It has been a busy start to the 2019-20 academic year across ACS Cobham
Pitch perfect tournament debuts AstroTurf
At the end of November, we launched our fantastic new multi-use AstroTurf sports surface. And what better way to do it than at the Power of Four Cup, an under-18 Varsity football tournament which brought together all of our ACS schools - Egham, Hillingdon and Doha. Congratulations to Cobham Cougars who went on to win the cup.
The FIFA and World Rugby-accredited surface will benefit students throughout ACS Cobham and beyond. Cougar teams are representing ACS – and England – in football, track and swimming at the World School Games in Dubai this winter and have been training on the pitch. ACS Cobham is one of the few schools that offers football and rugby training to girls from Grade 1 (age 6-7) and the entire student body from Grade 1-12 are looking forward to using the surface for a variety of sports. The addition of the AstroTurf also extends extra-curricular club, leisure and team practice times after classes, over weekends and holidays, and is available for community groups to use.
Technology outreach wins award for ACS
ACS International Schools recently won the Digital Technology in Learning Initiative award at the International School Awards 2020, in recognition of its technology sharing project. The project, pioneered by Graeme Lawrie, Partnerships Director, in conjunction with our four schools in Cobham, Egham, Hillingdon and Doha, features technology outreach boxes also known as ‘tech boxes’. To date, an ACS team including staff and students has visited over 200 schools with a technology outreach box which includes state-of-the-art equipment such as virtual reality headsets, digital cameras, a green screen and even a five-foot-tall robot.
[L-R]: Tim Cagney, Chief Executive, ACS International Schools; Barnaby Sandow, Head of School, ACS Cobham; Graeme Lawrie, Partnerships Director, ACS International Schools.
As part of each session, ACS students, aged 13-14, work with teachers ahead of the visit to plan lesson activities which form part of the class curriculum and find innovative ways to embed the technology box. Teacher training sessions run by Graeme also form part of the project, allowing him to share his technology experience with other local partner schools. Read more here.
Educators gain Apple recognition
Nine ACS Cobham teaching staff have been awarded the accolade of Apple Teacher. This title is an official recognition from Apple that verifies the exceptional knowledge and use of Apple tools for teaching and learning by our teachers. It also acknowledges the mentoring and training other staff in teaching with technology.
Lyndsey Stuttard, Digital Teaching and Learning Specialist, said: “We are extremely proud of the hard work and dedication shown by each of our Apple Teachers and pleased to be able to demonstrate the continued effort of the school to promote learning through technology.
“ACS values the contribution that technology can make in developing the knowledge, skills and strengths of each student and we support each individual in using digital platforms and programmes to express their opinions, creativity and opportunities. We are always learning when it comes to new technology, and there is so much more available to teachers and students when we work with Apple products.”
The accreditation of Apple Teachers at ACS Cobham follows ACS Hillingdon’s award as an Apple Distinguished School, recognised as a centre of innovation and educational excellence using Apple products to inspire learning creativity and critical thinking. Innovative uses of technology in teaching and the wider school environment is a focal point of life at ACS schools, and students benefit enormously from the schools’ commitment to digital technology, in pursuit of academic excellence and practical skills.
Congratulations to our Apple Teachers:
Early Childhood Teacher: Wendy Brandse
Lower School Teachers: Samuel Thonet, Jodi Moore and David Davidson
Middle School Teachers: Tania Asif and Chloe Welch
Digital Teaching and Learning Department: Anthony Artist, Lyndsey Stuttard and Ben Beeharry
Ready for tomorrow's world
ACS Cobham hosted over 30 schools from across south-east England for a TeenTech Festival, an exciting science, technology and engineering challenge day for students aged 12-13.
TeenTech is an award-winning charity, founded in 2008 by former Tomorrow’s World television presenter, Maggie Philbin OBE, and Chris Dodson OBE, a mechanical engineer and current chairman of Mortimer Technologies. The charity aims to help students realise their own potential within science, technology and engineering-related careers.
Maggie Philbin with ACS Cobham students
Across the course of the day, 300 students took part in team activities in three themed zones - Insight, Innovation and Challenge - which were designed to hone skills, such as teamwork and problem-solving. In the Innovation Zone, teams were tasked with designing an invention to solve a real-world problem and Mia and Catherine’s invention was selected to represent ACS Cobham’s team.
“There’s lots of confusion around recycling. Our invention is designed to sort your rubbish automatically. A digital screen will examine the waste before you put it into the bin and will sort it into different compartments ready to be recycled. So, you’d only need one bin,” commented Mia.
