THE

TCS Tribune
Achievement Excellence Integrity

Issue #16 - Summer 2022

1 | The TCS Tribune - Summer 2022

TCS
Testbourne Community School
Achievement Excellence Integrity
 Dear valued Parents, Carers and members of the community,
Welcome to the 16th edition of the TCS Tribune. This is our termly
newsletter, dedicated to sharing the activities of the students and staff in our
wonderful school and wider community.
It has continued to be a challenging time for schools across the nation
with high levels of staff absence, high levels of student absence and
shortages of supply and permanent staff. We have, however, risen above
these challenges and returned to our more usual exciting extra-curricular
provision. Each of the events we have had have seemed like a milestone
in terms of recovery from the covid pandemic. And, because they have not
happened for some time, they are even more poignant than before.
There have been many highlights for me this term. We have been able
to run some trips and visits, including our first trip abroad to Belgium.
Thanks to Mrs Harrison’s organisational skills and hard work and that of the
wonderful volunteers who accompanied her, we were able to give children
a fantastic experience. Additionally, thanks to the work of Mrs Nottingham
and the team of volunteers who assist her, we have managed to reignite our
Duke of Edinburgh programme. Those who have children doing the award, or those who have done it before, know
what an incredible opportunity for personal development it presents.
We have been very busy with sports fixtures this term as you will see later in this Tribune, including County athletics
and a wonderful Swimming Gala. The PE department have been busy organising sports mornings throughout this
week of writing, and we hope to return to our incredible festival of sport next year. We have also been fortunate
to have live performances again and had a fantastic summer concert in the very hot and humid Theatre Hall. It
reminded me very much of a jazz bar with a wonderful atmosphere alongside some excellent performances from
our students. It is not just the formal events that have taken place. We have had clubs up and running this term,
including the gardening club who enthusiastically take care of the Jubilee Garden behind my office. We have been
doing a managed “re-wilding” of the garden to provide a haven for pollinating insects and birds.
As part of our commitment to promoting women’s sport, Mrs Harper, Mr Roberts, Mrs Vallance and Mrs Chewins
took a group of 30 children from all year groups to see Monday’s euro match in Southampton. They were fortunate
to watch a fantastic 2 goal match that saw Austria beat Northern Ireland 2-0. Mrs Harper was busy these past two
weeks as she also led a trip for the whole of Year 10 who visited Andover College for a taster day. This gave our
students a taste of college life and helps provide them with thought provoking choices for them when they consider
the colleges, they would like to apply to in the autumn term.
A particular highlight of the term was our transition activities. We had our new intake induction day and evening
which was face to face for the first time since 2019 and, of course, our amazing Year 5 days. It was fantastic to
meet our new students and their parents, and I really enjoyed the conversations I had with people who were not on
a screen for the first time in a long time! The Year 5s had a brilliant time at the school with all reviews giving high
scores for their experience and some very amusingly flamboyant and enthusiastic feedback comments.
It felt especially emotional saying goodbye to Year 11 this year as we were once again able to celebrate in person.
We had the leavers’ assembly and shirt signing, along with a much-needed ice-cream and the atmosphere was
genuinely lovely. Not long after, we seemed to be crowded at the entrance to the Norton Park hotel awaiting the
arrival of our students for the Prom. They looked amazing with incredibly elegant dresses and stylish suits. Their
behaviour, as we have come to expect from Testbourne students, was superb throughout. All in all, Year 11 had a
very nice and very fitting send off with record numbers attending the Prom.
Last and not least was our Prize Giving evening that took place last night as I write. It was wonderful to be back at
the Winchester Guildhall for our prestigious event and we all had a lovely time recognising the children who most
consistently demonstrate our very important learning qualities. Our guest speaker, Dr Katie Jerram gave a heartfelt
and inspiring speech, and we enjoyed some fantastic musical interludes. Well done to all children who received an
award and those who participated in the musical performances.
All these events take a considerable amount of time and effort to organise and run. They are only possible because
of the dedication of our staff in volunteering to arrange, attend and complete them in their own time. Please take
the time to thank them, if you feel that appropriate, at the end of what has been the most challenging year for
educational staff since I began my career 24 years ago.
As always, I wish you well for the summer and hope that you have quality time with friends and family. We look
forward to welcoming the students back to school in September.

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Year 11 Leavers Day & Prom
This term we said goodbye to Year 11, the class of 2022.
This year group have persevered through lockdowns, online
learning, changes in examination specifications and so much
more. But despite all this, they have truly demonstrated the
school values of Diligence, Responsibility and Courage in
Learning to achieve the best outcomes this year. Year 11
students have been fantastic in how they have conducted
themselves over the examination period and there have been
lots of positive comments from our team of invigilators.

Like earlier year groups before them, they were sent off in
style with a celebration assembly, featuring, of course some
embarrassing old school photographs on the big screen, ice creams and shirt signing. Students were
presented with their official graduation certificates and the following were awarded:

• Head of Year Award: Melia Atherton

• Business Manager Award: Hannah Batten
• Assistant Headteacher (Dr Wilson) Award: Isabelle Daborn
• Assistant Headteacher (Mrs Gray) Award: Natasha Phillpotts
• Assistant Headteacher (Mrs MacAulay) Award: Benjamin Hearn
• Deputy Headteacher Award: Esther Jay
• Head of School Award: Maddie Owens
• Headteacher Award: Zac Allen & Jasmine Clarke
• Governor Award: Theo Scanlon

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On Thursday 7th July, the students were invited to Prom at Norton Park Hotel. It was fantastic to have
this event running again and the year group showed up in style. The students looked fantastic in their
evening attire and they did not disappoint when choosing their mode of transport including Lamborghinis,
tractors, police cars, fire engines and Harley Davidsons. The evening was a lovely way to end their time at
Testbourne, with good food, dancing and awards. Well done to the following winners:

• Best Dressed: Egna Mutedzi

• Best Transport: James Charlton
• Prom Royalty: Ayodimeji Kehinde & Elena Ward

I for one, as their Head of Year, have been incredibly proud of their behaviour, effort and attitude during this
term - not only during the exams, but at both the leavers assembly and Prom. I have thoroughly enjoyed
being their Head of Year since April 2020 and I would like to take this opportunity to wish them success in
all their future endeavours and hope they continue to make a positive contribution to the world.

