The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to - Gravesend Grammar School

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The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to - Gravesend Grammar School
Term 6 July 2017

                           A CTY
    “The trouble with weather forecasting is that it’s right too often for us to
              ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it!”*
As the long Summer holiday ap-           in September. Others will be moving
proaches, may I take the opportunity     into the next Key Stage and will have
to wish all our students a restful and   fresh challenges during 2017-18.
safe break. May I also wish good for-    Parents of boys in Year 5 have also
tune to those who have just finished     taken the opportunity to visit the
public exams and will be waiting for     school and find out more about the
August with great anticipation. The      School and the Admissions process.
huge majority of our students have
                                         The British Summer has proved to be
worked hard and prepared well and
                                         as challenging as ever! The Summer
should, therefore, have nothing to
                                         Festival was a lovely day with soaring
fear on results day.                                                              good years were recognised at our
                                         temperatures and strong sunshine –
                                                                                  Middle and Junior School Prize Cere-
Whilst on the theme of holidays I        in contrast to the rain of last year.
                                                                                  monies on 12th July, when we en-
know most of you are well aware of       The Sponsored Walk was also hot
                                                                                  joyed refreshments under the cano-
the small changes we have made to        with just a tiny interval of rain and
                                                                                  py outside the Art Room where stu-
the pattern of holidays next year, but   thunder making much of the extra
                                                                                  dents’ work over the year was dis-
for those of you who have not no-
                                                                                  played.
ticed the changes, the dates are
printed again on back page of this                                                Gravesend Grammar School is 125
newsletter. Term 1 ends on Friday,                                                years old in 2018 and we are already
20th October and Term 2 starts on                                                 planning a series of events to mark
Monday, 6th November—thus giving                                                  the occasion. We are hoping to
a two week (10 days) break. The                                                   launch a special webpage soon
second change is to the Easter                                                    where commemorative merchandise
break, which is now for one week.                                                 can be purchased.
Term 4 ends on Thursday, 29th
                                                                                  Holidays, whilst restful, can also be
March (six days which includes the
                                                                                  dangerous. Young people can put
Bank Holidays) and we return on
                                                                                  themselves in danger in terms of wa-
Monday, 9th April.
                                                                                  ter and the transport network as well
                                         water placed on the course, redun-
                                                                                  as having more time to access the
                                         dant. Sports Day, however, had to
                                                                                  online world. This year the majority
                                         be postponed due to the wet grass
                                                                                  of students at school had the chance
                                         that made running very difficult. We
                                                                                  to revisit issues around safety during
                                         were fortunate with the weather at
                                                                                  the last week of term when Kent Po-
                                         the rescheduled event on 10th July,
                                                                                  lice spent the day working with stu-
                                         which was sunny and dry.
                                                                                  dents.
                                      Our Rona sailing trip had wind speed
                                      that varied dramatically but the con-
                                      ditions did mean they were able to GSW
Students from our new intakes in take some wonderful photographs
Year 7 and 12 next year have been in from the top of the mast.
school to help them make a smooth
                                      Those young men who have had * Patrick Young
transition and hit the ground running
The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to - Gravesend Grammar School
Page 2

STAFF NEWS
Each year we have to say goodbye to   Seath, who is taking some time to go                             Primary School but will be teaching Sci-
members of staff who are moving on fortravelling. We also say goodbye to Mr                            ence here.
many reasons. We wish them all good   Horner (IT Support) and to Mr C Cook,
luck and they take with them our thanks
                                      who returns to university for the remain-                        We look forward to welcoming Mrs Bar-
for all they have done.               der of his course.                                               nard (English), Miss Chapman (History),
                                      Mrs Hook is transferring within the                              Mr Davey (Geography), Miss Frazer
This year, we say goodbye to Mr Bews, Trust to Whitehill Primary School but we                         (Science), Mrs Gorman (Maths), Mr Relf
who is returning to Canada, Dr Madge, expect to see her here too. Mrs Bou-                             who is doing a placement in the PE de-
who is going to teach abroad and Mr hamdi is also transferring to Whitehill                            partment.

HEAD STUDENT REPORT
And it’s all over!                               the deafening roar of thunder and arcing              school run smoothly, whether that be
Yet another year has passed, and here            strikes of lightning up above, leading to a           Year 6 information evenings to the Low-
we find ourselves again, awaiting sum-           wholly enjoyable day which no doubt                   er School Prize Giving, as well as trying
mer and reflecting on what has been an           raised an exceptional amount of money.                to maximise the success of school-wide
eventful past twelve months.                     Much like the Sponsored Walk, Sports                  endeavours such as the Summer Festival.
No doubt, for many of us, summer is a            Day was another event resented by                     We approach the new school year with
great relief. Right throughout the school,       Mother Nature. Indeed, the day had to                 optimism, as we aim to work with mem-
students have been hit with the standard         be changed from its original date due to              bers of staff to innovate and inspire.
barrage of end of year tests, with Year          the brewing threat of more thunderous                 A final thing to do is to wish a fond fare-
11s undertaking their actual GCSEs and           showers, but thankfully, when the day                 well to our Year 13s, and we hope that
Year 13s (along with some Year 12s) fac-         did arrive, the sun came out and shone.               they find success in their life post-GGS.
ing a variety of A-Level and in some cas-        The day was of particular significance to             There are also a few teachers leaving as
es AS exams. We wish everyone the best           me and many other Year 12s as it was                  well this year, and likewise we wish
of luck, as results day approaches with          our last ever Sports Day, though it has to            them all the best in wherever their lives
that aura of ominous excitement.                 be said, it did produce my greatest                   go next.
About the school, there have been a              Sports Day memory: the terrifying image
number of events of late. As always, the         of Mr Gill sprinting towards me in the                Have a great summer, for winter is com-
sponsored walk was a day of tremen-              100m relay, beard majestically blowing                ing.
dous achievement and camaraderie. Not            back in the wind.
to be defeated by the elements, stu-             As head students, we’ve worked hard to                Joe Paternoster
dents and staff alike pushed on through          try and ensure a number of events at                  Deputy Head Student

CHARITY
 As the school year                              tions were no doubt the teachers, who did
 drew to a close, we                             draw by far the
 had one final chari-                            biggest        crowds.
 ty event to run,                                Mr Seath was one
 this being the                                  of the first victims,                                 Ellenor Lions Hospice on Friday 6th October.
 ‘stocks and spong-                              before we mercilessly chased down Mr
 es’ at the summer                               Clements after he abstained from going in             More details to follow at the beginning of
 festival. The principle was simple. £1 to       the stocks. Mr Cutting was our next target            term.
 throw three sponges, £5 for all the sponges     after prevaricating when asked him to take            We will also be supporting Mr Indy Singh,
 in a bucket and the bucket itself. All the      part, ludicrously claiming that his shirt was-        one of our site staff, by having a non-
                     money raised would then     n’t fit for purpose, Mr Townsend was far              uniform day in aid of Brittle Bone Disease.
                     go towards two charities,   more willing although his two children didn’t         Mr Singh is doing a sky dive to raise
                     they being Young Epilep-    hold back in the drenching of their father.           funds .
                     sy and the Ellenor Lions    Our most valuable casualty of the day, how-           This school year has been a successful
                     Hospice (two charities      ever was, without any doubt, Mr Wybar. His
                                                                                                       one in terms of charity and what we
                     that Toby Smith and I are   act of self-sacrifice was noble, for it enabled
                                                                                                       have achieved, and we really look to
                     supporting through a sky    students to get their revenge for being
 dive and marathon respectively).                roared at every morning in the maths corri-           continue this success into the next year.
 We were blessed with the fact that this was     dor for being a few milliseconds late, and            All the money raised really is making a
 one of the hottest days of the year thus far,   was also the main draw in terms of raising            difference, and the charity team really
 meaning that people weren’t so opposed to       what was a respectable £60 for a few hours            do appreciate all the supports that you
 having sponge after sponge squeezed full of     of enjoyable work.                                    continue to give.
 freezing water                                  All in all, it was a terrific day of great success.
 thrown       at                                 We have a few things lined up in the first            Becky, Beth, Masum and Joe –
 them.      The                                  term of the new school year, with there
                                                                                                       The Charity Team
 main attrac-                                    being a quiz night for Young Epilepsy and the