As part of the Insight Zone, students were also able to ask questions and get first-hand insights from leading companies including British Aerospace, Bank of England, Network Rail and JVC Kenwood.
During the Challenge Zone, teams took part in fast-paced, technology-derived activities such as designing a keychain to be 3D-printed, coding a robot to break into a bank vault and solving a cyber-crime case – all in just 30 minutes.
Cambridge calling!
Three ACS Cobham 2019 graduates accepted places to study at the University of Cambridge, after all three scored over 40 points in their International Baccalaureate (IB) results.
Bethan Holloway-Strong headed to Newnham College to read English after gaining an outstanding personal score of 43 points out of a maximum 45 in her IB Diploma.
Iona Fleming
“I think the IB gave me a solid base from which to apply to Cambridge,” said Bethan, “The structure of assessments in IB English Literature is almost identical to the Cambridge interview format, and writing my Extended Essay in Literature also helped me with independent study and super-curricular reading, which are both things that Cambridge emphasises.
“I found the personal statement daunting at first, but my college counsellor really helped me by always being on hand to read my drafts and answer any questions.
“The interviews were nerve-wracking, but they were also fun. It was exciting to get to talk about my interpretation of literature with experts in the field. The advice I would give is don’t be afraid to be yourself. The interviewers want to see who you really are and whether you are someone they would want to teach.”
Iona Fleming scored an impressive 41 points and went to Christ’s College to read Modern and Medieval Languages. She said, “ACS was extremely important in inspiring my love of foreign languages and cultures, firstly through the excellent language department at the school.
“My interest in languages was fostered from an early age, which is something I probably would not have found at another school. I was also exposed to a multitude of languages every day through the international atmosphere of the school.”
University of Cambridge
Iona also credits the structured learning of the IB with her successful application: “I think the rigour of the IB helped me to prepare for the intensity of study at Cambridge. The fact I was juggling six subjects (seven in 11th Grade, as I was doing Mandarin as well) has really improved my time management skills and I feel that I’m much better equipped to enter university with a more well-rounded mindset than I might otherwise have been.”
Joining them was James Walkling, with an excellent final score of 43 in the IB, who took up a place at Corpus Christi College to read Natural Sciences.
“We’ve worked very hard to reach this point,” said 2019 valedictorian James. “We have been extremely privileged to learn from a rich and varied curriculum from some very inspiring teachers and we are all eager and excited to see what the next step now brings.”
In 2019, 16% of ACS Cobham students received an impressive 38 points or higher in their IB Diploma. In addition to accepting places at top British universities including King’s College London, Warwick and Manchester, several students have used their international education as a stepping stone to overseas locations including New York University and the University of Toronto.
Barnaby Sandow, Head of School, said: “We are extremely proud that so many of this year’s graduating class from ACS Cobham have accepted places at a range of prominent universities around the world.”
Land Rover 4x4 finalists
Four STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) teams from Middle School and High School superbly represented ACS Cobham in the south-east region Land Rover Challenge.
Tasked with designing and building a radio-controlled four-wheel drive (4x4) car, the High School teams walked away with three awards. Team Environ beat 27 teams to secure first place in the regional finals and will go on to compete in the national finals at the Jaguar factory in Castle Bromwich, Birmingham in March. Team Environ also won the Best Sponsorship Award, meanwhile Team Nebula took home the Best Engineering Portfolio.
Dr Karolina Hammer, their teacher, said: "The Middle School teams showed great professionalism, excelled in communication and demonstrated very good engineering skills in a tough competition between 15 entry teams from South East and London. I am very proud of them. The Silver Foxes (Land Rover's senior engineers) praised them for their excellent behaviour and confidence. I am sure it is a great experience for the teams that will provide these students with skills we can not teach in the classrooms. I am happy to see their enthusiasm and sportsmanship!"
She added that High School students demonstrated resilience, gracious professionalism and excellent engineering skills. "The judges were impressed by their engineering knowledge, detailed portfolio, critical analytical skills as well as their collaboration. They put in hundreds of hours combined, four months of intense work put into this challenge outside the classroom with a rewarding outcome."
iTime Expo
Our Grade 8 students put a lot of hard work into their personal projects, which went on to be displayed at the iTime Expo. Here are a selection of some of them, covering a wide range of topics.
Luke B: Global warming
Ella B: Dog treats and feeder
Haddasa Y: Effects of pollution