2004-2005: A look back
Welcome to the look back on the academic year 2004-2005. Please use the links below to navigate through a range of stories from last year.
Download a list of school governors
Introduction by Alison Horne
It is hard to believe that yet another year has passed since our last report to parents. In many ways, it seems only a few weeks ago since I wrote my last introduction to this publication, and yet in other ways it seems that a great deal has happened in a very short space of time!
I am delighted to report that the school continues to live up to its motto of “From Strength to Strength”. Our examination results were once again outstanding. Although the proportion of 5 or more A*-C grades dropped slightly, this was more than compensated for by the significant increase of those achieving top GCSE grades. The A level grades were our best ever with almost every student being offered one of their preferred university places, and a record five candidates gaining Oxbridge entry.
The governors have continued to support an ambitious building programme which has resulted in an ever-improving environment for our pupils to learn in. We are convinced that smart, up-to-date facilities impact significantly on the achievement of our students, and we will continue to invest in this improvement programme during the coming year.
We have restructured our governor committees in the last year. One of the outcomes is the production of the “new style” report to parents which we hope you will find even more informative and enjoyable to read than previous publications. We would very much welcome feedback on our new format in order that we can continue to provide appropriate and relevant information which meets the needs of all our parents.
Finally, can I thank all of you for the continued support you offer to Balcarras. Although the staff play a crucial role in the success of the school, your contribution is also crucial to the ultimate achievements of your sons and daughters and it is something we value highly.
Best wishes, Alison Horne, Chair of Governors
Ofsted
Most parents will have enjoyed reading the Ofsted report – it gave a resounding vote of confidence for all aspects of the school’s work. To achieve grade 1, outstanding, for each of the seven features was remarkable. In total, the inspectors felt the school’s climate for learning was the best that any of them had come across. This was a tribute to the atmosphere that has been created where all parties: parents, pupils, governors, teachers and support staff, work harmoniously together for the benefit of every pupil.
The inspection took place at an ideal time, four weeks into the school year, when routines had been established and everybody was still fresh, and because the report gave such unconditional praise, the whole process was a positive one and gave everybody a boost for the rest of the term.
| "... a tribute to the atmosphere that has been created where all parties ...work harmoniously together for the benefit of every pupil." |
Having said all of that, we are pleased that we are now safe for another three years!
Chris Healy, Headteacher
Progress on Reconstitution of the Governing Body
This time last year I reported on the requirement for governing bodies of maintained schools in England to adopt a new constitutional model by August 2006. Well ahead of time, we went through a thorough process of evaluating how we could best meet these guidelines to the ultimate benefit of our school.
In terms of the make up of the governing body we have now successfully completed a small number of adjustments and you can see the structure of the revised body in the list of governors by clicking here. ( pdf file)
The more significant change occurred in the committee structure which it was decided could be improved with greater clarification of roles and responsibilities.
The resultant structure was as follows:
> Finance – all financial aspects, including budget and planning
> Infrastructure – including health and safety, premises, catering etc
> Communications – including publications, links with other schools, official bodies (such as OFSTED), the local community and parents (present and future), and the school website etc
> Curriculum – including special educational needs, target setting, and staffing
All governors will belong to at least one of the above committees, and of course, where specific experience or expertise would benefit any one committee, placement has been arranged accordingly.
Having now been operating with this structure for a year, I am pleased to report that we believe it to be a successful way forward for the governing body. With greater clarity, and generally greater focus on fewer areas of school operations, the result has been that each governor now has a significantly improved understanding of one area. This, in turn, enables each of us to have more meaningful input to those related topics.
With regard to the timing of the various committee meetings, there are two major determining factors: Firstly, three of the committees will meet ahead of the finance committee, allowing any budgetary requirements to be prepared and presented to the finance committee meeting. This meeting will then take place ahead of the meeting for the full governing body, where each committee reports on its own activities, putting recommendations to the entire body for final approval. Secondly, each committee will have reasons to meet at particular times throughout the school year. For instance, the communications committee, which is responsible for overseeing this document, will have met at appropriate times ahead of publication. Similarly, the curriculum committee will meet at an appropriate time to set academic targets for forthcoming years.
