Brooke House College

Each year CIFE award prizes to the very best students in its member colleges and we’re delighted to announce that Brooke House College students won two 2016 awards. Vo Hung Huu won an Andrew Osmond Maths Award, and Dan Ning won a college prize for her outstanding contribution to life at Brooke House College. The students received their prizes from CIFE President Lord Lexden at a ceremony in the House of Lords.

Vo (pictured right with Lord Lexden) is an extremely able, hard-working and academically gifted candidate, who obtained A*, A*, A in Maths, Further Maths and Physics A levels, as well as an AEA Mathematics Distinction.

Since coming to the UK, he impressed his teachers not only with his breadth of knowledge but also with his preparedness to ask probing questions about topics under discussion.

Vo is a brilliant and studious individual whose high academic ambitions are carefully channelled. His single-minded determination coupled with his intellectual curiosity will set him up to have a successful career in whatever path he chooses.

Dan (pictured right receiving her award from Lord Lexden) is an intelligent and extremely hard-working student who since being at the college has excelled and shone. She is strongly motivated to succeed at the highest level, pushing herself to work well above the exam board syllabus. She is a talented Mathematician achieving 100% in four of the A Level examinations, with her lowest unit grade 93%.

Dan’s teachers predict her to achieve A*s in all her A level subjects. As a person she relates well to fellow students, helping others in and out of class. She has an engaging personality and warmth which is apparent when meeting her.

We are proud to introduce the appointment of Mr Mike Oliver as the new College Principal.

Mike joins us after his first Headship at Epsom College in Malaysia, where as founding Head, he supervised the building of the school, the recruitment of all of its pupils and staff along with the construction of the curriculum and timetable. As such, he has great experience in leading a school teaching GCSEs and A Levels as well as the pastoral care of an international student body. Prior to Malaysia, Mike had been a teacher of mathematics, Housemaster and Assistant Headmaster at Epsom College in Surrey.

Earlier teaching posts in mathematics had been undertaken at Peer’s School, Littlemore and St Edward’s, both in Oxfordshire. Academically, Mike gained a B.Sc. in Astrophysics from University College, Cardiff, prior to completing a PGCE at the University of Oxford. Mike later studied the MBA programme with the Open University and gained the National Professional Qualification for Headteachers (NPQH) from the National College for School Leadership. Mike is also an experienced ISI Inspector.

Away from teaching, Mike has been heavily involved with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme, hockey and junior athletics. Within hockey, he coached at county, regional and national level as well as being a member of the National Governing Body for Schools and Youth. He is keen on outdoor pursuits and live performance, both music and drama. His real passion however is flying. Mike holds a private pilot’s licence for helicopters and is qualified to fly the Hughes 300 and the Bell Jetranger. He is greatly looking forward to joining the Brooke House Community and to meeting all of the pupils and staff as the school moves forward.

Managing Director, Giles Williams, said “I am very happy that the college has been able to recruit an individual of Mike’s experience, expertise and standing and trust that he will be an excellent leader of the college for many years to come.”

Mike will assume operational charge of the college from Monday 2nd May 2016.

Vin San Dinh received a 2015 CIFE College Prize at the CIFE Awards held in the House of Lords this March. San received his award from CIFE President, Lord Lexden.

San is an extremely able, hard-working and academically gifted candidate. He is confidently predicted A* in all his A level subjects. Since coming to the UK, he has impressed his teachers not only with his breadth of knowledge but also with his preparedness to ask probing questions about topics under discussion. He is a brilliant and studious individual whose high academic ambitions are carefully channelled.

He has the ability to assimilate new material rapidly and independently, providing evidence of his potential to succeed at the highest level. His single-minded determination coupled with his intellectual curiosity displays his exceptional passion for knowledge.

CIFE prizes are awarded each year to exceptional students and we’re so pleased to report that two of our best have received prizes this year.

He Jiayu won the CIFE award for Social Sciences. He Jiayu, better known in Brooke House College as Joyce, attended our institution for almost two years. She arrived at school slightly late, and therefore had to catch up on three demanding A Level courses. Having completed the work, she quickly started to overtake her classmates. She actually found that she disagreed with a lot of what she read; she therefore adopted a confident writing style that challenged and critiqued instead of just described, and obtained grades of Sociology A*, Psychology A* and Chemistry A. She is an exceptional student in many different ways, but it is her independence and individuality as a thinker that makes her an obvious award winner.

Zainab Mohammed, pictured above with her family at the award ceremony in the House of Lords, won a CIFE college award. Zainab is an extraordinarily ambitious and hard-working student. She takes part in a wide variety of extra-curricular activities from sport to media club to drama. She takes pride in everything she does and sets herself very high standards. In her house, she’s one of the most enthusiastic students and is a natural leader. She is proud of her culture and her faith but she very much enjoys mixing with students from other countries and backgrounds. She is warm and kind and readily gives her time to those in need, both among her peers and in organising fund-raising activities. She works very hard indeed in the classroom and has made a great deal of progress in a short time.

Mark Tan has won one of CIFE’s college awards for his excellent contribution to all aspects of life at Brooke House. he received his award from CIFE President Pauline Perry at a ceremony held in the House of Lords this March.

Mark displays a superb attitude towards his learning, interacts and participates admirably in class, sets himself high standards and continually aims to achieve his goals. He is unfailingly good natured and helpful to staff and other students and can be trusted implicitly to set an admirable example to others. He is expected to achieve excellent results in his chosen A-levels. Mark has also been an exceptional student both on and off the pitch throughout his four years at Brooke House College Football Academy. His efforts in training sessions and games have been of the highest level and his achievements in the game are well deserved.