The Philosophy and Ethics department is pleased to congratulate Rufus Sherville (Thompson) and Lily Reshad (Brunel) for coming fourth and fifth,
respectively, in the University of Nottingham’s Dare to be Philosophical? competition.

Open to year ten students across the South West of England, applicants were asked to submit a philosophical essay to Dr Andrew Fisher of the University of Nottingham.

Rufus wrote an articulate and ponderous piece on what it meant to be a philosopher, while Lily composed a thoughtful and analytical essay on the nature of reality. Thanks to the philosophical prowess of Rufus and Lily, out of all the entries, Churston managed to secure two of the top five awards.

Both students were commended for their philosophical technicality, authorial voice, and for the accessibility of their work.

National Apprenticeship Week runs until 9th February, celebrating diversity in apprenticeships and the benefits they bring.  More and more young people are choosing to do apprenticeships each year and the biggest and most popular companies are hiring apprentices – check out our display in the school foyer for more information!  On Tuesday, our students had the opportunity to meet with a careers adviser and a Level 3 business apprentice from South Devon College. 

Thank you to the volunteers for introducing our students to useful websites to learn more about apprenticeship opportunities!  Some of our older students visited the Torbay Apprenticeship Fair to meet with employers and training providers.  On Friday, Careers South West staff will facilitate a workshop in school to help our students to research and apply for apprenticeship opportunities. 

Would you like to learn more about apprenticeships?  Create an account and explore at www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship.

Over 100 students from years 7 to 13 were involved in last terms’s performance of “A Night at The Musicals”. After some tough auditions the lead roles were cast and the rehearsal process began. Staff and students worked tirelessly for the 3 month build up giving their lunch times and after school hours to rehearse and perfect their performances. Working collaboratively throughout, 19 musicals were covered in the form of scenes, songs and dances. West End classics such as Oliver, Grease, and Annie shared the stage with modern musicals such as Hamilton, Mama Mia and Nativity. Students demonstrated a real Churston spirit, supporting one another; most notably when illness meant roles were to be filled with little notice. Miss Young, Miss Godsland and Mrs Brown are incredibly proud of all involved, whether it was their first or last time braving the stage. Cast and crew performed with professionalism and passion to create a showcase of talent not to be forgotten. 

Bonjour Les Enfants – Wonderful children from All Saints Babbacombe primary school

Churston Ferrers Grammar school welcomed Babbacombe Primary School on Tuesday 9th December for a French workshop. It was all about les animaux marins et les chiffres, la presentation and c’était of course  très amusant et instructif!

Years 4 and 5 enjoyed half a day at Churston practising new sounds, learning new words such as requin and tortue, étoile de mer et le dauphin, engaging in rhyming activities. 

It was an opportunity to further develop a foreign language studied at primary school. 

The children enjoyed discovering a different culture, they thrived in team work  activities in a secondary environment. From hot potato games to running dictations, the children developed a range of skills wrapped up in bonbons and biscuit au chocolat evidemment!

Churston Ferrers Grammar School is proud to nurture strong links with neighbouring primary schools and to offer language expertise and support in the delivery of Modern foreign languages.

Au revoir Babbacombe and bonjour soon to Furzeham primary school who will join us here on 7th January 2020…. 

“Thank you, Millie had a great day. Thanks for organising it” x

“Megan and Grace has said if they can going again in February as they both enjoyed it”.

Thank you. He had a blast and you are more than welcome for the help x (Nathaniel)

Grace thoroughly enjoyed today thank you!

“Imogen enjoyed herself very much and hopes to be able to go again next year, Ollie had a great time”.

On Tuesday 29th October Churston welcomed the children from Brixham CoE primary school for a Spanish workshop. On Tuesday the 26th November it is the wonderful children from Furzeham primary school who spent the day at Churston.

All of the children engaged in a range of fun activities to improve further on their Spanish and French. Señora Clark is responsible for foreign languages at primary school and it is with great pride that the children started counting and introducing themselves in Spanish. French at Furzeham is supported by Miss Wilkinson, the children did the school proud..

The day started with the game 11 for number practice, we learnt about sea and forest animals in Spanish and French. From the freeze game, hot potato and running dictation games, the children were engaged and spoke with great fluency! 

