College Activities  

Careers & WRL

• We continue to launch and use our new package, Unifrog. This is a Careers/PSHE and LifeSkills package that offers so much to our young people to help them navigate their journey through education and beyond. Currently, Y9 have 1 lesson a week and other year groups are using the package within their PSHE Careers lessons. Plans are evolving to use it more within the pastoral team and support areas of the College too. This exciting package will be managing the administration side of the work experience all pupils in Y10 undertake.
• A group of 14 pupils from Y7 & Y8 were offered the chance to attend the Get Inspired exhibition where they were able to explore business and education providers in our local area. This annual trip is an excellent opportunity for them to discover the wide range of opportunities open to them in the future. A similar trip is already booked for Y9 & Y10 in May.
• In November, we welcomed nearly 20 inspiring guests from our parents/carers and local community to talk to our Y9s about their careers journey and the many different skills they have developed as resulting from these interesting pathways. Another event will be held of a similar nature for Y8 in June.
• We welcomed a range of guest speakers including talks from local colleges, an introduction to Apprenticeships and 2 local companies sharing the breadth of job roles within a single business.
• The Careers Team has been joined by a dedicated admin support for part of the working week which is enabling the Careers Leader to manage and develop a wider range of opportunities for our young people.   

Eco Champions

The group took part in the RSPB Big Schools’ Birdwatch in January and counted birds from the same position as last year (the natural barrier to the north of R block).  They had placed bird feeders outside to encourage the birds.  Although they counted plenty of birds, there were fewer varieties.  We hope it’s an anomaly.

Subject Information

Art & Photography

• Our first group of Y8 Bronze Arts Award pupils have completed their certification.  This group completed their work voluntarily during after college extracurricular sessions with Mrs Ostersen.  As part of the award, they had to design and make a piece of art collaboratively.  Last year they gave a formal presentation to Mr Jonathan showcasing their designs and ideas.  He agreed to fund materials, and they constructed a large mosaic mural that will be displayed in the Swan Café Foyer.
• This year the award is running as an enrichment option over two terms.  The group are collaborating with Swanmore CE Primary School to help them design their own mosaic for the group to make them.
• Y11 Art and Photography – pupils completed Unit 1 of their GCSE work ready for their January deadline and are in the middle of Unit 2.  Both units have projects devised by each individual pupil from open starting points.  This ensures pupils are exercising their creative & problem-solving muscles whilst making highly original work. 

Dance

• All Y11 pupils passed their second component with level 2 grades
• The Dance Live team won their first heat at the Guildhall on the 29 January 2025
• Aladdin dance auditions have taken place
• The Dance Company will be performing their latest work at The Point on 2 April
• Y9 & Y10 pupils will be attending Move It Dance festival on 7 March where they will attend two dance classes and watch professionals perform throughout the day

Drama

• New assessment protocol rolled out across KS3 means that pupils can articulate their strengths and targets for development
• Y7 are halfway through their module on Directing.  Their understanding of the aesthetics of performance is improving significantly.
• Y8 movement and mime skills have seen them creating original, carefully choreographed work inspired by the work of Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy.  Their work had become more controlled, and they have shown great resilience in developing their physical skills.
• Y9 have been working on Devising - thinking carefully about the audience's experience, and this is having a positive impact on the quality of their work.
• Y10 have learnt all about the theatre practitioner Artaud and are now learning about Brecht.  They have embraced these two challenging practitioners with gusto, creating mature and compelling work.
• Over 120 pupils recently attended auditions for the upcoming summer production - Aladdin, meaning this will be the biggest cast in a significant period.

Computer Science & Information Technology

• Y9 took part in the UK BEBRAS competition; a computational thinking challenge organised by Raspberry Pi and the University of Oxford.  Over 460,000 pupils took part, and 19 of our pupils placed in the top 10% gaining a Gold Award.
• We have begun an eSports enrichment - looking at the business behind the biggest teams, alongside the training and practising of the games, and running tournaments.  It has been one of the most popular choices this term.
• To encourage pupils to think about their future careers, we have had industry professionals speak to our Y10s (via Zoom) about the potential careers in the IT sector.  

