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On Tuesday the 12th March Kingham Hill School CCF (Combined Cadet Force) held its biennial inspection in front of a number of members of the school’s senior management team and governors, local dignitaries, representatives from the armed forces and parents. The reviewing officer was Kingham Hill old boy Air Vice Marshal Malcolm Brecht, CBE, who has recently been appointed as Chief of Staff (Capability).

The day began with snow flurries turning the parade square into something more akin to Red Square than Chipping Norton. However, the clouds soon parted and the parade square was bathed in glorious sunshine as the day’s proceedings began.

A guard of honour was mounted for the reviewing officer, led by CSgt Peter Juckes, followed by an inspection of the guard. Captain Alistair Grant (late Welsh Guards) described the guard of honour’s performance as “very good”; high praise, indeed!

After a brief refuelling stop, the main purpose of the day began with a number of stands showing off a range of the contingent’s training, including; fire and movement, a flight simulator, shooting on our four-lane range, command & leadership tasks, and weapon training with the stands culminating in a section attack demonstration by the army section.

The army section was particularly pleased to have a representative from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers – Maj (Ret’d) John Turquand – present, as the army section has recently affiliated with the RRF, and we look forward to a long a successful relationship with the regiment. At the very least, great interest and excitement has been generated in the army section at the prospect of donning the regimental red-over-white hackle. Excitement only subduing slightly when told that the red top does not actually come from being dipped in the blood of the French after the battle of St. Lucia in 1778!

With the contingent on parade at the end of the day, AVM Brecht spoke of how he was impressed with what he had seen the cadets achieve (especially given the chilly conditions), and reminisced fondly his own memories of the CCF when he too was a cadet at Kingham in the RAF section. AVM Brecht was pleased to present the Head of Corps cane to CSgt Juckes as formal recognition of his position as the senior cadet of the contingent, and the Best Recruit shield to the best overall recruit since the start of the recruits’ training in September.

On Tuesday the 12th March Kingham Hill School CCF (Combined Cadet Force) held its biennial inspection in front of a number of members of the school’s senior management team and governors, local dignitaries, representatives from the armed forces and parents. The reviewing officer was Kingham Hill old boy Air Vice Marshal Malcolm Brecht, CBE, who has recently been appointed as Chief of Staff (Capability).

pring has arrived at Kingham Hill and with it has come lambs which the pupils enjoy bottle feeding.  There was disappointment when our pygmy goat, Miranda, gave birth to two dead kids, but she has made a good recovery and has now adopted a lamb to whom she is a wonderful new mum.  Later this week, we hope to have a litter of mini lop rabbits, then the rest of our sheep start lambing.

Later in the year, we are expecting another arrival – a dales pony foal from Betsy, the broodmare we have on loan.  It will be her 5th foal and previous offspring  have excelled in the show ring, so we have high hopes for this one.  Betsy is blooming and enjoying a bit of welcome sun on her (rather broad) back.

Spring has arrived at Kingham Hill and with it has come lambs which the pupils enjoy bottle feeding.

At 6:45 am a great cheer went up as the last of the 1416 lengths of the Kingham Hill School Pool was swum. Pupils and staff swam throughout the night to complete the equivalent of a crossing of the English Channel to raise money for a clean water charity – Coppers to Water.

The challenge began at 9:00 pm with various pupils and staff taking turns to swim several lengths of the 25m pool. The effort continued for nine hours and 45 minutes, with those taking part moving between the Pool, a spread of food donated by the Headmaster and the temporary dormitory set up in the adjacent Dance & Drama Studio.

Much credit must go to senior pupils, Ge Mockford, Oskar Mahony and Nim Anderson, who put so much effort into the project. As a result of his particular talent, the swim was streamed on-line, enabling parents from around the UK and as far afield as Germany, Dubai and the US to watch the action.

When all the promised donations are redeemed it is hoped that at least £1 per length will be realised - £1416. This money will be added to that raised by other activities during the past month that has seen the overall target of £3500 comfortably exceeded.

Coopers to Water raises funds for clean water projects in rural African communities. As its name suggests, those that donate have usually been challenged to open their purses or dig into their pockets and give away any coppers that they find.

To reward the tired but jubilant swimmers, two bleary-eyed teachers rose early to prepare a mountain of bacon baps. These disappeared rapidly!

At 6:45 am a great cheer went up as the last of the 1416 lengths of the Kingham Hill School Pool was swum. Pupils and staff swam throughout the night to complete the equivalent of a crossing of the English Channel to raise money for a clean water charity – Coppers to Water.