Around 50 Year 7 & 8 Pupils from Christ College Brecon have just returned from a seasonal visit to Northern France and Belgium. During the visit they spent time in the Flanders Fields Museum, visited the Belgian town of Ypres, before going on to visit the World War One Battlefields area of the Salient. They also visited the Christmas Market in the historic French city of Lille.

Lauren Williams (12) said: ‘The World War One Battlefields were very interesting and I enjoyed the Christmas Market because we were able to try out our French’.

Pupil Awarded Oxbridge Choral Scholarship

Following an audition at Pembroke College, Oxford in September, Deputy Head of School Joshua Games has been awarded an Oxbridge Choral Scholarship.  Now all he has to do is to earn an academic place to read Spanish and Arabic through the usual UCAS process. He is well on the way, as he gained 4 A grades at AS Level this summer.

Joshua musical talents are in great demand, as he is currently rehearsing for the schools production of ‘Oliver’ in which he will appear as Fagin.

The group did not travel unprepared. Mr Slaney (Head of EAL) had passed on some of his rudimentary Mandarin to the group and their studies in this language continued in Shanghai.  Miss Collins also prepared everyone to be able to sing for their supper in Welsh, English and Mandarin.   

At the beginning of the exchange, the pupils were invited by the International Business Wales Trade Mission who were visiting Shanghai at the same time, to join them at an official reception hosted by the British Consulate General in Shanghai.  

This reception was attended by over 100 invited guests including a deputation of MPs from Wales who were part of a Welsh Affairs Select Committee fact-finding mission. 

Clare Collins, Head of Modern Languages at Christ College said:  “Shanghai could not be more different from Brecon, which is what makes this cultural exchange so fascinating and so valuable. Learning Mandarin presents a new and significant challenge to staff and pupils alike, although the intricacies of Tai Chi, Kung Fu and Peking Opera proved even more impenetrable at times! The undoubted highlight of the trip was the friendships that were made between our pupils and their Chinese hosts. We very much look forward to returning the hospitality of our hosts on their return visit to Wales in Spring 2008, and building on this link in future years.” 

Emma Taylor, Head, said: “The opportunity to create a cultural link and association between our two schools is a fascinating and exciting one.  We are most grateful to Jinyuan Senior High School for this invitation which enables our pupils to experience Chinese culture and education.” 

The Principal for Jin Yuan Senior High School, Wang Li Ping said: “This visit is start of an everlasting friendship that will lead to many more fruitful student exchange programs between our two schools.”

Plans are now underway to receive a visit from pupils and teachers from Jinyuan High School in Spring 2008.

The 20^th Engineering Team Challenge, organised by Careers Wales, Mid Glamorgan and Powys took place at Christ College on Friday 13 October.

The purpose of the event is to encourage pupils to develop and sustain a passion for engineering, construction, manufacturing and technology while at the same time boost their awareness of engineering careers.  

Pupils from local high schools, including sixth formers from Christ College, took part. 

This year's challenge, which tested the engineering and construction skills of the pupils, included a practical exercise - to build a bridge - supported by team work.

For more information go to: www.engineering-team-challenge.co.uk

Congratulation to Michael Painter, who finished runner-up in the Welsh Schools Track & Field Championship in the Senior Boys Shot Putt.  He won selection for a triangular competition between Welsh Schools, the Athletic Association of Wales, and South West Schools which took place in Aberdare in July. Michael made a significant contribution to the fortunes of the Welsh Schools Athletics team, finishing 2^nd in his event with a throw of 12m 10cm.

Michael is the latest in a long line of Welsh Schools Athletics Internationals to be developed by under the expert guidance of former Senior Welsh Athletics International and Head of Chemistry, Paul Smith. Current Welsh Men’s Shot Putt champion Ryan Spencer-Jones is a former pupil.

Christ College has another set of academic results to be proud of.  An incredible 46% of all GCSE grades were A* or A, which is a rise of 6% on last years grades. Over 91 per cent of all grades were A – C grade, with 95% of pupils achieving 5 or more GCSE’s at A to C Grade. 