They were all a credit to their respective school, loved the activities and were a joy to teach,

La Señora et madame Bright 

Asia – Loved copying what you did; when you jumped, we jumped.Henry: I enjoyed learning the names of the sea animals, like tortuga and the tour of the school.

Robyn: I like that it was  great fun. Learning sea animals, like tortuga, el delfin and el tiburón.        

Henry – Enjoyed everything, including the sweets!

Codei – I really Liked meeting you señora Bright, as you are so kind and I liked meeting  the 6th formers too.

Robyn: I like the day it was so much fun.  Learning sea animals, like estrella de mar, el delfin was great 🙂

Jack: My favourite part was when we played hot potato and splat.

Kacey: I enjoyed the Spanish workshop because I learnt different sea animals, I had never seen these words before.

Churston Ferrers Grammar school welcomed Galmpton primary school on Tuesday 8th October for a French workshop. It was all about les animaux marins et les chiffres, la presentation and c’était of course  très amusant et instructif!

Years 4 and 5 enjoyed half a day at Churston practising new sounds, learning new words such as requin and tortue, étoile de mer et le dauphin, engaging in rhyming activities. 

It was an opportunity to further develop a foreign language studied at primary school. Galmpton is fortunate to have the support of madame Connell who teaches French and coordinates events such as this one.

The children enjoyed discovering a different culture, they thrived in team work activities in a secondary environment. From hot potato games to running dictations, the children developed a range of skills wrapped up in bonbons and biscuit au chocolat evidemment!

Churston Ferrers Grammar School is proud to nurture strong links with neighbouring primary schools and to offer language expertise and support in the delivery of modern foreign languages.

Au revoir Galmpton and bonjour soon to Brixham CoE who will join us here on 29th October…. We will hola the session this time for some Spanish extravaganza!

Madame Bright 

Head of Modern Foreign Languages 

Dr King, Churston’s very own United Nations Accredited Climate Change Teacher, recently entered a www.biggreenbookshop.com competition to win ten copies of Greta Thunberg’s first English-language book, ‘No One Is Too Small To Make A Difference’ and these have now arrived in school! The book consists of eleven speeches, written and presented by Climate Change activist Greta Thunberg on Climate Change and Global Warming. Three copies will be made available in the Study Centre for students to borrow and the remaining copies will be awarded to various students who make a genuine difference in our school community in relation to Climate Change Action and Awareness.

Discover more about the United Nations Climate Change Teachers’ course here or at www.educcateglobal.org and please get involved in the Sustainable Leaders group, co-ordinated by Mrs Lea, Miss Hadley and Dr King.

On Friday 27th September the S.W.A.T schools gathered to determine the winners of the MFL video competition for the 2019 academic year. The challenge was to create a video in the target language, a video which would stand out by the quality of its content and techniques used. All videos were of very good quality and the jury attributed an award to all videos submitted. There was however only one overall award for the language submitted, we are pleased to announce that the videos submitted by Poppy Brinicombe and Emma Hutchins, then in year 8 won the overall award for French!

French, German and Spanish departments all submitted their videos and all received praise and accreditation for their work:

The German video with a focus on two way prepositions was attributed the inexplicable German grammar award!  Wonderbar might we say to Charley, Heide, Rory, Elle and Mrs Godwin!

The Spanish video with a focus on singing your way through languages received the MFL has talent award. Sam excelled in singing and dancing on a Spanish song ¡Fantástico!

The French video scooped 2 prizes: Poppy and Emma won the MFL  Teachers in the making  award and the coveted overall award for French! Their video truly inspired due to its quality, the language used. Both pupils did the school proud as their French video stood out amongst competitors in years eight, nine, ten and eleven who displayed great talent too. Bravo Poppy and Emma!

The S.W.A.T. alliance is comprised of Bishop Wordsworths School, Bournemouth School for Girls, Churston Ferrers Grammar School, Colyton Grammar School, Devonport High School for Boys, Devonport High School for Girls, Parkstone Grammar School, Plymouth High School for Girls, Poole Grammar School, South Wilts Grammar School, Torquay Boys Grammar School, Torquay Girls Grammar School. The S.W.A.T. Challenge event took place at Colyton Grammar School.