We would just like to say congratulations to Jessica Owens in Year 9 who through sheer determination and perseverance is competing at a national level in gymnastics. At a recent competition she competed against girls from across Great Britain and she came 21st out of 48 gymnasts. This places her 21st in the country at National Grade 2. Her highest placing on individual apparatus was 10th (for range and conditioning).
Well done Jess!
On Wednesday 24th May the whole of Year 10 suspended their normal timetable to take part in the PSHE Enrichment Day. Students followed a carousel of workshops run by outside agencies on a variety of themes from the PSHE curriculum in order to support and enrich their learning. These included: NatWest Moneysense, the Fire Service, Yoga and Self Defence.
NatWest Moneysense- Professionals from NatWest Bank were on hand to help support and advise students in a workshop designed to encourage financial awareness. Students were given a project looking at the best value for money mobile phone contracts. They shared their current phone usage and discussed preferences for different types of contracts. Groups researched a variety of packages for a chosen character and presented their findings to the class.
Fire Service – The focus for this workshop was Road Safety. Students discussed the risks involved in driving and using a mobile phone. A film, interspersed with discussion points, showed the dangers involved and the devastating impact that a traffic accident can have on the lives of family and friends.
Yoga- Students took part in a session showing how yoga can be beneficial to the physical and mental wellbeing of an individual. Students experienced relaxation and breathing techniques alongside yoga exercises.
Self Defence- Students were given the opportunity to gain a basic understanding of Self Defence through demonstration and practical tasks.
On the 27th and 28th of March, we were thrilled to have access to Google Expeditions once again.
We were lucky enough to enjoy Google Expeditions at our school for two days, which meant we had:
BEST EXPEDITIONS: PARIS, SPACE AND NORTHERN LIGHTS
“W
hat does your job with Google entail?”
“I go around different primary and secondary schools, giving the expeditions and helping with them. Before this, I worked as a history teacher at a school in Cornwall and I didn’t enjoy the marking, so I was just a supply teacher for a while.”
“How did you get the job?”
“I just got a message through ‘LinkedIn’ from Google, which I first thought was spam and after I did some research I realised it was real and I took the opportunity.”
“What do you enjoy most about running expeditions?”
“I enjoy the reactions and the experiences the students get but charging the phones every night isn’t that enjoyable!”
“What’s your personal favourite expedition?”
“I really like the Space ones, also the 7 wonders of the world are good but there are so many good expeditions to choose from.”
“Do you personally believe there is a future in using virtual reality in schools?
“I believe that there certainly is a future for virtual reality if it is used in the correct manner, especially from what I’ve seen today, it is an exceptional experience if you haven’t got access to these places in your everyday life”
“I was really impressed with the Digital Leaders and how quickly they have grasped the types of support needed – they could do me out of a job!”
In comparison to other schools, Mark has been very impressed with the level of engagement from our students and the fact that they are considering the Expeditions from a more intellectual, educational point of view rather than just a novelty. He has noticed students making notes and really taking information from the experience which is exactly what Google hope to achieve with this free Expedition Programme.
Student FeedbackFrom a year 11 class we selected three students to ask a few questions about their Google experience:
How did you find the experience?
Victoria: “Excellent, I found it spectacular”
Fliss: “Very good, it enhanced my learning experience, but made me feel dizzy”
Billy: “Great but made me feel slightly nauseous”
Which one was your favourite?
Victoria: “The space one was my favourite one”
Fliss: “I thought the one about space was amazing”
Billy: “The Aurora Borealis, was very interesting and gave some exceptional views to something you wouldn’t normally see up close. ”
How do you think that virtual reality can enhance education?
Victoria: “Going and experiencing new places around the world can enhance your imagination and it innovates you to explore new things”
Fliss: “It allows you to see what you’ve been taught in a classroom, almost in real life something you wouldn’t otherwise experience if not through VR.”
Billy: “By taking the words in a textbook and being able to visualise them in practice”
On Friday 14th April 2017 Nicholas Bright (7S) from Torbay Karate club – took his black belt under Sensei Sherry 9th Dan black belt. Nicholas achieved first Dan and was rewarded third place in the Kata discipline which reflects hard work and dedication in this martial art.
Year 8’s produced some fantastic homework in response to a biology lesson where they saw the dissection of a pig’s heart, liver, and lungs. Pieces ranged from some amazing cakes, a T-shirt, a jigsaw, an original music piece, posters and artwork. The students said they really enjoyed this task as they were allowed to be creative and put what they had learned in their science lesson into a completely different context.