Pupils performed exceptionally in the key subjects of Maths, English and the Sciences, with 90% of pupils achieving Grades A to C in these subjects, with 37% of the Maths candidates achieving an A* grade, and 61% achieving A* and A grades. However, results in Art and Photography caught the eye with 88% of grades being A* or A.  

Emma Taylor, Head, said: “It’s marvellous to see our younger pupils excelling with their GCSE results, not only have many performed exceptionally in their examinations, but so many of them are exceptionally all-round talented young people. We are very proud of them.  We are also delighted with the overall results and, as usual, impressed by the performances of boys and girls of all levels of ability.” 

“Christ College caters for a wide range of academic ability and it is often the apparently more modest achievements that represent the greatest success story in terms of a pupil maximising his or her potential.  At this time of year it is the examination results that get the headlines, but the real stories are of confident, well-prepared young people who have an ideal launch pad for the next phase of their education. The results are a fitting reward for the hard work both of the pupils and of the school’s excellent teaching staff, who also deserve great credit.” 

Pupils at Christ College Brecon achieved some outstanding results in this year’s A level examinations.

63% of all grades were A or B, a marked improvement on last year’s performance. Maths, English and Science departments performed particularly strongly, with 72 % of all entries in Maths and Science graded A or B and an impressive 56% of all English candidates gaining A grades. The overall pass rate was 98.2%.  

Statistics are significant but it is individual performances that really impress. No fewer than 11 candidates (20%) gained three or more A grades.  Local pupils Henrietta Vyvyan-Robinson, Huw Silk and Lucy Davies all achieved this accolade.  

The newly-appointed Head of Christ College, Emma Taylor, expressed delight at these results. She said “It is a great way to start as Head, seeing dozens of delighted pupils congratulating each other, after the long weeks of waiting for their all-important results. It is a fitting reward for the hard work both of the pupils and of the school’s excellent teaching staff, who also deserve great credit. The School caters for a wide range of academic ability and it is often the apparently more modest achievements that represent the greatest success story in terms of a pupil maximising his or her potential.

For more images click here to go to drama page

The Business Studies & Economics Department at Christ College were fortunate to be invited to take a closer look at  Mitel.  Mitel is a company that is a major player in the deployment of IP Communications solutions and one of its factories is based in Wales.  Mitel designs, markets and sells communications solutions to enterprises and organizations ranging from large multi-nationals to small businesses and supplies 20 million users in over 90 countries.

A former Christ College Brecon pupil has become the first female from Wales, and youngest from the UK, to conquer Everest.

Tori James, 25, reached the 29,030ft ((8,850m) summit in the early hours of the 24^th May, local time, and has now safely returned to her Base Camp. She was part of a team from the London Business School who were raising funds for the Prince’s Trust.

Tori, from Pembrokeshire, has set several extreme challenge records. In 2005 she became the youngest ever female to complete The Scott Dunn Polar Challenge – a 360 mile race to the Magnetic North Pole.

Phillip Jones, Headmaster, said “We’re all incredibly proud of Tori and her achievement, but it will have come as no surprise to anyone who knew her at Christ College”.

She spent 18 months preparing for the Everest expedition, training six-days-a-week. Last year she climbed Cho Oyu in Nepal – the sixth highest mountain in the world and earlier this year completed an intensive trek up Mount Kilimanjaro. 

Eight pupils are preparing for the trip of a lifetime being part of the crew of a Tall Ship and will use their expedition as part of the work they are undertaking towards achieving their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Awards. 

Steffan Raw-Rees, Emily Tait, Hannah Richards and Rachel Williams will set sail on the Stavros S Niarchos on the 19 October on a 9 day voyage, whilst Edward Gallagher, Tom Shackelford, Todd Thorpe and Ashley Cullen will set sail on the Prince William on the 21 October on a 7 day voyage. 

The opportunity has come about through dialogue between the Christ College Foundation and the Reardon Smith Nautical Trust.  The educational trust was set up in 2003 to provide young people with nautical or maritime training.  

The Tall Ships Youth Trust is the world’s oldest and largest sail training organisation. The Trust is a leader in Personal Development of Young People through crewing Tall Ships. Founded in 1956, some 75000 trainees have sailed over 1.5 million miles on the Prince William, Stavros S Niarchos or their two previous ships – Sir Winston Churchill and John Miller. 

