The university admissions' season is in full swing and applications for competitive courses are at an all time high yet, once again, students at The Stephen Perse Sixth Form College have received offers from some of the best universities in the country. So, what is it that sets these students apart from other applicants?

Simon Armitage, Director of The Stephen Perse Sixth Form College said: "Admissions' tutors at top universities need students to demonstrate real interest in their chosen subject. They also want students who can show the independence of thought and finely-honed critical-thinking skills necessary to thrive on demanding courses."

Students from the College are going to study subjects as diverse as American Studies with Politics at Sussex and Mathematics with Economics at University College London.

As in previous years, just under one third of the Upper Sixth has offers from Oxford and Cambridge. Students will read a wide variety of subjects including English & Italian, History, Classics, Engineering, English, Law & French, Mathematics, Medicine, Modern Languages, and Natural Sciences.

Further afield, one student has also been offered a place on the Bachelor of Arts - Writing, Literature and Publishing course at Emerson College, in Boston, USA.

Simon Armitage concluded: "We are really pleased that our students have been successful at some of the most-highly competitive universities in the UK. Whether for Archaeology at York or Biochemistry and Microbiology at Sheffield, each student has shown that they will bring something special.

The combination of great teaching and motivated students is key to everything we achieve at the College. Also, every student takes a 'Theory of Knowledge' course, whether they are doing A Levels or the IB Diploma. This helps them to really think about their learning, to question accepted norms and to delve much deeper into their subjects. It means they stand out."

This is the time of year when the Upper 6th start to step aside to make way for fresh ideas to come forth from the Lower 6th. As a College, we try to give opportunities of leadership and participation to everyone and our committee structure reflects this in a manner very similar to an undergraduate hall of residence or Junior Common Room system. We thought it was about time that we let everyone know a few of the things that have been happening in the College in the last few months.
The facilities committee reports that it has brought a Nintendo Wii to the college, purchased at knock down price from Miss Juggins when she left. It has added a extra layer to the sociability of the Mezzanine! They are also looking at bringing in some extra laptop racks and some boardgames and after the success of the recent Chinese Lunch they are also considering having a regular feature of meals from different cultures. School Link has revitalised the mentoring system to provide academic support for students in the senior school. Earlier in the year the group helped to organise tours for year ten students at Perse Girls around the sixth form to let them see what life is like at the Stephen Perse. The Events committee are currently busy planning the Upper Sixth end of year event. They are also potentially planning events such as a cabaret to raise money with the charities committee. On the last day of term, Charities Committee organised a general knowledge Christmas Quiz at the college to raise money for Motor Neurone Disease.

Grace Petkovic, Student President and U6th Committee Chairs.

We were very pleased to invite the Emily Dunning and Jane Baker from the World Conservation Monitoring Centre to the College this lunchtime. The Centre is affiliated to the United Nations Environment Programme and Emily, a recent Cambridge University Geography graduate spoke about her role in the Climate Change and Biodiversity Programme. Aside from regretting her lack of modern language knowledge skill which she is now tackling in learning Spanish, it was interesting to see how she had successfully combined her passion for the environment with social science and physical science in her chosen career. These talks are an important part of our enrichment and guidance programme - our thanks goes to Emily, Jane and the WCMC.

Whilst our main recruitment window for 2010 entry has now closed, we are still able to consider applications on an individual basis. Early registration is advised in order to secure your requested subject choices in either the A Level or the IB programme. Please contact the admissions team on 01223 454722 or the College Office on  01223 488430 or email admissions@stephenperse.com .

The 2010 Open Evening at the College will be held on 4 November, 6.30 - 9.00pm.  You will have the chance to tour the classrooms, labs, library and coffee shop, to chat to A Level and IB students and to meet subject staff.  There will also be presentations by the Director of Sixth Form and current students.  These talks will take place in the Cass Centre, close to the College.

On Friday 11 December Amelie Geddis from the Lower Sixth at The Stephen Perse Sixth Form College won the first prize in the prestigious Ruta Quetzal 2010 competition organised by the Spanish Embassy. Just 30 students from across the country were invited to the finals in London and Amelie beat all the other entrants in a series of written and oral Spanish tests to become the UK's representative.

This high profile competition is organised by the Spanish Government's Foreign Office. Ruta Quetzal started back in 1979 and is sponsored by the Spanish King as a way to consolidate and promote links between Spanish students (15 - 16yrs) from all over the world and Latin America. Participants have to demonstrate their competency in Spanish and their knowledge of the Hispanic world.

