Bloxham School

Eventer Challenge Schedule & Entry Form

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Bid for Signed Saints Shirt

This is your chance to bid for a Northampton Saints shirt signed by England captain, Tom Wood.

This is a silent auction and you may submit your bid by email to twt@bloxhamschool.com to arrive by 10.00pm on Monday 24th June 2013. At this time the highest bid received will be declared the winner and that person will be notified by email of how to collect the shirt .

All proceeds are going to the Sports Tour Fund.

Happy Bidding!

Bloxham Bands at the Mill

Sailing vs Old Bloxhamists

The Bloxham sailing team put in some useful practice in the sunshine at Boddington Reservoir ahead of the annual match against the Old Bloxhamist sailing team assembled this year by Alex Peck.

On the day the Old Bloxhamist’s proved marginally too strong and won a well contested match in near perfect conditions narrowly.

Sailing goes from strength to strength at Bloxham and it is encouraging that so many former pupils are continuing with the sport after their Bloxham days have sailed.

Harmonix a Winner at Ascott

Bloxham's 'Harmonix' choral group played to packed Parish Church at Ascott under Whychwood on Saturday 8 June. The event had been organised to help raise church funds and a lively and highly entertaining programme raised spirits as well as funds. The audience were held spellbound by a creditable range of songs from composers as varied as Handel to Billy Joel and Ralph Vaughan Williams to Claude -Michel Schonberg.

It was a remarkable evening of pure joy and made all the more remarkable as this was the first ever outside concert performed by Harmonix and also by the very fact that so many of the performers found themselves in the middle of the crazy exam round. All in all a fantastic effort by the Harmonix team and we look forward to bringing you edited highlights from the concert before too long.

Although Harmonix is all about teamwork it would be wrong not to make mention of William Diggle who lives in the Ascott community and who featured prominently in the evening's programme. William leaves Bloxham in the summer and will take up a place at the Royal Academy of Music. The Ascott community backed this concert with great enthusiasm and it really was a case of standing room only - and as some mentioned ' Never seen the church so full!' If Harmonix have played a part in rejuvenating this little community then it has certainly been worthwhile- and hopefully they will be invited back in the future.

Bloxham Riders in Great Form

Another competition and another great result for the Bloxham equestrian team with both Intermediate and Open squads lifting the trophies at the Winchester House Hunter Trials at Foxhill Farm on 12th May. Bloxham are also currently the National Schools Eventing Champions so the trophy cabinet is looking rather formidable at present!

Some of the riders from the Winchester House event are pictured here with their prizes and a delighted team manager, Mary Allbrook.

Taxi! For two Old Bloxhamists

Two reecent Old Bloxhamists, Sam Ryan and Barney Williams are making quite a name for themselves at their new place of study, Leeds University. The pair, who were both accomplished sportsmen as well as capable academics have been featured by James Caan (of Dragon's Den fame) in the Guardian for their innovative Taxi Booking and sharing App. Part of that article is reproduced here:

Two Start-Up Loan recipients, Sam Ryan and Barney Williams, had this in mind when devising a marketing plan for their new mobile app, JumpIn. It is a taxi booking and taxi-sharing app that aims to overcome the perception that travelling this way is unsafe, through offering the service to a selected, ring-fenced group of people.

Ryan and Williams are students at Leeds University, so the obvious demographic to initially roll out JumpIn to was fellow students, with a long-term plan to expand the concept to other safe, specified consumer groups. When devising their marketing strategy, the pair's three key aims were brand awareness, generating downloads and encouraging use. Brand perception was paramount when targeting these areas through various marketing channels.

The boys were keen to be perceived as a "cool student brand", as well as a professional outlet. They wanted JumpIn to be immediately recognisable and fun, but to appeal to angel investors and larger sectors of society for when they are ready to roll the concept out to other demographics; they always had the wider brand in mind, which is key.

Access to the whole article can be had by clicking this link:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/small-business-network/2013/jun/05/marketing-small-business-budget

Well done to the pair of them and no doubt, if James Caan is impressed with the start-up venture, then great things lie ahead.

Calendar Update week beginning 17/06/2013

Tuesday 18

Return from Biology Field Trip

INDEPENDENT COACH EDUCATION SWIMMING POOL COACHING COURSE

08:30 2nd Form Camp depart

09:00 A2: Maths C4, Theatre Studies DRAM3

09:00 New Lower 6th morning

10:40 Concert Band

13:20 Wind Band

13:30 Mathematics Surgery (Room 29) until 1.50 p.m.

13:45 A2: Chinese 6CN03

14:00 3rd Form PSHE Event 14:00-15:00

14:00 GCSE: Geography 3

15:30 Extra English

16:00 Riding

16:00 ECDL catch-up session T5 until 5.30 p.m.