GGS Newsletter                             Opportunity and Challenge in a Caring Environment                                               July 2017
The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to - Gravesend Grammar School
Page 3

Careers News
                                         year. There will be further support
                                         available for all students considering
                                         apprenticeships to help them pre-
                                         pare for and navigate the application
                                         process.
                                       During the last week of term we will
                                                                                  vice and guidance to all young peo-
                                       be re-assessed for the Investor in
                                                                                  ple.
                                       Career quality award which we have
                                       held for six years. Here is an excerpt  This really is one of the highest acco-
As always this final term has been
                                       from the IIC website to explain         lades an organisation can receive for
full of careers activities and events.
                                       more:                                   excellence in this area of work and is
On 20th June two coaches of Year 12
                                                                               definitely something the award hold-
students travelled to University of “Investor in Careers is a Licensed
                                                                               er can be very proud of. The Quality
Greenwich Medway campus to Awarding Body for the Quality in
                                                                               in Careers Standard is about improv-
attend the UCAS Exhibition. This was Careers Standard award, which
                                                                               ing students’ awareness of opportu-
a thoroughly useful event where showcases and supports the man-
                                                                               nities, raising their aspirations and
they had the opportunity to meet agement of careers education, infor-
                                                                               working with them to ensure they
with representative from most of mation, advice and guidance (CEIAG)
                                                                               achieve their full potential. In addi-
the UK Universities as well as some and is now the most widely used
                                                                               tion to the benefits to students,
specialist colleges. Many of our stu- quality        award         of      its
                                                                               many schools find a Quality in Ca-
dents also took the opportunity to kind recognised nationally across the
                                                                               reers Standard to be of enormous
attend talks on degree subjects they country.
                                                                               help      in    providing     evidence
were interested in including educa- From 31st March 2017, all careers
                                                                               for Ofsted inspections. We hope to
tion, engineering and science. There standard awards will now follow a
                                                                               see even more schools / colleges
were also talks on student life and national set of standards - the Quali-
                                                                               getting involved in the Quality in Ca-
the application process.               ty in Careers Standard. Investor in     reers Standard and Investor in Ca-
We have also had a visit from the        Careers is proud to be one of only 12 reers in the future.”
KCC apprenticeship ambassador,           Licensed Awarding Bodies in England
                                                                               http://
Victoria Lawrence. Victoria demon-       & Wales.
                                                                               www.investorincareers.org.uk/the-
strated to groups of Year 12 stu-        All our Investor in Careers holders award 2017
dents how to access and register         have demonstrated a commitment
with suitable apprenticeship website     to provide impartial, independent
in preparation for applications next     careers education, information, ad-

16-19 Bursary Fund                       ments) again for the 2017/18 aca-
If your household income is less         demic year. You must apply directly       FOR CURRENT
than £23,000 the 16-19 Bursary                                                     YEAR 13s
Fund may be able to help you with     to KCC for the travel card but pay-
the cost of travel, curriculum re-    ment must be made to the school.             This year, former students of the
sources and curriculum trips. De-     KCC will issue the cards to the              School gave presentations to Year
tailed information has already been   school in time for the start of the          12 students on their lives post-GGS.
sent via email to all parents and stu-academic year (if applied for by 14th        If any of you are prepared to come
dents of Years 11 and 12. Please      July) and will be released to stu-           back to school in around a year's
contact Mr Pallant if you have any    dents once payment has been re-              time and give a short presentation
queries.                              ceived. Financial support is availa-         to Year 12s about your own experi-
                                      ble from the 16-19 Bursary Fund for          ences, then could you email Joe
16+ Travel Card                       those on an income of less than              Paternoster:
For students in the Sixth Form, the £23,000.                                       11paternosterj@gravesendgrammar.eu).
16+ travel card has been confirmed
at £400 (which can be paid in instal-                                              We’d love to hear from you!

GGS Newsletter                      Opportunity and Challenge in a Caring Environment                            July 2017
The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to - Gravesend Grammar School
Page 4

A PLEA FROM THE SCHOOL LIBRARY
The School Library has just undertak-        are now sitting on students’ book-        This Summer holiday, please can you
en a stocktake of all Fiction books.         shelves at home!                          check with your sons that the School
We were very disappointed to find            To be fair to those students who wish     Library books that they have are allocat-
that 247 Fiction books had disap-            to borrow some of the missing titles,     ed to them and stamped with a return
                                                                                       date – they should not have more than 4
peared from the Library shelves this         the Library has had to replace them –
                                                                                       Library books at a time. If not they
year, including 67 that the Library          sometimes the same books on more          MUST be returned to the Library at the
purchased in just the past two years.        than one occasion. We have lost           beginning of Term 1 so that other stu-
All students KNOW that every book            count of the number of times we           dents who wish to borrow them correct-
must be issued to them via the Li-           have had to replace copies of books       ly may do so.
brarian or Librarian Assistant; there is     by Rick Riordan, Anthony Horowitz,
no excuse to walk out of the Library         Robert Muchamore and J K Rowling,         Deborah Nurdin
with a book or books that have not           among others. On average a new            School Librarian & Archivist
been properly allocated to them. On          paperback Fiction book costs £6.99
numerous occasions, members of               and we cannot continue to use the
staff have found Library books aban-         budget we are allocated each year in
doned around the School, and we are          replacing books that have been tak-
sure that many of those 247 books            en.

COMBINED CADET FORCE (RN)
                                                            to our official Opening    of police officers and other onlookers.
                                                            Ceremony at the end of     Armed Forces Day is a national event,
                                                            September. More de-        organised to praise the men and women
                                                            tails and photos will be   who keep our country safe, and to ap-
                                                            in the term 1 news-        preciate and raise awareness of the sac-
                                                            letter.                    rifice they have made for the security of
                                                            CNW                        the country. This year, it was held offi-
                                                                                       cially on 24th June in Liverpool, but coun-
                                                             Below is a report about   cils across the country, like ours, hold
                                                             the Armed Forces Day      individual ceremonies on 19th June
                                                             event.                    During the ceremony, we stood in for-
                                                             “On 19th June, the        mation in the sweltering heat (29°C!) for
                                                             Gravesend       Grammar   about 20 minutes as the standards were
                                                             CCF(RN) unit, consisting  paraded, and words and prayers were
Our CCF unit is now fully up and running     of 16 Year 9/10s including me, marched    spoken in honour of the Armed Forces.
and we have taken part in our first offi-    into Community Square outside the Civic   Afterwards we went for some cold drinks
cial event. We were invited to take part     Centre in Gravesend, for a Flag Raising inand food in the Civic Centre before re-
in the Fly The Flag event for Armed Forc-    celebration of Armed Forces Day. We       turning to school just in time for fifth
es Day, organised by Gravesham Council.      were joined by Army CCF cadets from       period.”
We have recruited a number of year 8         Gads Hill and Sea Cadets. Also attending
students to join us at the start of Sep-     the event were several army veterans Louis Sutherland 10C
tember so the number of cadets is stead-     and active-serving members, and the
ily growing and we are looking forward       Mayor of Gravesham along with a group

MATHS CHALLENGE
In this grid, the numbers in each row form
an arithmetic sequence. So do the num-
bers in each column.

What is the value of the box marked

Note that an Arithmetic sequence is one
that increases or decreases by a fixed                                                    CONGRATULATIONS TO Mr Jesson and
amount. (Answer on back page)                                                             his partner on the birth of their
                                                                                          daughter in June.

