School News

Stantonbury teacher Martin Jackson is holding an open viewing of his creative photography exhibition in the Campus Gallery on Wednesday, March 27^th, between 3-5pm.

Interested in pushing the boundaries of light, Martin was inspired by a former Stantonbury pupil to develop the idea of projecting abstract images onto the model’s face and torso to create individual shots. This technique creates gorgeous texture from the pixels of the projector.

The exhibition closes on April 22^nd.

Dansteed Hall lower school students produced some fantastic ideas for raising money for comic relief. Special recognition should go to 7DEM who raised an amazing £308!

Year 7 student Alex Brownlee outlines how this was achieved:“This year we raised lots of money in our tutor group.  Our class total was £308.81 of which I raised £80.00 on my own. To raise the £80.00 I completed a SK run with a friend (who also raised lots of money).  Our class had a bake sale at break and lunchtime.  We had lots of different things for sale and raised lots of money. I hope the money raised goes towards a project that helps build schools in Africa so children can have an education which is open for all.”

Key Stage Four students were also actively involved in fund raising for Comic Relief.  10DPD decided to as much as they could to raise a minimum of £40.

Hannah Burgess baked and decorated 60 cup cakes to sell at break and lunch.  Unbelievably, they were all gone within 4 minutes!  Selling them alone got more than half the minimum target!

Later, at lunch, Ellie Warden sang her heart out whilst playing guitar in her tutor base.  By the end of lunch there was quite a crowd.  Everyone thoroughly the mini-concert and were all singing along.  Ellie sang songs we all knew but also some of her own.

Through those 2 events alone, 10DPD raised £48.50.

Lu Johnstone, Head of Key Stage Three & Sue Nicholson, Head of Key Stage Four

Budding poets flocked to the library on World Poetry Day to listen to ex-soldier Spike the Corby poet recite his war poems. Spike also judged a poetry competition which was won by Oliver Plunkett (7GRC) for his poem Growth in the Hand of Death. Commendations were earned by Billy Cure, Adrian Stainthorpe and Marcia Lowe.

Growth in the Hand of Death

Silence crushed,

Life tossed from side to side through death’s selfish wrath, pointless,

Why does it have to go on?

Hope descends into darkness to perish

Freedom a no man’s game,

Mercy buried beneath rubble, cold, alone,

The beacon to hope lay still

BANG, death claims another – how long is it going to be before someone stands up

or has it already happened, is this the consequence?

Life to time, it comes and goes,

Death to ash to be reborn

Red through the misty grey, a whole world within a single tear,

As clouds have spread and darkness no longer,

A glimmer of hope across from once imprisonment,

Remembrance echoes through the ages,

Who could have believed something so beautiful could grow in a hand of death.

Bob Mizon’s recent visit to Stantonbury Campus involved what seemed like a healthy commute, that is, until he explained we all travel one and a half million kilometres each day, even when standing still!

Along with the travelling planetarium brought along with him, dynamic astronomer Bob Mizon (MBE) shared his knowledge of light pollution, the formation of the universe and of course, his wonderful stories.  Students sat in awe as the night sky filled with images of Orion the hunter, who attempted to take possession of a maiden by force and was deprived of his sight, Cepheus, the King and Argonaut who voyaged with Jason on a quest for the Golden Fleece and many other characters from classical, western mythology.

Students hopefully left with a greater appreciation, not only of astronomy and the greater expanse of the universe, but of our own small part on Earth, often referred to as ‘the Goldilocks planet’ because, yes, you guessed it – it’s not too hot and it’s not too cold but just right!

Congratulations to Saxon Hall student Cameron Forsyth on winning gold in the National Junior Indoor Rowing Championships. Victorious in the Year 9 category, Cameron beat 160 other competitors from across the country.

This sporting achievement is remarkable, as Cameron has only been rowing for seven months! His future in the sport looks very bright indeed, and everyone at Stantonbury Campus hopes Cameron continues to develop his talent and repeats that gold medal performance, but this time at the 2020 Olympic Games.

With a wide variety of activities going on around the campus last week in aid of Comic Relief, at least £4,000 was raised!

Over £600 was raised from the staff concert alone, and a cake sale in the finance office on Red Nose Day generated £135.

Joseph Geraghty (9PKS) shed his locks to the tune of £67 and Sixth Form students Bradley and Dylan also had their heads shaved, raising more than £200.

With so many other fund raising activities taking place, it was a fantastic achievement by everyone involved.