A year in, and this system appears to be working well. There are additional ways in which governors are involved in the school, but maybe we can tell you more about that another time. In the meantime, please bear in mind that most governor appointments are only for a four-year period, so there will always be an opportunity for you to get involved. It’s a very interesting and rewarding role, which I believe has been greatly improved as a result of this reconstitution.
Tony Hodder, Parent Governor
Healthy School
As a member of the healthy school forum, it is a great delight to report on the progress of an enthusiastic group of people from all areas of the school community, who together have produced a Balcarras healthy school policy. An action plan is now in place to promote a healthier lifestyle for every member of the school community.
Paths and walkways have been created around the school. Vending machine sales have been reduced, as have the sale of crisps, and ‘no chips’ days have been introduced. We now only have ‘low salt’ for use in our restaurant.
Competitions have been held to encourage the purchase of healthier options at lunch time and prizes have included a bike! Following a very successful Jamie Oliver Week, his recipes are now regularly included in the rolling school dinner menus.
In July the local Co-op very kindly donated free fruit for a day to all pupils to support and promote the importance of fruit and vegetables in the diet. Successful information evenings for parents have taken place on topical issues such as drugs and relationships.
This will continue to be a long-term approach to encourage positive attitudes to healthy lifestyle awareness and to promote physical and emotional well-being throughout our whole school community.
Sonia Maisey, School Governor
Balcarras Sixth Form
We began this academic year with another rise in sixth form numbers, taking us to 280! Part of this rise came from a high retention rate of 93%, with just 10 of last year’s lower sixth students leaving at the end of Year 12 to enter employment. The greatest rise, however, came from external students entering Year 12. Over 25% of our Year 12 students have joined us from Pittville, Winchcombe, Denmark Road, The Crypt, St Benedict’s, Chosen Hill, Cleeve, Cirencester Deer Park, St Edward’s, Pates, Dean Close, and King’s School and we are particularly pleased that Pittville and Winchcombe students are now making us their first choice.
A level results were again outstanding. Whilst 330 points was some way below the average point score of the previous year, the year group exceeded all their targets and in terms of personal achievements they performed above the 2004 cohort. Again, 93% of this year’s leavers were offered places at university or further education colleges, whilst 7% went directly into employment. An increasing number have chosen to take a gap year before taking up their college place. ‘Local’ universities such as Gloucestershire, Bristol, UWE, Cardiff, UWIC, Birmingham, and Oxford Brookes continue to be favourite choices amongst students, with Portsmouth and Plymouth being popular with those brave enough to venture beyond a 50-mile radius! Five students were offered places at Oxford or Cambridge Universities, although one student decided not to take up her place. Rebecca Roberts is now reading social and political science at Magdalene College, Cambridge; Rosalind White is reading English at King’s College, Cambridge; Claire Tustin is reading English and education at Homerton College, Cambridge; and Bruce Pywell, a student who left in 2004, is reading psychology at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.
There have been several staffing changes in the sixth form tutor team, and a new head of psychology, Lissa Rogers, who is providing a fantastic lead to this very popular A level subject. We are also offering religious studies A level for the first time this year and the seven students taking the course have made an impressive start.
This term has seen a successful drive by tutors and teachers to ensure that the students are in school on time and in correct uniform. The same ‘no tolerance’ approach used lower down the school is proving to be extremely successful and even though they are reluctant to admit it, the Year 13 students in particular are glad of the supervised study periods and the opportunity they provide to get so much work done.
Over the summer, the entire sixth form block was re-painted and re-carpeted. 180 new and student-proof chairs were put into the common room and the Year 12 study room was completely overhauled. New study carrels, each with it’s own flat-screen computer, mean that every Year 12 now has an individual work station for all of their study periods.