Mrs Yacoby - Head of Year 11

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“On Thursday 7th July 160 Year 11 students attended a celebration of their time at Testbourne with our first
Prom for two years.

The students arrived all dressed in their finest outfits with some amazing transport – including James
Charlton being voted as best transport for his speedy tractor driving arrival!

The evening began with a welcome mocktail followed by a sit down buffet. The Executive Leader Team
organised for students to vote for a selection of awards and hosted their own awards presentation.
Following the presentations, tables were moved and the students hit the dance floor!

It was a lovely evening which the students clearly enjoyed – we wish Year 11 all the best for the future.”

Mrs Romain & Mrs Edwards - Event organisers.

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Prizegiving Evening at Winchester Guildhall
On 14th July, students, parents, teaching staff, Heads of Year, guests and
sponsors all gathered to celebrate the efforts and achievements of our
students. The ceremony was held in the prestigious Guildhall in Winchester
which provided a wonderful setting for the certificates and trophies to be
presented.

The evening began with the TCS choir performing ‘You will be found’ from
the musical ‘Dear Evan Hansen’. This was their first public performance
since the pandemic and it was a powerful way to start the ceremony.

We were welcomed by Mr Beck and our guest speaker, Dr Katie Jerram,

who gave us a truly inspiring speech about her career. Students then
collected their Subject Awards and Head of Year Awards. The first half
concluded with a stunning performance from Charley Gale playing the violin.

After a short interval we resumed the ceremony with our Senior Leadership
Awards and then the Overall Subject Awards. We were fortunate to have
Mrs Phillipa Roll from Skills Shift Ltd and Freya Gulliver from Whitchurch Silk Mill to present the awards
they kindly sponsor. Our final group of trophies were our Governors’ Award, presented by Steve Martin,
Vice Chair of Governors, PTFA community Award presented by Suzie Brown and the Headteacher award,
presented by Mr Jon Beck. Our executive leadership team concluded the evening with the vote of thanks.

Congratulations to all our award winners on their fantastic achievements.

5 | The TCS Tribune - Summer 2022

Year 10 Work Experience Week
Year 10 students who remained in school
for Work Experience week experienced life
at Testbourne from a completely different
perspective. We weren’t students, we were
research employees!

On day one we were greeted by support

staff who keep the school working smoothly
behind the scenes and work tirelessly with
integrity day in and day out. They explained
their career journeys which were all unique
and mildly surprising. However, the key
lesson was that “you can do anything you
want to do and no matter how you get
there, with hard work and resilience you
will make it.” This reminds us to be diligent
whenever we can be. Additionally, we were
taught how to show confidence while public
speaking and taken on a Health & Safety site inspection, to highlight potential areas of risk in preparation
for the termly Governors’ Report.

Throughout the week, we completed virtual work experiences with Coca-Cola and Merlin Entertainments,
prepared our CVs, learnt about the workplace and how to be confident, work as a team, problem solving
and the importance of communication, productivity and working to deadlines.

We also had the privilege of hearing from several guest speakers, including the farm manager and owner
of Laverstoke Park, a neo natal nurse, a TV presenter, a specialist paramedic from London Ambulance
Service, a professor of forensic science, as well as an employment judge from Southampton Courts. They
certainly made us take note of the various academic pathways we can follow and gave us an insight into
their world of work.

Overall, this week equipped participants like me with the skills we will use in the future when becoming the
successful businessmen/women we are all capable of being. Personally, I feel more confident with making
decisions about my future and can’t wait to experience whatever life throws at me because now, I feel
prepared.

Madison N. - Year 10

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Year 5 Testbourne Experience Visits
On Tuesday 28th June and Wednesday 6th July,
Testbourne Community School hosted Year 5 students
from all around the area. I was one of the Year 9 students
who helped out with these experience days, and we
wanted to show off the school as the preferred option for
them to pick as their secondary school. The children were
all given a variety of different lessons to take part in so
they could establish a real feel of how the school was run
and the different methods used to teach within it.

Our job was to supervise them and ensure they got to the
right lessons at the right times. We then stayed with them
and offered support to the teachers if they needed help
with small jobs, or with practical work. The whole day
was centred around a book series called ‘Adventures on Trains’ and every lesson followed this theme, with
trains running around the planet, and even into space.

My group’s schedule consisted of lessons in Science, Art and MFL. In Science, a practical experiment
was conducted on the properties of some ‘space dust’. A series of tests were set up to determine these
properties like magnetism, pH, and solubility. The Year 5 students enjoyed using the scientific apparatus
and finding out where in the solar system the space dust came from.

In Art, the visiting students looked at an interesting style of work which consisted of imprinting images
on to adhesive tape to make them transparent. The image was transmitted by using water to rub off the
paper from the back of the tape. From asking a few of the Year 5s after the lesson, they really enjoyed the
freedom and creativity of this lesson.

