. I think photography followed on fairly naturally from this.

Any photographic ambitions?
I really hope that I can take the documentary or photojournalism route. I’d like to travel back to Africa where I was born, and spend time with a family or group and photograph them over an extended period.

What’s photography A level been like here at d’Overbroeck’s?
d’Overbroeck’s has been the perfect environment – and an immensely important part of my personal development. It has a relaxed environment that fosters a determined and focussed attitude amongst it’s students toward work. I hadn’t been anywhere like it before.

The above images are just a tiny selection from Rory's work – and we'd encourage you to browse his online portfolio to see more: Rory Matthews' photos (via Flickr)

All photos are © Rory Matthews, all rights reserved.

d'Overbroeck's College Open Mornings

2010-01-25T01:47:00.000-08:00

Coming up in the next two weeks are two d'Overbroeck's Open Mornings – the first for younger students interested in joining Leckford Place (the 11-16 section of the College); the second for prospective Sixth Formers.

Leckford Place Open Morning (11-16)
Saturday 30 January, 10am to 1pm
Leckford Place, Leckford Road, Oxford OX2 6HX (map)
Further details: 01865 302620

Sixth Form Open Morning
Saturday 6 February, 10am to 12.30pm
The Swan Building, 111 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6JX (map)
Further details: 01865 310000

Both events offer an opportunity for prospective parents and students to meet and chat to teachers and current students, find out about the subjects and activities on offer, and tour some of our buildings and facilities.

All are welcome, so if you know anyone who might be interested in coming along to either Open Morning (or both), please do pass on the invitation.

Number 7 in Oxfordshire

2010-01-15T06:40:00.000-08:00

d'Overbroeck's Sixth Form has been ranked 7th in Oxfordshire for last year's A level results in league tables published by the Times newspaper.

On average, our students scored an excellent 243.3 QCA points per entry – which translates to an average grade of somewhat over a B.

You can browse the league tables on the Times website – enter 'Oxfordshire' in the 'Local authority' field and choose the 'A level results' tab.

Photos from the Snow Ball

2009-12-10T08:10:00.001-08:00

This year, in addition to the traditional end-of-year ball, saw the introduction of a similar event at the end of the Winter term – entitled the Snow Ball. Here's a slideshow of photos from the evening, featuring students and the band South Parade.

View the photos on Flickr

Videos from the Winter Concert 2009

2009-12-02T08:53:00.001-08:00

Here are the first pair of videos (more to come) from last week's Winter Concert.

First up, the d'Overbroeck's Vocal Group, performing an arrangement by upper sixth student Gidon Fineman. The song is a traditional Zambian melody which was taught to Gidon and others during the College trip to Zambia this summer.

... and second, a cover version of 'Hey Julie' by Fountains of Wayne – performed by Zanni Cohen and Dulith Wanigasekera.

Alternatively, view the videos on Vimeo or YouTube

d'Overbroeck's business students Make Their Mark

2009-12-02T07:03:00.000-08:00

On Monday 16th November, L6th Business Studies students at d'Overbroeck's joined 73,000 students across the UK taking part in the Make Your Mark Challenge as part of this year's Global Enterprise Week involving 88 countries. The theme of the day is only released the morning of the competition and then time is tight for the team's of four to get their idea ready to pitch to our Dragons at 3pm. This year the title was 'Don't Be A Carbon Copy' and the teams had to come up with an idea that had a low carbon credential as well as a local link.

The students had just over an hour to complete sections such as competition research, full costings analysis and developing the products USP – unique selling point. Ideas based around the needs of Oxford included Saddle Saw for ricksaw tours and taxis, Cycle repair stations at the station and to your door and electric Mini-car GPS tours. The runners up decided one of the main theme's in Oxford is the rain and so they designed bio-degradeable phonchos and umbrellas for vending machines to help visitors caught out with the weather. This year's winners chosen by the Dragons based their idea on Nicola Creamer's ureka moment whilst travelling in dreadful weather recently – CLEAR WINDSCREEN WIPERS. The team consisting of Nicola, Charlie Noble, Emily Leach and Samuel Unwin used recycled plastic for the wipers and had some excellent ideas for their production and future development with BMW Mini.