Despite busy study timetables, students have continued to find time to fit in a wide range of extra-curricular activities. The Young Enterprise team, ‘In-tuition’, came very close to winning, whilst the People and Planet group continued to bring environmental and ethical issues to students’ attention. The World Challenge team ran a very successful expedition to Ecuador and for the first time, an inter-form/cross Y12-13 competition is running throughout the year. The business department are again planning to take sixth form students to New York, and the art and history departments’ visit to Berlin in spring 2005 was a sobering yet enjoyable experience. 
Sadly, the Bar Mock Trial team were again defeated (a gross miscarriage of justice at Oxford Crown Courts!) There are now so many Year 12 students involved in the paired reading scheme that several of them are acting as in-class support assistants too, 
and the house music competition (despite becoming more like the X-factor every year!) gave many sixth form students the chance to develop their organisation and management skills.
The team tutors continue to support and guide our students. In Year 12, the tutors are Mr Clancy, Mr Constance, Mrs Hadfield, Mr Hazael, Miss McWhirter, Mr Prophett, Mr Smith and Mr Tamlyn. The Year 13 tutors are Miss Bell, Mr Edwards, Mrs Flood, Mr Larcombe, Miss Rogers, Mrs Steckbeck and Mr Waterhouse, all of whom have worked incredibly hard over the last few weeks writing university references and have enabled us to complete the whole application process well ahead of the January deadline. Mrs Atkin, deputy head of sixth form, (formerly Miss Stead and married earlier this year) continues to provide expert pastoral and curriculum advice and support to students, whilst Mrs Helen Woodford, sixth form administrator, now has absolutely every administrative aspect of the day-to-day running of the sixth form under total control!
Karen Morgan, Head of Sixth Form
Site Enhancement
It is always an exciting time to be at Balcarras! We have just begun an extensive site enhancement project to develop outstanding social areas for our pupils and students to enjoy. I hope the pictures which accompany this article will portray a real sense of the scope and ambition of the programme. Balcarras is blessed with a wonderfully picturesque location, nestling as we do underneath the Cotswold escarpment. The site has been developed considerably with new buildings including the sixth form centre, the sports pavilion and modern languages block. With this rapid expansion came increasing pressure on our existing social provision. The governors and senior management of the school were keen to address this issue creatively and as a matter of some urgency.
Much of the preparatory work for the scheme had its roots in the pastoral review carried out by staff and pupils during the summer of 2004. One of the guiding principles to emerge from that process was the desire to ensure state of the art learning and social environments for the benefit of the whole school community. The next phase involved the commissioning of a group of pupils to work on identifying key issues from their perspective and to propose ideas or suggest solutions. This team then met with the architect from the Urban Design Group in December 2004 to flesh out the detail of the plans and prioritise the building schedule.
As you can see, several areas have been completed already and the extension to the canteen area will be completed by Christmas. We were delighted to welcome Gerard MacMahon back to Balcarras in November when, as guest of honour, he officially opened the new reception, administration offices and social areas. Next up for redevelopment will be the pond area, a major new covered walkway with more sheltered seating and the front playground. These areas represent a major investment in the fabric of the school environment but the positive impact they are already making to the everyday enjoyment of the site by our pupils cannot be underestimated.
Chris Hall, Teacher of Geography and Head of Selvey House
| “The new developments to the school have transformed it and made it look more modern, sophisticated and a much nicer place to be! I look forward to the future developments and the positive impact they will have on the students.” Elliott Smith 10S1 |
| "I have been very surprised and impressed with the changes and progress Balcarras has made during the short time I was away. I love the new seating arrangements and great new facilities. They have really made my days at Balcarras even more enjoyable. I am also amazed at the future plans we have discussed for the school. I am very excited to see them being put into action and can’t wait to see the finished product.” Alexa Bull 10G1 |
Library Resource Centre
The Library continues to be well used and has recently been enhanced by the provision of a lift from reception,
which means that all pupils can easily use the facilities. Four induction sessions are held for all new Year 7s and in Year 8 we continue with a further two library skills lessons. Sixth formers who have come to Balcarras from other schools are also given a brief introduction to the services we can offer them.