GGS Newsletter                        Opportunity and Challenge in a Caring Environment                                July 2017
The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to - Gravesend Grammar School
Page 5

     CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR PRIZE WINNERS 2016-2017

  KS3

  KS4
ON TOP OF THE WORLD….
                                              Now I know what you might be thinking       with brand new glass and iron buildings
                                              “The Shard. Why?” Well the whole trip       and skyscrapers being built around
                                              was organised so that the participants      buildings that were built 100s of years
                                              had a reason to work hard and not only      ago. But not only was it the architecture
                                              that, but to know what they want out of     that amazed me but the people around
                                              life.                                       them of all ages working together to
                                                                                          keep the world ticking. We then walked
                                              As we rose in the lift we all felt the dis-
                                                                                          to the station and got the tube to Cov-
                                              belief that this was actually happening
                                                                                          ent Garden to have lunch.
                                              bubble away inside us. We then reached
                                              floor 72 and walked out to see the view I found this trip very useful as I now
On 6th July six students from Gravesend
                                              that was so amazing I couldn’t even know what I want to do and where I
Grammar School were invited out on a
                                              begin to comprehend. And as I walked want to do it; not only that but how I
day trip to London to see how the big
                                              around the panoramic view over London am going to get there.
city works and to have a taste of City
                                              I realized that if I tried, that if anyone
life. The day started with a train journey                                                James Soper 8T
                                              tried, you could be seeing this every
into Stratford where we were taught
                                              single day with the sense of achieve-
our first lesson. Train delays!!! The train
                                              ment that would never waste away.
that we had caught from Gravesend to
Stratford had been delayed but thanks         After this we took the lift down to the
to Mr Deamer’s/Mr Rapley’s quick              base of the Shard and walked over Lon-
thinking, we made it to our first big awe-    don Bridge to one of the financial hearts
inspiring event of the day with moments       of the world. We walked past Monu-
to spare. This was a trip up the glass        ment and this is were I thought the ar-
giant known as the Shard.                     chitecture of London was at its finest

GGS Newsletter                          Opportunity and Challenge in a Caring Environment                                 July 2017
The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to - Gravesend Grammar School
Page 6

RONA SAILING
For a number of years now, Gravesend          River in Southampton where we joined        phins playing in our bow wave and had
Grammar School (GGS) has had the privi-       the boat. The nine pupils from Year 9       time to stop over in Worbarrow Bay,
lege of being allowed to exclusively pro-     were welcomed aboard and given their        drop an anchor, row a dingy ashore and
vide the crew with pupils from the school     own personal protective equipment for       have a BBQ while watching the sun go
for a Sail Training Voyage with the RONA      the week. After briefings from the skip-    down over the English Channel. In Wey-
Sailing Project (RSP). The project has        per on safety procedures, we made our       mouth there was time to relax on the
been operating for over fifty years with      way under engine along the river to-        beach and we even managed to catch
the aim of providing “opportunities for       wards the Solent with pupils already be-    the Armed Forces Day parade along the
young people to acquire those attributes      ing allowed to steer the vessel and nego-   promenade.
of a seaman, namely being a sense of          tiating the busy waterway. We were
                                                                                           The pupils had a fantastic time thanks to
responsibility, resourcefulness, and          aboard Merrilyn for seven days in total
                                                                                          the Skipper, Paul Clark, who made sure
teamwork, which will help them through-       and covered 124 nautical miles. The log
                                                                                          the pupils were enjoying themselves but
out their lives”. During its history, the     book entry of the places we visited reads
                                                                                          also working hard to carry out the neces-
RONA Sailing Project has taken over           Hamble – East Cowes – Poole – Lulworth
                                                                                          sary tasks needed to keep the boat and
twenty thousand young people to sea           Cove – Weymouth – Worbarrow Bay –
                                                                                          all its crew happy. One student said that
under the supervision of Skippers, Ma-        Yarmouth – West Cowes – Hamble. We
                                                                                          the trip “was an amazing and once-in-a-
tes, Watch Officers, and Watch Leaders,       experienced wind speeds on the first full
                                                                                          lifetime experience” and a parent
drawn from the four hundred qualified         day of up to Force 6. These strong winds
                                                                                          emailed a letter of thanks to the school
volunteers. The project’s fleet boasts        and the accompanying waves were a test
                                                                                          and said that her son had described the
four large yachts including ‘Merrilyn’, the   for the new crew and provided some
                                                                                          trip as “one of the highlights of his life so
62 foot Schooner Ocean on which a crew        exciting sail changes on the foredeck
                                                                                          far”. Many of the pupils were awarded
from GGS sailed this year.                    with water crashing over the bow. It did
                                                                                          the RSP Scott Award for ‘Giving of their
                                              also bring some unwelcome seasickness
As a school, we have been attending                                                       Best’ and all the pupils will have the op-
                                              and made cooking Shepherd’s Pie from
these trips for 8 years. I set the trip up in                                             portunity to sail again with the project if
                                              scratch (including peeling the potatoes)
the first place as I am personally heavily                                                they so choose. They could follow in the
                                              for the 16 people on board the vessel, a
involved in the project and have experi-                                                  footsteps of one ex-pupil who first sailed
                                              huge challenge. However the rest of the
enced first-hand the benefits of sailing as                                               as crew in 2103. He has been going back
                                              trip was bathed in sunshine with light
a crew member, initially in 1998. Since                                                   every year since and has recently been
                                              winds, so the crew experienced both
then have I become a volunteer in the                                                     selected to crew Rona II (the projects
                                              sides of what offshore sailing has to
Project and they provided the support                                                     flagship boat) in the Transatlantic Tall
                                              offer.
and training for me to gain the qualifica-                                                Ships race 2017.
tions to now sail as a Watch Officer. In
                                                                                          Reflecting on the trip it easy to remem-
relation to GGS we chose this trip as I
                                                                                          ber the exciting experiences and oppor-
wanted the students to have the oppor-
                                                                                          tunities that the pupils had but what
tunities that were afforded to me; not
                                                                                          might be less apparent is the fact the
only of having an amazing experience
                                                                                          voyage was also a means for the pupils
offshore sailing but also to have the time
                                                                                          to develop skills to help them in life.
to develop skills such as teamwork, lead-
                                                                                          They were thrown into a situation that
ership, reliance, responsibility and re-
                                                                                          was out of their comfort zone and asked
sourcefulness as well as developing self-
                                                                                          to live and work together as well and
esteem and confidence. It is clear that
                                                                                          learning tons of new information while
sailing large yachts trains people to live
                                                                                          staying positive in cramped and at times
together, work together and rely on each
                                                                                          in a wet, hot, smelly and nauseating envi-
other as the students are responsible for
                                                                                          ronment. It is trips like these that are
crewing the boat. They have to steer it,
                                                                                          most valuable to pupils as it helps them
do all the sail changes, all the cooking
                                                                                          grow into responsible young men. They
and cleaning. They are taught the RYA
                                                                                          also gain self-esteem and confidence as
competent crew certificate in which they
                                                                                          they have succeeded in an ‘adventure’
learn how to handle sails, tie knots, keep
                                                                                          they will possibly remember for the rest
a lookout, row a dinghy and assist in all
                                                                                          of their lives.
the day to day duties on board. On top of
this, they may have to persevere through                                                  SET
seasickness, homesickness and tiredness
                                                                                          Ritchie Harley 9F writes:
as the trip is seven days and nights on
board, many of which are spent at sea in The light winds offered opportunities of         “Along with eight other students and two
all but severest of conditions.               swimming in Lulworth Cove which was         of our great teachers, I have recently
                                              one of our stopovers en route West to-      come back from an incredible week long
The school trip started from the Hamble
                                              wards Weymouth. We experienced dol-         sailing adventure. We went with a team

GGS Newsletter                          Opportunity and Challenge in a Caring Environment                             July 2017
The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to - Gravesend Grammar School
Page 57