Design & Technology

• Y11 GCSE Food – are in the middle of the practical examination, with the pupils challenged to make a takeaway inspired 3 course meal from scratch in 3 hours.  The work produced so far has been amazing, with all the pupils working hard to push themselves creatively and challenge their skillset.
• GCSE classes are approaching the final deadline for their Coursework 

English

    Year7

• Created a range of models of the Globe theatre: these included Lego, 3d printer and a range of cake designs!  All creations were very impressive!
• Y7 classes are trialling DEAR (drop everything and read) at the start of English lessons
• At Christmas, Y7 pupils watched a live production of their class reader ‘A Christmas Carol’ – this was an amazing experience for all!

Year 9

• Y9 has been getting creative and writing their own protest poetry, allowing them freedom and creativity in sharing their voices on a topic of their choice.

KS3

• All completed their Spring term GL tests – results to follow.

Year 10

• Completed their first set of mock exams with 28% at or above target in English language and 39% at or above target in English Literature. They are now studying their second set text: A Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, which will include a live performance on Thursday 6 March 2025.

Year 11

• Completed their final mock exams before their real GCSEs

Other

• Mrs Bushnell launched the first college magazine called Student Voice, written by a group of talented young writers.
• 1/3 of pupils receiving English intervention have made visible progress since they started.
• Pupils are currently raising money in a sponsored Readathon linked to World Book Day and in only two days, we have managed to raise £220 for Readathon so far!

Geography

• Y11 have made 0.66 progress since their Y10 summer mocks. We have nearly finished the course, just the unseen pre-release booklet to work through which we will receive at the end of March. 
• Pupils have been attending weekly after-college revision sessions as well as completing additional weekly practice sets on Google Classroom and exam practice. 
• The Geography Department is running revision sessions during the Easter Holiday. 
• Y10 are on their final topic of Paper 1, River Landscapes. They enjoyed learning about coastal landscapes through ‘coastal kung fu’ and are looking forward to their field trip in June.
• Y9 are in the process of picking their GCSE options. Our option numbers have increased in comparison to last year, and pupils/parents/carers were very positive during the Y9 Options Evening. 
• Y8 have completed a fieldwork report on microclimates around Swanmore College. Pupils were able to collect weather data around the school site using various pieces of equipment, they used different data presentation techniques and concluded that there are microclimates around school.  
• Y7 have been interacting with OS maps of their local area and are now moving on to tectonic hazards. 
• Iceland 2026 has been launched, and 60 pupils have been randomly selected to experience the exciting landscape of Iceland. 
• In March, Taylor Wimpey will be running a decision-making session with three Y9 classes about housing in the UK. 

History

• Y7 have just finished studying crime and punishment through the ages and have been debating the fairness of the Bloody Code vs Transportation to Australia. During Listory, some pupils have gone onto create raps about the texts studied to demonstrate their understanding of new vocabulary, comprehension as well as excellent rhyming skills.

• Y8 have created their own board games on the Spanish Armada to show the reasons why the English were victorious and are moving on to study World War One. They will be heading to the Belgian battlefields on 15/03. Big thanks to Miss Tymon for organising and leading this trip.
• Y9 have been studying the reasons why women won the vote in 1918 and have completed a 10-mark GCSE exam question to explain the causes of women’s suffrage, which has resulted in a high percentage of pupils achieving confident. 
• We are set to have retained our numbers in the GCSE options this year with at least 4 classes in next year’s Y10 cohort.
• Y10 are a couple of weeks away from completing their second unit of study for the GCSE syllabus, meaning they will be 40% through the course by Easter.  They will then sit an in class mock paper, to test their understanding of the content taught, as well as the source skills required. We will be studying Portchester Castle next with the fieldwork visit set to take place in July. 
• The final hurdle! Y11 have requested revision after college with their individual class teachers, which we have given them. They have completed all the taught content before the mock exams, so we are now focusing on revising for the summer exams. 

