1646 - Issue 1

What’s been happening this year at RBC 1. During the 2018 February half term, Reading Blue Coat’s 1st cricket XI undertook a successful week-long tour to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, where they played matches against Asheville College, the Sharjah G Force Challengers and Dubai College. 2. Air Vice-Marshal Jonny Stringer conducted the 2018 CCF Biennial Inspection at Reading Blue Coat in early May. Under a crystal clear sky, the School’s cadets demonstrated their skills in bush craft, tug-of-war, raft-building and battlefield tactics. 3. During the summer break, a group of 14 Year 11 and 12 students undertook a life-changing three- week expedition to RBC’s partnership school in Ghana , to refurbish a three-classroom teaching block – and to experience life in the African village. 4. The first TEDxYouth event took place in the autumn term, when eight students from across the School’s age groups delivered well-researched and well-presented solutions to the problem ‘How to avoid the end of the world’. 5. During the 2018 autumn term, Reading Blue Coat laid on a number of special Remembrance events as part of the worldwide commemoration of the end of World War I on 11 November. 6. In 2018, Reading Blue Coat produced U14 County Cup rugby champions , 1st XI girls’ Super Hockey League joint champions and U13/U14 Berkshire cross country champions . Numerous pupils won county, national and international competitions in a number of different sports. 7. Reading Blue Coat’s Young Enterprise group , Lignum, has been making waves with its quality, personalised wood products. The team, made up of Design Technology and Business and Economics students, garnered praise and won first place at a Dragon’s Den-style competition in Reading in November. 8. Despite being in the middle of Brexit negotiations, Prime Minister Theresa May visited the School in mid-February 2019 to learn more about RBC’s transformational, student-led initiative, the Aldworth Partnership. 9. Reading Blue Coat’s musical offerings in the past year have included Anything Goes and Little Shop of Horrors , both of which showcased the School’s talented thespians and singers, and provided the opportunity for the School’s tech students to be more involved with the running of the productions. 10. Reading Blue Coat hosted its first ever UCAS Fair , which was attended by hundreds of students from local schools, interested in learning more about their post-school career options. 11. In early 2018, Year 12 student Rebecca Clayton and Year 13 Loic Pohl were two of only 10 students nationwide to be shortlisted by the PeterWatson International Scholarship programme to present their Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) research to a distinguished panel at Queens’ College Cambridge, on Saturday 25 February. Rebecca was the runner up on the day. 12. Reading Blue Coat students achieved another stellar set of A Level and GCSE results in 2018. 8 9 10 11 12 7