Dear Parents,

Recently we have been looking at the opportunities that augmented reality (AR) offers in education; there is no question that it increases pupil engagement but it also breaks down complex and abstract concepts where pupils can visualise in reality. One obvious application is ensuring that our pupils are able to develop a better understanding of the world in which they live and better understand their role as global citizens in a world with an increasingly complex web of connections. AR isn't the only answer to being an active global citizen, there needs to be more diverse and personal opportunities for forging connections with individuals and societies.

In the past few months, we have strengthened our links with the eTwinning community which offers a platform for staff to communicate, collaborate, develop projects, share and be part of the learning community in Europe. This week Miss Wynne Powell is participating in a project in Norway, developing activities to inspire and creatively evolve coding and computational thinking. Armed with our Thinking Toolkit, she will bring back projects that will synthesise our cross-curricular work and further embed creative t[h]inkering. A keen advocate of educator Seymour Papert, Miss Wynne-Powell shares the belief that the final outcomes of projects are about the connections, the community and the relevance, i.e the journey. We look forward to exploring the motivation and momentum of diversity offered by more open ended exploration, inspired by working alongside educators and their students from across Europe.

This week we also heard from the Mayor of Saffron Walden inviting our parents, families and staff who are German or have German connections to join together with families from Bad Wildengun in Germany to mark the start of the newly resurrected Town Twinning Project.

Being a global citizen extends to embracing responsibility for acting to protect the physical world, recognising that the many elements of the biosphere require us to take positive steps to maintain its integrity. The Eco-Team have been taking positive action by learning about waste audits and the importance of recycling.

As well as being global citizens it is important that our children understand and are an active part of their local community and Reception were delighted to extend an invitation to the residents of Manorcourt Homecare to visit the school. You can read more about that visit here.

Collaborating across our community of schools during World Book Day was also great fun and the pupils in Year 1 and Year 2 especially enjoyed meeting up with their friends from City and Madingley.

Kind regards

Tracy Handford

Head of Dame Bradbury's and Vice Principal, 3-11

Head of Sixth Form - Announcement

As you are aware Miss Naomi Atkins was appointed as Vice Principal 11-18 in September last year alongside her role as Head of Sixth Form. At the end of the academic year, Miss Atkins will be stepping down as Head of Sixth Form to focus on her role as Vice Principal 11-18. Miss Atkins will continue to lead the 11-18 Leadership Team and ensure we are delivering on our aim and values with both the Sixth Form Colleges and Senior School.

We are delighted to welcome Spencer Pinkus as our new Head of Sixth Form from September 2019. A Cambridge English graduate, Mr Pinkus initially practised as a Chancery barrister in London before joining the teaching profession in 2011. He is currently Head of Enhancement and Enrichment at The Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School, as well as a teacher of English and Drama. Mr Pinkus has also acted as a Sixth Form tutor and university applications adviser for several years.

Tricia Kelleher is looking forward to meeting with Mr Pinkus during the Easter holidays and learning more about him which will be captured in a new podcast.  

Mr Pinkus will be attending the next Sixth Form Colleges Open Evening on Thursday 2 May and looks forward to meeting as many of you as possible.

You can register for the event here.

Listen to the first episode of the SPF Podcast, a series of conversations between members of the Stephen Perse Foundation, staff and students alike.

After the successful Cambridge Model United Nations conference at the beginning of March, Principal Tricia Kelleher sat down with Secretary General and 6th Form student Justin. They discuss the conference and why it is important that young people collaborate internationally in the current political climate.

Listen to the SPF Podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfdrKmqYA9c&feature=youtu.be

Read more news from Dame B's

Sports Round-up

Since the last newsletter, our sports teams have been extremely busy.

It has been a busy time on the netball court over the last few weeks. On Thursday 28 February the U11A netball team travelled to Felsted to take part in the regional IAPS tournament. In a very tight and competitive group the team were excellent, winning two of their matches and drawing the other three, resulting in Dame B's finishing unbeaten at the top of the group, Unfortunately, the team came up against very strong opponents who went on to come 2nd overall in the quarter final. Dame B's tried their best but the opposition took the win. It was a fantastic day of tournament netball and the girls should be proud of their performances.