Infact the idea was so good that the team made it through to the final ten in the whole of the South East Region. Only a week after their initial idea the team headed into the Picture Gallery at Royal Holloway University to pitch their idea and face new Dragons from the British Council, Royal Holloway Univeristy and a successful local entrepreneur. The other teams came from areas including Kent, London and Southampton but d'Overbroeck's were the only selected Oxfordshire team. It was a daunting experience for all the students but everyone did exceptionally well and the Royal Holloway professor was clearly very impressed with Clear View's concept.

The winners were 19 year old Foundation Year students from a London Art and Design College with their fun concept of fashion accessories that turn into shopping bags and therefore continue to reduce the problem of plastic bags. With experience in this area, they had their prototypes already made so it was easy for the judges to see how the concept could be moved onto the next step and become viable in the near future. For the rest of the teams it was a great insight into the next stage of design development.

(Writeup by Clare Cameron)

The Winter Concert 2009

2009-11-27T08:18:00.000-08:00

The evening of Tuesday 24 November was the occasion of the annual Sixth Form Winter Concert, held at the Jacqueline du Pre Music Building at St Hilda's College.

A jamboree of music, drama and dance, the evening showed off diverse student talents – and spanned the centuries, from Mozart to Radiohead.

Below is a gallery of photos from the concert, with more to follow next week – along with video footage of some of the performances.

See a full-size slideshow

Two teachers are Oxfordshire Rowing Champions

2009-11-24T06:28:00.000-08:00

We've written previously about the rowing prowess of two d'Overbroeck's teachers, Melanie Ward (Music) and Clare Cameron (Business Studies). Further congratulations are now in order: earlier this month, their rowing squad (the City of Oxford Rowing Club Women’s Tier 1) won Sports Team of the Year at the Oxfordshire Sports Awards 2009.

The awards ceremony was hosted by Jo Thoenes and Brennan Nicholls from BBC Oxford, and attended by 330 guests, including 34 finalists.

The squad, including Melanie (left) and Clare (3rd from right) is pictured above, at the ceremony (photo courtesy of Tudor Photography).

Biology Field Trip: timetravelling in the dunes and surveying invertebrates...

2009-11-18T01:09:00.000-08:00

Every year our Upper Sixth Biologists go on an Autumn field trip to Nettlecombe Court – a beautiful old mansion nestling on the edge of Exmoor. On their return, Head of Biology Jaimie Tarrell wrote a short account of their time there…

Field work is an integral part of A level Biology and, over the years, we have developed a very productive way of exploiting the opportunities of quantitative field work with the help of expert ecologists. The secret is to prepare the theory before donning our wellies. This way, the students know what to look for when they are identifying and counting wild organisms in the rich ecosystems that we study.

We began with a quantitative survey of a rocky shore. To many, seaweeds may just be slippery slimy ‘plants’ that cover the rocks and hide the crabs – but when you really look at the ‘zonation’ of red through brown to green seaweeds, as you progress up the shore, they take on a new meaning in relation to photosynthesis and the availability of light under water. Guess what? The red seaweeds don’t look red when the tide is in.

We also visited Braunton Burrows – the largest sand dune complex in Europe. Here, students had the chance to study ‘succession’ from pioneer to climax communities. As we walked back from the hide tide mark (sampling all the while), we were effectively walking back in time.

One activity that everyone really enjoys is the freshwater stream survey. Students have the chance actually to handle the myriad invertebrates that inhabit this cryptic ecosystem and provide the basis of complex food webs – and to use their knowledge to assess the purity of the water.

For many, the Biology Field Trip is a rare opportunity to see some of England’s beautiful countryside – in a wonderful array of different Wellington boots – whilst learning that special level of knowledge unique to an A level Biologist.

View a full-screen slideshow of the Biology Field Trip photos on Flickr

This year's Lower Sixth scholars

2009-11-04T04:33:00.000-08:00

We thought we'd do a quick post to introduce this year's new scholars – photographed in typically scholarly pose, above (although the eagle-eyed will notice that two of our Upper Sixth scholars, Danielle Greenspan and Gidon Fineman, also make an appearance).

