The Felpham Community College Summer Arts evening is a firm favourite in the school school calendar. Held on Thursday 13^th July, it was a fabulous evening showcasing the amazing talents FCC students have across year groups within music, textiles, photography, art, dance, drama and poetry.

Ms Kelly, Acting Headteacher commented:
“We have run this event for over 10 years (except for during the pandemic), and this was one of our busiest ones yet. The wealth of talent on show was fabulous – from musicians playing in the cafeteria, to fine art, design and technologies on show in the hall and reception, to poetry being read in the Media Centre. So much positive feedback was received on the evening from the people who attended. It was great to see students showing their families their hard work, and also having the local community, Governors and staff attend to help us celebrate the academic year and how talented our students are.”

Felpham Community College hosted a fun-filled week of activities as part of their annual ‘Youth Action Week’.

Each year group were given an afternoon off timetable, where they were able to choose an activity to take part in to help fundraise. A wide variety of year group activities took place across the week, including football and rounders tournaments, gaming, art and craft activities, board games, films and even karaoke!

As well as the year group activities, there was a ‘Sponsored Swim and Inflatable Fun’ session which over 80 students chose to take part in on the Wednesday morning, and a ‘Sponge the Teacher’ on Thursday lunchtime which proved very popular!  There was also a Tuck Shop, run by the Sixth Form Charity Committee, selling a wide variety of treats, which was very busy every day and had completely sold out by Friday morning. A ‘Colour Run’ was also held after school on the Wednesday, where students could throw powdered paint at each other and celebrate individuality. The final two Youth Action events are the non-school uniform day, being held on the 21^st July, and the Sponsored Dog Walk which will take place next term.

The week was about students having some fun at the end of a busy hard-working year, whilst fundraising for the charities they democratically voted for in September. This year, students chose The Rocking Horse, Cancer Research UK and The British Heart Foundation.

Ms Kelly, Acting Headteacher, commented:
“It has been a really busy week and great to see students enjoying themselves and also raising money for charity at the same time. One of our students has fundraised over £300 himself as part of the Sponsored Swim, and the Sixth Form Charity Committee ran a tight business ship with the tuck shop – making a fantastic profit and gaining great entrepreneurial skills at the same time. We are still collecting in the money, but we have raised over £3500 so far, with the non-uniform day and sponsored dog walk still to add in, which is fantastic. Thank you to all the students and their families for supporting the week as we could not have done it without you all!

Cancer Research UK         British Heart Foundation          Rocking Horse Children’s Charity

Year 12 and 13 students celebrated the end of a busy and successful year by attending the annual Felpham Community College Summer Ball.

Held on Friday 7^th July at Fontwell Race Course, it was a chance to relax and unwind as a sixth form and have some fun celebrating the end of the academic year.

Ms Kelly, Acting Headteacher commented:
“The evening was a lovely end to the exam season and it was great to see so many students, and FCC staff, enjoying themselves. Year 12 and 13 have both worked really hard this year and this was an ideal opportunity for everyone to let their hair down – it was an amazing night for amazing group of young people”

On the evening of Friday 30^th June, Felpham Community College hosted their hotly anticipated Year 11 Prom.

Cheered on by family, friends and staff, students arrived in style to a  glamourous red-carpet entrance.  It was a fantastic evening full of glitz and glamour, awards and dancing.

Ms Kelly, Acting Headteacher commented:
“The Prom is a great way to celebrate the end of the exam season and all the hard work our students have completed over the last few months. Everyone looked amazing. We are now looking forward to seeing them back for results day in August, and welcoming them back to the sixth form in September!”

Felpham Community College have held a number of successful events this term for visiting younger students.

There have been the final 2 Magic Days, completing a programme which has run throughout the academic year. These events invite year 5 students from across the locality to experience a taste of secondary school life. South Bested and Arundel visited at the beginning of June, and over 90 year 5 students from Rose Green finished the events at the end of June. Activities included ‘Exploring the Magical Powers of Colour’ and ‘Creating a Fantasy Forest’. Students were also given a tour of FCC and a question and answer session with year 9 and sixth form students.

As well as hosting activities for year 5, Felpham Community College has also run a series of day and activities for the year 6 students joining FCC in September. Students have attended a Welcome Day, New Intake Day and New Intake Evening, giving them the chance to see as much of FCC as they can before they start in September. As well as familiarising themselves with the campus, the events are a chance to get to know staff, the way the school works and make some new friends.

As well as having younger students visiting Felpham, FCC Sports Leaders have been out into the locality supporting primary school Sports Days. Sports Leaders at Felpham are chosen from year 8,9 and 10, to support students and lead on PE activities. With the younger students they have enjoyed joining in the activities, encouraging the students and even being some judges!

FCC have also been into 4 local primary schools to run Soccersize workshops for year 6 students, improving their football and team skills and having a lot of fun at the same time!

Mr Whiffin, Deputy Headteacher, commented: “As a large secondary school, it is great that we can organise events to support local primary schools, and in particular year 6 students who may feel nervous about leaving primary school at the end of the year. It is busy to co-ordinate in addition to the FCC events for our year groups. However, we always receive positive feedback from the visiting students, staff and parents of the year 6s so it is a firm favourite when we do our planning for the year”.

