News & Views COLLINGWOOD STUDENTS COMPETE ON BBC2 S ROBOT WARS!

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1 News & Views COLLINGWOOD STUDENTS COMPETE ON BBC2 S ROBOT WARS! For the past year, a team of Collingwood students have been designing and building their own machines as part of the Robot Wars Club set up by Mr Thomas. Mr Thomas has competed in each of the series since the show was rebooted by the BBC in 2016 with his robots Shockwave and Aftershock. Both of these machines managed to reach the grand final before receiving damage from the current champion - Carbide. THE SIXTH FORM REVUE 2017 IS A HUGE SUCCESS On Thursday 19 October and Friday 20 October our Sixth Form students once again provided students, staff and parents with an evening of entertainment as the Revue unfolded. Sixth Form students showcased their talent and creative flair through a variety of sketches, musical performances and a touch of magic. A great deal of hard work from the cast and crew culminated into two extremely enjoyable evenings. This year, the theme of TV shows ensured that the clever and witty scripts were executed with lots of humour and good banter with many staff being the centre of attention throughout. CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

2 DATES FOR YOUR DIARY - DON T MISS OUT! Wednesday 1 November: Wednesday 8 November: Thursday 16 November: Friday 17 November: Year 13 Safe Drive, Stay Alive Event, Dorking Halls Autumn Concert, 7.00pm until 8.00pm, Kingston Theatre Year 12 Parents Evening, 4.30pm until 7.00pm, Sixth Form Centre Non-uniform Day in Support of Children in Need YEAR 8 PARENTS SURVEY - MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGE OPTIONS AT KEY STAGE 4 Following the article in 11 October s edition of our newsletter, this is just a reminder for Year 8 parents to please respond to the Modern Foreign Language Options survey on the Parent Portal (top left hand side of home page) by Monday 6 November.

3 COLLINGWOOD STUDENTS COMPETE ON BBC2 S ROBOT WARS! CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 As part of the club, 20 students from Year 7 to Year 10 have been working on a series of robots from the tiny antweights (which fit in the palm of your hand) to the 110 kilogram heavyweight machines which feature on Robot Wars. The smaller machines competed in a tournament within the club to see who had built the toughest, most destructive machine as well as who had the most driving skill. Using the design skills learnt by building the antweight robots, the club was able to design a brand new heavyweight machine and apply for the tenth series of Robot Wars. After much debate and countless ideas, the team settled on the design for Track-tion - a tough, heavily armoured machine with tank tracks to drive it and a large crushing claw to inflict maximum damage to the opposing robots. The concept was created by taking the students hand drawn ideas and converting them into a fully computerised design which could be sent for selection by the production team. Within a couple of weeks, the production team phoned and revealed that Track-tion had been accepted for the show! Track-tion went from a computer concept to a battleready machine within just 3 weeks! The students worked tirelessly to prepare the machine and it was still being painted as it was being packed in its crate to head to Glasgow for filming! The club elected four students to represent the College at the recording of the show - Dan, Anna, Marcus (from Year 9) and Ben (Year 8). At the start of May, all four students travelled to Glasgow to film the biggest fighting robot competition in the UK. the team recorded all of their initial interviews before taking to the arena for the first time. At this stage we cannot reveal how they did but can reveal that Track-tion and the team from Collingwood will be appearing on Episode 3 of the new Robot Wars series on Sunday 5 November at 8pm on BBC2. Track-tion sailed through the technical checks and Mr Thomas - Technology Department RETURN TO PAGE 1

4 THE SIXTH FORM REVUE 2017 IS A HUGE SUCCESS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 In addition to an evening of entertainment, students also raised 100 from the raffle with all proceeds raised being donated to Cancer Research. Many congratulations to all involved in this annual event which is enjoyed by staff, students and parents alike. CONGRATULATIONS TO... RETURN TO PAGE 2

5 PARENT GOVERNOR VACANCIES I am writing to ask you to consider putting yourself forward to become a Parent Governor at Collingwood. We have two vacancies that we are seeking to fill, one to start in December and one in January. A letter will be sent to parents/carers today setting out the nomination process. Governors play a vital role at Collingwood, as they do in all schools. It is for governors to ensure that all students receive the best possible quality of education and care. The government places great emphasis on the expectations of governing bodies and this is echoed in the Ofsted Inspection framework. School governing bodies, including those in academies like Collingwood, are now expected to recruit governors with skills, experiences and the commitment to develop these. We do have a diverse range of skills and experiences already represented on Collingwood s Governing body, but would welcome nominations from parents who have a general interest in education, the ability to analyse and understand data, or an understanding of finance and are comfortable asking questions. Training is provided for governors in Surrey and we do expect all governors to engage in their own development as a way of ensuring our effectiveness as a governing body. The Collingwood Governing Body meets once a term and operates five committees, which also meet each term. Governors at Collingwood sit on two of our five committees. Our meetings are at 8.00am and our aim is always to finish by 10.00am. If you are interested in the education of all students at Collingwood and are prepared to contribute your time and energy to support the College s continual strive to improve our provision, then please do consider seeking nomination. If you would like to find out more or have any questions, then please do feel free to contact me via the Clerk to the Governing Body: s.rutherford@collingwood.surrey.sch.uk Mr Barker - Chair of the Governing Body

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