So – here are the d'Overbroeck's Sixth Form scholars who joined us this year:

Academic Scholars
Louisa Emms (joining us from Rye St Antony School)
Madeleine Hurry (Warriner School)
Bella Maine (Headington School)

Performing Arts Scholar
Matthew Thorns (Leckford Place)

Environmental Awareness Scholars
Louisa Goodfellow (Leckford Place)
Flora Griffiths (Chipping Norton School)

Academic Exhibitioners
Gary Paterson (Leckford Place)
Rhys Tong-Jones (The Athenian School)

Art Exhibitioner
Daisy Bernard (Headington School)

All Rounder Academic Exhibitioner
Edward Hornsby (Radley College)

Next year's scholars ...

We're rapidly approaching the application deadline for next year's scholarships – for those joining the Sixth Form in 2010-11. The deadline is Monday 9 November – so there's still time to apply. Further details are on our Sixth Form Scholarships page.

Creation Theatre's Beauty & The Beast

2009-10-21T04:03:00.000-07:00

As part of the ongoing partnership between d'Overbroeck's College and Creation Theatre, we're delighted to announce that students, parents and staff at the College will receive a 25% discount on tickets for Creation's Christmas show: Beauty and the Beast.

How to book

The first of our special d'Overbroeck's Evenings will be Wednesday 2 December (we'll announce another date in future). So all d'Overbroeck's parents, pupils and staff will receive 25% off Premium and Band A tickets for that night.

To claim your discount, please telephone the Creation Theatre Box Office on 01865 766266 – and when you give your name, remember to say that you are from d'Overbroeck's.

Book early to guarantee a ticket – no later, please, than Friday 6 November.

The Spiegeltent, in which the performance will take place

More about Beauty and the Beast

This Christmas, join Creation for a fresh magical retelling of the timeless fairytale Beauty and the Beast. Forget cartoons, panto and Disney, this Beauty will engage you with magic, music and comedy in the amazing Spiegeltent at Oxford’s MINI Plant. Suitable for ages 6-96 years, you can also enjoy delicious gourmet crepes at your cabaret style table.

“This colourful slice of storytelling should hook both children and adults alike” (Oxford Mail)

“For two heart-melting hours, they banish all cares.” (The Daily Telegraph)

Former student Jack Williams plays a BBC session

2009-10-21T03:21:00.000-07:00

Jack Williams (photographed above, headlining our Leavers' Ball in 2008) left d'Overbroeck's Sixth Form in 2008 and is currently studying at the prestigious Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA). He recently recorded a three-song session for BBC Radio Merseyside, in which he plays two of his own songs, as well as covering the Beatles' 'Come together'.

If you'd like to listen, you can download an mp3 of Jack Williams' session (13.4MB)

Staging a Mad Hatter's Tea Party

2009-10-21T01:39:00.001-07:00

[This article appeared in last week's edition of the Oxford Times – we're reproducing it here for those who missed it]

How do you stage a Mad Hatter's Tea Party? And who's got the best Cheshire Cat grin? Two students at d'Overbroeck's Sixth Form – Daisy Grieve (above, right) and Emma Gonnella (left) – are wrestling with questions such as these, as they direct the Sixth Form performance of Alice in Wonderland, adapted by Adrian Mitchell.

A performance entirely conceived, acted and organised by students, Alice will be a true team effort: even the set and costume design is student-led, courtesy of Art A level students. And Gidon Fineman – one of the Sixth Form Performing Arts Scholars, who has already proven his compositional mettle by writing music for two professional theatre shows last year – is taking on the role of Musical Director.

We caught up with Daisy and Emma to find out about their plans for the production – and how it's going so far.

Us: So – what made you choose Alice?

Daisy: We thought it was a play that offered lots of opportunities. We wanted something that would involve lots of people – we've recruited a cast of 30.
Emma: And we loved the surreality of Alice ... there's so much scope for creative interpretation. In our case, a dark, slightly 'twisted' interpretation!

Us: And what are the challenges?

Daisy: We've had to take authority – we're not teachers, we're their friends.
Emma: What's really helped is the way Kate [Parsons, head of Drama] has taught us ... Before, we'd never have had the confidence to take this on.
Daisy: Also, we're taking responsibility for the whole production – so there's a lot of organisation work: we have to think about everything from copyright to scheduling to finances.