RONA SAILING continued...
                                                          we did the cooking, the         Towards the end of the week, we had a
                                                          cleaning, the sleeping and      barbecue on the beach as well as having
                                                          obviously putting up the        some fun and games so we all had got to
                                                          sails. As well as this, we      know each other properly and we all en-
                                                          practiced our helming skills    joyed ourselves. I think we all made rela-
                                                          and we recorded logs of         tionships with each other better so this trip
                                                          where we were and the           was absolutely brilliant. I'd like to thank
                                                                                          the members of staff who organised this
                                                          wind speed just in case the
                                                                                          trip as well as going on it and our parents
                                                          electronics and the radio
                                                                                          for letting us go and supporting us. I'd also
                                                          were to shut down so we
                                                                                          like to thank the members of the RONA
                                                          wouldn't be in danger. We
                                                                                          Sailing Project for taking us on this journey
                                                          had many highlights which       and giving us the opportunity to aspire. It
                                                          are    now     unforgettable    has inspired me to continue as well as oth-
                                                          memories. For example, I        ers who have been inspired already. Our
from the RONA Sailing Project and five      delivered a speech at every meal time on
after-crew on board to run the trip: the    the boat for a week to add some more
skipper, the mate, the senior mate and      fun and enjoyment to the week. Another
the two watch leaders. This project is a    example was singing songs to motivate
mission to get young people sailing;        each other whilst sailing such as our
learning the attributes of a seaman and     winching song - sung whilst we were
working together as a team. There are       winching to pull the rope in tighter when
two awards for this: the Competent          we were hanging up the sails. Another
Crew award and the Scott award. One is      was our teacher's "Tiki Tonga" song
a certificate saying that the seaman had    which gradually got louder every time we
been able to cooperate in a team with       sang it. Luckily, we did get a shower every
limited resources and space, (being on a    night as well as having "The Toothbrush
boat with a capacity of 16 people), and     Parade" every morning so we kept our-         teacher started on RONA and he has car-
that the seaman had put in their best       selves well. We travelled across many plac-   ried on sailing for 20 years. Another stu-
efforts for the week that we spent out at   es such as East and West Cowes, Wey-          dent, who used to be at our school, is now
sea. We lived life on the boat as close     mouth and Lulworth Cove and came back         doing a boat race around the world—so
enough as we would at home because          with great memories from every single one     who knows where this might take us.

Sam El-Henawy 9C writes:                    mitted, the boat doesn’t move! Re-            recognise contribution. All in all, the
                                            gardless of what is going in your life,       Rona Project is an amazing organisa-
The Rona trip was a great experi-
                                            Rona gives people the opportunity to          tion that helps young people find
ence, one that—if given the oppor-
                                            take a break from the hassle of eve-          themselves, and not just in a boat-
tunity—should not be ignored.
                                            ryday life and learn all the attributes       but also in the outside world. Having
The trip gives people the chance to         necessary to not only be a good sea-          been on the trip, I know now why
explore what they can really make of        man but also a valuable member of             you are always pushed to do your
life, with the Rona project offering        our society. Everyone who takes part          best.
the life skills needed to turn young        in the Project’s activities will change
adults into true participating citizens     in a way that will benefit them
of our community. During this trip          throughout      their     lives.    The
you’re taught about teamwork —              Afterguard (Leaders) are always keen
and how, if everyone is not com-            to see improvement and never fail to

                          SAFETY IN THE WATER

                          In an emergency on the Thames :

                              Dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard - do not attempt to rescue
                              Do not swim in the river
                              Respect the Water: Float to Live

GGS Newsletter                         Opportunity and Challenge in a Caring Environment                                    July 2017
The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to - Gravesend Grammar School
Page 8

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT WEEK
YEAR 7
                                                                                           Year 7 alternated Camp at Forrest
                                                                                           Row and engineering for Curriculum
                                                                                           Development Week, along with
                                                                                           Maths and Languages challenges
                                                                                           and creating a vegetable bed in the
                                                                                           Quad for those who were unable to
                                                                                           attend camp.

YEAR 8

      Y8 enjoying spectacular views of London from the top of
                        St Paul’s Cathedral

Year 8 had a busy week—visiting St Paul’s Cathedral and the Science Museum on
Monday, CREX on Tuesday, Maths Puzzle Day on Wednesday, PSHE on
Thursday, finishing with a Murder Mystery in English on Friday.

                           Exploring the Science Museum

GGS Newsletter                                Opportunity and Challenge in a Caring Environment                      July 2017
The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to - Gravesend Grammar School
Page 9

YEAR 9
Year 9’s week was just as busy with visits to the Olympic Park, a History project, a trip to The Globe Theatre, an Engineering
Day, Urban Arts, a Business Project and Art trip on Thursday, finishing with Maths on Friday.

YEAR 10
After completing their Language speaking exams on Monday, Year 10 Geographers visited Ashdown Forest and
Wakehurst Place on Tuesday, whilst the Historians worked on their own project. Wednesday saw them completing
an English project and then off to University of Sussex to experience university life—staying in Halls overnight (after
an evening playing football and basketball in glorious evening sunshine) and having university-type lectures—our
Art students went to Brighton and the Biologists went to Woburn Safari Park on Friday. Whilst the monkeys were
very interested in hitching a ride on the coach, the lions weren’t so visible in the heat of the day. A lecture on en-
dangered species highlighted the role of man in their survival.

                                                   More lunch preparation!                           Making baguettes

GGS Newsletter                          Opportunity and Challenge in a Caring Environment                               July 2017
The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to - Gravesend Grammar School
Page 10

YEAR 12
Year 12’s week began with a Stock Market Challenge to see who could make the most money during turbulent trading on the
stock market. Tuesday saw the serious issue of Healthy Relationships discussed in detail. The Challenge of Management event
was over two days, with construction projects and problem-solving overseen by volunteer mentors and this was followed by an
RE conference on Friday.

STOCK MARKET CHALLENGE

CHALLENGE OF MANAGEMENT

THANK YOU!
We are very grateful to all our volunteers who gave up their time to guide students and to parents who had to ar-
range early starts and late finishes, and to all staff who have given so freely of their time during this incredibly busy
week.
GGS Newsletter                       Opportunity and Challenge in a Caring Environment                           July 2017
Page 11

OLYMPIC PARK REGENERATION
                                             area and some of the historic issues be-      itself. Lunch was spent in the Olympic
                                             fore the trip and then were looking at        Park itself and close to one of the Bat
                                             the benefits and issues the Olympics          listening devices, part of an experiment
                                             Legacy has created. This included a tran-     to monitor bat movements through the
                                             sect of 4 sites through the area, from        park- bats being a sign of healthy ecosys-
                                             New Town in the East through to Hack-         tems        (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
                                             ney Wick in the West. Students were also      science-environment-40417936)
                                             challenged to collect questionnaire data
                                                                                           The hard work will begin after the holi-
                                             from members of the public, which many
                                                                                           days with students presenting their data
                                             embraced and obtained lots of data and
                                                                                           in different forms and beginning to ana-
                                             opinions for. They also created a photo
                                                                                           lyse, draw conclusions and evaluate the
                                             log of key features, as well as looking at
                                                                                           investigation itself.
On Monday of Curriculum Development          Environmental Quality, Land Use and
week Year 9 Geographers were investi-        Crime Surveys. Luckily for the group the      CJJ
gating the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park      sun was shining, and the public (on the
Regeneration as part of the GCSE Geog-       whole) were friendly and responsive to
raphy Course. Students had studied the       being asked their opinions on the area

