Leadership and Teambuilding Day

First year Business Studies students recently took part in a series of workshop activities aimed at developing teamworking and leadership skills. The activities included a communication exercise to guide blindfolded colleagues across a 'minefield'; building safe routes across 'treacherous terrains' and leading people to safety through a series of obstacles.

The day culminated in teams bidding for resources to build the best egg catcher. Students had to use all their ingenuity and skills to come up with the best device to catch an egg dropped from ever increasing heights using resources such as paper, elastic bands, straws, string and pencils.

The workshops required students to think about how to work most effectively in groups, consider factors that affected their motivation in relation to different tasks and examine what might determine the effectiveness of different leadership styles. An awareness of such issues is assessed as part of the Business A level but is also useful for their future careers.

Against the Odds

A polar explorer shares his journeys and aspirations with the Lower Sixth

Antony Jinman returned to d’Overbroeck’s College for the third time to share his experiences with the  Lower Sixth Enrichment group. He is an inspirational speaker who shared tales with the students about his North Pole exploration two years ago. He answered questions with humour such as:

How do you go to the toilet when its -30^oC outside?

What do you do when you meet a polar bear face to face?

How do you cross a melted ice channel?

Antony left school at 16 with a few GCSEs but was not put off by his careers teacher who told him his ambition of becoming a Polar Explorer was not realistic. After a few years in the army and navy Antony pursued his dream and celebrated his 29th birthday whilst on a 61 day trek to the North Pole in 2010. He told students that if they want to achieve their goals they must work hard and persevere even when times are tough and the way ahead looks really difficult.

Antony has now also started a company called ‘Education through Experience’ linked to Plymouth university where schools sign up to the website and then follow and engage with real explorers on line, read their blogs, ask questions and watch video clips.

His next trip is part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations where he is part of a team climbing the highest peak in the Queen Elizabeth Islands. He is also training to take part in the Centenary expedition that follows the route of Captain Scott’s journey to the South Pole.

It was great for students to see how it is possible to follow your dreams and ambitions even when the odds are stacked against you.

An Inspirational Talk by Filda Abelkec-Lukonyomoi

Just before half term Filda Abelkec-Lukonyomoi spoke to a group of Lower Sixth students as part of the Enrichment programme. Filda was a warm, engaging and inspirational speaker who had students mesmerised from the very start. Her story was based on her life in Uganda from early childhood, the difficulties she and her family faced during Idi Amin’s rule and then the subsequent upheavals during further civil war and disturbances.

Filda was forced to leave the country as a refugee first to Kenya and then later to the UK in 1989 with her five young daughters. During this time her husband was killed and her teenage son taken from her- she believes that he died in neighbouring Sudan. She managed somehow to tell this story with humour and compassion and the strength of her character to survive through all these atrocities was amazing. Her strong Christian faith was something that gave her strength to continue.

“When duty calls," she said, "you can do almost anything". This, she explained, was how she survived and managed to care for her family.

The impact on students was clear ; comments afterwards included "what have I got to moan about in my life," "I felt tears welling in my eyes at several stages during the talk."

Berlin 2012

During the February half-term 24 Sixth Form historians (along with 3 staff) braved the sub-zero temperatures of Berlin to explore the varied history of the city.

The first afternoon saw the group sight-seeing down Berlin's main historic thoroughfare (Unter den Linden) to the iconic Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag building, passing the memorial to one of Berlin students' less glorious moments - the site of the burning of 'anti-German' books at the beginning of the Nazi era.

Inevitably, a visit to Berlin encompasses a number of reminders of Germany's disturbing 20th century history. From the Nazi era we visited the Holocaust memorial in central Berlin; the Topography of Terror museum, constructed on the site of the Gestapo and SS headquarters; and the grim expanses of Sachsenhausen concentration camp, just a short journey from the city.

The post-war era saw Berlin and Germany divided, leaving the legacy of the Berlin Wall - some stretches of which are still standing - and Checkpoint Charlie, the main crossing-point beween East and West after the building of the wall. We were given a guided tour of the Wall Museum at Checkpoint Charlie by a West German man who had been involved personally in the smuggling of 129 people from East to West in the 1960s, resulting in his being kidnapped by the East German secret police (Stasi) and imprisonment in the Stasi prison complex in East Berlin. This Stasi prison was our final visit and again highlighted the bleakness and oppression of dictatorial regimes which violate the rights and freedoms of their own citizens.

We returned at the end of three intensive days feeling we had been given much food for thought, but there were also many lighter moments - from shopping in affluent West Berlin to sampling the authentic delights (?) of Hard Rock Cafe. As ever, we felt our half-term excursion had been a great experience - next year ... maybe the USA, maybe Russia … watch this space!

Alastair Barnett (Head of History)

In My Ladye's Chamber

A tantalizing glimpse inside the walls of Elizabeth I's private chambers- where musicians and poets delight, adventurers brag, and love hangs like a perfume in the air.

On Tuesday 28th February the music department will be giving two performances of this play with music. It has been devised to introduce students to the genre of Tudor music and mixes both secular and sacred music of the period. A cast comprising d’Overbroeck’s students from years 8 through to Sixth Form will accompany the choir.

The piece lasts around 40 minutes and so we are able to put on two performances, one at 6.30pm and one at 8.30pm in the Leckford Place Hall. The audience will be seated at tables of four and will be able to enjoy a glass of wine during the performances. Seating is limited to 40 places per performance so please reserve your tickets with the office if you would like to come.

For more information or to book tickets please email Emma Collen.

Art Teachers' Exhibition

An exhibition of work by some of the county's art teachers is taking place at the O3 gallery in Oxford. The selected artwork, which spans a range of creative disciplines, has been submitted by a number of educators from university lecturers to primary school teachers.

One of those exhibiting is Sharon Wyper who teaches art here at d'Overbroeck's. The work she has on show, The Whole is the Sum of its Parts (pictured below) is one of seven paintings created as part of a residency at 'Diamond Light Synchrotron,' where Sharon worked with scientists looking at tiny structures, including, in some instances, those on a nano scale.

The Whole is the Sum of its Parts - Sharon Wyper

Sharon writes:

"The piece shows part of the molecular structure of a virus that was discovered through work at the Synchrotron. I painted on an electrical drum-cable end that I 'up-cycled' from the Synchrotron's debris as I wanted to include an aspect of the work of the engineers and electricians in the functioning of the synchrotron which enabled the scientists' work. As an art teacher I find important to also continue my own artistic practice, something which this exhibition celebrates."

The exhbition runs until 19th February.