Us: You're only a few weeks in – but have there been any highlights so far?

Emma: Well, we've only had two rehearsals ... For the first, an all-cast rehearsal, it was a sunny evening, so we were outside.
Daisy: ... And we ended up with about 10 or 20 teachers all standing there watching us!
Emma: The onstage Chemistry between Matt Thorns (our Hatter) and Chris Higham (the Hare) is amazing.
Daisy: Yes, you just have to look at them together and you start laughing. They don't even have to say anything.

Us: In general what do you think makes a good performance?

Emma: Energy.
Daisy: ... and a committed cast.
Emma: Compatibility.
Daisy: ... an energetic, committed, compatible cast?
Emma: (And awesome special effects.)

Us: What about creative differences? Is it difficult to agree on an interpretation?

Daisy: Not really, actually. We generally have the same kind of ideas ... we feed off each other. I guess we're both influenced to some extent by some of the techniques we've used in class – workshops we've done and so on ... But still, most of the ideas are ours.

Us: And, finally, what are your ambitions for the future?

Emma: I really want to act, so I'm applying to drama schools: places like RADA and the Bristol Vic
Daisy: Well, I want to study Spanish & Film Studies at university – but after that I'd like to work in film direction and production.

As well as directing Alice, both Emma and Daisy are looking forward to being involved in the production of The Tempest – which will take place a month or two later, and involve not only Sixth Form students, but also those from Leckford Place, the 11-16 section of d'Overbroeck's College.

Alice in Wonderland will be staged in early February. If you would like to be notified when tickets are available, please email the Sixth Form Office.

UCAS Programme: speaker visits from Bournemouth University and GapAdvice

2009-10-08T08:53:00.000-07:00

One aim of the UCAS and applications programme we run at d'Overbroeck's is to get students thinking about the choices they are making – by presenting them with a variety of people and places and options that they might not otherwise have considered.

To this end, last week saw two events for Upper Sixth students:

Event 1: Sandwiches at Bournemouth?

On Tuesday, we were visited by Ricky Hale – a current Business Studies undergraduate at Bournemouth University who's spending a 'sandwich year' working for (instead of studying at) the university. So he spoke about the experience of being a student, yet not a student.

He also told us about the kinds of thing that Bournemouth media students have gone on to do (such as producing King Kong's fur for the recent movie), and described the new multi-million pound media centre built by the university.

For two years running, Bournemouth University has been 'best new university' and is ranked 12th in the country for Media courses (according to the Guardian).

Event 2: Gap years during a recession

With the economy in recession, jobs in short supply and tuition fees looking set to rise dramatically after the election, is a Gap Year still a viable option for students?

Phil Murray, Director of independent advisory service GapAdvice came to talk to our students to show how they can still take a Gap Year, despite all the bad economic news.

Whether it ends up just being 3 months of voluntary work between the end of their exams and the start of their new life at uni, or the 15 months they actually have after they finish their A levels.

Gapadvice.org provides independent gap year advice and has been described by the BBC as 'an extremely useful and reliable resource'.

d'Overbroeck's vs Wychwood - Girls' Hockey match

2009-10-05T03:07:00.000-07:00

On Thursday afternoon last week, d'Overbroecks Ladies Hockey team made their way over to Oxford High school where they played Wychwood 6th form Ladies. Here's a short account of the match by Hockey Coach Jo Kalies.

During the first 10 minutes, both teams battled their way up and down the pitch, with a couple of attempts at goal. Finally – despite some outstanding goalkeeping by Wychwood – Elizabeth Foulkes' second shot rebounded off the keeper and from Lizzie into the bottom left corner of the goal.

This first goal completely changed the game for d'Overbroeck's – and from this point on, our team dominated the game. Just five minutes after that first goal, Megan Burton took the second, set up by Amy Reed. Straight over the keeper's foot, into the bottom left corner again.

Half time came and went – and, although Wychwood defended well, one more goal from d'Overbroeck's came from Eva Rorsman, set up by an excellent pass from Sarah Pearson. So the final score was 3-0 to d'Overbroeck's.