Book stocks are looking bright and new – we make a conscious effort to keep the shelves looking fresh, up-to-date and appealing and the level of funding we have been granted over the last two years has helped us to achieve this satisfactorily – although we could still use more! Pupils often make special requests for items we may not yet have in stock, and we are usually able to buy the books they want.
Our annual Best Borrower Awards takes place at Easter, when those pupils who have borrowed most regularly are awarded with a certificate and chocolate!
Book-Mates reading club meets after school on Tuesday afternoons and caters for Year 7 and 8 readers of all abilities. It is well attended by an enthusiastic group of pupils, who take part in reading excerpts from books and making recommendations. We ‘shadowed’ the Carnegie Awards last summer term, reading and discussing the nominated titles and comparing opinions and then had our own vote. We invite teachers to come to Book-Mates every now and then and share their literary likes and dislikes with us – often quite a revealing process!
Lucille Lean, Librarian
PTFA 2004-2005
It has been yet another great year for the PTFA. The association continues to support the school, its pupils and its parents in a number of ways.
Our work with parents included an entertaining evening when Rob Long, an educational psychologist, talked to parents about ‘talking to teenagers’. Rob reassured us that there is no right way but gave sound advice on how to maintain positive relationships with our children who are, after all, struggling with the tensions in their own lives. He stressed two things – understanding ourselves is important in dealing with our children and even more importantly we need to focus on the solutions not the problems.
We have held a number of successful curriculum evenings in the past. This year our hosts were the design technology department. It was a very practical evening as you might expect. We were introduced to the excellent CAD/CAM facilities in the department and parents had to get to grips with manipulating 3D models on computer screens. During the second half of the evening we were introduced to the design process and applied our skills to creating and baking our own flavoured breads.
The PTFA has traditionally had the role of organising a number of school events. In November we held a Bands Night. The hall was full of parents and pupils who danced along to our ‘home grown talent’. It is extremely rewarding to see our own pupils enjoying and celebrating the talents of their talented contemporaries. The highlight of the year for us and for many of you reading this was the first Balcarras Picnic in the Park which we held in June last year. It is difficult to capture in words the atmosphere of the evening but we were delighted that this event produced an evening with a real community feel to it. The musical talents of our pupils, under the leadership of the music department, produced a programme which appealed to every taste.
Thank you to all who have supported us this year. We are looking forward to another successful year in 2005-2006.
Helen Holman, Deputy Headteacher
Sports Development Manager's Report 2004-05
Another good year. Balcarras has been a successful part of the Cheltenham Partnership within the School Sports Co-ordinator (SSCo) scheme for the past three years. The range of out of school hours activities available to pupils has become increasingly diverse over that period and what started as ‘taster’ sessions have become well-established clubs; particularly girls’ football, boys’ hockey, kickboxing and gymnastics. It is wonderful to see the enthusiasm of the pupils, and challenging to arrange all the clubs that they would like to see available to them; their sporting tastes are wide and eclectic. The success of the school clubs has been evident through the number of Balcarras pupils who then go on to join established clubs outside of school and the number who represent the school, the town and even the district at competitions and tournaments.
News from the Cheltenham Partnership can be found on www.sscocheltenham.org.uk
Within the SSCo scheme Balcarras has had strong links with four main primary schools; Charlton Kings Junior, Holy Apostles’, Naunton Park and Glenfall. This has now been extended to include Andoversford, Coberley and Charlton Kings Infants. Gymnastics, cycling, dance and orienteering are just some of the projects that have taken place this last year. The highlights were the very first Balcarras Primary Dance Festival held in May, 
which was so popular that it is to become an annual event, and the second Top Link Primary Sports Festival in July. This event is particularly rewarding as it is organised by a dedicated team of Year 10 Balcarras students, and this year’s committee were extremely hard working and will be a tough act to follow by those organising the 2006 event!
The sports facilities are available for public use in the evenings and at weekends, and once again I am delighted to report on the success of Balcarras Sports Centre. There has been a steady increase in community usage to the extent that we now operate a waiting list for available slots. Many clubs have made Balcarras their home base. Cheltenham Hockey Club has worked hard in developing the social side of the club here as well as the sporting.