Mathematics

• In the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge 2025, Swanmore entered 40 Y9 students and 40 Y10 pupils.
• Swanmore pupils received: 22 participation, 24 bronze, 16 silver and 4 gold awards. All 4 pupils who received gold awards have also qualified for the next round of the competition: JH, WP, DJ and RJ.
• Responding to a pupil survey, we created feedback sheets to share with pupils after each assessment which gives them autonomy to work on their personalised areas of weakness. These feedback sheets come with Sparx codes so that pupils can go on to Sparx independently to work on their areas of improvement. 
• We have begun to use/improve our new Mathspad Scheme of Work. This reduces teacher workload & printing and has challenging questions that engage pupils.

MFL

• Y10 continue to make strides with our new GCSE specification and the Y10 mock data is promising: 

o French: 95% 4+, 51% 7+ o Spanish: 97% 4+, 56% 7+

• The team is enjoying delivering the new specification and our CPD sessions ensure that our curriculum is moving from strength to strength. We are also tweaking our KS3 curriculum to reflect the changes between the old specification and the new one - for example, replacing vocabulary items that were covered in the old specification that are no longer in the new specification. We look forward to completing a full analysis of the Y11 mock data at the beginning of this half term and working with Y11 pupils to ensure that all pupils are as prepared as they can be for their GCSE exams. We begin with their speaking exams the first week back after Easter.
• With the Y9 options process well underway, MFL seems to be once again a very popular subject - with nearly 100 pupils choosing GCSE Spanish!
• In October, Y9 and Y10 pupils enjoyed a trip to Seville, albeit slightly rainy! It will be interesting to see how many of the Y9 pupils who came to Seville with us have since chosen to study GCSE Spanish. 
• The team is looking forward to the remaining trips this year, with Y7/Y8 off to Boulogne and Y9/10 to Paris in May.

Music

• In November AS performed ‘The Last Post’ on the trumpet along with Mr Valentine on the trombone. They performed in different areas of the grounds, so the sound carried across the site. It was a poignant moment of remembrance.
• This term we have started rehearsing with the Concert Band and the Swanmore Chamber Orchestra, and all our other music ensembles continue to rehearse every week: Chamber Choir, Main Choir and Jazz Ensemble as well as 5 rock/pop bands including two new girl bands from Y7 and Y9 and Y10 together.
• Rehearsals are about to begin for the college production of “Aladdin” in conjunction with the Drama and Dance departments. There was a great buzz around the audition process with many outstanding performances. It was extremely difficult to narrow them down to the final principal cast list.
• 'An Evening with The Arts' in December was a resounding success. There were numerous music performances including the Concert Band playing music from “The Planets” Suite and the Jazz Ensemble performing a jazzy version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”. The Main Choir’s highlight was performing “All I Want for Christmas Is You” with the solo sung by GT. The rock bands covered some classic songs in their own unique style, and the Chamber Choir closed the concert with a powerful performance of “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay in three-part harmony as well as a fabulous performance of “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)” in the style of Michael Bublé with GO leading the song and the Chamber Choir as backing singers.