Please take a look at some of the amazing pieces that were produced.
Year 13 students from Churston have been 
extremely successful in the national Chemistry Olympiad Competition this year. Organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry, this is a challenge accepted by the top A-level Chemistry students in the UK. Weida Liao, Joel Gregory, Robert Williams and Phoebe Sloper tackled a variety of strange and complicated chemical problems, including a chemical explanation of the green swimming pool in Rio and an analysis of Iron Man’s suit – it turns out that this is actually an alloy of titanium and gold!
Robert and Phoebe attained Silver certificates, while Weida and Joel finished in the top 7% of entrants and were awarded Gold certificates. Joel remarked “The Chemistry Olympiad was very challenging, so I’m very proud to have achieved a Gold certificate. It was interesting to use my current knowledge of Chemistry to solve problems in a new context”. Chemistry teacher Dr Hall is extremely proud of their fabulous achievements and said “They are exceptional young people and their results place them amongst the top Chemists in the country”.
Churston pupils recently competed with the Torbay Lifesaving Club at the RLSS National Speed Lifesaving Championships at the Ponds Forge Centre in Sheffield.
Cerys Stephens (year 12), Adam Reed (year 11), Tom Nuttall (year 10) and former pupils Kiera Stephens and Alice Nuttall swam in a variety of team and individual events, in the largest competition of its kind in the UK.
The girl’s team competed in the ‘Open’ age category and despite being up against older and more experienced University teams, held their own and gained very credible placements including 10th out of 25 teams for the rope throw relay.
As a team, the boys were one of the youngest in their age category but performed extremely well and were a credit to their school and the club.
Adam Reed performed particularly well in his individual events, achieving a top ten place out of 65 competitors in the 100m obstacle swim and 13th out of 61 in the 50m Manikin Carry. His achievements did not go unnoticed and the development squad have him on their watch list with the potential for joining the National Squad in the future.
There were 13 in all, including pupils from Torquay Girls Grammar and Paignton Community College.
In aid of British Science Week, Churston hosted a visit from Stoke Gabriel Primary School. Dr Chris Hall, Head of Chemistry, and Mr Jon Murray-Smith, Head of Physics, ran the informative, friendly and fun session focusing on the importance of getting children interested in science from an early age. 
The children made exciting chemical reactions in a chemistry workshop, and learnt about electricity with the help of some shocking Van Der Graaf action that literally made their hair stand on end!
A handful of helpful A-Level students generously gave up their time to help with the primary school session. It was great work experience and the sixth formers were fabulous at helping the young protégées stay safe in the lab.
The children were a pleasure to have for a visit and hopefully left excited and enthused about science.
On Tuesday 28th February, six Churston students went to Marjon to represent the school at the 2017 South West Indoor Rowing Championships. Here is a roundup of how our students did…
Karrie wins!
Karrie Spencer overturned the result from last year when she was narrowly pipped by 3m with a 14m victory and automatic selection for the Nationals – Go Karrie!
Anna so close!
Anna Nisbett, a Gig rower so unaccustomed to Ergo rowing, came second in her heat. She had led for the first 600m before one of her foot plates slipped basically leaving her to push off one leg, she still only lost by a few metres and was around 6th overall.
Josh, great form and technique!
With the vagueries of SWIR timing, it was hard to tell where Josh Pichowski finished, but mid table seems a fair guess and he rowed well throughout.
Dom battles and so nearly medals!
Dom Sloper had to wait all day for his chance and performed really well with definitely a top ten and perhaps a top 5 finish.
Newbie rowers don’t lose (and find somewhere to buy pancakes)!
Josie Ratcliff and Abi Bevan, selected entirely on willing and enthusiasm, had never rowed before. After coaching tips from the others and a fair few practices they both reached around 650m in their allotted time – they definitely weren’t last.
All were a credit to the school on what was a long day full of waiting for 5 or so minutes on a rowing machine! They did well and gained much from the experience; roll on next year!
Churston celebrated World Book Day with staff and students dressing up in a fantastic array of well know (and not-so-well-known) literary characters. Organised by Snow White (Miss Godsland), there were events on throughout the day including prizes for the best dressed, a mannequin challenge and group photo sessions.
World Book Day is a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and (most importantly) it’s a celebration of reading. 
In fact, it’s the biggest celebration of its kind, designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and marked in over 100 countries all over the world.
The money raised from the day will go to Book Aid. They supply brand new books, donated by publishers, to public, community and school libraries across Africa. By partnering with national library services, government departments and NGOs they are able to send up to one million brand new, carefully selected books to Africa each year.
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