Ashbourne Independent Sixth-form College

A team of Ashbourne’s top Maths students finished second in the UKMT Senior Team Mathematics Challenge (West London regional heat). West London is a really tough region to compete in, as it contains some of Britain’s most highly ranked schools, such as St Paul’s and Eton College.

We scored a very impressive 174/186, which was only 3 points behind eventually regional heat winners St. Paul’s, and ahead of Eton who came third. That gave us a place in the National Final.

85 top teams made it to the finals in February – the cream of the best schools in the UK. After a long day of problem-solving, we finished in 18th: that’s an amazing achievement for the National Final.

Congratulations to Joonhee, Adele, Qiran and Yushang, and many thanks to Annie and Zakki for their great support some of the training sessions.  You guys are simply awesome! We are very proud of you, and Ashbourne has proven once again that it remains one of London’s leading maths schools.

Principal Mike Kirby and Maths & Physics teacher Imran Shah with the Ashbourne team

We are pleased to announce that 2 Ashers, Jamie G and Dean Z, have won prizes in the annual Cife awards contest. Jamie was one of 3 winners of a Science award and Dean similarly for Mathematics.

Cife (The Council for Independent Education) is an association of about 20 private colleges (MPW, DLD etc) which are similar to Ashbourne.

To give you an idea of the competition, the average mark (UMS weighted) of the three Maths award winners was 96% . Of course all their grades were all A*s!

All in all, there were 88 candidates for awards with the lowest grades at AAAB or thereabouts. There are 20 winners in the following categories: Art (1), Economics (1), University Foundation (1), GCSE (1), Humanities (4), Maths (3), Science (3), Social Science (2), Value Added (2), Gold Award (for the best candidate overall) (1), Baroness Perry (1).

In general Cife colleges distinguish themselves academically, with nearly 50% of its graduates proceeding to Russell Group universities. Last year there were 12 Oxbridge entrants from Cife colleges of whom 4 were from Ashbourne! They were:

• Chelsea A-A, Law
• Jamie G, Engineering
• Deli L, Mathematics
• Dean Z, Mathematics.

Overall, 53% of Asbhourne graduates proceeding to university (some having taken a gap year) registered with Russell Group universities with 17% winning places at Cambridge, Imperial, LSE, Oxford or LSE.

We’re delighted to report that three Ashbourne students were honoured with CIFE awards in 2017. The students received their awards at a ceremony in the House of Lords hosted by CIFE President, Lord Lexden.

Xiaoyu Weng received an Andrew Osmond Maths award. Xiaoyu was our most academically able student. Behind her outstanding achievement in examinations is a virtually flawless track record in class work. The combination of her natural ability with her focus, discipline, and organization made her the most outstanding mathematics student at the school. In addition, she would often take the lead in showing other students how to solve problems. Her frequent questions indicate her ambition to broaden her knowledge, go considerably beyond the extent of the curriculum, and that she is reading considerably around the subject. This interest and devotion to mathematics is clearly in evidence from her A level results but also from her participation and achievement in mathematics competitions.

Soala Ajienka received a CIFE award for Visual and Creative Arts. Soala was an exemplary student in every way and demonstrated a consistent ability to comprehend the theoretical framework that contextualized the works of art and architecture. She listens and learns from advice and criticism and is always open to trying new ways to extend her visual vocabulary. Her engagement is very much a ‘hands-on’, employing paint, collage, inks and mixed media.

With her particular interest in architecture, which she is now studying at Cambridge University, she displayed an understanding of the structural, conceptual, and aesthetic aspects of architecture that was more redolent of an undergraduate student. Her ability to integrate such aspects of architecture into her own conception of architectural style and function was epitomized in her excellent EPQ project.

Tracy Nwokoma received a CIFE College Award for her contribution to life at Ashbourne. Tracy was one of Ashbourne’s most intellectually able and dynamic students of the humanities, whose inquisitive nature led to wide-ranging theoretical reading and high academic achievement.

Though she came without any experience in Greek or Latin literature she took to the Classics with aplomb, demonstrating critical ability of a high order.  In Biology she distinguished herself not only because of her research beyond the syllabus but also because of the helping hand she was happy to lend to others in the class. With interests and abilities extending from poetry to science Tracy is an extraordinary individual.

Ashbourne students are a talented bunch, and include some world-class achievers. Read on…

Xiaoyu Weng
Behind Xiaoyu’s outstanding exam results (A* in each of Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Chemistry) is a virtually flawless track record in class work. Her natural ability, focus, discipline, and organization make her the best mathematics student in the school. She is a courteous, conscientious and unwavering in her commitment. Often she will take the lead in showing others how to solve problems, and she frequently asks questions that go way beyond the syllabus.  She well deserves her Cambridge University place to read Mathematics.

Soala Ajieka
Soala is a totally committed and dedicated student. She readily grasps the theoretical framework that provides context for the study of art and architecture. In her artwork she shows strong organisational skills and understands how contextual research helps the development of her ideas. She is very much ‘hands-on’, open to trying new ways to extend her visual vocabulary, and she enjoys the combining materials in a richly tactile way – employing paint, collage, inks and mixed media to produce a cohesive whole. Her ability to integrate study of architecture into her own vision of architectural style and function was well demonstrated in her excellent EPQ project. She gained Art A*, History of Art A*, Mathematics A*, Physics A* at A level, and will flourish reading Architecture at Cambridge.