UK Education News

Many congratulations to former Warminster School pupil, James Vince, who has been selected to be part of the squad for the England Lions Tour to Bangladesh in January 2012. He is contributing well to the success of the tour so far.

Whilst at Warminster James displayed great talent as a cricketer. He was a right handed top-order batsman and captained the School team. After leaving Warminster, James spent a year in Western Australia working particularly hard on his game. When James returned to the UK he acquired a contract at Hampshire and he also represented England Under 19s in the World Cup in New Zealand.

This, however, is another big step up for James. A Lions Tour is a huge honour and a real opportunity for James to establish himself as an international cricketer and future England player. The Lions are the “second-tier” of international English cricket below the full England cricket team and Lions tours are designed to allow promising young cricketers the opportunity to gain experience of playing international cricket.

Having broken into the Hampshire squad last year, being selected for the Lions is therefore proof that James is regarded as a very bright prospect indeed. To put this in perspective, several of his team-mates (including Jos Buttler and Johnny Bairstow) have already represented the full England team at one-day level, so James is clearly very much part of the thoughts of the England set-up. Indeed in the second one-day international of the tour, James did his future prospects no harm at all, scoring 44 in the Lions’ comprehensive victory over Bangladesh A.

All of us here at Warminster School wish James every success in the rest of the tour and we will be following the team’s progress with interest.

Bridge Learning Campus, the Trust School in Hartcliffe, Bristol, celebrated the success of their fantastic Year 11 students.  To mark the best ever year in their GCSE results, 180 local parents and former secondary school students came to the Campus to enjoy a well deserved evening of “Celebrating Success”.

In 2011, 83% of Bridge’s students gained 5 GCSE passes with grades between A* and C, an incredible improvement on the 63% in the previous year (2010).

These figures have meant that the Bridge Learning Campus at Hartcliffe was one of two secondary schools in Bristol acclaimed as the most improving for the period 2007 – 2011.  To show its appreciation to the students for their hard work and fabulous achievements, the Campus organised an evening hosted by Heart FM Breakfast show presenter, Paris Troy.

“It was a real pleasure,” said Paris, “…I found the whole experience very rewarding….It’s fantastic to see young people achieving their potential.  And it was great to meet the staff and teachers.  I was really impressed by their passion and care for the students.”

Ian Kenna, Year 11 achievement co-ordinator for Bridge Learning Campus, was especially proud of the students and teachers who, between them, have crowned off a really excellent academic year for the community in South Bristol.

Year 8 Badminton student, Amelia Gilmartin (13), has just been awarded one of the top marks in the country for her Grade 8 violin.  Amelia who gained 145 out of a possible 150 marks, a distinction, performed the third movement of Suite Hebraique by Bloch, Concerto in E Major, first movement, by Vivaldi and Legende by Henryk Wieniawski.

Amelia, who lives in Clifton Wood in Bristol, is taught by Prof Richard Crabtree and has been playing the violin since she was seven years old.  She practises for at least 1.5 hours every day and is also a pianist, studying for her Grade 7 next summer.

Badminton has an excellent reputation for music and regularly holds music concerts at professional venues around Bristol.  Amelia plays in the senior school orchestra and is also a member of the senior school choir.  Outside of school she has played in the National Children’s Orchestra and is currently a member of the Bristol Ensemble Training Orchestra and the Bristol Schools Philharmonia.

One of Amelia’s favourite musical experiences was playing with Language and Music for Life, an organisation which brings together international music students from around the world on residential two-week courses every summer.  Amelia has performed internationally in both Le Chambon-Sur-Lignon in France and in Venice and also enjoyed busking both on her own and with the string orchestra, on the streets of Venice for tourists.

Recently, Amelia has also won two trophies for her violin playing in the solo string sections of the Bristol Music Festival and Longwell Green Eisteddfod.  She has performed in venues as diverse as the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, St Georges and The Colston Hall.  She also enjoys composition and is hoping to study music at university.

Said Badminton’s Director of Music, Matthew Bale:  “In the whole of my teaching career, I have never known a student get such a high mark for Grade 8 – it is such an achievement, especially as she took her Grade 8 when she was only 12 years old.  Amelia is a stunning violin player and adds tremendously to the musical life of the school.  I am extremely pleased with our recent Associated Board music results and the excellent standard achieved is a reflection of the hard work and preparation from our talented pupils and dedicated teaching staff.”