Year 9 students at CCS have recently taken on a creative challenge with visual storytelling and artistic flair. As part of their Final Major Project in Art, every student was tasked with producing original and exciting photographs to support their work - an assignment that pushed them to explore composition, mood, and meaning through the lens. What makes this project really special is that for many students, this will be their last opportunity to develop an extended art piece in school. With some moving on to different subjects next year, this assignment has given them a chance to channel their artistic talent once more and experimenting and expressing themselves visually. From fairytale funghi and dynamic shadows to snapshots of the everyday world, their work will now feed into their final project presentations. The prints of these will be on display in E1 for the remainder of the term and a new Photography assignment is currently in the planning stages for September- watch this space.

Last Thursday, ten of our Year 4 students took part in the School Games Year 3/4 Tennis Skills County Finals. The team faced nine local schools, showcasing their fantastic tennis talent, and teamwork skills. We are SO proud to share that our Year 4 team came first place overall, taking home the trophy! Congratulations to you all on this fantastic achievement and thank you to Mrs Cairns and Mrs Mumford who accompanied the children.

Last Friday, our aspiring STEM/ Medsoc students visited Nottingham University as part of an open day event. Science teachers Dr Drammer and Mr Robson, who accompanied the students, share, "It was a fabulous day, and the students really enjoyed it. They came back feeling motivated and inspired about what their future could look like. We were lucky enough to see Einsteins blackboard too!"

What an amazing day for Year 3 at the Think Tank Museum in Birmingham on Monday! The group had a blast, diving into all our learning themes in the most hands-on way possible! From discovering the wonders in our Amazing Animals workshop, to exploring the Science Garden where we tested our knowledge of forces and balance, the fun never stopped! The children were engaged, curious, and showed off their fantastic skills while representing our school with pride!

Sports Round-Up: A Week of Great Performances It's been a fantastic week of sport for our school teams, with plenty of determination, teamwork and standout moments. Year 6 Cricket Festival – Northamptonshire Sport On Wednesday, our Year 6 team represented the school brilliantly at the Northamptonshire Sport Cricket Festival. With one win and one narrow loss in both the group and next stages, they finished 6th out of 12 schoolsa great achievement! Every player contributed with skill and enthusiasm. Tuesday Cricket Fixture: CCS vs Northampton School for Boys CCS faced a tough match against NSB. After a strong start with the ballhighlighted by a wicket from Lily H.NSB built a solid total. CCS were bowled out short of the target, losing by 65 runs, but showed real spirit and effort. Monday U13 Boys Cricket: CCS vs EWS Our U13 boys secured a 52-run win over EWS. Showing determination and hard work throughout. Y Singh was named Player of the Match for his excellent all-round performance. Girls' Rounders: Year 7–10 vs Moulton On Tuesday afternoon, our Year 7–10 girls' rounders teams travelled to Moulton for a series of matches. Moulton won 3 out of the 4 games, with our Year 9 team securing a draw. All teams showed great effort and sportsmanship throughout.

A group of 50 Year 9 students returned on Monday after an unforgettable four-day journey through the Belgium and French battlefields. Trip leader Miss Olive, reflects on the experience: "We visited some of the most significant World War I sites, including the Menin Gate, Essex Farm Cemetery, Sanctuary Wood Museum, Tyne Cot Cemetery, Langemark German Cemetery, and the In Flanders Field Museum. Our journey then took us into France, where students explored the powerful memorials of Vimy Ridge, Lochnagar Mine Crater, Thiepval Memorial, and Newfoundland Memorial Park. Throughout the trip, the students displayed exceptional respect, curiosity, and engagement with the history of each site. Their thoughtful reflections and mature behaviour truly made the experience special. I hope they found it as rewarding as I did!" A truly inspiring trip that brought history to life and left lasting memories.

Last week, the Key Stage 3 Drama Club students showcased their fabulous own devised performances based on the theme "Summer" to the Performing Arts department. The students have been working hard devising, writing and producing their 5-minute performances using collaboration, resilience and self-regulation, all supported by the backstage crew organising the props, costume, lighting and sound. It was a joy to see their hard work, individuality and humour! Well done to all!

