d'Overbroeck's Dancers Ignite Christmas Lights

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

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

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

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

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

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