Amelie will join students from across the globe in an expedition around Mexico and the north of Spain with all expenses paid. The summer expedition starts in Madrid where all the winners are invited to the Spanish Royal Palace to meet the Spanish Royal Family and make their first expedition, part of the Camino de Santiago, "Saint James' Way" to celebrate the Year of St James 2010 in Galicia and the anniversary of the foundation of the Kingdom of Leon, before flying to Mexico to follow the route of the Mayan White Ways, the "Caminos Blancos".

Julie Reilly, Head of Spanish at The Stephen Perse Sixth Form College, commented "This is a fantastic achievement by Amelie, and a wonderful opportunity. The Ruta Quetzal competition is respected all over the world. The trip to Spain and Mexico gives Amelie the chance to share her love of the Hispanic world with other students who share her passion."

Yesterday was the Chinese Festival known as "Greater Snow". It is the point in the calendar which marks the first heavy snow falls in China. The College took it as an excuse to order in a large scale Chinese Take-Away lunch from a local restaurant and we are particularly grateful to Joycelyn Ho (from Hong Kong) and a team of other volunteer L6th students for making all the arrangements and helping us to enjoy the lunch.

High sales at a trade craft stall in the college were a suitable response to the fair trade assembly meeting on Monday last week. A total of £190 was spent over the lunchtime.

Mr Bullen-Smith, Head of Economics, writes: "I am delighted to let you know that the Stephen Perse won the regional competition for the Target 2.0 Bank of England/The Times Challenge at Newmarket on Friday.
 
The combined A Level and IB student team team comprising U6th students: Stephanie Ye (Team captain), Martin Wang, Jacqueline Heybrock and from the L6th, Maggie Bian. They have been working very hard over the past 6 weeks researching, writing and producing their presentation as the Monetary Policy Committee. Although the quality of competition this year was particularly high, they presented well and answered the judges searching questions excellently. They are now through to the next stage of the National Competition to be held in February. Out of around 350 schools that started the competition they are now down to the final 40."

The Bank of England also announces the result on its website

Dr Michael Sutherland of the Quantum Matter Group in the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge gave a fascinating, talk about quantum materials to a packed room on Thursday 26 November at the Stephen Perse Sixth Form College.

Quantum theory describes the behaviour of very small particles on the atomic scale. In his talk Dr Sutherland described how scientists have applied this theory to design materials used to manufacture cheap and powerful electronics, which have transformed the way in which we live. Looking forward, he discussed new generations of materials which may form the basis of tomorrow's technologies.

In particular - and to the delight of all! - Dr Sutherland demonstrated how "high temperature" superconductors which have zero electrical resistance when cooled in liquid nitrogen can levitate when placed in a magnetic field.

The talk was attended by sixth formers and a group of students from Year 10 at the Senior School.

Thanks to the organisation of the Sixth Form Charities Committee and the College Office Staff, we were pleased to enjoy raising nearly £150 for Children in Need.

We were delighted to welcome Professor Remo Siza, Head of Welfare and Social Policy from the Sardinian Regional Government to the College today. Prof. Siza addressed students in his native Italian on the topic of Poverty and Immigration.

Monday 9th November the German Department celebrated with Perse Girls and the Stephen Perse Sixth Form College 20 years on since the Fall of the Berlin Wall with doughnuts. For breakfast every student was given by the 6th form Germanists a doughnut and a stamp with the words "Ich bin ein Berliner - JFK" to celebrate President Kennedy's famous quote next to the Berlin Wall. Although his words refer to freedom of speech, human rights and freedom of movement  for everyone, "ein Berliner" also literally means in German a doughnut. In the afternoon the sixth formers attended a talk by Professor Jonathan Osmond entitled "9-11-89" followed by a screening of the film "The Lives of Others" which deals with living under the repressive regime in the former GDR. The day was a great success marking the event which changed the world 20 years ago.

The College Open Evening takes place on Thursday 12 November, 6.30 - 9.00pm.  The evening is a great chance to tour our facilities and to talk to staff and students, who will be on hand to help you make your subject choices.

To download the Open Evening programme click here.

We are proud of the educational heritage afforded to us by the Perse Girls' School from which we have developed the co-educational Sixth Form College. The College and School, together with our Junior School, comprise the Stephen Perse Foundation. Please follow the link to discover more.

On Saturday 10 October, three Year 13 pupils from the Stephen Perse Sixth Form College travelled to Hylands Park, near Chemlsford, in Essex to compete in the British Score Orienteering Championships. They returned home with a bronze medal apiece, having taken third place in the team competition.