Year 9 students at CCS have recently taken on a creative challenge with visual storytelling and artistic flair. As part of their Final Major Project in Art, every student was tasked with producing original and exciting photographs to support their work - an assignment that pushed them to explore composition, mood, and meaning through the lens. What makes this project really special is that for many students, this will be their last opportunity to develop an extended art piece in school. With some moving on to different subjects next year, this assignment has given them a chance to channel their artistic talent once more with experimenting and expressing themselves visually. From fairytale funghi and dynamic shadows, to snapshots of the everyday world, their work will now feed into their final project presentations. The prints of these will be on display in E1 for the remainder of the term and a new Photography assignment is currently in the planning stages for September- watch this space.

Last Thursday, ten of our Year 4 students took part in the School Games Year 3/4 Tennis Skills County Finals. The team faced nine local schools, showcasing their fantastic tennis talent, and teamwork skills. We are SO proud to share that our Year 4 team came first place overall, taking home the trophy! Congratulations to you all on this fantastic achievement and thank you to Mrs Cairns and Mrs Mumford who accompanied the children.

Caroline Chisholm Cadet Force Summer Camp - Days 4-7 Our school cadets returned home on Saturday after a busy second half of the week. Since the last update we have packed so much in, shares CCF Contingent Commander Lt. Iain Rayner - Personal Development Day On Tuesday the cadets had the opportunity to take part in a variety of activities on the personal development day. This was split into two parts, the first being high ropes which included Jacob's Ladder, a team-building exercise that encourages cadets to work together to get to the top, with the spacing between the beams becoming increasingly wider. It was great to see our cadets working with those from another contingent to help achieve the aims. Other activities included the Leap of Faith from the top of a wobbly platform and another team-building task where they had to get up to three people on a platform. Special mention must go to Cadet LCoH Olujitan who proved his adept climbing skills. The second part of the day was Bushcraft which included traps, foraging and how to light a fire. The cadets proved resourceful in these tasks as they discovered how to survive in the wild. Range Day Wednesday saw us spending all day at the shooting ranges. It was a big challenge for all of our cadets as this was an advanced shoot and they were all shooting live rounds at a distance of 100m. The shoot included a practise shoot, a scoring 5-round grouping shoot and a snap shoot in which targets would fall when hit. The maximum score was 36 and special mention must be made of Cadet CM Ioana Marcu who achieved a very impressive score of 33 in torrential rain. Also a mention for Cadet LCpl Faith 'Sniper' Salt who was so impressive on the snap shoot that she hit all the targets before they even made it up all the way - awesome, but scary! We had a number of our cadets achieve 'marskman' due to their overall score of 25 and above, some of them in awful weather conditions and all our cadets really stepped up to the mark in terms of effort and progress. Other activities on the range day included a battle simulation with paintball and laserclay target shooting. The day also had a visit from a high ranking Brigadier who was able to see cadets in action and talk to them and cadet staff about the joys and challenges of working with cadets. Thursday into Friday (a long, long day) Thursday was competition day. This involved the cadets taking part in four competitive activities: Physical fitness, Field Gun, Air Rifle Shoot and Drill. All 14 schools took part in these activities over the course of three days and we were very proud to come second in two out of the four activities; Field Gun and Drill. The cadets worked well together on the Field Gun, showing excellent teamwork and leadership from Cadet CM Ioana Marcu and Cadet Staff Cpl Kian Pullman-Barber. They were focused and precise and in the final results were only 1 point