19:00 Theology drop-in until 8.30 p.m.

Wednesday 19

08:45 L6 Future Focused training - all morning

09:00 A2: Chemistry F324, Music G356

13:20 Exham House Choir

13:45 A2: PE G453

14:00 GCSE: Latin Verse Literature

14:30 Cricket v KES Stratford: 1^st (a)

16:15 Cricket v Arnold Lodge: JCA (h) Park Close

Thursday 20

08:45 L6 Future Focused training - all day

09:00 A2: Physics G494, Business Studies 6BS04

13:30 Peer Listening Team Meeting

13:45 A2: Home Economics G004

14:30 Cricket v Rencomb: ZA (h) Park Close

14:30 JCA County Cricket Cup Final v Abingdon (h) Main Field

15:30 3rd Form Bronze DofE Award Briefing until 5.00 p.m. (meet RTC)

16:45 Chapel Choir

17:30 Sung Eucharist

19:30 L6 Travel talk

19:45 Bloxham Bands at The Mill, Banbury (transport available)

Friday 21

08:45 L6 ISCO Management Conference - all day

09:00 A2: Maths FP2

13:20 Brass Group, Pop Music Drop In, Flute Group

13:30 Mathematics Surgery (Room 26) until 1.50 p.m.

14:30 YA Cricket v MCS Oxford (a)

16:45 Exham House Choir

17:15 Sung Eucharist

18:00 2nd Form Camp returns

18:00 Art & Textiles Exhibition of Work until 7.30 p.m.

18:20 Harmonix

19:00 L6 Dinner (Future Focus)

19:30 Wine Society: Champagne Tasting (Park Close)

Saturday 22

08:45 L6 UCAS training - all morning

11:30 Cricket v KES Southampton: 1st (h)

11:45 Cricket v KES Southampton JCA, JCB (a) start 2.00 p.m.

14:00 Mixed Tennis v St Edwards: 1st 2nd (h)

14:00 Rounders v Tudor Hall: U15, U14 (a)

14:00 Cricket v KES Southampton YA (h) Park Close, YB (h) 2nd Field

Sunday 23

4th Sunday after Trinity

13:00 3rd Form Bronze DofE Expedition departs (until 25th)

16:00 Headmaster’s Farewell Garden Party (Woollen Hale)

Clay Pigeon Fundraiser a Big Success

A wonderful sunny day at Weatherhead Farm. England rugby skipper Tom Wood presented trophies to all the winners as he took some time out from preparing for the Premiership Final with Leicester before heading to Argentina with England. Bloxham pupils Robert Skipworth, Jimmy Howson & Abi Gadsden all won their categories, Massive thanks to the Gurney family for hosting another superb event.

Bloxham Students - Ferrari Experience

On Wednesday 15th May two U6 students, Will Haynes and Salar Arbabi, attended the 39th Maurice Lubbock Memorial Lecture at the invitation of the Department of Engineering Science at Oxford University. The lecture, titled "Ferrari", was given by Stefano Domenicali - Team Principal of Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari's Formula 1 racing team. On arrival, we were met by Dr Richard Willden - lecturer - and given a tour of the Department with displays and brief talks on current fields of research. This included meeting Josh Riley (OB and postgraduate in the department) who explained about his current work on cooling systems for aero engines. We were then shown around the 4th Year Undergraduate projects.

The lecture itself was very informative about the philosophy behind Ferrari as a brand and their strategy to compete for the most talented engineers from around the world. It was encouraging to hear that they are setting up an office at the new Begbroke Science Park to enhance their established links with the Department of Engineering Science at Oxford University. Stefano Domenicali then took questions from the audience for about half an hour, where he answered openly and amusingly about future developments.

Given that Will and Salar both intend to pursue Mechanical Engineering at university, this opportunity proved inspiring and encouraging as they work hard to gain the high grades needed at A level in order to pursue their chosen courses. Last summer, Will had arranged a week's work experience at Lotus-Renault, so the day at Oxford provided another opportunity to see the application in the workplace of his current studies.

Will Haynes writes,

The trip to Oxford’s Engineering Department on Wednesday was a very insightful afternoon. We had a tour around some of the department and found out about some of the post-graduate research going on there which was very all very exciting stuff. We also got a look at some of the prize winning 4^th year General Engineering under-graduates’ projects, which they showed off and explained to us.