Everyone played extremely well. Our defence (Kate Herbert and Chrystal Pereira) kept pushing play into Wychwood's half and kept pressure on them the whole time.

Woman of the match went to Amy Reed for her excellent coving of the pitch and strong skills around defenders – as well as her excellent teamwork.

A busy first few weeks at the Sixth Form

2009-10-02T08:15:00.000-07:00

We've had a busy first few weeks at the Sixth Form. Lower Sixth students have met their Directors of Studies and are already getting stuck into their AS courses, while Upper Sixth are up and running with their A2s.

Everyone's had a chance to choose their term's extracurricular activities at our (bustling) Activities Fair, while events like the Welcome BBQ and Movie Night have helped new students to get to know one another and make friends.

Meanwhile, rehearsals have already started for the Sixth Form student production of 'Alice in Wonderland'; ex-student George Meagher has returned to talk about his time as a Prime Minister's fellow in Brazil; and Upper Sixth students have embarked upon this term's UCAS preparation programme – of which we'll be posting more news shortly.

Meanwhile, here's a selection of photos from the Lower Sixth Welcome BBQ – sumo-suits and all.

Mansour interviewed on BBC Radio Oxford

2009-08-25T07:08:00.000-07:00

One of our A level stars, Mansour Ahmed, was interviewed on BBC Radio Oxford yesterday. He chatted to presenter Jo Thoenes about his family background, multiculturalism and staying up all night before getting his results.

The interview then moved onto Mansour's time at d'Overbroeck's – settling in, falling in love with Computer Science, and the difference that getting an Access Scholarship has made to him.

Listen again to the interview on iPlayer (from around 1hr 08)

George collects results from Cadbury's, Brazil

2009-08-20T07:28:00.000-07:00

The results day of George Meagher was a little different from that of many students – insofar as he received his results halfway through a placement at the Brazil HQ of chocolate firm Cadbury's. He's there as one of 100 students selected from all over the UK to represent the country as a Prime Minister's Global Fellow.

We'll write more about George's exploits when he returns – and confine ourselves in this post to congratulating him on gaining straight A grades in Biology, French and Business Studies. Meanwhile, though, you might like to read his Global Fellowship blog.

See all of today's results stories

Straight As for Rosie, Sammy and Mae

2009-08-20T06:43:00.000-07:00

Here are Sammy Hornsby and Mae Yip, shortly after collecting their results today.

Sammy (some of whose art we featured in our A level gallery a few months ago) gained A grades in Art, Classical Civilisation and English Literature, whilst Mae's were in Chemistry, Maths and Business Studies.

Mae is the youngest of three siblings, all of whom have studied A levels at d'Overbroeck's – so these results mark the end of an era … However, we look forward to welcoming Sammy's younger brother to the Sixth Form next year.

Similarly, whilst we're bidding farewell to Rosie Cohen (above) – who gained As in Drama & Theatre Studies, English Literature, French and Spanish – her sister Zanni will be joining us next year.

… So that's the news from a few of our d'Overbroeck's families!

See all today's results stories

A Lancastrian Business delegation

2009-08-20T06:07:00.000-07:00

Next up in our results day features is a trio of upper sixth who are all bound for Lancaster University to study Business.

Above is Phil Anderson, going over his results with Head of Business Andrew Gillespie – he has an A in Business Studies and Bs in Economics and Politics.

Julian Jansen, meanwhile, has notched up four A grades – in Business Studies, German, Politics and History – as well as an AS level C in Maths.

Finally, Andreas Josephides achieved 3 As (in Film Studies, Business Studies and French) alongside a B in PE.

Congratulations to all three of our Lancaster-bound businessmen ...

Some statistics...

2009-08-20T03:50:00.000-07:00

Here are some early statistics on this year's results:

Subject highlights

100% A grades in Accounting, Ancient History, German and Philosophy
80% A grades in Communication & Culture
79% A grades in Biology
76% A grades in Chemistry
75% A grades in Computing, Psychology and Spanish
73% A grades in Maths
71% A grades in English Literature
67% A grades in Business Studies, Classical Civilisation
65% A grades in Economics
100% A/B grades in Communication & Culture, Computing, Film Studies and History

Overall statistics

61% A grades
83% A/B grades
94% A-C grades

More student stories to come this afternoon! Read all the results day stories so far

4 As for Mansour -- and a place at Cambridge

2009-08-20T03:18:00.000-07:00

Mansour Ahmed achieved a run of four straight As – in Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry and Computing – and has already been snapped by the local press.