Sara Roylance, Sports Development Manager
Balcarras in the Primaries
2004/05 was the most successful year yet! Our primary partner schools were descended on by a huge number of staff from maths, English, drama, science, history, ICT, modern foreign languages, music and design and technology. By the end of the period, pupils ranging from Reception age to Year 6 had become experts in speaking French, producing plays, using PowerPoint, cracking codes, learning about the respiratory system, composing musical pieces and making muffins. To see little faces appearing here for cooking lessons (not food technology, you’ll notice), working alongside Balcarras sixth formers was a sight to behold!
The success and growth of this project has been phenomenal and has been brought about by enthusiastic staff and students and a fantastic collaboration between the primaries and ourselves. 14 teachers are out and about in our primary schools this year and already we have seen the sheer delight and excitement brought about by sometimes having lessons in ‘big school’ or by being taught by a ‘big school teacher’. It has proved to be a superb venture and long may it continue!
Neil Spurdell, Deputy Headteacher
Success in the Arts
It was a fantastic achievement to have two students, Zac Thorne and Rachel Robbins, in the top five in the country for A level art. Zac and Rachel have now gone on to study art at university. Zac also went on to win the recently televised national portrait competition ‘A brush with fame’.
Congratulations to all our A level students who achieved such high standards last year, and special congratulations to Daisy Johnson for achieving the school’s A level art prize.
Works by Zac (left) and Rachel (right)
Daren Hazael, Head of Art
Feedback to Parents
In June 2005, as part of our ongoing programme of self-evaluation, we carried out surveys of the school community. Questionnaires were filled in by random samples of parents and pupils – you may have been one! The questionnaires were collected and subsequently analysed by Keele University. In addition to this we held a consultation evening in conjunction with the PTFA when a group of parents of pupils in KS3 came along to discuss a wide range of issues with members of the school team.
The information we gathered has been very interesting and we are keen to share the findings with you. I have extracted some of the key features.
We were delighted that Keele University noted in their report that, “the responses from all year groups at Balcarras are markedly above average.” It is always rewarding to receive praise but it is just as important to be aware of the areas that concern our pupils and our parents.
As a school we are always looking for areas where improvement can be made. Homework has been a concern and this term we have sent individual homework timetables home with each child. We hope that you found this useful. We will be monitoring the setting, completion and marking of homework carefully throughout this year.
We are also keen to share what is going on in school with parents. We have been working closely with the PTFA to hold evenings which are relevant to you as parents. We hope to hold evenings this year on drugs, sex education and assessment.
May I take this opportunity to thank all those parent and pupils who completed their questionnaires. We feel strongly that the partnership between Balcarras and the parent body is critical in supporting the education of all our pupils.
Helen Holman, Deputy Headteacher
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The findings from Keele University parent survey suggest that parents are happy with Balcarras
99% are satisfied with their child’s progress 87% (37%)* think it is better than most schools Standards of behaviour, dress, considered high by 81% (64,70) 94% say teachers are doing a good job Only 15% believe discipline should be tighter and only 5% think we need to be firmer on bullying 69% think homework is about right, although a very sizeable number (42% in Years 7 - 9) say too little |
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We are pleased that parents feel that communications with school are good
91% parents feel that the information they receive about the school is sufficient (83) 98% approve of the quality of the information they receive in their child’s report (88) Parents also feel that the teachers and the headteacher are approachable |
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Pupil surveys
93% of the pupils surveyed are happy at Balcarras (87) 76% of the pupils found most lessons interesting (62). 92% said that their work is important to them (86) |
* numbers in brackets ( ) are the average for all the other schools surveyed by Keele University
BalWeb
The Balcarras School website, 'BalWeb', has undergone a complete makeover this year with a brand new front page and design. Crucially, a number of new areas have been developed which have expanded the use of the site. In particular this includes the new Pupil Pages area for online learning. A number of departments have taken the opportunity to use the site to aid communication with students and parents. Worksheets, presentations and weblinks are now added so that pupils can access information from home when completing homework, coursework or research. I have been particularly pleased with the way this encourages independent work and the increased use of ICT in a technology college. ‘Hits’ to the site are high and a number of departments are coming on board. In the future I hope that every teacher begins to use this facility and that pupils become more and more adept in its use.