behind the eventual winners. Over the previous 2 evenings, the cadets gave up some of their own free time to work hard on improving their drill and made immense progress with drill moves they hadn't practised before. Special mention to Cadet Noah Summers who went on an immense learning curve in order to achieve a high standard. The cadets were ably led by Cadet Staff Cpl Lewis Stevens, our drill sergeant, who had to memorise and give orders for the entire drill exercise and did so admirably. The cadets put on an impressive display and were commended for their hard work and precision. The final results saw us fall just one mark short of the eventual winners (a private school whose staff included a former Sandhurst Drill Instructor!). This was a remarkable performance and we are very proud of what the cadets achieved in such a short time. At the end of the competition day, there was no rest as we deployed into the field after collecting our weapons. We were transported to the training area and set up our harbour (operating base for an overnight stay) in the woods. After a quick ration meal, we tabbed to our training base and the cadets undertook three lessons including first aid and casualty evacuation, FIBUA (fighting in a built-up area) and a Reconnaissance (obs. and field sketching) lesson. This was in preparation for an impressive battle scenario the following morning.... Early light saw us breakfasted and the harbour collapsed ready for Battle Orders pre-8am. The scenario was that a rebel group had captured British Army weapons and uniform and had taken defensive positions in a farm building, our objective was to capture the building and destroy the rebels. Three platoons were formed (approximately 70 cadets) and would attack from the centre (CCS No. 1 Platoon commanded by Lt. Rayner) and provide fire support, flank from the left and form a HLS (helicopter landing site) and casevac area (Sir Christopher Hatton school) and an assault group (No. 3 Platoon including three of our own CCS cadets) would attack and capture the farm building in a room to room assault. The battle was won effectively with the cadets from the different schools working together. The battle was a real adrenaline rush, with noise, smoke, static and live targets. Radio comms were used and orders given and the three sections in our platoon were effective in their advance, ably led by Cadet CM Ioana Marcu, Cadet LCoH Kinga Cyronek and Cadet Staff Cpl Kian Pullman-Barber. Cadet LCoH Ope Olujitan was mentioned in dispatches for his leadership of his fire team. It was a very exhilarating experience for cadets and staff and something that will live long in the memory. Admin done and weapons cleaned, we eventually returned to camp for our last evening, grateful for a shower and a good sleep! Overall thoughts What a busy, active, tiring, fun-filled, hard working, productive and exhilarating week it has been! The cadets and staff have endured some (very) early mornings and long nights, but have managed through the week with enthusiasm, a 'can-do' attitude, discipline, self-reliance, consideration for others and self-sacrifice; all values and principles becoming of good cadets (demonstrated by the picture on the right showing Cadet Zachary Morley voluntarily clearing up in the mess hall after others had finished their meals. I cannot praise this wonderful bunch of kids enough. They have been exceptional and over the course of the week have been noticed by training staff and other cadet forces for the high values and standards they have set. They have behaved impeccably and carried themselves around camp and on the training areas with discipline and good humour. These are also great young people and it has been good to get to know them just that little bit better over the course of this week. We should be rightly proud of them as a school, as they have carried the CCS name around with pride and respect. As Contingent Commander, I would finally like to pay tribute to my staff, Jane Iliffe and Sgt Major Larry Webber who have been exceptional all week and have worked their socks off - this hasn't been a holiday camp by any means, but they have worked incredibly long and extremely hard to ensure the cadets have had the best possible experience. I'm sure our cadets will remember Warcop 2025 for a long time to come!