The MFL experience was a French lesson, the language which I learn, so I was able to help with learning
and pronouncing the phrases correctly. The main theme of this lesson was travel and holidays, so we
mainly learnt phrases to do with that. It included a pronunciation game and ‘Simon Says’. Near the end, we
also played snap with pictures cards and the phrases, and ended with a game of ‘heads down, thumbs up’.
Overall, the lesson was extremely interactive and was thoroughly enjoyed by all of the students.

In my opinion both days were huge successes. Lots of the Year 5 students rated it as 10/10 on the
evaluation forms, while some of them gave their day even more than 10/10, which was fantastic. They
appreciated all the Year 9 helpers, and explained how comfortable they now felt with the school. One of
them even told me they’d definitely be coming to Testbourne and they wanted to find me when they got
there. I really enjoyed the whole day and I’m glad I could help the Year 5 children enjoy the experience.

Claudia L. - Year 9

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New Testbourne Prefect Team
In April, 130 Year 10 students applied to be part of the
Testbourne Prefect Team. Students’ effort and enthusiasm in
applying was incredible. After a rigorous interview process
from applications to summer projects, videos, assemblies
and interviews, our final 50 were selected.

We are delighted to announce our new Testbourne Prefect

Team for 2022 - 2023:

Executive Leaders Senior Team Prefects Prefects

Lucy Walters Charlotte Coleman Danielle Smith Emma Davies
Benjamin Ward Madison Noakes Rosie Sanders Morgan Cottrell
Asha Hails Eva Kelly Megan Beal Annabel Mitchell
Emily Smallridge Emily Brunt Isabella Van Leeuwen Lucy Money
Jenny Martin Amelie Beavis Matilda Poynter Charlie Cobb
Niamh Cooper-Smith Gracie Jones Charlotte Vickers Euan Wilson
Aidan Cruickshank Sienna Murdock Gracie Lomax Jody Williams
George Unitt Michael Norman Alannah Yeates James Dollin-Browne
Thomas Orange Leo Lee-Smith Jack Gage
Lily Treasurer Finley Oram Douglas Burt
Izzy Pratt Tom Bentley Lilly Ellis
Oliver McCallum Liam Robins
Louisa Bond Ruby Lavender
Kayla Holland Amelie Poffley
Alyssa Boswell Griff Holmes
Harry Beecroft Stella Cowley

Year 10 Update
This half term, Year 10 students have been very busy. From our
first set of mock exams to our Work Experience week, we’ve been
on an exciting journey from beginning to end.

Our mocks presented us with a new challenge. Sitting in the exam

hall, with every other Year 10 student, was an experience no one
had witnessed before and was hugely different to simply sitting in
a classroom. The anticipation levels were high, along with nerves
and pre-exam tension, as we lined up to enter the hall. Despite all
the build-up (and perhaps a bit of confusion at times) the first exam
went quickly, and everyone was talking away on the other side of it. The next two weeks flew by, and our
exams were over just like that. For our first set of proper exams, I think we as a year group coped well, and
we really got a feel for what it will be like next year when we sit our GCSEs.

As a Year 10 student, we get the opportunity to step out into the world of work. For the penultimate week of
term, each of us had to arrange a placement in order to experience a different environment to our normal
school days. Some of us worked with local businesses or organisations such as a pet shop, primary
schools and hairdressers. Others worked with their parents or family friends and some spent time at
Testbourne to see a different side of school from a work perspective. It has allowed all of us to gain many
different skills that we can only develop in a workspace, and possibly get a feel of what we would like to do
in later life.

Overall, this half term for Year 10s has been full of exciting and inspiring opportunities that we will carry
through to next year, and even into further life.

Emily S. - Executive Prefect Leader

8 | The TCS Tribune - Summer 2022

New Intake Taster Day
On June 30th we officially welcomed our new Year 7s to
TCS. It was a fantastic day which began with an opening
assembly in the Sports Hall with Mr Beck, during which the
students were introduced to key members of staff including
Ms Jenkins, our Head of Year 7. Students then had the
opportunity to meet their new tutors and go on a guided
tour to familiarise themselves with the school site. Then our
new Year 7 were able to experience lessons at TCS. These
included learning some Bollywood dance routines, solving
the mystery of the Titanic, producing 3D drawings in Design
Technology, crime scene analysis in Science, and much
more. Throughout the day our wonderful Year 9 helpers
were on hand to answer questions, help in lessons and to
chaperone our guests around the school. It was wonderful to meet our new Year 7s and we look forward to
them joining us in September.

TCS Anti-Bullying Team

The Anti-Bullying Team has been active in raising awareness and
promoting the support available recently, and will be expanding to take
on new students in the next school year. The team has been continuing
its important role throughout the pandemic and its aftermath, and I want
to say a big well done to everyone involved for persevering over the
lockdowns and, especially, continuing to help students after returning to
school.

We have recently started a new lunch duty, where the Anti-Bullying

mentors have been walking around site, ready to support students if
necessary, and increasing our visibility across the school so that any
student can report bullying easily. You can identify an Anti-Bullying
mentor by their yellow badges.

Please report any instance of bullying, whether you are directly involved
or whether you are a witness. Reports can be submitted via the Anti-
Bullying form on SharePoint, through the link on the school website, by
emailing [email protected], or by reporting it to a responsible adult or an Anti-Bullying mentor.

Your report will be dealt with confidentially, and support will be offered to all students involved so we can
prevent any future incidents.

If you see bullying, make a change and please report it. Thank you.