The website still maintains its function as a mouthpiece for the school and carries a range of useful information and downloadable material. For example, the sixth form pages and Year 9 options information are used often, as is the information on staff vacancies and the on-line prospectus. This information needs to be kept up-to-date and relevant. Some parents are using the e-newsletters scheme, though frankly not as many as we might hope for as email does offer a great communication route for us as a technology college. The news pages, photographs of recent school events and our pages devoted to past pupils are well-liked and help to keep the popularity of the site high.
Ben Edwards, Webkeeper and Teacher of History
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WebNotes
Last month we were visited by Spain, France and the USA ! Total hits last month = 4,000 24 hour average = 10 hits per hour Most visited pupil page = History!! |
Dr Paul Roach of Cardiff University came in to talk to Year 11 about space and the origins of the universe and Dr Diane Talbot of the Institute of Materials spoke to Years 11, 12 and 13 about the world of advanced materials.
Year 8 went to @Bristol as part of the joint geography and science trip and Year 11 went on the annual trip to London to visit the Science and Natural History museums.
The Year 12 Physicists visited Nymphsfield Gliding club as part of their coursework and Year 13 spent an afternoon at Birmingham University working with Dr Mike Jenkins in the engineering materials department. April 2004 also saw the first Physics trip abroad to Geneva to visit the particle physics labs at CERN.
salination following the tsumani was highly commended.
This has been a spectacular year for the Duke of Edinburgh Award at Balcarras. After the launch of the Gold Award with the sixth form last year, the school was delighted that one of the pupils completed the Award in September 2004. Frances Briggs becomes the first pupil at Balcarras to achieve this prestigious award and has recently collected her award at St James’ Palace. She was joined by fellow sixth former Frances Low and they in turn will be followed by Christine Blackhall in the spring. It seems that the girls have been doing well! Their contemporaries will hopefully join in the success shortly. At the current time I am again recruiting for the Gold Award within the sixth form and hope that many more pupils can follow in these promising footsteps.
The Bronze Award continues to be a success with the younger pupils and numbers have been growing steadily. The pupils are encouraged by the history of pupils before them, with a wider range of activities being undertaken than ever before - circus skills, DJ-ing, kick boxing, knitting, genealogy, life saving and many more this year. The expeditions are always the pinnacle of the year with more pupils venturing into unknown territory and more finding their map skills are improving! This year the owner of the campsite allowed us to have a roaring campfire and marshmallow toasting was enjoyed by all. Another great year for all involved. Thank you to all pupils, parents and staff for their support.
Last summer’s tour to Vienna and Budapest was the highlight of the year for the music department. Musically the standards achieved were very high and as a group of friends the students bonded superbly. 
The last tour to Tuscany marked a watershed in terms of the performing standards of the students. They found it within themselves to release their inhibitions and really communicate their music to their audiences – as we have seen since in Jailbird Rock and Picnic in the Park.
It was a pleasure to take such a well-mannered and charismatic group to such exciting cultural centres. The way in which the students, from year nine to year thirteen, were happily sharing time with each other was very rewarding to see and an excellent end to a superb year. The journey home was long in miles but shortened by the atmosphere on the coach. An enjoyable and unforgettable experience – many thanks to Mr Fox, Mrs Henderson, Mrs Spry and Greg White for helping throughout.
If you close your eyes and imagine what it would be like to visit Auschwitz in Poland, a place that saw some of the greatest crimes in history committed, you can’t. Similarly, imagining the bizarre methods of escaping the eastern half of Berlin to enjoy the growing prosperity of the western quarter is pretty difficult. During February half term, 40 sixth form history and art students travelled to Berlin and Krakow to match images and real experiences to the subjects they have been studying for their A-levels.
