Friday Flyer – Issue 75
Sport
On Friday last week we were lucky enough to welcome the Irish Touch Rugby squads to ECiM as they prepared for the Touch Rugby World Cup. Year 8 boys and girls were coached by the squads and certainly picked up many new skills and pointers.
Saturday saw Fiji, South Africa and New Zealand join the Irish squads where they trained and competed against one another at the college as they got some valuable match time in the heat ready for their first games on Monday.
We wish all nations the best of luck at the tournament.
Physics
Our Y11 and Y13 students will take their Physics IGCSE exams and A-level exams very soon and we were doing revision sessions with them, but because our department is very dynamic and we know that our kids are very creative we decided to do a contest for designing a Physics game.
Students used a week to do it and they came out with really interesting ideas; inevitably there were pupils who created Kahoot! games which is a big hit with pupils, but a majority created, I should really rephrase that to re-create, many interesting classical games.
Like the game “Six Cups” where the objective of the game is to throw a ball into a cup, the cup has a question underneath it and if you get it correct, the cup is then removed from the game. The winner is determined by number of questions answered correctly. A lot of fun!
Or the game “answer for candies” where you have a collection of questions that are grouped according to difficulty – so depending on its difficulty, you will receive treats accordingly.
Another family classic game was created, most commonly known as “heads up “ with physics words on the participants forehead and the aim of the game is to lead the participant to the correct terminology. Great Keyword practise!
Finally, the most impressive was a reinvention of the classic Monopoly, this time with Physics based questions and forfeits. It was as competitive as the real Monopoly gets!
The important part is that the pupils had fun, whilst they achieved revision of the content in a fun and relaxed way. I can confidently say, our pupils are ready for the exams and I wish them the very best of success!
Claudia Pinna
Head of Physics
Grandville House
We have now reached the time of the year that I often refer to as ‘Crunch Time’. Indeed, the Year 11s and Year 13s students have now all started their public examinations, on which they have been working for the past five terms. This is the time of the year where being a boarder provides lots of advantages as the students can benefit from the revision sessions organised by staff, and they also like to revise with their friends in their House. The resident staff and the academic tutors work hand in hand to ensure that the Granvillians get the support and the pastoral care that they need during these rather intense weeks. However, some students forget that this is a marathon and not a sprint, and it is therefore essential that they look after themselves in order to go the distance. In a recent House assembly, they were reminded that they need enough sleep, but also a healthy diet and a bit of social time in order to get the best conditions to succeed. I used the analogy of racing cars: the fastest car in the world needs fuel in order to move forward. This applies to them and they need these three ingredients to succeed.
Talking of success, all the Granvillians are to be commended for the effort shown in the recent House competitions in Athletics and Touch Rugby. They all gave their very best, showing great determination and resilience despite the heat. Although we are still awaiting for the final results, they can be proud of their achievements and for how well they represented their House.
Fabien Hanique
Housemaster, Granville Hous
Crawfurd study spaces
Over the Easter term break, Mrs Hill and Miss Twigg have worked on upgrading the study spaces around the House to target different types of academic work ready for exam season this term.
On the first floor:
Orange is mood lifting and is thought to improve neural functioning.
This space is perfect for: Timed practices; Repetitive tasks or exercises.
This space features desks set up to support focus on timed practices, a digital clock like the examination hall and a whiteboard for tracking timings. It has a small break-out space to take 5 minutes and make use of the destress tools available. The file holder also contains supportive revision materials.
and
This Moroccan-inspired space promotes calm with de-stressing purples, greys and browns.
This space is perfect for: Working with a partner to test your recall on a topic; creating flashcards or other similar revision activities.
This space features: Low-level seating to promote calm, 2 lap tables which can be angled for creative work, a selection of destress activities, materials for making flashcards and other revision rubrics.
On the Second Floor:
Green is great for concentration.
It promotes calm and is said to improve efficiency and concentration.
This space is perfect for: Working on your coursework; EPQ research or essays.
This space features: 2 grouped tables which would suit collaborative learning, a wall of key connectives to use to improve your writing and key word materials from different subject areas will be collated here. It has a break-out space to take 5 minutes and make use of the destress tools available. The file holder also contains supportive revision materials.
and
Flowers and our trailing vine of stories will nurture your creativity.
This space is perfect for : Working on your Art or DT coursework or costume and set designs for Drama prep.
This space features: A square tablespace for spreading out your work, an expanding collection of art and craft materials and an expanding collection of inspirational items on the balcony. There are also break-out spaces for a 5 minute destress.
On the third floor:
Blue is great for productivity. It can help improve reading comprehension and is thought to be great for challenging learning situations.
This space is perfect for: Tutorials (helping each other tackle tough material); reading through preparatory materials.
This space features: 2 grouped tables which would suit tutorials, calming centre pieces for the tables and a sky full of clouds to encourage your ‘blue-sky thinking’. It has a break-out space to take 5 minutes and make use of the destress tools available. The file holder also contains supportive revision materials.
Art
The Year 10 GCSE students are now moving through to the development stage of their individual projects after researching artists that interest them and experimenting with different media. Choosing their own titles means the students can explore areas of interest to them and create art that reflects their personalities. By collecting secondary and primary resource material, students will be able to create a final piece that is informed, developed and shows off their creative skills.