ASHDOWN FOREST/WAKEHURST PLACE
                                             put their preconceptions to the test at       and the impact of humans on the land-
                                             the River. Despite the searing tempera-       scape, particularly an area of coppiced
                                             tures and steep walk into the Valley stu-     woodland.
                                             dents embraced the fieldwork element.
                                                                                           Work is now underway with the follow
                                             They encountered a few issues with a
                                                                                           up of this trip, with data presentation,
                                             particularly low flow in the River Warren
                                                                                           analysis, conclusions and probably some
                                             itself, due to the preceding weather con-
                                                                                           extensive evaluations on this project
                                             ditions, but made the best of the slightly
                                                                                           itself.
                                             challenging conditions (the floating of
                                             oranges down the river to test velocity
                                             proved particularly challenging in these
                                                                                           CJJ
                                             conditions).
On Tuesday of Curriculum Development
                                             After a few complaints of the steep walk
Week, 115 Year 10 students visited the
                                             back up the valley to the coaches, stu-
Ashdown Forest to complete the second
                                             dents then visited Wakehurst Place, part
investigation into how river characteris-
                                             of Kew Gardens and home to the Milleni-
tics change downstream, this is based on
                                             um Seed Bank, the second largest seed
testing the Bradshaw Model with a focus
                                             bank in the world, trailing only the seed
on width, depth, velocity and the size
                                             vault in Svalbard. Students engaged with
and roughness of the bedload. Students
                                             three different ecosystems to prepare
were prepared for the day by looking at
                                             them for studying the topic next year,
the physical characteristics of the drain-
                                             including looking at interdependence of
age basin from OS map data and then
                                             factors, food chains, plant identification

THE GLOBE THEATRE
                     On       4th July,      answer about the Globe. We were giv-         could also help us in our GCSEs. In the
                     2017, Year 9            en a tour of the Globe, and an acting        theatre we explored how the Globe was
                     went on a trip to       workshop with the guide. Even those          built and why it was built in this way.
                     the Globe Thea-         people who don’t normally join in took       The tour and scavenger hunt all gave
                     tre in London.          it in their stride and enjoyed them-         us a look at how the Globe Theatre im-
                     While we were           selves.                                      pacted upon people's lives.
                     there, there were
                     activities for us to    As part of this we had a look at the lan- Daniel Griggs 9T
                     complete, such          guage that Shakespeare used in Romeo
                     as a scavenger          and Juliet and why he used them, which
 hunt along the South Bank and in the        did not only interest us and give us a
 museum, and some questions for us to        deeper insight into his thoughts but

GGS Newsletter                          Opportunity and Challenge in a Caring Environment                                  July 2017
Page 12

SPONSORED WALK
I don’t usually mention the weather          til 8:20am – 10 minutes before          turned to school by the minibus –
to any great degree in my sponsored          the first group were due to leave!      which means that over 800 walk-
walk report but this year is going to                                                ers completed the walk.
be an exception as it featured so
prominently in the lead up to the                                                 One sight that never ceases to amaze
day.                                                                              me is some students (and some staff)
                                                                                  entering the school grounds after
                                                                                  walking nearly 13 miles and having
                                                                                  the energy to sprint across the field
                                                                                  to the end. Some students then have
                                                                                  a game of football whilst waiting for
                                                                                  the buses!

                                          Extra water was made available to It would be good to see the total
                                             the two regular water stops.         raised this year top the £7,000 mark
                                            Two additional water stops were      which would be another first. Please
                                             added.                               can all monies pledged be paid via
                                            Two minibuses, instead of the        parentpay (the facility is available
                                             usual one, were out and about to     now) or brought into school as soon
                                             get walkers back to school should    as possible so that our charities this
                                             the need arise.                      year – the GGS School Development
                                            Every walking group was issued       Fund, Make a Wish Foundation and
                                             with sun cream.                      the Dartford and Gravesham NHS
                                            A marquee was erected on the         Trust Cancer Fighting Fund – can
                                             school field to provide shade for    benefit sooner rather than later.
This year was a first for many reasons       the walkers return.
(most of them due to the weather)
which together meant that our walk-      Other Sponsored Walk firsts this year
ers were able to walk with the           included:
knowledge that despite the condi-
tions, they would be able to com-         All groups safely back and count-
plete the 13 mile journey safely:          ed and the sweeper had returned
 Daily, then hourly, checking of the      by 2:07pm; the earliest finish for
   weather in the lead up to the day       the last 11 years (possibly ever).
   (this occurs every year but was        Thunder, lightning and hailstones.
   even more closely monitored than       A four legged marshal – Stanley,
   usual).                                 our therapy dog - was marshalling JLW
 A final decision that the walk           at the church in Cobham.
   should go ahead wasn’t made un-        Only seven students were re-

DISTRICT ATHLETICS—13TH JULY
A fine day of weather awaited our        We had some excellent perfor-            We unfortunately did not finish in
year 7, 8, 9 and 10 athletics teams      mances throughout from all year          the top 3 in any age group but all
at Dartford Harriers. Events were        groups and we could not fault our        of our students did the best they
spread across the day with heats         students commitment and enthu-           could on the day.
leading to the fastest qualifiers        siasm. They were a credit to the         SAB
competing in a final at the end of       school and themselves.
the day.

GGS Newsletter                      Opportunity and Challenge in a Caring Environment                        July 2017
Page 13

DUKE OF EDINBURGH
The Bronze and Silver DofE:              days; we did not need to intervene or
Term 6 Update – 6 July 2017              spend too much time looking for lost
                                         children     in      the     countryside
After the Bronze DofE Practice Expe-     (something that always happens on
dition in early May, 28 students took    DofE expeditions!). This is clearly all
part in their Qualifying Expedition on   down to the significant progress they
24-25 June. Once again, we were for-     have made since October last year on
tunate enough to enjoy the warmth        navigation and map-reading skills,
and the sunshine for the entire week-    and they should be proud of them-
end – which is something that almost     selves for this.
                                         For the first time in a long time, four    will now need to spend some time
                                         of the five expedition groups reached      over the summer holiday gathering
                                         the end at Meopham Green before            evidence for their Volunteering,
                                         2:30pm (the first group arrived at         Physical and Skills sections. The last
                                         1:30pm!). The last group arrived at        event for the Silver DofE cohort is
                                         3:30pm which was neither early nor         their Qualifying Expedition, which
                                         late. Mercifully, all five groups passed   will take place at the end of Septem-
                                         their expeditions with flying colours,     ber.
                                         with thoroughly encouraging feed-          Lastly, parents, guardians and sec-
                                         back from their assessors.                 tional assessors have also played a
                                         In order to fully complete their           large part role in allowing the stu-
never happens twice in a row.            Bronze Expedition section, they need       dents achieve their DofE, so my
On Saturday morning, we all congre-      to present their purpose work to           thanks also go to them for supporting
gated at Camer Park Country Park to      their assessors and supervisors. They      this year’s running of the DofE.
meet with the groups’ assessors. The     will be doing this during the last         If anyone is keen to help out with
assessors briefed all groups on what     week of this term, and they will           next academic year’s running of the
they were expecting from the week-       hopefully have something interesting       DofE at Gravesend Grammar School,
end (basically what they experienced     to share with us from their journeys.      please            contact          me
from the Practice Expedition),           My thanks to Mr Haves, Mr Newman           (poonk@gravesendgrammar.eu). We
checked their kit, designated check-     and Mr Townsend for giving up their        are always looking for DofE assessors
points and they were soon on their       valuable weekend supervising the           and volunteers to help run training
way.                                     students, and to Copperhouse Ad-           sessions and expedition weekends.
If I am honest, the staff supervisors    venture Training for providing us
(Mr Haves, Mr Newman, Mr Town-           with support and assessors.                KKP
send and I) and the assessors had an     I would like to thank the participants
easy weekend. The groups all did in-     for their incredible efforts this year
credibly well throughout the two         with the Bronze and Silver DofE. They

DofE Bronze Qualifying Expedition
Report
                                         We woke up the next morning, had a         very much and had a good time walk-
I completed my Bronze DofE Expedi-       fairly quick breakfast after packing up    ing with my expedition group. My
tion at the end of June. The weekend     the tents and headed off for the sec-      DofE leader, Mr Poon, was very sup-
went quickly but I had a great time.     ond day of the Bronze Qualifying Ex-       portive of everyone and I would en-
Although at times it was challenging,    pedition. The second day brought           courage everyone to give it a go be-
I was able to make it to the very end.   new and exciting moments which             cause not only is it great fun, you
We started at Camer Park in Me-          were challenging but, working as a         have one of the best DofE leaders to
opham and we took a circular route       team, we were able to complete the         guide you through the whole pro-
through New Ash Green and Hodsoll        second day of the expedition. Over-        cess.
Street until we reached Hope Hill        all, we walked for 30 kilometres with
Campsite where we cooked our own         only a few breaks at checkpoints and       Ben Barker
dinner with the equipment we had         the overnight stay at Hope Hill            9S
brought and camped out overnight.        Campsite. I enjoyed the expedition

GGS Newsletter                      Opportunity and Challenge in a Caring Environment                     July 2017
Page 14

ART EXHIBITION
Our students have done some amazing art work for their exams, as have students across other years. Please enjoy!