After an exhausting journey the excitement of reaching Berlin was heightened by the arrival of snow on our first day. Lots of students sent text messages home to boast of the arctic conditions, only to find that it was snowing in Cheltenham too! Although we only had two days in Berlin, we marvelled at the weird escape plans in the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, climbed to the top of the Reichstag at night, and wondered at the creative artwork at the Jewish Museum, inspired by the holocaust. It was disappointing to leave this city of two halves, and many of us were left wishing that we could spend a bit longer exploring.
so many students have commented upon the time we spent in the southern Polish city – a few have even discussed returning to explore further.
This process was started during the national enterprise week (November 14th – 18th) and the main event of this week was the national Make your Mark challenge. Four teams of eight students representing each house had to come up with an innovative idea that would put Cheltenham on the map. The winning team was Graveney who came up with and costed a proposal to build the Cotswold Runners – a large statue of horses on the top of Cleeve Hill. The idea was to create a symbol of the town akin to the Angel of the North. The team then went on to represent the school at the regional finals later on in the week at Somerset County cricket ground. They delivered a brilliant presentation that was very well received by the judges but alas came in a close second to 
the team from Torquay Boys grammar. The team were superb ambassadors for the school and are now keen to get involved with the other enterprise opportunities that will be coming up later on in the year. One of the planned activities is to produce a whole school fashion show. This follows on from the successful Young Enterprise project last year and this programme for sixth formers continues to go from strength to strength. This year’s team are busy producing jewellery and CD racks in readiness for the craft fair as well as trying to put together a local Battle of the Bands contest.
The high ropes challenge, Wyedean Adventure (Forest of Dean), rock climbing (Gloucester Wall), 
sailing and water skiing (South Cerney), mountain biking (Bisley and Forest of Dean), paintballing (Blakeney), kayaking (Kerne Bridge) and skiing at Matson were heavily subscribed.
A balance of in-school, thought-provoking activities is encouraged. Pupils chose from baker’s oven, ready steady cook, making jam, card-making, clay sculpture, mosaics, painting china, photography, profitable pursuit, health farm and last but not least dungeons and dragons!
The Year 9 netball team made it through to the quarter final at the County Schools tournament.
We also had a good season on the track and field, performing well at both the Minors and Seniors Athletics Competitions held at The Prince of Wales Stadium.
In the rugby team, Years 7 to 10 played over 30 matches, mostly with two or three sides playing at the same time, at home or away, with block fixtures. It was an impressive sight for anyone looking out over the sports field, especially when combined with the girls’ fixtures.
It was an outstanding year for the boys in athletics. The athletics results were the best seen at Balcarras for a number of years.
Several of the sixth form language students sang with the Modern Languages Chamber Choir in the Christmas concert at Holy Apostles Church. We sang a traditional French carol: “Il est né, le divin enfant” .
and had a really great time at Port Aventura and Costa Caribe. ¡Magnifico!
Amidst the gloom of February we were able to get away to warmer climes. Not without good reason is Carlo Goldoni called the “father of Italian comedy” and his classic Venetian farce The Servant of Two Masters is an established piece all over the world - though less well known in our Shakespeare 
dominated repertoire. Thanks to the marvellous ensemble spirit and skill of a band of gallant Balcarras students more people now appreciate what fun this stuff really is – especially in our funky modern up-dated version! Luke Gardner led a strong cast ably supported by Rob Coletta and Alice Weaver. Everyone involved at every level gave wonderful commitment and helped make the show a memorable hit with the audiences. Mr Fox provided a beautifully eclectic musical accompaniment with a little help from some very talented music students. Also big thanks to Mr Coombes, Miss Osolin, Ms Freeman, Miss Kimberley, Miss Gill, the English Department et al – who built set, got costumes, did make up, etc. Grazia Mucha!?!
An exciting new addition to the drama calendar was Momma Yankee produced and performed by Miss Osolin’s recently formed Lower School Drama Club. Ailsa Hickey playing the title role led a talented cast in a colourful, imaginative performance with a clever ecological theme. Miss Osolin hopes to continue the fine tradition that she has started next July.
