The Chef of the Year competition runs every summer in the style of ‘Ready Steady Cook’. Competitors have an hour to prepare their ingredients and an hour to cook and serve their dish.
Preparing the ingredients
Task: To produce a main dish which includes local produce.
Chef of the Year 2010 took place on 23rd June 2010, the finalists who competed were:
Year 9:
Max McEwen - chicken risotto
Year 10:
Laura Makin - fresh burgers and wedges
Freya Stone - fishcakes
Ben Gaines - chicken dish
Hayden Watts - vegetarian lasagne
Rhys Williams - chicken tagliatelle
Max McEwen received first place in the competition with a chicken risotto dish. They all represented the talent we have at Duchess’s and were “tough competitors to judge”.
Many thanks to The Rotary Club and John Blackmore who helped to sponsor, organise and judge the competition.
PRESS RELEASE – August 19th 2010
Students at The Duchess’s Community High School have once again shown they are a credit to themselves and the community with some outstanding results.
29% of the grades achieved were either at A or A* and over half of the entries were awarded a B grade or above. Twenty students out of a cohort of 130 have gained three or more A/A*’s. This is double the number from the previous year. With a further 10 achieving two or more A/A*’s.
For the first time this year an A* grade has been introduced at A Level for those students who have achieved exceptional scores. A good number of A* grades were awarded to our students. One particular student, Matthew Smith, was awarded an A* in all of his subjects (Biology, Chemistry, Maths, and Physics) – an outstanding result! Other students, Ami Patrick, Daniel Patterson, Ellen Puddephatt, and Jenny Wrangham gained two A*’s each.
The results for this cohort are a real testament to the talent and hard work of both students and staff. Although not everyone can gain the highest grades, most students achieved or surpassed their own personal targets. This comes at a time when university entry becomes more and more difficult due to lack of places and cut backs. We hope that all of our students who wish to move on to Higher Education find places. It is not an easy time to be leaving school and we wish everyone the very best of luck.
This has been our biggest ever cohort of A Level students and their results show we are going from strength to strength. They have led our student population with a high degree of maturity.
Students are also leaving us from the Sixth Form with vocational qualifications in Construction, Child Care, Uniformed Services, and Engineering and we also wish them well in the future.
I would like to thank our staff, families and the wider community for all the support, guidance, and hard work that has gone into these wonderful achievements.
Maurice Hall
Headteacher
GCSE Press Release – August 2010
Students at The Duchess’s Community High School have worked incredibly hard to produce some fantastic results.
Overall they amassed the highest percentage of A* and A grades the school has ever produced, including 37 A*’s in English Literature alone. Numerous A*’s were also awarded in Maths, the Sciences, Food Technology and Geography. These results were mirrored in individual students achievement where 38 students achieved eight or more A*’s and A’s. At the top of this crop of high achieving students were Lucy Farley (11 A*’s), Tom Beeby (10A*’s and 1A) and Lawrence Reeves (9A*’s and 2A’s).
All of these results are wonderful news for students and families alike. At all levels the school has achieved results which are improving year on year. Students can only achieve against present day criteria and for some of the media to spend much of their time comparing exams now with those of years gone by devalues the work and commitment of these young people.
Along side the academic achievements of many of our students we have seen excellent results in our vocational courses such as Construction, Hair and Beauty, Uniformed Services, Young Apprenticeship in Business etc. We are particularly pleased with our Construction results where we work jointly with our partners at Northumberland College at our new Construction centre at the Railway Station Industrial Estate.
I wish all of our students every success and hope that they all continue in their learning whether it be at school, college, or in an apprenticeship.
A big thank you to everyone involved in their success (parents and staff in particular) and a special thank you to the Year 11 Student Support team led by Chris Routledge
Maurice Hall
August 2010
