Musical seduction, adoration and deception: Cupid's Labyrinth

'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

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

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

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

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

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

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)