GGS Newsletter                        Opportunity and Challenge in a Caring Environment                    July 2017
Page 15

SUMMER FESTIVAL–Pictures are worth a thousand words!
                       In complete contrast to last year’s very wet Summer Festival, this year the sun
                       shone from beginning to end! Everyone had a wonderful time; new Year 7s got
                       to know the School at little better before joining us in September, and our tal-
                       ented musicians showed off their skills. The PTA provided the second-hand uni-
                       form stall and some very tasty refreshments in the form of a BBQ and cakes.

GGS Newsletter   Opportunity and Challenge in a Caring Environment                            July 2017
Page 16

                                                              Gravesend
                                                               Grammar
Gravesend Grammar Student wins U20’s World Cup
                                                                 Games

REGULAR FEATURES
                                                                            global tournament since their World
Headlines:                       Match Reports &
                                                                            Cup victory 51 years ago.
Former GGS student, Fikayo Fixtures:
Tomori, in winning U20 World Cup Athletics, Cricket, Flag             Everton forward Dominic Calvert-
Team                             Football, Tennis                     Lewin's first-half goal was enough for
                                                                      victory thanks to Newcastle goal-
                                   England won their biggest interna- keeper Freddie Woodman's second-
Forthcoming Events:
Rugby Tour 2017                    tional title since 1966 by beating
The Interviews:                    Venezuela 1-0 in the Under-20 half penalty save. Woodman denied
Student & staff athlete            World Cup final. It was England's Adalberto Penaranda from the spot
                                   first appearance in the final of a after the Malaga forward was fouled
profiles.
                                                                      by Kyle Walker-Peters.

GGS Newsletter                  Opportunity and Challenge in a Caring Environment                     July 2017
Page 17

             Under-20 World Cup: England beat Venezuela in Final
                                           youth football and has helped launch        Woodman, Jonjoe Kenny, Dominic
                                           the career of a number of big names in      Solanke and captain Lewis Cook all start-
                                           football. Barcelona forward Messi was       ed in Sunday's final, while Dael Fry and
                                           in the Argentina team that won the          Adam Armstrong were on the bench.
                                           2005 event (then called the Fifa World      The current side have made a total of 72
                                           Youth Championship), while Portuguese       Premier League appearances to date.
                                           great Figo inspired his country to victory  Striker Adam Armstrong leads the way
                                           in the 1991 competition.                    with 15 since his top-flight debut in
                                                                                       Newcastle's 1-0 defeat by Fulham in
                                           England's team in 2013 - the last time March 2014.
                                           they competed in the event - featured
                                           Ross Barkley, John Stones, Harry Kane England U20: Woodman (Newcastle),
                                           and Eric Dier. They failed to win a game Clarke-Salter        (Chelsea),      Tomori
                                           and finished bottom of their group.         (Chelsea), Walker-Peters (Tottenham),
                                           The last Under-20 World Cup in 2015 Kenny (Everton), Cook (Bournemouth),
                                           was won by Serbia, who beat a Brazil Calvert-Lewin            (Everton),    Onomah
                                           side containing Manchester City striker (Tottenham), Solanke (Chelsea, joining
                                           Gabriel Jesus in the final. Six of Serbia's Liverpool on 1 July), Lookman (Everton),
In the first half Ronaldo Lucena hit the   21-man squad have since made a full Dowell (Everton).
post with an audacious long-range free-    international debut, including Liverpool
kick that had Woodman well beaten,         midfielder Marko Grujic.                    Reaction
while Tottenham midfielder Josh On-                                                    Former England defender Danny Mills on
omah saw a powerful effort strike the      Is this the country's next 'golden gener- BBC Two:
underside of the Venezuela bar after the   ation'?                                     Brilliant game to watch. England at this
break.                                     England's youth teams have won the level are starting to play with confi-
                                           Under-17 European Championship twice dence, commitment and expression.
After the match, England forward Domi-     - in 2010 and 2014 - and the Under-21 They really wanted this win. This is a
nic Solanke, due to join Liverpool from                                                great building block for these young
Chelsea on 1 July, was awarded the                                                     players. They are starting to produce
Golden Ball given to the player of the                                                 players. St. George's Park is really
tournament. Previous winners of the                                                    starting to work. From the Under-17s
award include Diego Maradona, Lionel                                                   right through the programme.
Messi, Luis Figo, Paul Pogba and Sergio                                                 http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40237981
Aguero.

Woodman was awarded the Golden
Glove, given to the best goalkeeper of
the tournament. "Thankfully Freddie
saved the penalty. I was watching
through my fingers from the halfway
line and it was an incredible moment. It   European Championship twice - in 1982
was a big, big moment that helped turn     and 1984. Their previous best at the
the game," said Calvert-Lewin, who         Under-20 World Cup was third place in
joined Sir Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters   1993. Of that squad, only four players
as the only Englishmen to score in a       went on to represent England at senior
World Cup final. "To be one of only        level - Nicky Butt, Nick Barmby, Alan
three Englishman to have scored in a       Thompson and David Unsworth.
World Cup final is amazing."               Six of the squad that triumphed in South
What is the Under-20 World Cup?            Korea on Sunday were part of that Un-
It is the biggest global tournament in     der-17 European success in 2014.

SPORT THIS TERM: What’s on…
http://gravesendgrammar.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2016-2017-Term-1-2-3-4-1.pdf

FIXTURES: http://gravesendgrammar.eu/sports-fixtures/
Forthcoming events: Rugby Tour 2017
GGS Newsletter                         Opportunity and Challenge in a Caring Environment                                      July 2017
Page 18

STUDENT ATHLETE INTERVIEW
                                          Name: Cameron Bloomfield
                                          Age: 14
                                          Form: 9S
                                          Sport: Ice Hockey
                                          Position: Center
                                          Years in current sport: 4
                                          What got you started?: My step father
                                          played.
                                          How often do you train?: 3 times a
                                          week.
                                          Highest achievement: Playing for GB         failed.
                                          tournament in Czech Republic.               Do you have a role model?: Wayne
                                          How far do you want to go?: To maybe        Gretzky
                                          get to a pro level and to show people       Most embarrassing sporting moment:
                                          that anything can be achieved.              Going in for a check and missing and
                                          How would someone get involved?: Join       therefore spraining a ligament in my
                                          a local club.                               knee.
                                          What was the best advice you were ev-
                                          er given?: Be that best that you can be
                                          and no one can tell you that you have