George U. - Year 10, Executive Prefect Leader, Anti-Bullying Team

9 | The TCS Tribune - Summer 2022

Endeavours in the New Forest
This year has seen Testbourne’s biggest ever Duke of Edinburgh’s
Award group, with 44 students still involved and taking part after six
months of training. Six teams of students set out into the wilds of the
New Forest for a two day practice expedition in early July, with Ferny
Crofts Scout Activity Centre hosting our overnight camp. Despite
several teams getting a little lost along the way, and improving their
navigation skills as a result (!), all teams made it through the whole
weekend.

The weekend was midway through the Year 10 mocks, so well done
everyone for showing huge resilience, having a fantastic weekend and
still smiling even when feet, shoulders and hips were sore from walking
up to 16 km each day and carrying all their overnight gear.

Thanks as ever to our amazing team of volunteer leaders – Dr Wilson,

Miss Plunkett, Caroline Orange, Andy Key, Dave Holmes, and helped
over the weekend by Mr Parkes and Mrs Harper too. Thank you so
much for making it all possible for more than a quarter of our Year 10s
to take part.

The next challenge is the final assessed expedition in September…

Beyond that, students need to complete their Physical, Skill and

Volunteering sections as well as the Expedition in order to achieve
their Bronze DofE Award. Some students have already completed two
sections, and they will be continuing their activities over the summer
holidays to work towards the Award. Well done to all!

DofE Volunteer Leaders Needed!

Any parents (particularly of Year 7s, Year 8s or Year 9s) who are interested in volunteering with the DofE
group next year, please do get in touch with our DofE Manager, Mrs Nottingham at
[email protected]. You will need enthusiasm, some map reading and campcraft skills, and
an interest in helping our DofE students develop and learn as they take part in their DofE Bronze Award. It’s
great fun and really worthwhile to be helping give our students new experiences in the outdoors so they can
achieve their Awards. Do get in touch if you are interested and have skills and enthusiasm to offer – DofE
training can be provided to help you to gain confidence too!

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Testbourne Community School PTFA
Testbourne’s Parents Teachers and Friends Association
would like to thank all members of the school
community for their continued support this school year!

Our main focus has been raising money to purchase a

playground shelter and to allow some landscaping to
enhance the space used by pupils at lunch and break
times, enriching the school environment to support
student well-being.

We would like to offer our thanks to families and staff

who supported the PTFA Mufti Day, who have donated
online via our Just Giving page at
https://www.justgiving.com/ptfa-testbourneschool; those who have shopped online and donated via Amazon
at https://smile.amazon.co.uk/ch/290250-0 or the easyfundraising portal, which is accessible via the
https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/testbourneptfa/.

We also really enjoyed meeting those attending the School Summer Concert Evening – the first live music
event school have been able to have since 2019. It was a fun evening and instrumentalists and vocalists
alike brimmed with talent across the year groups – we hope it won’t be long before we hear from them
again! Thanks to the generosity of the audience we were able to raise around £70 in donations through our
refreshments sales!

As PTFA Chair and a parent of a child at Testbourne School, I have been volunteering at Gardening and
Nature Club on a Wednesday after school and we have been successful in applying for two grants – most
recently to enable a raised bed at school following wishes from the children to learn how to grow their own
food. We have also enjoyed visiting speakers and trips to local wildlife sites.

Finally, I would like to invite you to participate in PTFA events going forward! September will see the arrival
of new Year 7s while the other children move up to their new year groups. As part of the school community,
we are keen to engage with anyone who would like to support the school charity, and look forward to
offering you all a very warm welcome! You can join the PTFA committee and mailing list by emailing
[email protected] – please use the same email address to share any other thoughts on fundraising.

Please do look out for forthcoming details of our AGM, which will take place in early October 2022. We
are hoping to make this something of an event and it would be great to see a high turn-out; we believe it is
important to see the PTFA as part of a network to enhance the pupil experience, and we would love more
people to work with us as much as you can to help us achieve our goal!

Suzie Brown - Chair, TCS PTFA

TCS
Testbourne Community School
Achievement Excellence Integrity

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Year 10 Andover College Taster Day
On Thursday 7th of July, Year 10 students were invited to Andover College
Taster Day to explore the possible courses available and get some experience
of College life. There were a variety of opportunities and therefore all students
had a taste of what life could be like at a College. A few weeks prior to the event,
we each chose a career pathway which incorporated three workshops: each a
subject relating to the career.

Choosing the pathway ‘Design’, I had a taster of the A-level courses: 3D Design,
Film Making and Graphic Communication. In 3D Design we learnt about the
importance of using cheaper materials for models and prototypes and created a
walkway using aluminium foil, cocktail sticks and Styrofoam. Next in Film Making
we created props that could be used on stage. Finally in Graphic Communication,
we had the opportunity to see the work of previous students and learn about
the course, before designing our own poster using different graphic design
techniques.

We could have also chosen workshops including hairdressing and make up,
bricklaying, social sciences, education, criminal justice, art and design and many
more. These subjects helped us to grasp what this college and many others
would be like, and we are all grateful to have had the insight into life beyond
Testbourne. Overall, it was a good experience meeting teachers and learning
more about the different courses at the college.  