The British Score Championships is one of two National Schools Orienteering Championships held each year. The girls each had to complete a course of approximately 6.3km over the parkland, and their individual times were combined to calculate the overall team score.

The girls produced excellent individual performances: Jacqueline Heybrock finished 4th, Sophie Louth finished 6th, and Sushruta Chandraker finished 10th. Their combined scores secured third place in the team competition. What makes their achievement even more remarkable is that the team consisted of just three team member rather than the maximum six! In fact, the first and second placed teams both had a full compliment of 6 runners, so the girls were the highest finishing team with less than 6 scoring members.

The presentation given by Simon Armitage on Tuesday evening is now online.  This summarises the changes to the A Level system, provides an overview of the IB Dilploma and touches on the Cambridge Pre-U.  Whichever sixth form course is chosen by students, it is becoming increasingly clear that the challenge is how to stand out from everyone else that wishes to study your course at your favourite university.  To access the presentation please click here

On Monday 7 September, Dr Appleton, Miss Mason and Mrs Payne accompanied the Upper Sixth English Literature and Drama students to Trafalgar Studios, London, to see the Northern Broadsides' production of Othello, with Lenny Henry in the title role. The play, with the Broadsides' characteristic fast pace, was a memorable production of Shakespeare's tragedy. Lenny Henry made a very convincing Othello, although we felt even he was eclipsed by the production's menacing, scheming Iago. Once again, Dr Appleton would like to thank Mrs Hall for booking tickets to this popular production.

The exam results for A and AS Level are due out tomorrow. You might be interested to know that you will not find in the published league tables. Miss Tricia Kelleher, Principal, explains why in an article in the Daily Telegraph today. Our results will be published in full, as normal, via this website. The Independent also carries and article which refers to our decision.

Term Dates 2009 - 2010

Autumn Term: Thursday 3 September - Wednesday 16 December 2009
Half Term: Monday 26 October - Friday 30 October

Spring Term: Thursday 7 January - Friday 26 March 2010
Half Term: Monday 15 February - Friday 19 February 2010

Term Dates 2010 - 2011

Autumn Term: Monday 6 September - Thursday 16 December 2010
Half Term: Monday 25 October - Friday 29 October

Spring Term: Thursday 6 January - Friday 1 April 2011
Half Term: Monday 21 February - Friday 25 February

Summer Term: Wednesday 27 April - Tuesday 12 July 2011
Bank Holiday Monday 2 May (Note, IB students will almost certainly have exams on this date)
Half Term: Monday 30 May - Friday 3 June

On Monday, the Languages department oversaw the production of our own, online, student written, international e-newspaper with audio and video inserts courtesy of our own 'live' interviews on the day. French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Chinese, Swedish were all represented with all A Level linguists taking part and, as all IB students study at least one foreign language. they all joined forces minus a few who were away on university visits. The results are outstanding and, if you come to visit us at the college, you will be able to see!

Recently, three members of the Lower Sixth completed their practice Gold Duke of Edinburgh expedition in the Peak District. Several downpours, peat bogs and wet sleeping bags later, Claire Cocks, Sophie Louth and Sophie Philipps were feeling a little bit worse for wear but nevertheless looking forward to the evening, their Cath Kidston tent and their bowl of steaming Super Noodles awaiting them! Covering nearly 30km and each carrying a 60litre rucksack over the two days, it certainly was good preparation for their assessed expedition. For this they will be doing four days walking and camping in Wales at the end of term - here's hoping that it'll be good weather!

By Claire Cocks

Helping next year's L6th to get to know a little bit more about their new Sixth Form was the priority for today. The current Sixth Form students organised a university-style 'Fresher's fair' at lunchtime to showcase a range of clubs and societies and our new students also met teachers from each of their chosen subjects and also their tutor. The afternoon concluded at our Senior School fields with impromtu games including an enlarged football match with up to 20 per side at a time! The weather was perfect and the ice cream tasted even better as a result! The photographs show Med Soc and a small crowd gathered to learn of the entrpreneurial work of the Engineering group who are fresh from a commercial product meeting last night, convened at the College by several Norfolk-based engineering companies who are interested in the work of our group.

A revolutionary articulated toboggan scooped first prize for Nicola Westgarth-Flynn at the National Young Designers' Competition finals held at Dulwich College on Friday. 

Nicola exhibited her A2 Design and Technology toboggan project along side twenty other finalists, with designs ranging in scope from stunning textile work to recumbent bicycles.