The College's Access Scholar, Mansour joined us from Cheney School. His four A grades will confirm his place at Cambridge to read Computer Science.

See all today's results stories

A level results day

2009-08-20T02:26:00.000-07:00

We're delighted to report our best ever set of A level results: 61% A grades, with 1 in 3 students gaining straight As.

Congratulations to all our students on such an outstanding performance.

Over the course of Results Day, we'll be updating this news page with more information about the results and stories from a few of the students as they come in to collect them. So stay tuned for more!

Summer Greetings and Farewells

2009-06-29T03:38:00.000-07:00

In last week's Summer Garden Party, we said goodbye to parents of leavers – but also welcomed those whose children will be entering the Lower Sixth next year. We also looked back on the past three terms, via an exhibition of photographs and student art.

Thanks to our team of student helpers who ensured that the event went smoothly, and to Felipe Fazenda, Josh Vizor and Kathryn Poon who provided a musican soundtrack to the evening.

Closing the year in style: the Sixth Form Ball

2009-06-23T08:27:00.000-07:00

Last Friday's Sixth Form Ball was an enormous success. As you'll see from the photographs, students and staff alike were finely attired – and the venue was decorated in accordance with this year's theme: red.

For the first time, the event included a seated dinner – allowing our Extracurricular Activities Coordinators Johny and Jo to announce and present the sport awards during the final course. This year's prizes went to:

Josh Govett (Football)
Kate Herbert (Netball)
Vladimir Mikheev (Rugby)
George Meagher (Hockey)
Laura Broadbent (Ladies' Football)

In addition, the following students were presented with special awards:

Jack Burke (Most Committed Sportsperson)
Joel Collins (Sportsman of the Year)
Sarah Pearson (Sportswoman of the Year)
Netball Team (Team of the Year)

Finally, thanks to everyone who helped organise the Ball, especially to Kat Baljasnikova and Emma Minshull for their work as student representatives during the planning and run-up to the Ball, and to Gemma Clarkson and Rory Cleaver for helping to set up on the day.

Also to musicians Samuel Barrett, Gidon Fineman, Ben Pugsley and Josh Vizor, who deftly provided a nonchalant soundtrack to the first part of the evening ...

... and, of course, to Po, our Events Coordinator – who did everything from DJ-spotting to menu selection; table-plans to poster-design.

Our best Ball yet?

See a fullsize slideshow of more photos on Flickr

Staff vs students: table tennis

2009-06-18T03:08:00.000-07:00

Continuing our run of staff vs student matches was last week's table tennis tournament.

Victory was seized by favourite Ben Calnan (above), who lost only one game in the entire tournament. He took away a pair of Wimbledon tickets as his prize. In the (all-student) final, Ben beat Bella Radenovich (who is therefore this year's female champion).

On the staff side, Principal Sami Cohen was on good form – but was beaten by Ben in the semi final.

Watch a full-size slideshow of photos from the afternoon

From the classroom to the river

2009-06-17T09:09:00.000-07:00

Two of our teachers – Clare Cameron (Business Studies) and Melanie Ward (Music) – are in the last stages of preparation for this year's Womens' Henley Regatta held on 19-21 June.

They both competed last year with City of Oxford's Tier 2 – but this year were offered the opportunity to try for a place in the more competitive Tier 1 squad. Impressively, both made it into the Eight: Clare at stroke and Mel at 6.

As you might expect, Melanie and Clare undertake a fairly grueling training programme: Tier 1 trains six days a week with double early morning outings on Saturday and Sunday – so there haven't been many lie-ins for the past few months!

Last weekend saw the squad's final race preparation at Reading Regatta (at which the photo above was taken), and they're looking forward to some tough racing – including being drawn against one of this year's favourites, Vesta, in the second round.

So if you fancy a trip to Henley this weekend, we're sure Clare and Melanie would welcome your support!

Staff vs students: basketball and netball

2009-06-10T07:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon saw the titanic clashes that are the annual d'Overbroeck's staff vs students netball and basketball fixtures.

