UKMT senior Maths challenge

Each year, a handful of students are entered for the UKMT senior Maths challenge, and this year both Alex Sawyer and William Blakey were entered for more prestigious competitions following their outstanding results. Alex was entered for the UKMT Kangaroo in which he received a certificate of qualification. William was entered for the incredibly challenging Maths Olympiad, in which he managed to achieve a certificate of merit. This was a sterling effort and both boys should be immensely proud of themselves in what is their last Maths challenge at Birchwood.

Birchwood’s British Physics Olympiad Gold Winners

Year 13 Physics students William Blakey and Alex Sawyer have had an amazing start to their final year. It started with their A level Physics teacher Mr William-Powlett encouraging them to enter the British Physics Olympiad; a test for the very best young physicists in the country and beyond. The Olympiad had nearly 5,000 of the best British students and International students entering. Amazingly both young men scored a Gold in the paper, putting them in the top 20% of results in the world. William was amongst the very best results in the cohort and was awarded a Top Gold and invited to try out for the British Physics Olympiad team with an even more fiendishly difficult paper. The good news didn’t stop there. A week after receiving the BPhO results both boys found out that they had received offers from Oxford University to study Physics subject to their grades in the Summer.

Young Musician of the Year 2022

Birchwood’s Young Musician of the Year 2022
Are you Birchwood’s next Pop or Classical winner?
How to Enter:
All you need to do is email a video recording of you performing your favourite piece in a communal space, e.g. your living room,
to Mr Grogan, mgrogan@birchwoodhigh.org.uk.
All styles and genres of music are welcome.
Closing date for entries is:
Wednesday 9 February and finalists will be announced on Friday 11 February.

Congratulations to Hans Tsui

Congratulations to Hans Tsui from Year 9 who was the lucky winner of last half term’s ‘Read, Review, Reward’ competition. Hans read and reviewed five books from the reading list – his overall favourite was ‘Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus‘ which he rated 4.5 out of 5.

This half term’s competition ‘Read around the World’ has been extended until Easter so there is plenty of time to get involved. You too could be the lucky winner of a £10 Waterstones gift card. For more information on how you can enter please contact Mrs Gibson jgibson@birchwoodhigh.org.uk

Detached Playing Field – update – 21 December 2021

Governors have now met to consider the feedback from the public consultation with regards to the 3.4Ha detached playing field adjacent to the school.  It is land owned by the school which has been used for PE and Sports. However, the school is keen to explore a variety of development options to improve its use and effectiveness.  A sub-committee of Governors has been set up to lead with this project and their Terms of Reference and minutes from their initial meeting can be found here:

• Detached Playing Field Sub-committee Terms of Reference
• Detached Playing Field Sub-committee Meeting 12-11-2021

London Spanish Film Festival

Spanish A level and Year 11 students recently attended the London Spanish Film Festival, which took place at the Ciné Lumière in South Kensington.
We met at Bishop’s Stortford train Station at 3.35pm and travelled into London via train and the tube. We arrived in plenty of time to be able to grab a bite to eat before making our way to the cinema on foot. It was so great to be in London again after so long!
We chose the film “La Isla de las Mentiras” (Island of Lies) which had a very unusual but interesting storyline. It was about a shipwreck off the coast of a small Galician island and how the people dealt with the incident, with lots of twists and turns.
I enjoyed the whole experience of watching the film in Spanish; it made me think about the cultural aspects involved and how the film was made (we study a film as part of our course). This trip was also very helpful in terms of developing my listening skills, and being totally absorbed in something different. I would recommend this trip to any Spanish student as it was beneficial and an enjoyable experience. We will look forward to the next one!
Alice Peacock, Year 13