TEACHER ATHLETE INTERVIEW
Name: Mr Bayliss-Brown                    and to what standard?:
Professional Role: PE Teacher            Rowing: Stroke in 1st VI & VIII at Nor-
                                         wich School, American Football at Nor-
Education: Oxford Brookes University     wich Devils: Fullback & Linebacker, BJJ at
What is your earliest sporting memory?: Oxford MMA.
Playing catch with my Dad in the garden.
                                         What sports do you play these days?:
Who were your sporting heroes growing Rugby at GRFC & training to get back into
up?: Johnny Wilkinson, Lawrence Dal- Highland Games.
laglio & Sir Steve Redgrave.
                                         What got you started?: I was 6ft when I
Can you recall a memorable sporting was 13 so I got pushed into going to my
teacher?: Steve Gibbons at Norwich local rugby club. Once I started I loved it.
School. He was an army fitness instruc-
                                         What other ways do you stay healthy?:
tor, could bench over 180Kg and had
                                         Go to the gym, eat lots of fruits and veg-
only been beaten by Kriss Akabusi in etables.
100m. A Legend.
                                         What is your favourite sporting              wins or loses the game, it involves eve-
What is your biggest accomplishment in                                                ryone on the pitch, if something goes
                                         memory?: Winning the Eastern Counties
your sport?: Playing for the New Zea-                                                 wrong move on.
                                         Cup Final.
land Academy, winning the U21’s Dor-
noch Highland games and captaining What is your biggest sporting bugbear?:            When was the last time you cried at a
London Scottish 2nd XV.                  Infighting in games and people not           sporting event?: When England won the
                                         putting in 100% effort. No one player        2003 World Cup.
What other sports did you participate in
                                                                                      Which three sports people would you like
                                                                                      to have around for dinner and why?:
                                                                                      Jason Leonard, Dwayne Johnson and
                                                                                      Terry Crews.
                                                                                      What was the best sporting advice you
                                                                                      were ever given?: If you take their best
                                                                                      hit and act like it’s nothing they will start
                                                                                      to doubt themselves.
                                                                                      How would someone get involved in
                                                                                      your sport?: Play for the school if we do
                                                                                      the sport and if not try your local club.

GGS Newsletter                        Opportunity and Challenge in a Caring Environment                                 July 2017
Page 19

MATCH REPORTS
                                           CRICKET                                       Academy A, with some outstanding foot-
                                           U14 Cricket                                   ball being played by both teams, in par-
                                           The cricket season is finally over for us     ticular some great defensive plays by
                                           and it's assured that the Year 9s of          Joshua Bamidele 8C and Luke Trigg who
                                           Gravesend Grammar School have defi-           were again involved in the action with an
                                           nitely had a large amount of fun out on       interception that he returned for a
                                           the pitch. We have had some tough             touchdown. Unfortunately this proved
                                           battles but we've managed to perform          not to be enough as this time it was our
                                           well in the Kent Plate competition.           turn to fall victim to a last second touch-
                                           Saturday friendlies were our warm ups         down which gave Folkstone the 13-11
                                           for the Kent Cup and Trophy games and         win and our only loss of the day.
                                           on these occasions we had some fun but        Our final game saw an absolute nail
                                           also competition. We played a number of       biting finish, winning by 1 point to secure
                                           friendlies with our best games against        second place, thanks in large part to a
                                           Norton Knatchbull Grammar School,             moment of magic by Denis Piralic 9F who
                                           Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School.        found a seemingly impossible gap be-
                                           We had a difficult fight against              tween 2 opponents to score the touch-
ATHLETICS                                  Chislehurst and Sidcup in the first round     down.
On 13th June the Junior District Athletics of the Kent Cup; we batted first and
Competition was held at the Leigh Acade-   managed to get 130 runs in a great team       There was some great football played by
my. There were six schools competing in    effort. However they still managed to         all the boys involved, with Luke Trigg
the 4x100m relay race. First up for us     chase it down to the last couple of overs     coming out as team MVP due to his
was Billy Matthews-Bruce 8S and he         but it was definitely an exciting game.       effort in both offence and defence.
made a great start. Billy had gained us    Our success in the Kent competition gave
an early lead as I received the baton.     us a large confidence boost which we
During my leg, I was narrowly overtaken    hope to take into next year's competi-
but managed to secure second position      tion. It's been an amazing season and
as I passed the baton to Veer Jutte 8S.    already, we are waiting for next year's
Veer maintained the team's good pace       season!
and as Judah Chike-Michael 8T took         Ritchie Harley 9F
over, it was neck and neck. However,
down the home straight, Judah acceler- FLAG FOOTBALL
ated away to seal first place.             GGS Greyhounds Take Silver!
Jed Hagger 8S                              In their first ever all schools tournament,   ASG
                                           the school's under-14 team came away
                                           with a 4-1 record, earning them a second      TENNIS
                                           place finish and silver medals in the pro-    This year was GGS’ first time entering the
                                           cess.                                         District tennis competition. We per-
                                            The day started well with the boys win-      formed very well and in the team com-
                                           ning a closely fought warm-up game            petitions we won the Year 8, Year 9, and
                                           against Folkestone Academy B courtesy         came 2nd in the Year 10s.
                                           of an outstanding throw and catch from        The 8s competition was won by Maksim
                                           Quarterback Luke Trigg 10F to Harvey          Balas 8S, Kevin Konarowski 8S, Lewis
                                           Dean 8H, possibly one of the catches of       Green 8F and Daniel Hickford 7H.
                                           the tournament. Next up was a much            The 9s competition was won by Maksim
                                           more convincing win against Canterbury        Balas 8S, Kevin Konarowski 8S, Ashton
                                           Academy with Aman Drubhra 8T and              Cosford 8S and Cameron Bloomfield 9S.
                                           Nathan Santhiapilai 8H both showing           WBB
In the field events Beathan Wilson 8S great coverage on defense, before a re-
won the shot with 9.30m. Judah Chike- match against Folkstone B. This time
Michael 8T won 100m in 12.24 seconds. proving to be a much tighter affair than
Josh Barnes 8C won the 300m competi- previously and although no touchdowns
tion in 42.03 seconds. Jay Millen 8T who were scored by either team, GGS came
came 2nd in 5.17 in the 1500m and Luke away 2-1 winners thanks to great defen-
Fenton 7C who came third 5.23. We also sive plays by Ollie Forest 8T and Patrick
won the 4x100m in 56.31. We had a very Krawczak 9H
successful day in several events and the
boys should be proud of their efforts.     The penultimate game was an absolute
WBB                                        end to end thriller against Folkstone

GGS Newsletter                          Opportunity and Challenge in a Caring Environment                                July 2017
Page 20

Sport Day Results – 2017
7 Elite     1st Place
Event       Name              House    Time/Dis.
100m        F David-King      Town           13.62
200m        I Goodnews        Cliff          30.37
400m        O Oniyitan        School       1.12.31
800m        O Lay             Downs           2.46 SCHOOL RECORD
1500m       J Fenton          Cliff           5.22 SCHOOL RECORD
8x100m                        Hill         2.16.72
4x200m                        Fleet        2.23.12
Long Jump   J Smith           Cliff           3.75
High Jump   J Butteriss       Cliff            1.2 SCHOOL RECORD
Javelin     C Rolfe           Fleet           17.6 SCHOOL RECORD
Shot Putt   D Onubogu         Town            6.29

7 Mass      1st Place
Event       Name              House    Time/Dis.
100m        O Oluwo           School         14.44
200m        J Robinson        Hill              36
400m        L Berry           Downs        1.18.44
800m        P Taylor          Downs           3.09
1500m       L Wainman         Cliff            6.2
Long Jump   A Teniayo         Cliff           3.27
High Jump   T Ansell          Cliff           1.12
Javelin     A Hayre           Cliff           8.19
Shot Putt   E Olaofe          Hill            5.15
8 Elite     1st Place
Event       Name              House    Time/Dis.
100m        J Chike-Michael   Town          13.22
200m        J Barnes          Cliff         25.85
400m        P Odugbile        Cliff       1.00.50
800m        J Millen          Town           2.36
1500m       L Jordan-Hunter   Downs          5.35
8x100m                        School      2.05.28
4x200m                        Fleet       2.05.16
Long Jump   B Bates-Pratley   School         3.55
High Jump   D Ogunbambo       Town            1.3
Javelin     H Nichols         Town           18.5
Shot Putt   B Wilson          School         6.88

