What’s happening at Somervale
From 10 Oct – 1 Nov an exhibition of artworks from all
secondary and special schools in BANES was held at the Victoria Art
gallery, Bath. The following students had work on display – Steph Lake,
Naomi Stearn, Grant Johnson, Emily Hill, Josh Martin and Dan Morris
The Year 10 Somervale Curriculum Enrichment Group joined forces with BTCV Environmental Conservation Group at Silver Street Wood on Friday 25th September. The group are currently clearing an ancient natural pond to restore it to its former glory. Pupils; Sam Watts, Katie Britt and Natalie Seymour spent the afternoon with spades and wheelbarrows removing silt to allow the natural stream to once again flow into the pond area.
Mrs Mitchard and Mr Didymus were really impressed with the attitude and motivation of the pupils who were rewarded at the end of the session by seeing the pond begin to fill.
After the tremendous Year 11 GCSE results which were the best in the school’s history, some more good news for Somervale students. Year 10 students who took Maths a year early achieved a 100% A*/C success rate.
Special mention needs to be made of Emily Hill who got full marks 600/600 in every component of the exam. Not far behind with A*’s were Jonathan Harvey and Ian Williamson who dropped only 2 marks and 5 marks respectively out of the 600 available.
The Science modular results for Year 10 were equally impressive. Notable achievements are: Harry Ancill and Sam Presley stay on course to achieve a perfect score in GCSE Chemistry. Emily Hill has gained a grade A* for her Core Science GCSE, with 395/400, Jonathan Harvey, Jonathan Turner and Ian Williamson have all achieved an A* for every module undertaken (one and half GCSE Science grades each). Jade Woodbury, Ryan Gay, Zoe George and Zoe Foister achieved full marks in one or more component.
Somervale held its annual celebration evening on July 8th to hand out awards to students in Years 7-10 and 12 who have particularly impressed staff with
their commitment this year.
The hall was full to capacity and over 100 awards were presented, including the headteacher’s award which went to Dan
Cox and the deputy headteacher’s award which went to Emily Hill. The audience was entertained with music, drama and media productions.
The Somer Valley Drivetime show will broadcast live from the festival between Tuesday 23rd and Sunday 28th June. Working in partnership with Worthy FM the show will be broadcast simultaneously on Somer Valley FM, Worthy FM and BCFM. The programme will be presented by Dom Chambers who will lead a production team of trainees from Somer Valley and BCfm. For the week of the festival the show will be called Avalon Afternoons.
Dom is a Glastonbury veteran having gone to every festival since he first arrived at the Field of Avalon in 1998. The following year he returned with a film crew and filmed ‘Avalon: A Field in Glastonbury’ which broadcast on Channel 4 in 2000. Since then Dom has enmeshed himself deep into the fabric of the festival. Whether interviewing a major music icon or chatting to a wizard randomly met at The Rabbit Hole Dom sees validity and relevancy in all he encounters. He says:
“What I love about Glastonbury is the great variety on offer. One minute you can be enjoying a globally recognized band on the pyramid and the next chatting to a Breton folk collective up at the Field of Avalon. One year I was keen to see the French band Air but when I arrived at The other Stage I saw that the crowd were gathered in couples and gazing into flickering flames as waves of sound collages washed over them from the stage. Having neither a wax torch nor a lover immediately to hand I went round the corner and joined a large throng offering a spirited rendition of ‘Sailing’ as Rod Stewart did his stuff on The Pyramid.”
With anecdotes, interviews, guests and Glastonbury music Dom aims to bring the spirit of the festival in its infinite variety to these programme specials. The show can be heard daily in Glastonbury week 4-6pm online and 97.5 Somer Valley FM.
Also
Worthy FM – 87.7fm (festival radio on site and surrounding district)
The Beautiful Future Team at Somervale School are to hold a ‘Gardening for All‘ evening at the school on Tuesday the 30th June from 6.00pm until 9.00 pm. As well as a chance to tour the newly developed garden area of the school there will be many other activities and things to see and take part in such as:
Entrance is free – so please come along and see what’s been happening at Somervale!
Four of Somervale School’s reading group attended the inaugural awards ceremony for the Centurion Book Award at Bath Public library on Wednesday 18th March. This award is for a favourite recently published book, voted for by secondary school groups across the B&NES area. The winning author was Derek Landy for his fast-packed adventure story ‘Skulduggery Pleasant’. A close second was Jenny Valentine’s ‘Broken Soup’ which was championed by Somervale pupils Rebekah and Alix. Council Chairman David Bellotti is to present a replica Bladud pig sponsored by Barefoot Books to Derek Landy.
Other group members are Sophie Clark, Robert Mateer, Brandon Tall and Jade Bradley.
Left to right in the photo are: Jasmine Sparey, Alix Jelly, Ryan Blake, Rebekah Smith.
Year 10 pupils at Somervale studying on the OCR National course in Media received a visit from Professor David James of The University of West of England on Wednesday 18th March. Professor James, from the university’s Education faculty, is researching work-related learning in the South West and came to find out about the class’s DVD production project. The class is acting as a video production company working for its client, the Midsomer Norton Society.
Professor James was impressed with the work that the class is doing and commented ‘the pupils really value this project and like being able to make their own decisions about the film.’
Professor James’ report on work-related learning will be published in December. The DVD ‘ Midsomer Norton: 900 years in the making’ is due for release in June.
The website has posted it’s first Podcasts from the school, made with the cooperation of Somer Valley FM. Deputy Head Mark Kenny has initiated the podcast service as yet another link between the school and the community radio station. The podcasts are hosted by Dom Chambers, Station Manager at Somer Valley FM, which broadcasts on 97.5 FM in the Midsomer Norton and Radstock area. This is an ongoing project, and more podcasts will be added soon.
In celebration of World Book Day, Somervale School hosted a visit by well known local author, Steve Voake.
All year 7 pupils were involved and had the opportunity to listen to Steve talk about his fantasy adventure stories including the soon to be published ‘Bloodhunter’.’
Pictured above is Steve Voake with staff from Somervale School. From left to right, Steve Voake, Lynne Webb, Sara Gibbs, Alistair Hannan and Rebecca Woodman.