It was amazing to see the range of projects and the freedom they were given to work under. Then came the lecture itself, “Ferrari” presented by Team Manager Stefano Domenicali. Stefano was a vibrant character who spoke informatively and humorously about Ferrari’s principles and values. I am already Interested in a career in motorsport, so it was great to hear about how Ferrari choose engineering graduates to work for them. He opened the lecture up to the floor very early on, which lead to some very interesting questions from some leading engineers and students, which Stefano answered with ease, giving his views on subjects such as sustainability and the changes coming into Formula 1. All in all, the lecture really strengthened my ambition to work in Fomula 1, possibly in the beautiful setting of the Ferrari base is in Maranello, Italy. The whole trip has motivated me to continue to work towards a future in engineering and particularly motorsport and F1.

Salar Arbabi:

The lecture on Wednesday was very helpful. Even though I am not interested in cars in general, the lecture was about some interesting stuff. The fact that Ferrari was badly looking for some talented engineering undergraduates, despite all the economic crises shows that anyone who is interested in the field should be confident of getting a good job after his/her graduation. The working environment that these big companies offer to their employees is just fabulous and I believe it is really worth the hard work at university. The best part of the day for me was the tour around the engineering department. It was so fascinating to see fourth year engineering graduates talking about their projects to visitors, which will hopefully be what I will be doing in four year’s time.

Girls Cricket marks 150th Anniversary

In a week when history was made on Tuesday with the school’s first ever girls’ cricket fixture, it is also worth noting that 2013 marks the 150^th anniversary of Bloxham School’s first cricket fixture (indeed, any sports fixture), as the school’s first XI (see attached photograph) played the Ratley village side on 4^th August 1863. The match was played at Upton House, against whose country house side the school had an annual fixture between 1868 and 1893. This week also sees the reinstatement of this fixture when the Bloxham staff cricket team (“the Black Caps”) play Upton House at home on Thursday evening. When the fixture was last played 120 years ago, staff were still allowed to play against village sides or country house teams ,and the school’s Headmaster, Egerton, and senior masters such as Charles Wilson regularly turned out for the school. Only boys were allowed to play in school fixtures against Dean Close, MCS Oxford and St Edward’s Oxford, Bloxham’s three main opponents at the time.

House Cricket Gets Under Way

Hockey & Netball Review

School Photo Order Information

How to order

You can view and order your photographs online.

Simply log on to www.tspc-shop.co.uk.

School photographs capture a unique moment in our lives that cannot be repeated, so don’t miss your

chance to order your copies.

Follow the instructions in the ‘orders‘ section, where you can ZOOM IN to see a close-up of your picture and

choose from a range of options.

You will need the Photo ID and Photo Key printed below for the photographs.

Photo ID	Photo Key
7wv5V2Yb	d6VTQUfq

Bloxham Humanitarian Project

Sporting Founderstide

The School emerged as winners of the two main sporting contests of Founderstide as both the cricket and tennis teams emerged victorious against Old Bloxhamist opposition in two well contested duels!

Tom Tuthill was our man at the cricket:

"A great game of cricket with the OB’s. They batted first & set the school 171 to win, Tim Loxton leading the way with the bat with a well made 50. It was a very good fielding performance by the boys. Archie Mansfield was the pick of the bowlers with 3-28, while Tom Falkingham & Jack Briggs also got two wickets each.
In reply Luke Nardone scored a rapid 43 to get the school off to a good start; Wiggi Gurney continued this good work with a very patient 36 to anchor the run chase. The school needed 5 an over from the last 8 overs to win and some Chris Gayle style fireworks from Dom Craven saw the school home with 2 overs to spare as he smashed 37 off 19 balls with one 6 & seven 4s; the school won by 5 wickets."

Jenny Edwards was watching the tennis and writes:

"Bloxham beat the OB's with 5 matches to 3 with 2 draws.
Players rotated 3 mixed pairs and 1 mens’ doubles in 3 rounds of great tennis.
After 2 rounds both sides had 3 wins and 1 draw, so it was all on the last round.
Sophie Waller and Ray Petkov, Lucy Dales and Will Fox both had close 4-3 wins to clinch the match.

The rounders activity provided some lighter relief from the breathless hush on main field and the centre court frenzy of the tennis. We are grateful to Alex Linnington who was there:

This was a popular event as the weather was kind to us and was well attended with a mixture of pupils, parents, grandparents, siblings and a golden retriever! We split the group into an even mix of adults, siblings and pupils to create two teams whilst some opted to cheer on both teams from the side lines. We played two innings of 30 good balls per team and it was a closely fought match with very little difference in rounders scored between them; great fun was had by all."

The Sports Challenges in the Dewey were very well received by the parents who participated with their children. Activities included table tennis, mini-tennis, badminton and basketball shooting. In addition, speed and power fitness tests proved to be very popular

A cunning orienteering course was arranged from Exham House requiring the competitors to find letters attached to the orienteering markers around the school site. The winning group, aided by strong local knowledge were James Babbage, Ollie White, Sam Canale-Hopwell and George Price, just edging out Hannah Marshall and Emily Baker.