News from Cranbourne
As you read this we will be coming to the end of another very busy term at Cranbourne.
Certificate Presentation Evening – Class of 2015
Before Christmas it was a great pleasure to welcome back the Class of 2015 for their Certificate Presentation Evening. It was lovely to hear how they are getting on in the next stage of their lives and we all enjoyed hearing Steven Edney, exstudent and now Co-owner and Director of Expression for Growth, talk about the “Two most important days of your life and how everyone has a talent”. I am sure that Steven’s story will give hope to many and his message of working hard to achieve success is a very true one. Special thanks must also be given to Alfie Love who entertained us with his guitar playing!
Student Council Cluster Conference – Fundamental Values
On Thursday 28th January 2016, 100 students from eight infant and junior schools linked to CBEC took part in the College’s annual Student Council Cluster Conference.
This year the theme was Fundamental Values and the objectives of the day were to:
1. Consider the most important values in our school communities and establish a vision for the cluster.
2. Ask what do these values mean for us?
3. Understand how these values are important in our wider communities.
The day started with representatives from each school giving a short presentation. The ages ranged from 4 to 16 years and everyone who presented was fantastic. Each school had come along well prepared for the day, bringing with them displays, collages and one even performed a song!
Throughout the day the students took part in a variety of workshops which explored the fundamental values through Art, Story Telling, Dance and Music. The day was a huge success and we received some great feedback:
‘Music was a brilliant way of reflecting on values’ – Manor Field Junior School
‘A great day enjoyed by all, thank you’ – Manor Field Junior School
‘Very welcoming and well planned, helpful supporters’ – Chalk Ridge Primary School
It was particularly pleasing for me to hear the very positive comments about the CBEC students which included ‘helpful, polite, caring’. There is no doubt that young people thrive on being given responsibility and the members of our Student Voice worked tirelessly throughout the day to ensure that our visitors were happy and well looked after.
CBEC’s Debating Club
Following on from our local success in the Basingstoke Schools’ Debating Competition we decided to enter a team into the National Schools’ Debating Competition and on Thursday 3rd December 2015 CBEC hosted the first round (ESU School’s Mace). We had one motion to debate: “The House will force The BBC to implement diversity quotas for casts of all of their shows.” Sasha Taylor (Year 10) and Ian Hislop (Year 11) did a phenomenal job of opposing the argument, impressing the judge from Oxford University. We were a little surprised to be against some of Bradfield College’s Sixth Formers, but the team (Ellie Dragoon, Megan Buchanan, Anna Higgins, Lauren Russell – Year 10) held fast and the hours of preparation paid off as we made it through to the next round. The Head Judge commented on the amount of hard work that the team had put into researching the topic as well as their ability to think on their feet and come up with some truly stellar responses to Bradfield’s propositions.
The next round of the competition was held at Eton – so with great excitement and some trepidation our team headed to Eton College on the evening of Thursday 28th January 2016. It turned out to be an incredible evening. The students spoke confidently to staff and students from Eton and received some very complimentary feedback from the organiser of the National Competition. She said that she could not believe how young the students were and to do so well, at such a young age was amazing; particularly when all the other competitors were sixth formers! She also commented on their passion and dedication and said that, despite our team sadly not getting through to the next round, she would like to invited them to the regional finals so that they could liaise with other schools. She claims we are ‘definitely a school to watch’! The Debate Co-ordination from Eton were so impressed with our students’ attitude and dedication that they would like to invite us to work with their Debate team. Quite an accolade! So watch this space: ‘Cranbourne Business and Enterprise College developing links with Eton College!’
We are so pleased with the team’s achievements. They have shown real commitment and spent hours of relentless researching. The students were a real credit to the College. All schools involved commented on how polite, friendly and committed our students were and we are very proud of their efforts.
CBEC Debating Club began in 2014 when we first took part in the local Basingstoke Schools’ Debating Competition. We were ecstatic to win the first year and the team did the school proud again in 2015, where we placed second, handing the trophy to Aldworth School. Miss Phin and Miss Morgan meet with the team once a week to debate current issues within society and anything that interests us. Ranging from the might of “the law versus the pen” to “feminism within Disney films”.
As a result of being part of the competition the team were invited to visit Ascot to listen to Charles Crawford, from the Home Office, deliver a fascinating talk about how to write and deliver a speech. I think we would all agree that public speaking is a life skill and we are delighted to be able to offer this opportunity at CBEC.
CBEC Debating Team: Ian Hislop, Richard Barrett, Ben Andrews, Cory Valentine, Anna Higgins, Sasha Taylor, Lauren Russell, Ellie Dragoon, Megan Buchanan
Year 7s – 2016
On the 1st March 2016 those parents with children in Year 6 will be informed of their child’s Secondary school place. We excitedly await news of the students who will be joining Cranbourne in September 2016. We are proud of the transition process that is in place at CBEC to ensure students move from Year 6 to Year 7 as smoothly as possible. Whilst this is an exciting time we are aware that it can also be a ‘big step’ and at CBEC we endeavour to make sure that students feel comfortable in their new environment. The process starts with visits to all our new students in their primary school. If anyone would like to enquire about a Year 7 school place please do not hesitate to contact Susan Sayers on 01256 868605 or via email: s.sayers@cranbourne.hants.sch.uk.
For up-to-date information please visit our website www.cranbourne.hants.sch.uk
All that remains is for me to wish you all a happy Easter and I look forward to bringing you more news in the Summer term.
Betty Elkins
Headteacher