Jenny M. & Niamh C - Year 10, Student Prefect Executive Leaders

TCS Community & Hire - Fitness GYM

After a long selection process, and with input from the gym
members in the form of a members’ questionnaire, we are
getting some new equipment and fitting a new floor. The result
should add functionality as well as give a feeling of more space
in our gym. This will be achieved by replacing the old Pulse
resistance machines with new ‘Gym gear Dual Series’ machines
as well as a dual adjustable pully and a functional rig. We will
be recording our progress on our Facebook page (Testbourne
Fitness Gym), and why not come down and take a look in
person? Membership prices start from just £20 per month.
You can book a tour here Gym Membership at Testbourne
Community School for hire in Whitchurch (SchoolHire).
(https://testbourne.schoolhire.co.uk/gym-membership/15361)

12 | The TCS Tribune - Summer 2022

Employer Engagement Project – Mathematics
I am delighted to share with you the experience that some
of our students had when taking part in the Employer
Engagement Project during some of their Maths lessons.

The aim of the project was to enable students to better

understand how the knowledge learnt in the classroom could
be applied to the world of work, which in turn helps to engage
and focus young people in the subject of mathematics. This
year we started the programme with some Year 9 students
and we are now looking to extend this excellent opportunity
to more groups next year. Each of the online Teams sessions
lasted 50 minutes, the duration of a normal Maths lesson.
This allowed time for pre and post evaluation forms to be
completed by the students. Below is an overview of each Employer Engagement Project sessions that our
students took part in, one presented by Microsoft and the other by Pall.

1) Microsoft
• Introduction to Microsoft and making computer games.
• The background to the roles of sampling and probability in making games.
• GCSE questions on probability using the example of creating an Army game.
• Q&A about the company, roles, pathways & the ’Employable Me’ skills needed.

2) Pall (A company also involved in the development of a Covid vaccine)

• Introduction to PALL.
• What is Gene Therapy? Its role in creating vaccines to defend against viruses.
• Use of algebra & equations in creating vaccines.
• GCSE questions on Algebra and Equations using real world examples.
• Q&A about the company, roles, pathways & the ’Employable Me’ skills needed.

This was an excellent opportunity to help students understand how their classroom mathematics can be
used in the ‘real’ world, thus enhancing their engagement in class. The classroom sessions also meet the
Gatsby careers provision benchmarks 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 and CDI (Career Development Frameworks).

EBP South, the organisers of the Project, asked students, teachers and businesses (Microsoft and Pall) to
feedback on the impact of the Project through pre and post evaluation forms. Following the sessions 97%
of the students felt more confident in topics like Probability and Sampling and understood the link between
working hard in school and the career choices/opportunities they will have in the future.

Our students also did very well in the sessions. The employer at Microsoft had the following to say about
our students:

“Incredible session, the students grasped all concepts so quickly that we had a lot more time to
apply them in different scenarios with alternative approaches. It is a great pleasure when I meet students
with such talent.”
- Diego Colombo, Presenter

With the Employer Engagement Project being a success this year, we intend to extend it next year with
more sessions and to more year groups.

Mrs Jha - Teacher of Mathematics

13 | The TCS Tribune - Summer 2022

Music Department Update
Excitement has been building this term in the Music
Department as we prepared for our first live concert to an
audience in two and a half years. On Wednesday 6th July,
TCS students performed to a very appreciative audience
of staff, parents and friends. The theme of our concert was
based on two of our Testbourne learning qualities – ‘Courage
in learning’ and ‘Ambition’. It certainly took a lot of courage
and ambition for our students to return to the stage with their
instruments after such a long break from performing – for
some of our younger students this was the first time they
had had the opportunity to perform in front of an audience.
There was a mixture of genres and instruments across the
evening, with a more ‘classical’ feel to the first half, and a second half focusing on rock and pop styles. As
well as some solo pieces, a range of Testbourne ensembles performed, including the Brass Ensemble,
String Group, School of Rock, Year 7 Choir, and our newly formed Soul Band, fresh from their inaugural
performance at the Year 11 Leavers’ Assembly.

Our audience enjoyed refreshments provided by the PTFA and were impressed by the way the students
presented themselves on stage. The Music Department was supported on the night by our instrumental
teachers and some parent musicians, we are grateful for their time and talent. Parents and teachers were
incredibly proud of the amazing show our students put on, enjoying the care and attention to detail they had
put into learning their music. Live music is most definitely back at Testbourne, and we can’t wait to hear all
our performers again in our next event.

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Performing Arts 2022-23 Performance - Footloose
The Performing Arts Team were bowled over with the number
of talented students that auditioned for the next school
production which will be the musical ‘Footloose’. Over 70
students demonstrated a superb range of acting, dancing
and singing skills and it was such a difficult job casting it …
in fact it could have been cast three times. However, after
much deliberation (and call backs), decisions were made
and rehearsals will start in September. There will also be a
technical team, although this won’t be organised until we start
back in the new term.

The Performing Arts Team would like to say a massive thank

you to all who auditioned and we’re sorry if we weren’t able to
cast you in your preferred role.

Fieldwork is back! - Geography Trip

After two years of cancelled GCSE Geography fieldwork due
to the pandemic, Year 10 geography students had a successful
and enjoyable time collecting their fieldwork data for their
exam next year. Students collected data for both their human
and physical geography enquiries. In the morning, they visited
the Cultural Quarter in Southampton to investigate whether
regeneration has had a positive impact on the local area. We
spent time looking at the methods used to improve the area
socially, economically, and environmentally. Once students had
collected all the data they needed, we headed to Lepe Beach to
investigate whether the groynes were controlling longshore drift.
Due to the winter storms this year students ended up with a data set which was not expected and this has
given us a lot to talk about in our write up! The day ended with an ice cream before we headed home in the
minibus – well done Year 10s for all your hard work on these field trips!

