As an important part of the course an external moderator scrutinised the work of these students and was very impressed. The exhibition private view, held on Monday night, was well attended by proud parents and students. It proved to be a fitting occasion to celebrate the students' hard work and commitment over the last year.

As soon as the moderation and private view were over, it was time to take down the Year 12 work ready for the Year 13 exhibition to go up. The Year 13 exhibition has just had its finishing touches applied; one student laid some turf the night before would you believe, and we are waiting (as I type these words) for the arrival of another external moderator. The exhibition looks very impressive and we have all been pleased, in the department, with the commitment shown by the students and the quality of their work. The department wish all these students the very best as they go on to the next exciting stage of their education.

GNVQ Advanced Art and Design students recently completed a successful project designing a professional booklet that included both text and images to accompany the Millennium Quilt, designed and produced within the local community. Year 13 student Jamie Brockbank’s design was chosen from the group to be produced and used as gifts for quilt contributors and to be used alongside the quilt to illustrate and describe its many aspects when it is exhibited locally at many schools and businesses.

It has been another successful year for the Art GCSE course with a healthy number going on to take Art at AS level next year. This is also the second year that the Art Twilight course has recorded an A – C pass rate of 100% reflecting the commitment of students and staff alike.

The Year 10 students have made a good start to their course and are already producing some very fine work. The students were taken to the Tate Modern as part of the course and this was used as a stimulus for their exam in which they produced an exhibition poster for an artist or art movement at Tate Modern or another gallery. They now have the opportunity to develop this unit/project in many exciting ways using artists work as the major stimulus.

Years 7, 8 and 9 have just finished their exams and the Art department was really pleased with the level of effort and good behaviour displayed by our lower school students.

And finally, back in May the Art department took part in the Newbury Spring Festival ‘Open Studios’ scheme where members of the public are invited into the school to look around the Art department. It is always pleasant to have guests in the department and as a bonus it encourages us tidy up a bit after a busy week or two!

Mr D Upton

Following our successes last term on the football field we were involved in three cup finals this term.

The year 11 boys did us proud by winning the District cup. Coming back from a one goal deficit against Chiltern Edge to win 2 – 1. Scorers in the game were Steven Hargreaves and Matthew Strange.

For the third year running our year 11 team have reached the final of the County Cup. Once again we played some exhilarating football, losing eventually to Charters in extra time. This was particularly hard to swallow as we dominated most of the game, hitting the woodwork a number of times.

The year 10 boys football team were also involved in the District Cup final but unfortunately lost to a very strong Hugh Farringdon team [4 – 2].

Seven staff spent several hours in and around the pool updating their life saving skill. Our instructor Leslie Willmott really put us through our paces. Our geriatric Mr Lloyd thought he’d burst his lungs towing Mr Blinco around the pool. All eventually passed with flying colours.

In the pool Mr Dudin ran a popular water polo club for years 7 – 10, and Mrs Harvey introduced a synchronised swimming club for a small number of girls. Mrs Lloyd once again ran the after school swimming club, with many students gaining improved distance certificates for their efforts.

Sports day this year was held in glorious weather. All house competitors did their house proud, with Benyon running out winners for the first time in over 25 years. Mr Kennedy was absolutely over the moon.

The following pupils have achieved distance swimming certificates this term

Kayley Barnes 7Bb

Sophie Bieny 7Bb

Lisa Dooley 7Bb,

Chloe Cane 8Bb

Amy Hawkins 8Ba

Jemma Holmes 8Sc

Steven Haynes 9Pc

Jak Blackwood 7Ba

Bradley Hill 7Bb

Jo Allen 8Ha,

Adam Brown 8Ba

Mark Dobson 8Ba

Jason Hughes 8Ba

Kaylee Taphouse 8Ba,

Andy Calloway 9Ha

Dominic Barnes-Haines 9Sa

Stephen Haynes 9Pc

Mark Houchin 9Ba,

Scott Murray 9Sa

Georgette Ogden 10Pa