On Tuesday 23^rd May, the Felpham Community College Dance Team performed their Summer Showcase – . ‘Move It!’ – to a sold-out audience. The performance involved around 30 students from years 7-10, with all participants rehearsing diligently three nights a week since the beginning of the summer term.

Covering a wide range of styles of dance, the showcase began with the opening number from Six The Musical. Following this, the students went on to perform various contemporary, jazz, street dance and ballet pieces. The show also included two numbers that the Dance Team had previously entered into Dance House, a local dance festival, aimed at giving young people the opportunity to perform in a theatre. 

Miss Crocker, Teacher of Dance at FCC, commented:
“I choreographed the show and I am extremely proud of all the students who were involved, including the backstage and technical teams. They showed fabulous commitment and talent and showed us all how passionate young people are, and how we should celebrate this passion!

We are very excited to be offering GCSE dance for the first-time from September, and we hope that many more students will take up the opportunity to be a part of the Dance Team here at Felpham.”

Students across year groups and staff at Felpham Community College celebrated the end of a busy half term by holding a non-uniform day, fundraising for Great Ormond Street hospital, on Friday 26^th May. Sixth form students were invited to get involved by wearing something pink!

Toby Clegg, Head Student at FCC commented: “We hold a number of charity events throughout the school year including a non-uniform day at the end of each half term. Students vote each October for which charities they wish to support for the academic year. This year we fundraising for My Sisters House, Save the Children, The Little Princess Trust, Grandads Front Room and Great Ormond Street Hospital. We are also starting the arrangements for our big youth action week next half term which is a great week in the school calendar, fundraising and having fun at the end of the school year. Thank you to our students, parents and staff for their continued support with our community and charity programme each year.”

Great Ormond Street Hospital.

The mathematics department at Felpham Community College, and year 10 student Sam Shelton, are currently celebrating Sam achieving a prestigious mathematics award.

Sam, like a number of students at FCC, took part in the Intermediate Maths Challenge earlier this year. This competition is run annually and is open to all secondary schools through the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust.

Sam achieved the gold standard in the Intermediate Challenge, and was then put forward to take part in the Hamilton Mathematical Olympiad. This is a 2-hour exam consisting of 6 problems requiring full written solutions. 600 students nationally were invited to take the Hamilton Olympiad this year. Sam did extremely well and with his results, was placed within the top 100 students – receiving the Bronze award.

Mrs Arnold, Curriculum Leader for Mathematics at FCC commented:
“This is so exciting! I have been teaching for over 17 years and have never had one of my students do so well at this level and achieve the Bronze award. Sam is brilliant, he has a natural talent for Maths – especially as he is still only year 10, competing against students both his age and in the year above.”

Information on the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust is available here.

Information on the Hamilton Mathematical Olympiad is available here.

Congratulations to Maya Siddall and Holly Woodruff, year 13 students at Felpham Community College, who attended an awards event at Buckingham Palace on the 19^th May.

Held in the grounds of the Palace, the afternoon recognised the Duke of Edinburgh Awards programme, congratulating young people across the UK who have received the Gold Award this year.  

Maya and Holly commented:
“We completed our Bronze Award in 2019 and our Silver in 2021 as part of our Explorers group. We took part in a number of group and personal challenges for them, including hiking and camping.

As one part of our Gold Award, we completed a 4-day canoeing and camping expedition in Wales, canoeing down both the River Severn and River Wye.

Going to the Palace was a brilliant experience. There were a number of speeches, including from Prince Edward and Jill Scott. It was great to meet with other young people with similar interests to ourselves. We have learnt some really valuable skills over the years doing our DofE, we would definitely recommend it to anyone thinking about applying for it. The scheme has been great fun, as well as learning new things and getting out into different environments.”

Click here for more information on the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.

The Felpham Community College sixth form charity committee went out into the local community on the afternoon of Wednesday 17^th May, to volunteer with some local CIC’s (Community Interest Companies) and spend time with some local care home residents.

A group of students went to Grandad’s Front Room, to support them in refitting the shop before their grand opening. Another group went to Eco Swap, to organise pre-loved stock and to find out about all the amazing community projects and charities the shop links with. The final group visited Autumn Lodge Care Home, to play games and socialise with the residents.

It was a great chance to get out into the community and to appreciate that community support is just as important as fundraising.

Isabelle Isitt, Sixth Form Leadership Team i/c Charity, commented:
“Thank you to Eco Swap, Grandad’s Front Room and Autumn Lodge for having us. It was a really enjoyable afternoon. The CICs were really interesting and we were surprised to find out just how much they are both involved with. The projects they support and the charities they link with are vital in supporting the local community. Autumn Lodge was really good fun. Since COVID we haven’t had the opportunity to get out into the community and this was a lovely afternoon of playing some games and socialising with the residents – they were great fun and very competitive!”

Grandads Front Room
Eco Swap
Autumn Lodge