Mrs Knab - Head of Ebacc Humanities

Mind Kind at TCS

Testbourne’s Mind Kind Club now takes place on a Monday lunch
time in Room 39. This is a club to help support students’ mental
well-being and the aim is that they leave the club feeling better
than when they arrived. We are also very keen to make students
aware that there is always someone there to talk to and socialise
with.

There are lots of resources on the Student Well-being Page on

SharePoint to help support students over the summer holidays
and this will be updated with further resources to support their
return in September. Our website also has links for parents and
carers to webinars/events/organisations that we think may help
support our students’ mental well-being.

We also now have a brilliant Mind Kind team at Testbourne and our Mental Health Ambassadors have
some exciting plans for the next academic year – so watch this space!

15 | The TCS Tribune - Summer 2022

The Great Testbourne Bakeoff!
This year we had 16 students enter The Great Testbourne
Bakeoff.

Week 1 saw all the bakers cooking sausage rolls.  The students
could choose meat or vegetarian fillings and could wrap their
sausage rolls in either shortcrust or rough puff pastry.  Our
guest judge Mrs Clare Scheckter (owner of Laverstoke Farm
and one of Testbourne’s governors) chose Heidi Walters as the
winner for this week.

Week 2 was bread week, and to make it even more

challenging, this was a technical challenge.  The students were
given the basic recipe to make bread so they could practise at home but were only given the instructions for
an 8 plaited loaf at the beginning of the session which proved (get it!) rather challenging.  We had two guest
judges this week: Marc from The Greyhound in Overton and Freya from The Silk Mill in Whitchurch. Again,
it was a tough competition and due to the lightness of the loaf, the definition of the plait and the lovely
golden colour, the winner of week 2 was again Heidi Walters.

Week 3 asked the bakers to bake six identical biscuits.  The bakers had the choice of flavour, size, colour
and decoration.  We had a recipe from a 1960s cook book, shells on a beach, feathering, dipped and
drizzled chocolate along with some subtle flavours and stunning piping, all of which resulted in a fabulous
array of biscuits.  Our judges this week were head chef Jacob, from Oakley Hall and his pastry chef and
after discussing and sampling each biscuit, they decided on the winning biscuits being Viennese whirls
filled with buttercream and lemon curd.  The winner for the third week running was Heidi Walters! 

Week 4 was cheesecake week.  The bakers were tasked with producing a no-bake cheesecake of their
choice. The entries were then sent out to the staff at Testbourne to be judged solely on their presentation.
The competition was very fierce and staff found it difficult to judge, but winning by one vote was Georgie
Brown with cheesecake no.1!  

“They look absolutely amazing – so much work and imagination had obviously gone into them.  It was
difficult to choose between them all.  Just wanted to say congratulations to all the contestants at this stage,
their finished cakes looked gorgeous.”  Mrs H Barker

“These are so impressive! I have voted but well done to all of them! Now I’m hungry ...”  Mrs Lord

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The final six bakers were tasked with baking and decorating six cupcakes
in just one hour. Our judge for the final was Rob from Kudos coffee shop
in Whitchurch.  He had this to say about the competition: “This week’s
competition had some fantastic efforts, seeing creative set ups, great
piping work and some really great tasting cakes. Everyone should be
proud of their efforts, especially the deserved winner, who smashed it in
every area.

First prize of afternoon tea for two at Oakley Hall and the WINNER of The
Great Testbourne Bakeoff 2022 was Freya Mears!  Well done Freya, as
our guest judge said, you totally smashed it! Second and third prizes,
of £25 Kudos vouchers, went to Heidi Walters and Georgie Brown - well
done to both of you. Our three runners up, Toby Wicks, Brownyn Mason
and Jami-Lee Bruckshaw also received a Kudos voucher.

A huge well done to all the students that entered, and a big thank you to
all our guest judges, especially those that provided the prizes for our bakers. See you again next year!

STEM Day
On Wednesday 13th July all Year 7 students were off timetable to
take part in a STEM day (Science Technology Engineering Maths).

Students learnt about different jobs and careers within these sectors
and completed two different STEM challenges. Students designed
and built a marble run, aimed at taking the slowest time for the marble
to complete its run. Students also had to create and present an
invention which would enhance and improve our lives.

Students really benefitted from developing their teamwork and

communication skills as well as strengthening their creative and problem-solving abilities. Testbourne was
delighted to award students certificates for their excellent contributions towards the day, as well as trophies
for the teams that performed best in each group. The school would like to thank Matt Fox from PPMA for
organising this fantastic opportunity and providing the resources for the day.

17 | The TCS Tribune - Summer 2022

Hampshire Book Awards 2022
Our HBA 2022 judges are a group of Year 8 students who
recently took part in deciding the winner of this year’s
Hampshire Book Award. They had to read all six books on the
shortlist, and on 28th June we travelled to The Costello School,
Basingstoke, to meet with other judging groups from the area.
The shortlist was discussed and the votes were cast. These
were added to votes from the other regional hubs, and the
winner was announced as “Ground Zero” by Alan Gratz. This
was considered a worthy winner by our team of judges, who will
have a chance for a virtual author visit with Alan Gratz later this
year.

Mrs E. Bates, Librarian

Being a Hampshire Book Award judge was such an enjoyable

experience. Not only do you get to read 6 incredible books, all
of different genres, but you are able to share your opinions and
ideas about them to students of other schools.

Why should you do Hampshire Book Award? Because it can

change your view of reading, introduce you to new genres and
books you would have never chosen before.