Caroline Chisholm Cadet Force Summer Camp – Days 1-3 Our school cadets embarked on their summer camp adventure on Saturday, and what a start it has been! Despite the heat, the cadets have enjoyed taking part in a variety of activities and challenges to strengthen their knowledge and learn new skills. CCF Contingent Commander, Lt. Iain Rayner, shares some of the highlights so far - Day 1 - Arrival On Saturday morning, a long journey from Northampton to Cumbria took place in the sunshine until we hit Scotch Corner, whereupon the weather changed, dropped 10 degrees and the heavens opened - a real surprise considering the weather we have been having at home! It appears that the climate up here last week had been a huge contrast to the weather down South, with the cadet training team reporting torrential rain for most of last week. We spent the remainder of the day familiarising ourselves with camp in our (not so) salubrious surroundings which is not exactly 5-star luxury. This is not a holiday camp, but will be home for the week! Day 2 - Military Skills Day An early start and a hearty breakfast set us up for what was to be a very busy day on the training area. The sun was shining, and we were surrounded by the beautiful, rolling Cumbrian hills and bright sunshine. The activities included revision on weapons handling skills, a lesson on harbour drills and preparation for some running around with rifles. More specifically, the cadets took part in a pairs fire and manoeuvre exercise using the L98 rifle with blank ammunition before culminating in a full section attack on an enemy position. Some of our NCOs took command of the section before successfully flanking and taking the enemy position. Cadet Staff Cpl Pullman-Barber can be seen below giving orders to his section. Acting as war correspondent and photographer(!), I was able to take photos of the section attack from inside the enemy base and was finally confronted by Cadet LCpl Faith Salt as she and her section successfully conquered the position. Day 3 - Activity Day Today was filled with activity, fun and hard work. The day commenced with archery and some of our cadets would have given William Tell a run for his money! Special mention to Cadet LCpls Luke Twining and Ethan Wellington who were particularly useful with their bows. A Keeping Active activity then followed with an Army PT Instructor who put our cadets through their paces with shuttle runs, cardio and flexibility exercises. The cadets all threw themselves into the activity. Other activities in the day included a Field Gun exercise in which the cadets were required to disassemble and reassemble a Field Gun as a team, some Command Tasks, ably led by our senior cadet NCOs, a paintball target shooting exercise in which the cadets were honing their targeting skills and finally a drill task. This is where we hope to come into our own in the best traditions of our parent regiment, the Life Guards, known for their skill in drill and ceremonial duties. Cadet Staff Cpl Lewis Stevens (our drill sarg.) will be running the cadets through their paces in a drill competition on Thursday. All-in-all it has been a very busy first couple of days in which I am proud to say that our cadets have worked well and applied themselves to all the challenges, not least the heat. All our activities have been interspersed with many rest and water breaks and application of a lot of suncream. We have had many positive comments about the conduct and discipline of our contingent, how smart they look and how they have worked together as a team. They have done themselves, the contingent and the school proud and we are looking forward to what the rest of the week has to offer.

Last Friday, our aspiring STEM/ Medsoc students visited Nottingham University as part of an open day event. Science teachers Dr Drammer and Mr Robson, who accompanied the students, share, "It was a fabulous day, and the students really enjoyed it. They came back feeling motivated and inspired about what their future could look like. We were lucky enough to see Einsteins blackboard too!"

What an amazing day for Year 3 at the Think Tank Museum in Birmingham on Monday! The group had a blast, diving into all our learning themes in the most hands-on way possible! From discovering the wonders in our Amazing Animals workshop, to exploring the Science Garden where we tested our knowledge of forces and balance, the fun never stopped! The children were engaged, curious, and showed off their fantastic skills while representing our school with pride!

Sports Round-Up: A Week of Great Performances It's been a fantastic week of sport for our school teams, with plenty of determination, teamwork and standout moments. Year 6 Cricket Festival – Northamptonshire Sport On Wednesday, our Year 6 team represented the school brilliantly at the Northamptonshire Sport Cricket Festival. With one win and one narrow loss in both the group and next stages, they finished 6th out of 12 schoolsa great achievement! Every player contributed with skill and enthusiasm. Tuesday Cricket Fixture: CCS vs Northampton School for Boys CCS faced a tough match against NSB. After a strong start with the ballhighlighted by a wicket from Lily H.NSB built a solid total. CCS were bowled out short of the target, losing by 65 runs, but showed real spirit and effort. Monday U13 Boys Cricket: CCS vs EWS Our U13 boys secured a 52-run win over EWS. Showing determination and hard work throughout. Y Singh was named Player of the Match for his excellent all-round performance. Girls' Rounders: Year 7–10 vs Moulton On Tuesday afternoon, our Year 7–10 girls' rounders teams travelled to Moulton for a series of matches. Moulton won 3 out of the 4 games, with our Year 9 team securing a draw. All teams showed great effort and sportsmanship throughout.