This Year's Sixth Form Scholars

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

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

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

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

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!

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!