Saskia B. - Year 8

Gardening and Nature Club

The Year 7 Gardening and Nature Club have finished the term
with a couple of outings to local meadows and a talk about
bats, as well as continuing to care for the vegetables and plants
they have planted in the Jubilee Garden. One outing took us
to a small stream off the River Test in the Millennium Meadow,
where students learned about the value of chalk stream habitats
and dipped in the water to find out what was living there. Tracy
Standish from the Wessex Rivers Trust helped us to identify the
small fish, freshwater shrimp and nymphs to be found. Another
Wednesday session saw ecologist Claire Andrews come along
to fascinate students with information and a glimpse of some
bats.

Well done to the students who have been coming along all
year to learn about planting bulbs, growing vegetables from
seed, bird and plant identification, and all sorts of aspects of
the natural world! A huge thank you to parent volunteer Suzie
Brown, and to Miss Norris and Ms Horne who have also given
their time and expertise to the Club sessions.

Mrs Nottingham - Teacher of Geography

18 | The TCS Tribune - Summer 2022

PE Department Update
Cricket
Cricket training has been running this term and has had a phenomenal amount of interest, with 50 students
from Years 7-10 regularly attending. Students have worked hard at honing their skills in preparation for a
number of fixtures that have taken place.

Year 7 & 8 District

Year 7 & 8 entered the District 6-a-side hard ball tournament and
won their group comfortably to qualify for the District final against
John Hanson School. Against a very tough opposition they were
chasing 60 runs to win and came up just short on 43.

Throughout the day all of the boys contributed with the bat, ball
and in the field.

Year 7 & 8 Softball Comp

This time the boys entered the Year 7 & 8 County softball cricket
tournament at St Cross cricket club. The tale of the summer has
been of playing cricket in extreme heat, and again this was the
case. The boys won their first three group games to qualify for
the semi-final which was against Toynbee School. In a very close
affair they won by one run to reach the final of the tournament that
started with twenty teams!

Showing the real strength of the Andover District, they met John
Hanson School in the final again. Unfortunately, they were too strong and Testbourne lost out in the final,
but silver medals were the prize and this was a great credit to all ten boys that took part on the day. Extra
commendation must be given to Luke S. and Tom S. who have co-captained the team magnificently
throughout the year.

Year 9 & 10 District

The Year 9 & 10 6-a-side hardball tournament was a great
afternoon at John Hanson School. This was played as a 5-team
round-robin tournament. We had excellent victories against
Rookwood and Wellington but then were beaten by Harroway. This
then set us up for our final game against John Hanson, knowing
that we could finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd depending on the results.
After batting well in the first innings, Testbourne fielded fantastically
to beat a strong John Hanson side by 15 runs. A special mention
to captain Tom Cady who played an array of lovely shots whilst
batting. Unfortunately, other results did not go our way but a 2nd place finish was an excellent result.

Year 9 &10 Softball Cricket Competition

The Year 9 &10 team (with the help of two Year 8s!) entered the
cricket tournament at St Cross Cricket Club. The boys played
some very entertaining cricket throughout the tournament
managing to win two of their first group games and narrowly being
defeated in one. The group proved a very tight call with three
teams all ending up on the same total, so they had to use run rate
points to finalise the order with Testbourne coming out 2nd in the
group and progressing straight through to the 3rd/4th place match.
They met John Hanson at this stage in a local affair with many of
the students playing for the same Club side. In a competitive and
enjoyable game Testbourne came out on top, winning by 2 wickets to end a very successful day.

19 | The TCS Tribune - Summer 2022

Rounders
Rounders Club has been attended by around 30 boys and
girls each, which has been fantastic to see. The Year 7 team
started strongly, winning their first game against Winton but
then losing out to Harrow Way. The Year 9 team unfortunately
lost both their group stages games and didn’t progress any
further. The Year 10 team won their group stage games and
then lost out to a strong John Hanson team in the semi-final.
Thank you to all who have attended some hot club evenings
and also those who have given up their time for matches after
school.

Well done to the Year 8 girls rounders team who as at the time
of publication are through to the District rounders final against
John Hanson School after very narrowly beating The Clere
school 18.5 - 17.5 in the semi-final. The team made the semi-
final after winning all their group stage games against Winton,
Harrow Way and Rookwood.

Tennis
Well done to the five boys who took part in the Year 7 & 8
Andover District competition. For some of them this was their
first competitive tennis match and they played well. They
showed resilience and ambition to finish 7th and 12th out of
16 teams.

Athletics
Year 7 & 8 District
This was an exciting day because many of our students have
not had an opportunity to take part in an athletics competition
before because of Covid. Just like with the older year groups,
all points from each event go towards the overall results and
positions at the end of the competition. Our Year 7 team
finished in 4th place and our Year 8 team finished 5th. As a
result of this competition, any student who individually finished
first or second was selected to represent Andover at the
County Championships: nine of our students achieved this,
and a report can be seen below on their successes that day!

Well done to all competitors!

20 | The TCS Tribune - Summer 2022

Year 7 & 8 District
Just before half term, Testbourne took a team of students to
Charlton Athletics track to compete in the District athletics
competition. Students are selected for individual events and
have the opportunity to score, which are then added together
throughout the day to complete overall team results. This is
split in to two categories: Year 9 boys and girls and Year 10
boys and girls. Testbourne’s Year 9 team finished in 6th place
and the Year 10s finished in 4th place overall.

Highlights from the day include:

Year 9s: Oliver S. finished 1st in the long jump with a jump of 4.57m; Ted T. finished 1st in the triple jump at
10.05m; Poppy T. (Year 8) finished 1st in the 800m with a time of 2m 25s.