Roger Bett, Head of Design and Technology at The Stephen Perse Sixth Form College commented, "This is a wonderful achievement for Nicola and is reward for her hard work and creativity.  The judges praised Nicola's innovative design and the way that she had demonstrated an ability to take risks with the design process in her endeavour to produce something new".

The Young Designers Competition gives students the chance to enter their Design and Technology Coursework into a national competition. With cash prizes for both student and school, the competition is open to all students aged 16-18 years. This year 3,500 schools across the country were invited to enter the competition and over 1000 entries were received from more than 250 different schools, both state and private.

One of our Young Enterprise companies, Zest, was presented with two awards at the county final held at Robinson College, Cambridge University this week. Zest scooped the Finance Award and the Product Award. This is a fantastic achievement. Paul Bullen-Smith, Head of Economics comments, "The students have shown genuine business flare as well as an understanding of design and economic forces. To achieve one award would have been very pleasing but it is an absolute delight to see two such important trophies now in the College." The students, as you can see, were delighted!

As part of the Theory of Knowledge curriculum, all our IB students have been looking at chaos theory and the key question of whether people need to believe that order can be glimpsed in the chaos of events. The double pendulum illustrated the problem very well, spinning in an unpredictable manner whereas the single pendulum can always, well almost always, be predicted. An initially daunting topic was well explained and the practical application was apparent to all. Thanks to Mr Hudson of the Physics Department for his lecture, pendulum making and demostration!

Rain did not dampen the spirits of the staff vs 6th form students netball today. The first-time staff players were assisted by a few with greater experience and fought hard during the 20 minute match to overcome the talent and style of the 6th form team. A height advantage on the staff side was perhaps a significant factor as was the ignorance that some had of the precise meaning of the lines on the court! The final score of 4-2 to the staff certainly suggests a re-match must be in the offing. Great fun was had as the majority of the school turned out to watch and more funds were raised for Camfed, one of the 6th form charities. Thanks to all who took part and for last year's Student President Team (Abi Stacey and Marie-Claire Platt) for organising it. Best wishes as well to the 6th form who are now doing AS and A2 exams together with the Year 11 who are taking GCSEs.

Two teams of students (from both A Level and IB) attended the Engineering Education Scheme Celebration and Assessment Day yesterday at RAF Honington. Both teams have been working with local software company ARM to produce a better and safer road management system. In other words working with lots of cones! Each team had to present their projects to a panel of experts and produce a display stand. One team were working on a new lorry design to deliver, with pin point accuracy the cones onto a road, and then pick them up again. The second team were given the task of looking at the possibility of producing lines of cones that automatically distribute themselves where they are required. Much fun was had working with motors lights, solar cells, electromagnets and of course some lego!

The ideas were extremely well received and they now have a contact with an engineering enterprise agency who have expressed interest in taking their products into the commercial world. Watch this space ... cones may never be the same again! Thanks to Mr Roger Bett, Head of Design & Technology and also to ARM.

We would like to introduce the new Student President Team at the Stephen Perse as well as thanking our out-going team of Abi Stacey, Marie-Claire Platt and Isobel Gordon for their work as the very first Student President Team at the College. Last year was eventful, not least because it took a while to adjust to our new surrounds and the opportunities that they gave. Now, the current Lower Sixth have the chance to move us forward.

Grace Petkovic is Student President. She is studying Maths, Biology, Chemistry and French with a view to becoming a research scientist in the future. Lizzie Reid, Vice President in charge of the events and charities committees. Lizzie is taking Politics, History, Art and French hoping to enter the world of Politics. Din Jayawardena, Vice President in charge of facilities and school-link. Din is studying Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Physics and hopes to be a vet.

Grace reports, "We've done a lot of work so far. We've set up the four committees and appointed chairs.  We also organised the sixth form's participation in Barnardo's day, with our recession theme raising about £250 and raised a lot of money for Comic Relief by having cream pies thrown at us and our receptionists for a donation!"
"Over the next term we will be arranging a Fresher's Fair, to show new students the clubs on offer here. This Induction Day is our main priority. We're also planning to set up a bigger mentoring system between Stephen Perse and Perse Girls. Finally, the Stephen Perse website will also be updated with a greater input from students."

All the Student President Team are studying for A Levels and are joined by the 4 committee chairs; Jacqueline Heybrock (Charities), Alex Dix (School Link) and Harriet Lavis (Facilities) who are all IB students and Camilla Sampson (Events) who is studying A Levels.