Physical Education

• Reminders have been sent to pupils and staff regarding our change in PE kit policy. This has been on our website since the end of last Summer Term, addressing the removal of hooded sweatshirts from our kit list, following updated guidance.  We are working on adverts to inform parents/students of the health and safety reason behind this change as outlined in the Association for Physical Education’s (the leading subject association for physical education in the United Kingdom), ‘Safe Practice in Physical Education, School Sport and Physical Activity document’.
• This term the PE department have continued to provide and run a busy extracurricular programme for all pupils, including a new Key Stage 3 Girls’ Cricket Club, to carry on with the progress made in this area last Summer Term. 
• We took an U13 girls’ team to Portsmouth High School to participate in an indoor cricket tournament, where the team gained valuable experience. It is great that Swanmore College are now competing against other girls’ teams in the area. 
• The boys and girls football teams, in all years, have been competing against local schools this term, and will continue to do so up until the Easter holidays.
• The highlight of the season so far has been the performance of the Y11 boys football team, who defeated Westgate School 3-1 in District Cup Semi Final this week, and progress through to the final which is scheduled for Monday 24 March. It would be a great way to finish life at Swanmore for these boys if they can lift the trophy!
• It has been confirmed that our U14 Basketball team have won their league going unbeaten and have progressed to the District Finals. In these Finals the team will play Toynbee School, however we are still awaiting when this will be. 
• The Department have hosted several Primary School events this term ranging from Basketball to Cross Country. One highlight for us was having over 250 pupils at one of our primary Cross-Country events with 17 schools taking part. This is a fantastic opportunity for feeder schools and pupils to experience Swanmore College. 
• This would not have been a success, without the input from Y10 Sports Leader pupils, who have been assisting with these events to build up the leadership hours needed to pass their Level 2 Sports Leaders Course.
• Y8 pupil SA, has made the Girls Hampshire County Cricket team and we look forward to following her progress during the Summer Term.
• Some pupils are National performers in their sports outside Swanmore College. In Cheerleading we have LB and MB from Y8. In Muy Thai we have OB in Y9.
• Some pupils perform at County Level. BM in Y8 is a county swimmer, and in weightlifting we have a girl in Key Stage 4.
• In the summer, we are looking forward to competing in the following sports against other school in the area: Athletics, Cricket, Rounders, Softball and Tennis.
• We have a trip to Wimbledon where we have Court 2 tickets for the day and the g T20 Cricket trip to the Utilita Bowl for the Schools Takeover Hampshire match.  

Religious Education, Religious Studies & Sociology

• We had a visit from Hampshire RE Inspector (Chris May) in November to gain good practice to spread to other schools on the work we are doing at Swanmore College.
• We had a successful trip to Titchfield Mosque (November 2024) and have an exciting trip planned to Winchester Cathedral (March 2025) to enrich pupil learning further.
• Y9 GCSE options numbers for Sociology (as of 24/2/25) are extremely high at 73.

Science

• Williams F1 Racing trip, Oxford, Grove. Every pupil in Y8 received a fully funded place to visit Williams HQ. Nearly all pupils attended, and Williams hosted up to 40 pupils at each visit – 7 days in total. An average of 2 per week. Williams paid for the transport for each visit. The day consisted of a museum tour, time in the Esports lounge on the racing simulators and a STEM-based workshop session.
• Y10 pupils were given the opportunity to visit Science Live in January. Science Live is an annual event that we have attended regularly over the last few years and is of real benefit to our pupils. This year’s event was held at Oxford, where pupils heard from guest speakers/scientists with the aim of learning more about careers in science before attending some workshop sessions designed specifically to support revision and to maximise outcomes.
• We have launched Knowledge Organisers for Key Stage 4.
• Y11 have completed their mock exams. All have been marked and moderated within the department and papers are in the process of being reviewed with pupils.
• Y9 have completed their next round of GL assessments.
• We used AQA On Screen to produce and provide a standardised Science assessment for Y8 pupils. The assessment has worked well and yielded high quality data.
• We signed up to a free Trial of Sparx Science – this is a new science product under development. The trial is for the remainder of this academic year. So far, we have launched Sparx Science to Y7 with the aim of rolling this out to the remainder of Key Stage 3 over the next half-term.
• Pupil rewards continue to be successful, with regular Superstar Weekly nominations. 
• The Teacher of Science who we appointed for a January start to help with covering maternity leave has settled in well and is making a positive impact.
• Department learning walks were completed within the required time frame. The Head of Department observed all Science teachers teaching to allow for comparison and provide a measure of standardisation with Action Points created.
• The Walkthrough Action Points led to a Key Stage 3 curriculum review in conjunction with whole college curriculum initiatives. Our focus is interleaving starters to support development and retention of pupils’ foundation knowledge. To support/develop this, we trialled Key Stage 3 recall quiz starters with Y9 using AI to help implement this. It has been well received and rolled out to the rest of the department.
• The department continues to engage with Word of the Week, awarding Word of the Week ICCs to pupils.