Year 10s: Charlotte V. was 1st in the 800m with a time of 2m 22s; Madison N. and Eva K. finished 1st
and 2nd in the long jump, jumping 3.53m and 3.38m respectively; Izzy P. threw 8.49m, finishing 1st in the
shot. In the boys’ team, Ollie C. (discus) and Jake F. (javelin) both finished 3rd with throws of 20.56m and
28.63m.

All of the students mentioned above qualified to represent Andover at the County Championships that was
held on the 11th June in Portsmouth.

County Champs Year 7,8,9,10

There are two separate days for the County Championships. The Year 9-11 competition took place in
Portsmouth on June 11th, and the Year 7&8 day was held in Southampton on 13th July. As Andover’s
Team Manager, I had the privilege to accompany our selected athletes to each of the two championships. It
is a real ‘step up’ in terms of the level of competition, but all our students challenged themselves to compete
to the best of their ability.

Year 9-11 + Exceptional Year 8 Students.

The girls’ 800m event included heats and finals. Poppy T. sailed through her heat and found herself in a
top-class field of athletics for the final. She finished in 2nd place, in a time of 2.21.4 an excellent result
considering she is only in Year 8. Charlotte V. also finished in 2nd place in a time of 2m21 in 800m in
the Intermediate girls’ category. Eva K. and Madison N. took part in the Intermediate girls long jump
competition; both girls set new PBs, with Eva jumping a phenomenal distance of 4.93m and finishing in 4th
place. Madison finished 11th with a jump of 3.74m.

Unfortunately, the other qualified athletes were unable to make it on the day.

Year 7/8 Competition

Seven students attended the very hot day at Southampton.
Tajay S. (Year 8) was first to run in the 300m, finishing in
6th place overall. Ed H. (Year 7) just missed out by 0.1 of a
second in qualifying for the 80m final. Ben C., who has only
been throwing the javelin for a short period of time, managed
a respectable 25.27m, finishing in 4th place overall: with a
little bit more practice, who knows how far he might throw
it in the future! Gemma O. (Year 7) took part in the 600m,
finishing with a time of 2m 11s and Holly P. (Year 7) finished
in 10th place in the long jump. Kate H. ran in the Year 8 girls’
100m, finishing in 5th place in her heat.
We are very proud of all of our students who took part on both of these days: well done all!

21 | The TCS Tribune - Summer 2022

Swimming District Champions
Testbourne entered into the Year 7-10 Andover District
Swimming Gala with a team of 16 students. They were
amazing all day, and for some of the younger students to enter
the older age-range events showed exceptional ambition. The
individual Year group results are below.

Year 7 & 8 Boys – 1st

Year 7 & 8 Girls – 4th
Year 9 & 10 Boys – 2nd
Year 9 & 10 Girls – 1st

This combination of results meant that Testbourne finished as overall District Champions for 2022. This was a
fantastic performance by all involved, and we look forward to returning to defend our title next year.

Great leadership was shown throughout the day by the 4 captains: Archie T., Katie D., Archie W., and Jody W..

UFEA Women’s EURO Football

Championships
Mrs Vallance, Mrs Harper, Mr Roberts, and Mrs Chewins
accompanied a group of students on a recent trip to
Southampton Home ground to watch the Northern Ireland vs
Austria game. The students really enjoyed the experience;
many of them queued up to get a flag painted on their face
showing their support to their preferred team. They cheered
away and joined in with some crowd entertainment of Mexican
waves etc. Austria scored twice and won the game 2-0 as N
Ireland failed to score!

Testbourne Alumni
Amelia Gray was a student at Testbourne and left last summer. She is now
in the lower sixth at Peter Symonds College. She is an exceptional athlete
and because of this she was recently selected to represent Hampshire at
the English Schools Athletics Competition which was held in Manchester.

Amelia has attended this competition before and last year she won a gold
medal in the Intermediate Girls’ Triple Jump event. Due to her previous
success, Amelia was selected to be one of the two team captains for
the Hampshire Athletes this year and she had the honour to lead the
Hampshire Team into the stadium for the parade. This is when all teams
come together to celebrate the weekend and the success of each individual
member of the team: it takes a lot of courage, commitment, and dedication
to make it to this event.

Amelia competed again this year in the Triple Jump, but she is now a
Senior girl and so was competing against some students who are a year
older than her. Amelia jumped a gigantic distance of 12.33m and finished in second place. The winner’s
jump was only 7cm longer!!! This is another fantastic achievement for Amelia.

The PE department are very proud of Amelia and all she has achieved, and we would like to wish her well
for her future.

22 | The TCS Tribune - Summer 2022

Sports Days
Sports Days were run for Years 7-9 in the penultimate week of term. All of the events were held in great
spirit, with competition being the key but encouragement and support present from all. In scorching
temperatures, the ambition shown by all was amazing to see.

The results for each year group are below:

7~5 7~6 7~4 7~7 7~1 7~2 7~3

Year 7 93 85 81 80 78 73 73
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Joint 6th Joint 6th

8~1 8~3 8~7 8~4 8~5 8~2 8~6

Year 8 97 88 72 71 71 68 62
1st 2nd 3rd Joint 4th Joint 4th 6th 7th

9~6 9~3 9~1 9~2 9~7 9~4 9~5

Year 9 100 82 79 74 69 67 42
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

23 | The TCS Tribune - Summer 2022

Year 11 Leavers Day

www.testbourne.school 01256 892061

Micheldever Road, Whitchurch, RG28 7JF

24 | The TCS Tribune - Summer 2022