8 Mass      1st Place
Event       Name              House    Time/Dis.
100m        S Cofie           Downs         14.53
200m        K Akhigbe         Town          32.42
400m        D Kunle-Adenuga   Downs       1.07.91
800m        O Forrest         Town           2.59
1500m       E Stoddart        Hill           5.57
Long Jump   L Green           Fleet          3.23
High Jump   K Akhigbe         Town           1.25
Javelin     O Forrest         Town           14.3
Shot Putt   P Singh           Cliff          6.51

GGS Newsletter                   Opportunity and Challenge in a Caring Environment   July 2017
Page 21

                                                                     10 Elite      1st Place
9 Elite       1st Place                                              Event         Name                  House Time/Dis.
Event         Name                House       Time/Dis.              100m          D Awani               Fleet      13.13
100m          V Crentsil          Downs            12.84             200m          M Turner              Cliff      26.72
200m          O Fox De Klerk      Downs            27.47             400m          F Abraham             Cliff    1.01.50
400m          J Bhadare           Cliff            59.19             800m          M Charwood            Fleet       2.27
800m          B Ramsubhag         Cliff             2.25
                                                                     1500m         K Witsey              Downs       5.15
1500m         A El Khouli         Downs             5.09
                                                                     8x100m                              Fleet    1.48.66
8x100m                            Town           1.52.19
4x200m                            Downs          1.55.75
                                                                     4x200m                              Cliff    1.54.03
Long Jump     L Burr              Hill              4.02             Long Jump     L Trigg               Fleet       4.87
High Jump     R Braima            School            1.41             High Jump     H Emery               Fleet       1.35
Javelin       H Bowler            School           20.11             Javelin       G Saunders            School     26.66
Shot Putt     A Johal             Downs             7.87             Shot Putt     I Rai                 Fleet        8.3

9 Mass        1st Place                                              10 Mass       1st Place
Event         Name                House       Time/Dis.              Event         Name                  House Time/Dis.
100m          C Bloomfield        School           14.16             100m          J Handley             Town       13.31
200m          T Dosanjih          Fleet            34.26
                                                                     200m          H Pardesi             Cliff         29
400m          M Zalewski          Fleet          1.06.85
                                                                     400m          A Vale                Hill     1.05.25
800m          O Jasanya           Town              2.43
1500m         C Donovan           Hill              5.51             800m          O Perkins             Fleet        2.3
Long Jump     M Denman            School            3.67             1500m         E Cruise-Smith        Town        5.24
High Jump     H Warwick           School            1.26             Long Jump     B Savage              Town        3.72
Javelin       J Lynn              Fleet            13.97             High Jump     N George              Fleet       1.35
Shot Putt     B Kowal             Downs             6.51             Javelin       G Knight              School     19.16
                                                                     Shot Putt     U Vithyakaran         Cliff       6.82

House Sport Results – 2017
                     Year 7             Pts     Year 8            Pts     Year 9        Pts      Year 10          Pts
         st
    1                DOWNS/HILL         24      TOWN                20    SCHOOL            24   HILL               22
    2nd                                         CLIFF/DOWNS         18    DOWNS             20   SCHOOL             18
         rd
    3                CLIFF/FLEET/TOWN   20                                CLIFF             12   FLEET              16
    4th                                         SCHOOL              14    FLEET/HILL        10   DOWNS/TOWN         12
         th
    5                                           HILL                10
    6th              SCHOOL             18      FLEET               4     TOWN              8    CLIFF              4

                                                                   House Champion
              Overall             Pts         Throughout the year each house is involved in several sporting events
    1st       DOWNS/SCHOOL         74         (including House Rugby, Cricket and Sports Day). With all the points from
        nd                                    each competition accounted for the overall winner for House sport is:
    2
    3rd       HILL                 66
    4
    5th
    6th
        th
              TOWN
              CLIFF
              FLEET
                                   60
                                   54
                                   50
                                                        School House
                                                                  House Sport Champions 2017

GGS Newsletter                          Opportunity and Challenge in a Caring Environment                         July 2017
Page
                                                                                                                                Page 13
                                                                                                                                     22

GOING FOR GOLD!
                                     Rhys Bonnell (10F) has recently competed in the World Transplant Games in Mal-
                                     aga and won an amazing four individual Gold medals and one Silver for swim-
                                     ming. He then achieved a new World Record in the Adult 4 x 50 freestyle. The
                                     week was topped off at the Gala Dinner where Rhys was awarded outstanding
                                     junior athlete from across the world.

                                     Rhys receiving his Award

KENT SCHOOLS’ GOLF ASSOCIATION
TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP 2017
GGS was represented by Toby Dennison 9T, Oliver Perkins 10F, Ryan
Spellacey 13US3 at Faversham Golf Course on Wednesday, 28th June.
Team round scores: Toby Dennison 26, Ryan Spellacey 36, Oliver Perkins
25.
Team finished lower down the final placings but competed well. Ryan
played particularly well with the 4th best individual round score of the
day.

BOROUGH SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017
Having thought a while ago that swim-        Anthony, Rhys, Thomas all eligible to          mention should go to David Allen who
ming might be on the decline at GGS, I       swim this event next year things are           finished very strongly with a new person-
have been proved wrong over the last         looking good.                                  al best time and only 2 seconds behind
couple of years and this year was no         Event 14 – Year 10+ 50m Freestyle - Tom        the winner who was 8 years older!
different. Despite having several Year 11    Runting (11F) was the only entrant for         I would like to end by thanking Mr Bur-
swimmers unavailable due to other com-       GGS and won gold!                              ton and Mr Rees for coming along, help-
mitments, Year 10 swimmers away on           As we only had one senior swimmer,             ing and supporting the boys and to the
the University residential visit and some    Tom Runting, we were unable to field a         parents for giving up their time too.
Year 7s at Year 7 camp, GGS once again       team for the senior relay. This is the first   Your continued support is very much
managed to field one of the largest          (and hopefully last) time this has hap-        appreciated, not only by the boys but by
teams on the night.                          pened in the last 11 years.                    the School too.
In Event 4 - 14 years and Under 100m         Event 16 – Year 7-9 Relay - with 7 junior
Freestyle over half the swimmers were        swimmers we had a team and a bit (!)           The 2017 Team
from GGS - Ben Cooper (9D), George           and the organisers very kindly allowed
Wise (8H), David Allen (7D) and Rhys         the 3 junior swimmers and Tom compete
Jones (7T) and we secured 1st, 2nd and 3rd   as a team to give all our swimmers a
places with David, George and Ben re-        chance to swim.
spectively. This event saw most swim-        Our two teams were – Ben Cooper, Peter
mers getting new personal best times         Allen, David Allen and George Wise who
with Rhys Jones managing to take 9 sec-      won with Anthony Morgan, Rhys Jones,
onds off his previous best which is very     Thomas Angell and Tom Runting as very
impressive for a 100m race.                  good competition pushing them all the
Event 12 – Year 7-9 50m Freestyle – an-      way.
other very good event with all 7 GGS         The final event of the evening was the
swimmers finishing in the top 8 – 1st Da-    Borough 200m Freestyle which had three
vid Allen, 2nd George Wise, 3rd Ben          GGS swimmers taking part. David Allen
Cooper, 4th Anthony Morgan (7S), 6th         came 2nd, George Wise 3rd and Rhys             JLW
Peter Allen (9S), 7th Rhys Jones, 8th        Jones 6th (with another massive personal
Thomas Angell (7C). With David, George,      best time of nearly 20 seconds). Special

GGS Newsletter                         Opportunity and Challenge in a Caring Environment                            July 2017
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