On Wednesday 6 March, Dame B's had a tough afternoon on the netball court with the U11A and B teams suffering losses to two excellent St Margaret's teams. The U10A also lost away from home to Widford Lodge.

On Friday 8 March, Dame B's hosted Kimbolton for some U11A,B,C and D fixtures. The U11A put in the performance of the day recording a super 29-12 win. The U11B lost a closely fought match 18-13 whilst the C and D teams both played well but unfortunately suffered 9-2 and 6-0 defeats.

The U11 Hockey teams have had a busy few weeks with our mixed teams competing in the district and county finals and local schools league. Having qualified from the district tournament, the team travelled to Felsted to compete in the County Finals. In a morning of tough competition, the team finished in 3rd overall having lost out on penalty shuffles in their semi final match.

The U11 boys hockey team competed in the IAPS tournament for the first time in a number of years and learned a lot from the experience. Whilst results did not go our way in all of the matches they boys showed spirit and determination throughout and enjoyed the day.

Both A & B teams continue to show good form in the mixed league with some hard fought victories against Bentfield and St Thomas More.

Indoor Athletics

The U11 Indoor Athletics team travelled to Garrons Park in Southend, to compete in the county finals. In a morning of high quality athletics, our pupils performed excellently against tough opposition in a variety of track and field events.

When the results were announced we had finished in 9th position which was a great improvement on last years result. Well done to everyone involved.

Two weeks ago, swimmers from Years 3, 4, 5 & 6 travelled to Bishop’s Stortford to compete in the Spring term gala. Against tough opposition, all of our swimmers did fantastically. What really stood out from this gala alongside the great swimming was the fantastic team spirit shown by our pupils. The noise levels and level of support that team members gave to one another was fantastic!

The U10 football team travelled to Widford Lodge in Chelmsford and played extremely well to win a hard fought match. In windy and muddy conditions an impressive second half performance ensured a hard fought victory against the hosts.  

ESFA Football tournament

The U11 football teams played host to St Cedds last week and both teams played some excellent football. The A team match was tightly contested game. After a sloppy start, the boys battled hard and won the game with a last minute penalty kick. The B team played some fantastic football against the visitors and won their match despite the visitors’ never say die attitude. Well played boys.

The U11 A team competed in the ESFA football competition held at the Perse Prep school. Entering the tournament in good form, the boys were hopeful for a good day on the pitch. Sadly, we never really got going and results did not go our way. It was an opportunity to reflect for the boys and to understand the need to be clinical in front of goal and be prepared for the physical battles that they may face on the pitch. Despite the results, it was a great opportunity for players to play some tournament football against a high level of opponent.

On the same day all boys in Year 5 & 6 travelled to King’s Ely to play football. In an afternoon where results didn’t go our way, the boys did their very best and never gave up until the final whistle.

Our U9 boys and girls travelled to the Junior School on Tuesday to play hockey and netball. For many of the boys, it was their first experience of a competitive hockey fixture. Having taken sometime to get used to the size of the pitch, the boys played well and the matches finished with one team winning a match each.

As always I would like to thank all of our parents for their continued support at our sports matches and do keep up to date with the latest goings on within the department by following us on Twitter @ DBS_Sport.

See the full Dame B's calendar here

PTA Notices

Save the date for our first ever joint PTA and DBS Sports Dame Bradbury’s family fun run in aid of CRUK and EACH (East Anglia Children’s Hospice, chosen by Dame Bradbury’s school council). This will be on the morning of Sunday 19 May at Carver Barracks, and we are putting the emphasis on the fun and enjoyment of taking part! More details and registration to follow.

Following on from this we have the chance to party at the Biennial Dame Bradbury’s Summer Ball being held on Saturday 8 June at Chesterford Research Park. Tickets will go on sale soon!