The tradition of Barnardo's Day was reinstated this year at the Senior School. The College took part and, with typical enthusiasm (and pestering of all who passed by too!) managed to contribute over £250 to the final total for the day. In case you are wondering, their theme was recession and the meeting of rich and poor.

On Tuesday 10 March a Stephen Perse women's four went down to London to race in the Schools' Head of the River, a 4.25 mile race in which the very best crews of our age range race every year.

  

Hattie Simpole-Clarke (Lower 6th IB student)

The Sixth Form had two hockey matches over the weekend. On Saturday they played Bedford High School and while the team played well there were lots of instances where they made things difficult for themselves. Some sterling defensive work would often be followed by a poor pass or a goal scoring opportunity would be wasted. Therefore despite the best efforts of Laura Porter, who had yet another fantastic performance in goal, the team slid to a two nil loss.

This was righted on Monday when the team faced Hills Road. Another great defensive game but some good attacking moves and a beautifully taken goal from Lottie Tickner was the difference and the team emerged 1-0 winners. This was a much more mature and coherent approach to the game and it gave the Perse Girls/Stephen Perse team a well deserved win in their last game of the season

Following the cancellation of the Gap Fair earlier this year dure to snow, the Stephen Perse and Perse Girls are please to host the event on Wednesday 22nd April from 7.30pm at Perse Girls' Senior School Hall. For more information, contact the College Office on 01223 488430 or office@stephenperse.com

A day early - the students always try to be ahead of the game - cream pie throwing at the College raised over £200 for Comic Relief courtesy of the Charities Committee and the Student President Team and, the College Office support staff.

On Wednesday 29th January A Level Government and Politics students journeyed to the Palace of Westminster in London. After completing a rigorous security check (few wanted to keep the photos they took of us!) we began with a visit to the chamber of the House of Commons where we listened to MP’s questions to the Welsh Secretary which was followed by Prime Minister’s Questions.
The party political sparring between Gordon Brown and David Cameron proved to be especially entertaining. We also saw how the mood of the Commons can vary according to the questions asked, as at times we enjoyed the good humour of the exchanges but we also witnessed sombre reflection. This episode of this parliamentary political theatre was certainly the highlight of the day.
In the afternoon we visited the House of Lords which showed us a very different and possibly more sedate aspect of parliamentary life compared to the Commons. We also visited two select committees and were engrossed by the forthright questioning of government ministers and the persistence of the committee members in pursuit of those issues where they felt they had not received a satisfactory answer. This showed us a real example of parliamentary scrutiny.
A totally unplanned encounter in a corridor of the Commons with an expert witness to the Transport Select Committee from the Local Government Association pressure group proved to be very informative. Shona Johnstone, who is local Cambridgeshire politician and supporter of the guided bus scheme in Cambridge, engaged us in debate for nearly 20 minutes on transport issues. We did not agree with all that she said but we certainly enjoyed talking to her and very much appreciated the time she spent with us!

Grafton Centre on Saturday morning, a market stall pitch and our Young Entreprenuers are hard at work. This is one of several projects being run by the group this year and shows that practical skills are much alive in one of the nations highest achieving colleges. Well done to all who took part and thanks to Mr Bullen-Smith for organising the venture. More can be found on the Cambridge News site

The Stephen Perse Sixth Form College and The Perse Girls School will be hosting a GAP Year Fair Thursday February 5 2009 from 6.30 until 8.30pm. The event run by Futurewise Expanding Horizons will take place in the Perse Girls Senior School Hall at Union Road, and the organisers are expecting representatives from over 35 GAP Year providers to attend. There will be a short talk beforehand from 6.00 until 6.30 on various aspects of taking a GAP Year given by STA travel, sponsors of the event. The event is open to all local students and their parents in Years 10, 11, 12 and 13. 

For further information and a list of exhibitors please visit www.expandinghorizons.info

The Perse School for Girls has a new website which may interest students who previously attended our Senior School might like a look. www.persegirls.com is the new address.

Cambridge Mencap and the V-group visit the college to present on the possibilities of volunteering in local organisations

A journalist and photographer from the Cambridge Evening News visited the college yesterday to cover the official opening.  The article appeared on page 3 of the paper today and is also available online.  The online version also contains a video piece, including an interview with Simon Armitage, Director of the College.  The article and video can be viewed here. 

The Upper Sixth at Perse Girls excelled themselves, once again beating all previous records with a top-score of 100% A-C grades at A Level. The School was delighted with 99% A-B grades, and 83% A grades, up four percent on last year.