On Thursday 3 May, Air Chief Marshall Sir Clive Loader, Commander-in-Chief Air Command, flew in from High Wycombe to inspect the Christ College Brecon Combined Cadet Force (CCF) Contingent.   

Having piloted himself to Brecon in a Merlin helicopter, Air Chief Marshall Sir Clive Loader, inspected the CCF compound where he was shown the silverware the contingent holds through its many competition successes.  For more information click here.

This year the Nolan Powell Art Travel Awards have gone to Daen Huse (right) who will use the award towards a trip to Venice, and Billy Mason-Watts (left) who plans to travel to Prague to further their art studies. Pupils will be exhibiting their work at the school in June at the annual Old Breconian Open Day.

In 1998 Peter Nolan Powell endowed an annual Art Travel Award at Christ College, combining his passions for art and travel into a stimulus and incentive for younger aspirants, which his family has continued to support.

Find out more about Nolan Powell below...

Picture: Wilson Tang (left) and Jansen Tang (right)

Two Christ College Brecon students have performed superbly in the UK leg of the 2007 International Chemistry Olympiad.  

Twins Jansen and Wilson Tang, 18, from Kowloon, Hong Kong, joined Christ College in 2002, and were among just 1,300 sixth form students from all over the UK who took part in the Royal Society of Chemistry organised event. 

Wilson Tang was awarded a Silver Certificate, placing him in the top 250 Chemistry A Level students in the UK, and Jansen Tang received a commendation, putting him in the Top 1000 A Level students in the UK. 

“There has been a significant amount of media coverage recently about the falling number of students studying the ‘Hard Sciences’, and how we must do something fast,” said Philip Jones, Headmaster. 

Former Christ College pupil, Angharad Lewis has been awarded the top UK Award for her services to girl guiding by the Lord Lieutenant of Powys, Shân Legge-Bourke.  

Angharad was excited to be back and said: “Time has passed so quickly since leaving Christ College but it was great to go back and see some familiar faces.  I started working on the Award when I was 16, so Christ College played an important role in my achievement.  For more information click here to go to the OBA news page.

Christ College is preparing its pupils for the ‘real-world’ by offering a bespoke teamwork and initiative course by a leading adventure consultancy for its sixth formers. We have joined forces with TYF Group Ltd based in St David’s, Pembrokeshire to create a unique education programme, for pupils, including pre-course preparation in the Brecon Beacons, a residential adventure weekend in West Wales, and a bespoke student handbook including inspirational leadership stories.

The outdoor adventure programme aims to develop communications and problem-solving skills, as well as improving leadership and team-working, which will assist pupils on their transition to university and employment.

The residential weekend will combine exploration and discovery activities, kayaking, surfing and coasteering, along with a series of group problem-solving games and exercises. 

Dave Evans, Head of Adventure at TYF Group, said: “We’re very excited to be chosen by Christ College Brecon to help develop their leadership programme.  There’s no doubt that society is facing some serious challenges, and a future in which strong and effective leadership skills will command a premium.  It’s admirable that Christ College has recognised this and is prepared to invest in the development of these qualities in its students.”

Simon Spencer, Second Master, who set up the link with TYF Group, said: “After meeting TYF Group’s Chief Executive, Andy Middleton on a Welsh trade mission to China in 2006, it was clear that TYF education programmes could benefit our pupils significantly. In equipping our Sixth Formers for the world today it’s evidently a great advantage to broaden their experiences, their team-working skills, and their ability to take the initiative. We’re confident that the relationship with TYF will be highly beneficial for both organisations.”

Red Nose Day is a UK-wide fundraising event organised by Comic Relief. 

Christ College is contributing to make small change make a big difference and believes that young people should have every chance to develop their humanity, to contribute to, and to understand the lives of those in different, often difficult circumstances.

The school catering department sold "Red Nose Cakes" all week and raised £54.74.  Lunch was also a comic affair with staff dressed to mark the day.   

For further information about Red Nose Day click on the official website www.rednoseday.com

About St David...

Christ College welcomed the "Year of the Golden Pig" with a Chinese themed lunch and the 6th Form attended a celebratory meal in Cardiff.

For more information click here

(Image left - Chapel by candlelight)