Both matches were closely contested. In the netball, staff battled back from a three point deficit at half time, finally securing a narrow victory – the final score, 19-15 to staff. Especially considering the height difference between teams, the students played superbly.

In basketball, it was students that triumphed: despite the guest appearance of a basketball professional on the staff's team, the students dominated the game from start to finish. Nevertheless, the staff battled valiantly to ensure a more than respectable scoreline: 35-26 to students.

As ever, this was an extremely enjoyable occasion – and we look forward to more staff vs student fixtures in the coming weeks.

View a slideshow of more photos from the matches

Some of our A2 Artwork

2009-06-03T09:41:00.000-07:00

Our A2 Art and Photography students have just finished their final exams – offering the perfect opportunity to capture images of some of their work (above are just three of many). So, armed with the College camera, we took some photographs and have assembled a virtual gallery of artwork for your viewing pleasure.

As ever, the art produced by our students spans an enormous range of styles and media. There's much superb work here, and we very much hope you'll enjoy browsing the gallery.

Skiing in La Thuile

2009-05-27T06:38:00.000-07:00

Back in the Easter holidays, a group of Sixth Form and ISC students and staff headed to La Thuile in Italy for the annual d'Overbroeck's ski trip.

As ever, the group consisted of a wide range of experience levels – from beginners through to advanced skiers and snowboarders. So while the less confident received introductory lessons and guidance, the more experienced members of the group were able to polish their skills under the tuition of and expert Interski instructor.

The week began and ended with excellent weather – fresh snow and sunshine – marred only by a two-day lapse during which conditions were less favourable. But spirits were high throughout the week, with everyone's skills improving markedly.

Of course, daytime skiing was not the trip's only entertainment: as well as discos (enlivened by costumes ranging from togas to 80s all-in-one ski suits), activities included ice skating, a quiz night and the presentation of ski awards.

In the last of these, six of our students were presented with a 5-star merit award by their instructors – only one level from the rarely-achieved highest grade.

Overall, a fantastic trip ... Here's to next year's ...

Improving our email bulletins

2009-05-19T01:25:00.000-07:00

In a few days' time, those of you who have subscribed to receive email updates from the Sixth Form newsfeed will notice a few changes to the emails we send out.

We're moving our email delivery service to a superior system, which will allow us greater control over the appearance of the messages. We hope this will result in more attractive news emails.

I'm already subscribed – do I need to do anything?

If you already receive email updates from us, your subscription will automatically switch to the new system, so you won't have to sign up a second time.

We do recommend, though, that you add the address feedblitz@mail.feedblitz.com to your address book or email whitelist – to ensure that your mail system does not trap our news emails as spam!

I'm not currently subscribed – how do I sign up?

If you'd like to receive the news items we post on this page direct to your inbox (rather than having to check our website for updates), why not subscribe?

Come along to our art exhibition

2009-05-15T07:39:00.000-07:00

by Emmie van Biervliet

This weekend, Leckford Place School will metamorphose into an art gallery containing an exciting, diverse array of work by Sixth Form and Leckford Place students, as well as parents, staff and local artists.

We'll also be showing the winning entries to our Primary School Art Competition.

Having already seen some of the work that'll be on show, we're eagerly anticipating a superb exhibition. And we'd be delighted if you'd come along.

The show will be open from 10am to 4pm on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 May – and entry is, of course, free to all. See location on Google Maps.

We hope to see you there!

by Paul Amey

Summertown Carnival: Art, Music and Juggling

2009-05-12T05:54:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, Summertown in North Oxford was alive with colour and sound – thanks to the street festival organised as part of Artweeks.

The joint d'Overbroeck's Sixth Form and Leckford Place School stand offered younger children the opportunity to contribute to a giant collaborative piece of art:

... Whilst Sixth Former Steve Litherland entertained onlookers with an impressive display of juggling.

Musical accompaniment, meanwhile, was provided by Evie Oswald, Sarah Pearson and Kathryn Poon.

Many thanks to the students and staff who gave up their time to help make the street festival such a great success – and to those friends of the College who came along to visit our stall.

Below, a slideshow of photos of the event: