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NuntiusSummer 2015
Cross Lane, Bebington, Wirral, CH63 3AQ Tel: 0151 644 0908 www.wirralgrammarboys.com
WIRRAL GRAMMAR SCHOOLA Business and Enterprise School for Boys
House Captain and Mock General Elections At WGSB 2015
The 7th May will go down in the
annals of history for a host of
reasons, but put the idiosyncrasies
of our electoral system and the
delusions of our pollsters to one
side and what we are left with
is the really important business
of democracy in action at Wirral
Boys. From an extremely busy
start to polling at 8.30am, through
to an enthusiastic team at the
count at 4.00pm, the school
delivered an overall turnout of 77%
and some popular winners. School
journalists Tom Smith and Jacob
Bradshaw captured some of the
excitement of the day and offer
their own perspectives.
I would just like to add my
congratulations to Rhys
Shakeshaft (Barber), Matthew
Callanan (Dodds), Druvi Edirisinghe
(Hodgson) and Sam Lock (Lever)
for their appointment as new
House Captains and I wish them
well for their year of office. Well
done also to the candidates in the
mock election and particularly to
James Evans for steering a course
to victory.
Mrs Ahern
WGSB Gripped By Election Fever!
Messages from the Newly Elected House Captains Barber House
Rhys Shakeshaft
I’m delighted to have been
elected House Captain for
Barber this year and am
excited to take a lead role
in managing our House.
I believe that if we all work together we
can achieve great things and so I want to
strive to include everybody in our efforts
this year with the aim of becoming the
dominant House.
While I would love us to come out on
top at the end of the year, I believe that
a healthy, friendly rivalry is better than a
fierce one as we also need to work with
the other Houses to maximise the results
that we can achieve. At the end of the day,
we need to make a positive change to not
only our school, but to other people’s lives
through the charity we support. Thank you
for supporting me and I hope I can return
the favour and repay your faith. I’m looking
forward to a productive year.
Dodds HouseMatt Callanan
To take over from Jack
Hulme as Dodds House
Captain is a huge honour.
Jack has done a great job
in helping us, as a house,
to excel to the top of the charity money
leader boards. Unfortunately, this year we
have not been as successful with the house
commendation totals and this is what I
hope to change next year.
I want to bring in different ways of gaining
commendations, other than in sports,
such as music, chess and academic
opportunities. I believe rewards are the key
to increasing our House Commendation
totals and further increase our charity
totals; therefore I plan to reward forms and
individuals that contribute highly to these
totals. I look forward to next year and the
success it will bring for Dodds!
Hodgson HouseDruvi Edirisinghe
Just a few words. Firstly I
would like to thank everyone
who voted me in as Hodgson
House Captain for next year,
and showed faith in my ability
to lead us to glory. As we all know, the road
has been tough for Hodgson these past few
years, certainly while I’ve been here- we
have always been scrapping it out for 3rd
place, which isn’t good enough for me.
Last year we showed tremendous character
to achieve 2nd place in the house league
tables and really put in a sustained title
challenge, however ultimately we didn’t
achieve our primary goal. I want to build
on this 2nd placed finish next year and
see more people getting involved with the
school and striving harder. Not only this
but I will be putting a stronger focus on
charity events, such as the hugely popular
FIFA tournaments, and possibly inter-house
football competitions in order to raise as
much as we can.
Lever HouseSam Lock
I am absolutely delighted
that Lever house have
selected me to be
their House Captain.
I am humbled by the
amount of you that have shown your
support throughout the school for my
campaign. First of all I would like to say
commiserations to the other candidates
and thank them for running, as they
made the election an interesting and
unpredictable process.
I feel whoever was selected out of myself,
Gabe or Craig would have done an
excellent job. Now next year lies ahead and
I have got a lot planned and a busy agenda
for Lever house. I hope we can have a
successful year and look forward to the
challenges that lie ahead. In Lever I believe.
www.wirralgrammarboys.com2
WIRRAL GRAMMAR SCHOOLA Business and Enterprise School for Boys
Headteacher’s WelcomeAs the 2014/2015 school year
draws to close, we once again take
time to reflect on the achievements
of the past twelve months. There is
a familiar rhythm to our school year
with certain events being part of our
annual routine. No two years are
ever the same, however, and there
have been many new opportunities,
successes and challenges.
Developments in our House
System saw a very busy
programme of election
campaigning prior to our Election
Day in May and the appointment
of our new House Captains for
2015/2016. My congratulations
go to Rhys Shakeshaft (Barber),
Matthew Callanan (Dodds), Druvi
Edirisinghe (Hodgson) and Sam
Lock (Lever). All boys were able
to take part in the voting process
and I am very pleased to say that
we set an example to the entire
nation in having a turn out that
was significantly higher than the
General Election!
The Summer Term has seen the
appointment of our new Head Boy
Team with Ben Turner at the helm.
My thanks to the out-going Head
Boy Team ably led by James Evans
for their outstanding leadership and
organisational skills.
Sporting achievements have again
been high on our list and there
was a notable success for the
Under 15s who made it through
to the National Semi-Finals in the
Nat West Cup. Both our Under
18s and Under 16s were North of
England Indoor Hockey finalists
and our Basketball Under 14s were
Wirral School Champions, while
the Under 13s were Wirral Schools
Runners Up. Toward the end of the
term, our Year 9 and 10 Athletics
Teams were the winners of the
Northwest Track and Field Cup.
We have again enjoyed excellent
musical performances with our
Chamber Concerts and termly
Music Society Concerts, the last of
which took place in the penultimate
week of term. I would like to add
my thanks to Mrs Amy Chalmers
who has made an outstanding
contribution to Music in our school
over the last 11 years and who is
leaving at the end of term.
Our Musical Production this year
was ‘Evita’ and once again, the
standard of performance was
exceptionally high. Well done to
Lewis Casella who was this year’s
Drama Cup Winner. Plans are
now well underway for next year’s
performance of the Madness
musical, ‘Our House’.
The Awards Ceremony combined
with the House Award Assemblies
presented a formal opportunity to
celebrate the many achievements
of our pupils both in the classroom
and in extra-curricular activities.
Congratulations to all our Award
winners this year.
At the end of the school year we
say our farewells to a number
of staff: Mr Morris (Head of
Technology) is retiring after 25 years
of service; Mrs Ahern (Head of
Politics and House Co-ordinator) is
leaving to take up a new post at The
Grange School in Northwich after
19 years of service; Mrs Chalmers
is moving to take up a new post at
Birkenhead High School Academy
following 11 years of service and
Miss Stebbing (Temporary Teaching
Assistant) is leaving to go into
primary teaching. We wish them all
every success and happiness for
the future. From September, we will
be welcoming the following new
staff: Mr David Andrew (Head of
Technology) and Mr Jonas Tattersall
(Teacher of Music).
I would like to thank all parents
for the superb support that they
have given the school again this
year and I hope that all families
enjoy a relaxing summer break.
Our new academic year
commences on Thursday 3rd
September and parents should
refer to our school website for
details of our phased return.
For those students awaiting
examination results in the
summer, their hard work is
now over; let’s hope that you
all achieve the excellent results
that you fully deserve.
D R Hazeldine
Headteacher
Head Boy Team: Appointments 2015-2016 Following the process of staff and student nominations
and candidate interviews, the following students have
been appointed:
Head Boy: Ben Mark Turner
Deputy Head Boys: George Watson and Jamie
Norris
Senior Prefects: Oliver Webster, John
Fieldhouse, Aaron D’Cruz
and Sam Fisher
Congratulations to all seven on their successful
appointment to these leadership roles. We wish our new
Head Boy Team every success for their period of office
in 2015-2016.
Many thanks to our out-going Head Boy Team for their
exceptional services over the last year: James Evans
(Head Boy), Joe Lawton (Deputy Head Boy), Aaron Drury
(Deputy Head Boy), Robin Leach (Senior Prefect), Conor
Richie (Senior Prefect), Jack Abel (Senior Prefect) and
Matthew Herbison (Senior Prefect).
Welcome From Your New Head Boy Team 2015-2016 It is a great honour to have been appointed Head Boy of Wirral Grammar School for Boys for the forthcoming year. Last year was a very successful year and great credit is to be given to James Evans and his team for this. Our focus this year is to continue to build upon the work and foundations that his team set in place, to strive to an even stronger year for the school. It is also our firm intention to strengthen the communications between all departments within the school in addition to the House Councils and House Captains. James Evans and his team had a hugely successful year with regards to the school charity- I am in no doubt that this year will be no exception as a consequence of your continuous selfless donations and unaltered commitment and hard work.
The Head Boy team for the forthcoming year consists of myself, Ben Mark Turner (Head Boy),George Watson, Jamie Norris (Deputy Head Boys), Sam Fisher, Aaron D’Cruz, Oliver Websterand John Fieldhouse (Senior Prefects). This is a highly committed, motivated and proactive team who are looking forward to working with you, leading to a highly successful and rewarding prospective year ahead.
Ben Mark Turner – Head Boy
3
Summer 2015
Nuntius
Barber House
Daniel Dorda
- Barber House
Captain
In my final
paragraph
as Barber House Captain,
I’d really like to congratulate
everyone in our amazing house.
It’s been a tough year, but we’ve really
pulled it through! At the moment of writing
this, we are proudly first on the House
Commendation totals – we’re absolutely
racing ahead of the competition. Due to
the success of the £10 Challenge we were
pushed up to second place on House
Charity totals too. I’d like to sincerely
congratulate everyone who took part,
and especially the forms B/KJS, B/AW
and B/RR, who raised £100, £80 and £40
respectively. An exceptional effort and I
think we could all follow their example.
I hope that we can keep up the hard work
until the end of the year and that I can say
goodbye to a house that left me feeling
proud. Let’s hope that next year will be as
good as this one!
Dodds House
Jack Hulme
- Dodds House
Captain
This year has
been hugely
successful for
Dodds in terms of fundraising.
The House has topped the
charity leader boards with over
�1500 raised for charity from loose change
collections alone! We’ve organised many
successful events including a baby face
competition which consisted of pupils
trying to guess which baby picture was
which member of staff and we are currently
in the process of selling raffle tickets for a
signed Gareth Bale football shirt. My role
as House Captain has been challenging,
yet thoroughly enjoyable, it has been an
invaluable learning experience for me. I
would like to thank Mrs Ahern and the
House Council for all of their support and
wish the best of luck to Matt Callanan as
our the next house captain!
Hodgson House
Jack Kelly
- Hodgson
House Captain
This year has
been very
exciting for Hodgson under
the newly reformed house
system. We have seen victories
and defeats, up and downs, yet our
commitment was rarely out of sight. I am
proud to have been part of an array of
events during my term, ranging from cake
sales to the Christmas Fair, and would like
to take this opportunity to thank everyone
who helped make Hodgson great this year.
Every House Commendation earned and
every penny given to charity truly merits
our outstanding achievements. I would
also like to thanks Mrs Ahern for all the
‘behind the scenes’ help she has provided
to the House System and to Mrs Kahn
for supporting Hodgson every step of
the way. Whether it be for simple advice,
assemblies or even large events, I could
always count on her.
The future of Hodgson now rests in the
capable hands of the one and only, Druvi
Eridisinghe, who I would like to leave with
the following quote from Mark Twain: “It’s
not about the size of the dog in the fight,
it’s the size of the fight in the dog”. In Fide
Continere.
Lever House
Udit Shankar
- Lever House
Captain
As my final
term as house
captain draws to a close, we
can be proud of what we have
achieved as a house. From
the huge success of the FIFA competition
to laborious shaking of the charity pot
around in house group time, I think we can
all say that everyone has done something
for the house this year. Every House
Group raised money within their forms but
I’d like to give a special congratulations to
Dr Warren’s House Group for raising the
most money out of all the forms with Miss
McKenna’s House Group a close second.
All in all, as a House we managed to raise
over £1,000 which is a staggering amount,
and I’m sure will be greatly appreciated by
The Walton Centre in Liverpool.
It’s hard to think that I have spent one
whole year as House Captain, but we
found ourselves at that point again where
the new House Captain would be elected.
After a rigorous and sometimes
‘controversial’ election campaign, the
votes were cast and it was nice that
it coincided with the national general
election for Parliament. I’d like to
congratulate the three Lever candidates
Sam Lock, Gabriel Rutherford and Craig
Ashman for valiantly fighting for position of
House Captain, but after a sleepless night
for them, it was revealed Sam Lock had
achieved the most votes.
A deserving winner and someone who
I’m sure will build on the successes of
Lever House this year. In conclusion, being
House Captain has been a thoroughly
enjoyable experience and one that will stay
with me for the rest of my life. Finally, I’d
like to thank Mrs Ahern for giving up hours
upon hours to marshal her troops and
keep the House Captains in check and I
wish her all the successes in the future.
House Matters
James Evans (Head Boy)
As the year draws to its
inevitable close, the time
for this year’s Head Boy Team
to take a step back has arrived.
This year we have strived to enhance
the presence of the team, pioneer a
new structure to the Prefect Team, as
well as fulfil our existing roles to the
very best of our ability. I have been
privileged to work with some fantastic
people; Aaron and Joseph (Deputy
Head Boys), the Senior Prefect Team,
the Prefects, as well as the staff and
students that have been supportive
throughout my tenure as Head Boy.
There has been no greater honour
than serving as Head Boy, and I wish
the new team the best for the coming
year. I hope that everyone goes on
to achieve the best of results this
summer, from Year 7 summer exams
to A2 grades, and that whatever time
you have left here is both happy and
successful.
www.wirralgrammarboys.com4
WIRRAL GRAMMAR SCHOOLA Business and Enterprise School for Boys
Wirral Grammar - The ElectionThe 2015 election has been dominating the news of late
and Wirral Grammar was keen to encourage students
to be politically involved as well. We hosted an election
of our own on 7th May with students standing for their
respective political parties: Sean White stood for UKIP,
Conor Ritchie for the Greens, George Cotcher-Riley for
the Liberal Democrats, James Evans for Labour and
George Head for the Conservatives.
The turnout was near 80% with students from all year groups
taking part by voting outside of lesson time and clearly caught
by the buzz of the day. Similar to the election, the exit polls were
incorrect in their estimates, predicting a surprise victory for UKIP.
Labour though won the election with a strong majority, despite
significant support for the Conservatives in second place. Aside
from the result, what was most important was that students
showed just how interested they were in having their voices heard
by managing a higher percentage of turnout than even the UK
election itself.
Tom Smith 13B/JLH
5
Summer 2015
Nuntius
‘Nuntius on-line’ Larger articles can be found by accessing the ‘Nuntius On-Line’ link via the school website
www.wirralgrammarboys.com
Music Department UpdateThursday 30 April saw another outstanding collection of solo
performances in the summer Chamber Concert. All 23 boys
performed admirably and were well received by an appreciative
audience. A particular mention should go to the 9 boys who
performed for the first time – never an easy thing to do – including
the following boys in year 7:
Vinay Varghese (violin)
Ben Jones (piano)
Ben Ramsden (violin)
Continuing the Department’s visits to primary schools during the
summer term, we were able to visit 4 schools on Wednesday 24
June. The Junior Brass Group, String Group, Woodwind Group,
Fiddle Group, Ukulele Group and Year 7 Choir, as well as a
number of soloists performed at Higher Bebington, Townsfield,
Bidston Avenue & Oxton primary schools throughout the day, and
over 60 boys in years 7-10 were involved. 68 local primary schools
have now received performances in the last 15 years, and this is
now one of the Department’s most important annual events.
All of these groups and more performed to the usual high
standard at the Summer Concert on Thursday 2 July, whilst
the Music Society Dinner proved to be its normal gastronomic
success on Friday 10 July. Many thanks to our Guest of Honour
Mr Graham Eccles, a professional organist and Choir master
of many groups in the Northwest, for a most enjoyable speech,
along with the other members of the Music Forum reporting on
their ensembles.
A number of boys took music examinations this term, but with
the results not yet with us, congratulations will have to wait for
Autumn’s Nuntius. However, the results from some of last term’s
exams did not make the Spring edition of Nuntius.
Congratulations therefore to the following list of successful
candidates, and to the high number of merits and distinctions:
Name Form Instrument Grade Result
Douglas Crammond 7L/TD Pop Vocals 1 Distinction
Harry Jones 8D/PM Keyboard 1 Merit
Daniel Jones 10D/KMH Keyboard 1 Pass
Matthew Parkes 8H/CD Drums 2 Merit
Lewis Quail 9B/RR Drums 2 Merit
John Fleetwood 9D/NM Keyboard 2 Pass
Andrew Gill 13H/CL Double Bass 2 Distinction
Hary Pickard 10B/AMC Pop Vocals 3 Distinction
Daniel Carter 10L/HSMusic
Theatre3 Distinction
Naseem Veevers 7B/RR Theory 5 Pass
Andrew O’Hagan 9B/JH Theory 5 Distinction
William Brady 9D/AJ Theory 5 Pass
Jonathan Heale 10H/MH Theory 5 Pass
Tom Rogers 10/GA Piano 6 Distinction
As you are reading this, 56 boys and 7 staff will be in the
middle of touring Budapest, which should include performances
from the Choir at the main Cathedral on Sunday morning,
as well as from the Concert Band outside the main Castle
on Buda Hill overlooking the river Danube. This will be the
Music Department’s 10th overseas tour, though the first for
Mr Dickinson in his role as Head of Music. I have no doubt that
everyone will come home with many lasting memories of what
is a fantastic city to visit.
Finally - and as I always say - as the long summer months get
under way with a vengeance, remember that 7 weeks without
music lessons does not mean 7 weeks without practice!
Mr P Thomas
Music Department
www.wirralgrammarboys.com6
WIRRAL GRAMMAR SCHOOLA Business and Enterprise School for Boys
Photography Winners The theme of this year’s Bebington Rotary Club competition
was ‘Light Up The Community’ Two of our students, Ben
Morris (Year 13) and Rubin Holt (Year 8), made it through
to the final of the regional category of the competition.
Ben and Rubin were recently awarded prizes by Mr Matt Herbison and
Peter Wilson of Bebington Rotary club.
The theme of this year’s school competition is ‘Nature’ and will be judged
in October. The prizes will be Amazon gift vouchers. If you would like to
enter please forward 3 digital pictures to Mr Ronayne.
Mr Ronayne
Community Partnership Manager
Drama Cup 2015 The Drama Cup is awarded each year to the person who has made the most impressive contribution to this year’s production. This year’s winner is Lewis Casella.
Lewis has been
one of the
longest serving
members of the
drama society
in recent years.
He began his
acting career
as a tentacle(?)
in ‘Little Shop
of Horrors’. His
first leading role
was as Britney
Spears in ‘We
Will Rock You’.
He then played
the male lead,
Emile, in ‘South Pacific’. Next came Bernardo,
leader of the Sharks in ‘West Side Story’, and
finally, Peron in this year’s ‘Evita’.
Few actors have taken on so many leading roles
in school productions and Lewis has excelled in
every one even though they all represented such
diverse characters and demanded a wide range
of acting, dancing and singing skills. Lewis was
always a commanding presence on stage and
generous in his support of younger members
of the company. He will be missed greatly, but
on behalf of everyone in the Drama Society,
I wish him all the best for the future and hope
he continues to perform.
Mr G Hinde MBE
World Book Day Our World Book Day celebrations were bigger and better than ever this year with every pupil in Years 7 to 10 inclusive having an ‘Author Experience’ of at least one hour.
Staff costumes included ‘Death’, ‘War Horse’,
‘Evacuees’ and ‘ Dr Frankenstein’s Monster’.
This year we ran a ‘shelfie’ competition where
pupils tried to match staff names to pictures of
their home bookshelves! The winners were Jack
Boniface, Ryan Hozack and Daniel Peake.
Mrs K Campbell
English Department
Next Year’s Joint Production with Girls’ School is -
OUR HOUSE - A Musical Love Story
15-19 March 2016
Winner of the 2003
OLIVIER Best New
Musical Awards, this
HIGH-ENERGY, FAST
MOVING musical features
the music of the band MADNESS.
It tells the story of a 16 year old boy who is faced with a moral dilemma
and the clever narrative shows what would have happened to his life
depending on which choice he made. It has huge cast and contains most
of the hits of Madness (Our House, Welcome to the House of Fun, Baggy
Trousers, Driving In My Car, It Must Be Love etc). It is full of great singing
and dancing and a powerful story.
Those of you who are fans of our highly professional productions will
need no further recommendation. If you are not, come along and we can
promise you a great night out! Auditions for the company will take place
in September.
7
Summer 2015
Nuntius
London Trip 2015 The London trip this year was one of the best trips I have ever been
on. So much was packed into the two days we spent there, which
made it feel like a week (only with 2 hours sleep!)
After an early 5.30am start, we arrived in London at about 11.00am
and headed straight to the Science Museum. We took part in a Coding
Workshop where we had to programme a robot to go around a course,
which sounds easier than it was. After this we went to the Natural History
Museum where we viewed many of the different artefacts and displays.
At lunchtime we went to eat at Planet Hollywood where everyone enjoyed
their food and tried to avoid the camera putting us on their big TV After
lunch we headed for the London Eye where everyone waited looking up
at the massive wheel and realising we were going to have to get on it.
When we got on it wasn’t so bad with many photos being taken.
The next morning we went to the forensics activity. We had to figure out
what ingredient was put in food in a school which poisoned the students,
which was really interesting. Once we had finished we headed off to
the grand finale, Harry Potter World. It took quite a while to get their
but once we had it was worth it. Everyone went into the museum with
bright eyes and pockets filled with money waiting to be spent. We saw
all of the props and scenes from the movie and all had a Butter Beer. We
then headed back home - the best part of the trip was yet to come. We
stopped at a service station with a KFC which was just what everyone
needed. London was a great trip and everyone enjoyed every minute of it.
Lewis Quail Year 9B/RR
The Catalyst Museum On Monday 16 March, the whole of Year 7 were
lucky enough to go to the Catalyst Museum,
sponsored by FMC, a chemical company based in
Bromborough.
Our day was full of fun science experiments and
interesting facts and we had a lot of fun! Each group
followed a different itinerary but we all took part in the
following activities:
• We explored the galleries - many manual
experiments were held in these galleries. My
favourite experiment was the mercury bubble pipe.
This consisted of pumping air into a liquid tank and
seeing how this affects the innards of the liquid.
• “Explore your universe” which included some cool
science such as pouring liquid nitrogen over a
super-conductor and putting a magnet over it. We
made the magnet float! It was so cool”!
• We explored more galleries, about the birth of the
chemical industry and how it started in Widnes.
• “Flash Bang Show” which included many bangs
and flashes. My favourite experiment from this
show was the engine experiment where the
scientist poured fuel into a ten gallon bottle and
then set it on fire! It exploded into flames and was
very exciting!
• We went to the observatory and built 3D maps of
the Mersey and bridges that supported themselves.
We had a brilliant time at the catalyst chemical
museum, courtesy of FMC.
By Matthew Byrne 7B/KJ
Salters’ Festival of Chemistry trip On the 12th
May Tom
Carroll, Seth
Collinson,
Nathan Newton
and Ethan
Cheung went
to Liverpool
John Moore’s
University to
participate in
The Salters’ Festival of Chemistry. The day consisted of two practical
challenges which involved different uses of our chemistry skills. The
first challenge was called “Trouble at the salt mine!” This involved three
experiments which included the use of chromatography, pH and ion
testing. The second practical activity, “University Challenge”, involved us
cooling solutions to slow down the reaction of a “chemical clock”. The
team that got the time closest to 30 seconds won. The day was fun and
enjoyable and we managed to come second in the salt mine challenge.
Thank you to Mr Mountford for taking us and the chemistry department
for funding the trip.
Ethan Cheung 8B/AW
www.wirralgrammarboys.com8
WIRRAL GRAMMAR SCHOOLA Business and Enterprise School for Boys
Year 9 and 10 Berlin History Trip 2015 On Thursday 21st May, 53 pupils boarded a plane at Manchester Airport and headed to Hamburg for this year’s History Trip to Berlin.
On day one we took a guided bus tour of the beautiful city as
well as a trip to the Holocaust Memorial. This really opened our
eyes to the history of Berlin and it was very interesting to learn
all about the representation of the Holocaust Memorial. On
the guided tour we saw many iconic buildings; the Reichstag
(German
parliament
building) and
the British
Embassy. In
the
afternoon
we took a
tour of the
Wannsee
Conference
House,
where
the “Final
Solution to
the Jewish question” was agreed upon. The solution was written
in a series of documents and they were written with censored
language so that if the documents were discovered the people
involved could not be found guilty of horrible crimes. Following
our evening meal we took a tour of the Reichstag Dome.
The following day of our tour we took a guided tour of
Sachsehausen, a former Concentration Camp. Walking round
this camp was spine-tingling. This was easily the most interesting
part of our trip and was well worth the early rise in the morning.
Later that day we had a guided tour of the Topography of Terror,
which shows the rise of Hitler and goes into depth about the SA
and SS. My particular group had a very good guide, who had
many interesting views about Hitler’s hatred towards the Jews.
In the evening we ate at Spreebrick then went for a walk around
the Berlin TV tower, which was a jaw-dropping 368 metres tall.
Here you could view all the landmarks in Berlin.
A full day was taken up with a visit to the Berlin Wall, with some
great stories about the length people went to so they could move
on the western side, and also the lengths the East German army
went to prevent eastern Berliners moving over to the west. In the
afternoon we took a guided visit to the Stasi (East German Secret
Police) prison in Hohenschönhausen where our guide had actually
been imprisoned in one of the isolation cells there. The evening
was rounded off with bowling where both teachers and pupils’
competitive side came out. This was a great end to the day.
Day 5
was
probably
my
favourite
day of
the trip
as we
visited
a secret
German
war town
where
we went
inside the
former
Soviet
bunker,
which was extraordinary. It was a lot bigger than I had expected
and we had a great guided tour. In the afternoon we went to
Seelow Heights where the final battle for Berlin happened during
World War 2. Here there was a museum and a very beautiful
Soviet memorial. This battle was one of largest battles of World
War 2, where the Soviets lost 100,000 men taking the city in
1945. We ate our evening meal at Hard Rock Café, with many
pupils spending their parents’ money on Hard Rock t-shirts
and sweatshirts.
Our final day started early so we could visit the Olympic Stadium
where recently Barcelona beat Juventus in the Champion’s
League Final. However more famously, it is where American
runner Jesse Owens won 4 gold medals despite not being
allowed to compete originally. After this we took the aeroplane
home and arrived home in time for bed, after an amazing tour
of a wonderful city. Thanks to Mr McKibbin and all the staff for
making this trip such a memorable and enjoyable one.
Cameron Crabb
10H/SLJA
Years 9/10 History Trip 2016 Boys in current Years 8 and 9 have signed up for the annual
History trip to Belgium and the Netherlands for next Easter.
They will be taking in sites related to both World Wars and a
visit to a theme park. I am sure it will be another great learning
experience for them!
Mr L McKibbin
History Department
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Summer 2015
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Awards CeremonyOur Annual Award Ceremony took place on 1st July. Pupils received
awards for a wide variety of achievements including, best attainment,
best progress, best commitment, best attendance, spoken English,
performance in Languages, achievements in sport and school
representation. The achievements of 130 boys were recognised and many
more gained House Awards during the House Award Assemblies that took
place the following day. Mr Hazeldine started the Award Ceremony with
his report on some of the achievement of this academic year and this was
followed by Ben Turner (Head Boy) who gave a detailed account of the
extra-curricular activities that have taken place. We were very pleased to
welcome Rev. Mike Loach, vicar from Christchurch, Higher Bebington.
Mike was a former pupil of Wirral Grammar School having left in 1991.
Addressing the Award Winners, he congratulated them on their excellent
achievements and emphasised the importance of pursuing personal values
of kindness, fairness and compassion for others.
A selection of the Award Winners and pictured here together with Rev.
Mike Loach and Headteacher, Mr David Hazeldine
A View from REDuring the course of this half term, our class has
been studying the topic of Islam. We started our
topic on the founder of this religion, Mohammed.
We also studied the five pillars of Islam and their meaning. As a
piece of homework set by Ms Razbully, we each had to build our
own replica mosque. This was a very challenging task for us, but
fun at the same time. Bearing in mind we could use whatever
materials we wanted to, a wide range of mosques were brought
into school.
We had cardboard mosques, lego mosques, polystyrene
mosques and even one or two wooden mosques. Ms Razbully
was very impressed with the standard of them and Mr Hazeldine
even took a sneaky look. He thought they were so good that he
wanted a picture of us with our mosques. As pupils we have had
a great time studying the topic of Islam. It has shown us how
to appreciate religions in different ways of life. Ms Razbully has
made our lessons very interactive and fun at the same time.
Matthew Farrell 7H/CD and Cameron McLure-Murray 7H/CD
The Late Sir Philip Carter CBE
We were saddened
to hear the news
announced by Everton
that life president
Sir Philip Carter had
passed away. Sir Philip
served on the Governing Body of
Wirral Grammar School for Boys for
many years and was a true friend to
the school.
During his years of outstanding service, Sir Philip
held the role of Principal Officer on the school’s
Finance Committee. Mr Hazeldine, Headteacher
said “Sir Philip guided the school through
significant times of change, most notably the move
to Grant Maintained Status in the 1990s and the
more recent conversion to Academy status”. He
was instrumental in helping to secure funding from
Central Government for a building programme that
saw £3.5 million invested in the school.
Our Chair of Governors, Mrs. Sheila Clarke MBE
commented, “Sir Philip was a man of exceptional
integrity and he took a keen interest in the life of
the school and the achievements of the boys. On
several occasions Sir Philip presented Awards
at our Annual Certificate Evening. He was a very
good friend to our school community and he will
be sadly missed.”
www.wirralgrammarboys.com10
WIRRAL GRAMMAR SCHOOLA Business and Enterprise School for Boys
Psychology Trip to Chester Zoo On the 12th of February, boys from Wirral Grammar, accompanied
by Ms Razbully, Miss Heymans, and Mr Nutt travelled to Chester
Zoo to study primate behaviour as part of their GCSE & A-Level
Psychology courses. The day consisted of classroom based
lectures at Chester Zoo’s Education Centre, and walk-about talks
from experienced keepers. We had the opportunity to apply our
classroom learning of parental care and attachment theories of
Bowlby & Ainsworth and use Chester Zoo’s animal collection to
study a range of behaviours in primates. We delved deeply into
Evolution of Intelligence, considering the intelligence of non-human
animals, looking at self-recognition and social learning. We also
examined the case study of Konrad Lorenz and imprinting, as well
as the impact of imprinting on management and care of animals.
The out-and-about teaching was fun and interactive, allowing
the entire group to get involved in both discussing and observing
social organisation, communication and identification of animals.
Only slightly concerning (and also slightly impressive) was the fact
that the chimp enclosure was sealed off due to the chimps having
smashed a window with some rocks they had fetched earlier! And
of course, the day was not complete without a visit to see the newly
born baby Black Rhino, giraffe and tiger cubs.
Ben Morris B/JHH U6
Achievers International Over the past months a select group of year ten pupils have
participated in a scheme called Achievers International. Achievers
International is an on-line enterprise project for students,
encouraging them to understand international trading and business.
The group of students with the help of numerous teachers form a
company and import and export products with a partner school
overseas. Currently two groups are in place, a German group,
and Spanish group. We have already communicated with our
partnership school in Spain and are hoping to contact the partner
school in Germany in the upcoming weeks.
Joe Irvine 10H/JM
Leadership Training DayOn Friday 19th June, the Head Boy Team, House
Captains and the Music President took part in a
Leadership Training Day. Firstly, a representative
from the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust
(SSAT) came into the school to help equip us with
the necessary skills needed for our roles within
the school.
Public speaking, managing people and organising a
successful meeting were just a few of the essential areas
of successful leadership that were covered. The course
was preceded by a meeting in which we discussed and
decided upon an action plan for the next academic year
with a particular emphasis on charity fundraising and
increased communication with the lower school in an
attempt to provide the student body a louder voice.
Personally, I found this day highly informative and most
useful. The skills which my colleagues and I have learned
will prove invaluable in making us more efficient and
productive leaders. This day has enhanced our arsenal of
capabilities and with the mix of enthusiasm and passion
which we all possess, we will be a strong unit with the
ability to successfully lead and develop the school during
our tenure.
George Watson
Deputy Head Boy
Chess Club The chess club has been continuing the UK Schools Chess Challenge tournament that started before the Easter break, with all of the games now finished.
At the start of the tournament, there was a crucial
encounter between Thomas Carroll and James Lee. The
latter was winning the game until he made a mistake,
passing the initiative to Thomas. He held out for the win. A
few weeks later, James Lee faced Seth Collinson in another
important match. Seth, who was on maximum points at the
time, lost, meaning that the tournament was in Thomas’
hands. Thomas beat Seth in a close game, putting Thomas
into clear first place. With a few more victories he won the
tournament. Second was James Lee who finished with an
excellent score of 19/21. Third was Seth Collinson with
17/21. Tomas Clark also qualified for the next stage of the
tournament, the Megafinal, with 15/21. The Megafinal is a
regional tournament which is held in Cheadle Hulme. From
this year’s Megafinal, Thomas Carroll and Seth Collinson
both qualified for the Northern Gigafinal. This was a very
tough tournament so congratulations to the two qualifiers.
We have now started a new seven round tournament
involving four teachers. The tension is high as the teachers
try to avoid being beaten by the students!
Thomas Carroll 8H/GE
11
Summer 2015
Nuntius
Annual GCSE and A-level Art Exhibition To celebrate the hard work of the art pupils over the past two years the Art department held its annual GCSE/AS and A2 art exhibition private view on Tuesday 23rd June.
The GCSE pupils completed two pieces of coursework, one based
on natural structure and one on urban structures. However, the
terminal examination allowed pupils to work more independently
and to choose their own subject matter and material base. A wide
variety of work was displayed showing the diversity of our students’
work and allowing us to celebrate two years of hard work by both
the pupils and art department staff.
The work displayed by the AS and A2 pupils was much more
independent, each pupil being able to develop work in their own
style. Many of these pupils had the opportunity to
extend their artwork through a residential at both the
Conway Centre, Anglesey and a trip to Tuscany this
year. These trips have formed a large part of many
of the pupils’ work and could be seen referenced
in their sketchbooks. These extra activities running
alongside a school based curriculum ensured that
our pupils have had every opportunity to excel in
their art portfolio.
Mrs K Johnson
Head of Art
‘Nuntius on-line’ Larger articles can be found by accessing the ‘Nuntius On-Line’ link via the school website
www.wirralgrammarboys.com
www.wirralgrammarboys.com12
WIRRAL GRAMMAR SCHOOLA Business and Enterprise School for Boys
WGSB Question Time Event On Friday 20th March our school hosted its second BBC-Style Question Time event.
The distinguished panel of politicians and community
representatives, chaired by Clive Cooper, consisted
of: John Bell (Conservative Parliamentary Candidate
for Wirral South), Pat Cleary (Green Councillor), Alison
McGovern (Labour MP for Wirral South), David Scott (UKIP
Parliamentary Candidate for Wirral South) and Jon Tonge
(Professor of Politics from the University of Liverpool).
Both parents and students had the opportunity to ask
their burning questions regarding the upcoming General
Election. The panel covered a wide range of topics
including the recently announced budget, education,
immigration and Britain’s involvement in the European
Union. The event was a fantastic opportunity to see
how politics affects us and a chance to see what our
local politicians stand for. We look forward to the guests
returning for next year’s event.
Matthew Laing Y12
Peer SupportThe PSG are a team of friendly, helpful and understanding students, who offer guidance and advice to pupils who need help with general day-to-day concerns such as finding their way around the school, how to complete their homework planner, difficulties with homework, friendship issues.
The PSG reps for 2015-16 are:
If you have any concerns or need someone to talk to in school please feel free to speak to any of the PSG, Mrs Smith, or a trusted adult.
Also, there is a new Anti-Bullying Email Address to email if you want to report instances of bullying or request a meeting: [email protected]
‘Nuntius on-line’ Larger articles can be found by accessing the ‘Nuntius On-Line’ link via the school website
www.wirralgrammarboys.com
13
Summer 2015
Nuntius
Sainsbury’s School Games Table Tennis On Thursday 26th March, Mr Taylor, along with a team of four Year 11 students (Daniel Peake, Daniel Head, James Murphy and Matthew Davies) went to represent the school in its first ever table tennis competition at the Halton Regional Table Tennis Centre in Liverpool. The competition was organised by Sainsbury’s School Games and the event hosted 15 different schools from several Merseyside districts.
The day started off with group stages and after a great
round of games against some tough opposition, we
finished second out of four in the group. A very tight last
game in which our team were very unlucky to lose, meant
we could not win a medal. Although several matches took
place afterwards to decide the school rankings, after a
consistent run of magnificent performances from all of the team,
and some excellent coaching tips from Mr Taylor, we finished in
sixth place. At the end of the tournament we were presented with
certificates from the Mayor of Halton and we were also awarded
a ‘Spirit of the Games’ trophy for the best attitude during the
competition. This was a phenomenal achievement for us all and
we also gained the valuable experience of what it was like to take
part in a competitive tournament.
On behalf of those involved, I would like to thank Mr Taylor and
all the staff involved for giving us the opportunity to take part in
a prestigious competition. We hope we can continue to improve
our game and enjoy it as much as we have done so far.
Daniel Head 11L/MY
‘MAKING IT’ AT ANFIELD On 7th May I took a team of eight Year 9 boys to the home of Liverpool Football Club for the latest Manufacturing Institute’s ‘Make It’ campaign.
This is a whole day, demanding challenge against 15 other
schools from across Merseyside. The event was sponsored
by local Wirral company ‘Survitec’ who make various types of
survival equipment, everything from a life vest to life boats that
can hold up to 75 people. The boys’ task was to create, cost,
manufacture, market and present a survival pod to be used in
different environments.
At the end of the day the students have the daunting task of
presenting their work to a team of ‘dragons’ just as challenging
as facing Sir Alan Sugar and his TV team on The Apprentice.
To round the day off the staff have to carry out the same task
and present their business case to the dragons and 130 highly
amused students!
Mr P Ronayne
Community Partnership Manager
www.wirralgrammarboys.com14
WIRRAL GRAMMAR SCHOOLA Business and Enterprise School for Boys
Annual Rugby Club DinnerIN May, over 200 boys, parents and staff attended the 48th Annual School
Rugby Dinner in the School Hall. The Guest Speaker this year was Mr Matt
Mullen, WGS Deputy Head boy and 1st XV Vice Captain 2008. He received
an excellent welcome and spoke very warmly about his time at Wirral
Grammar School.
Team Captains gave their annual reports which were very well delivered,
Colours were awarded and individual trophies were presented as below:
INDIVIDUAL TROPHY WINNERS
G Noonan Novices Cup Lucas Jackson
(U12 Player of the Season)
E Langton Junior Bantams Trophy Ross Ward
(U13 Player of the Season)
E G Hodgkinson Bantams Cup Louis Botes
(U14 Player of the Season)
The Colts Cup Ben Thomas
(U15 Player of the Season)
Wirral RUFC Under 16 Cup Joe Totty
(U16 Player of the Season)
2nd XV Player of the Year Jamie Norris
West Trophy Louis McGilloway
(1st XV Players’ Player of the Season)
J P Howarth 1st XV Cup Jordan Price
(1st XV Captain’s Trophy)
Thompson Cup Jack Nelson
(Top Captain)
Kent Trophy Aaron Drury
(An Outstanding Contribution to Rugby Football)
Mr P Crowley
Head of Physical Education
14Th Annual Primary Schools’ Tag Rugby Competition In May we hosted 16 local primary
schools in our Annual Primary Schools’
Tag Rugby Competition. This year we
were blessed with good weather and
perfect playing conditions. As usual,
the event went very smoothly with
all schools enjoying a very pleasant
afternoon. The semi finals were tightly
fought affairs with St Peter’s C of E
Primary defeating Poulton Lancelyn 4 -2
and Higher Bebington Junior edging out
Church Drive 5 - 4. The final was again
hotly contested and after two periods
of extra time, with no winner emerging,
Higher Bebington eventually scored
the ‘Golden Try’ and won 2 - 1 to take
the trophy. Many thanks to all the sixth
formers who refereed the games so
efficiently, the Year 7 rugby players
who acted as school liaison, staff for
preparing their teams so well and most
of all to the boys and girls who took
part in the competition and entertained
us all afternoon.
Mr P Crowley
Head of
Physical
Education
School Grounds Our school
grounds look
amazing!
All thanks
to the hard
work of our
dedicated
Groundsmen,
Dave Hallam
and Dave
Helsby.
15
Summer 2015
Nuntius
Athletics The short summer term has resulted in the Schools’ Track and Field Athletics Programme becoming somewhat protracted.
Added to this, summer
examinations, a certain apathy
amongst some establishments
and our unpredictable climate and
opportunities for boys to participate
in track and field athletics are
increasingly limited! However, we do
our best and this year again, there
have certainly been some highlights.
We started the season with a ‘bang’,
back in April, when we fought off
some very strong opposition from St
Anselm’s College to again win the
first event of the Summer, the Wirral
Schools’ Relay Championships at the
Oval. Our 4 x 100m and 4 x 800m
Relay Squads from Years 7 to 10 were
superb in the defence of a trophy we
have won for the last two years.
Our Junior team qualified for the
English Schools’ Track and Field
North West ‘A’ final in Wigan. Only
the top twelve teams in the region
qualify for this prestigious Meeting,
where competition for a National
Final place is fierce! Our Juniors (Year
7 & 8) came a very creditable third
in a very tightly fought Competition
in which only a handful of points
separated the top teams. Our Inter
team were massively depleted in
their first round match, but still
managed to qualify for a Regional
‘B’ final in Warrington. Here, we were
back at full strength and won the
Competition convincingly, beating a
lot of top schools in the area.
There were many excellent
performances, but perhaps the most
outstanding were from Juniors :
Harvey Darroch (100m: 12.6, Long
Jump: 5.62m), Joshua Davis (100m:
12.8, Triple Jump: 9.99m), Ross
Ward (300m: 41.7, Shot: 8.99m),
Inters: Will Tyrer (100m: 11.9, Shot:
10.69), Jack Nelson (80m Hurdles:
12.4, High Jump: 1.44m), Stephen
Higgins (100m: 12.0), Josh Kenyon
(300m: 39.6).
Our Year 7 and Year 8/9 teams again
successfully defended their titles
at the Wirral Schools’ Year 7 & 8/9
Track and Field Championships.
A large number of our athletes
competed very successfully in the
Wirral Schools’ Trials and were
selected to represent Wirral Schools’
at the Merseyside Championships in
June, including twelve Year 7 boys,
which obviously bodes well for the
future! Harvey Darroch deserves
special mention - he has been
selected to represent Merseyside
in the Long Jump at the English
Schools’ Championships in July
All in all, not a bad year again, for
Wirral Grammar School Track and
Field Athletics!
Mr P Crowley
Head of Physical Education
Year 9 Cricket Update Matches played 5 won 4 lost 1
This year has seen the Year 9 team show huge
improvements on their performances last year.
In the first game away against Calday GS, the
home side batted first and were restricted to
84 for 3. In reply Wirral got the runs for two
wickets in just 9 overs, with Louis Botes hitting
51 and Stan Lewis 23. In the second game,
Helsby were the opponents in the Cheshire
Cup. Batting first, the visitors had no answer
to Wirral’s good fielding and bowling and were
dismissed for just 18 runs. Lewis McKeown
took four wickets, Tom Palin 2 and Sam Croll
3. Elliott Verry, Callum France and Lewis Quail
hit the runs off in 3 overs. In game three, Wirral
entertained Lymm HS in the Cheshire Cup.
Game 3 saw Wirral beat Lymm HS. Lymm
scored 94 for 7 with Sam Croll taking 3 wickets,
and Louis Botes hit 41 not out as Wirral got the
runs, reaching 95 for 3.
Game 4 saw Wirral travel to Kings Chester.
Batting first, Sam Croll set about the Chester
bowling with some big hitting in going to his
50 not out. Ably supported by Oliver Roberts
(13) and Lewis McKeown (26) Wirral made 117
for 4 off their 20 overs. In reply Wirral once
again bowled and fielded with good discipline.
Oliver Roberts took a storming catch and
Sam Croll capped a great match for him by
taking 4 wickets. Tom Palin took 2 wickets and
Chester fell short of their target by reaching
100 for 7, Wirral winning by 17 runs. In the final
match prior to me writing this report, Kings
Macclesfield were the visitors in a Cheshire cup
quarter final match. Wirral batted really well
against a good Kings side, totalling 102 for 4
off their 20 overs. Sam Croll made 22 and Louis
Botes 61 not out in a late flurry of runs. In reply,
Kings batted sensibly against decent Wirral
bowling but their batsmen played some good
shots to knock off the runs by the 10th over.
I want to thank the boys for their efforts this
term and for their attitude in particular which
has been excellent. Mr Atkinson helped out
too and thanks to him! I hope that the boys go
on to enjoy their cricketing careers and keep
learning to make themselves better cricketers.
Those who have played for the Year 9 team
were: Louis Botes (Captain), Sam Croll, Lewis
McKeown, Oliver Roberts, Stan Lewis, Lewis
Quail, Tom Palin, Cameron Daulby, Elliott Verry,
Callum France, Jack Gerrard, Dhruv Vassoja,
Nathan Bradshaw, Will Thomas, Adam Green
and James Reston.
Mr L McKibbin
All Weather Pitch Appeal Havard Law
of 62 Hamilton
Square, Birkenhead
became our first
corporate sponsor
of the All-Weather
pitch.
Their banner has been
placed on the fencing
adjacent to where the
pitch will be built. Liz Bird and Maureen McKeever from Havard Law are
pictured with the banner together with some of our students. Liz said, ‘We are
delighted to be part of this project which will be an asset for the school and
the community.’ If you would like to take part in the Corporate Sponsorship
scheme please contact Mr Paul Ronayne at the school or via email on
www.wirralgrammarboys.com16
WIRRAL GRAMMAR SCHOOLA Business and Enterprise School for Boys
Ways to Keep In Touch... Wirral Grammar School for Boys has a
Twitter feed and we can be followed @WGSB
Those with Facebook can be kept up-to-
date with achievements, developments and
events through our secure, school managed
Facebook page: Wirral Grammar School for Boys (Education).
To have our up-dates in your Newsfeed, simply
‘like’ this page.
Created by www.concept4.com (ref J9657-07/2015), an ISO9001 Quality and ISO14001 Environmental accredited company.
Parent Mail: Is your email address up to date?The majority of parents with computer access have registered
an e-mail address with us and ‘Parent Mail’ is proving to be
a fast and effective means of getting letters and messages to
parents. To remain effective, parents need to keep their e-mail
address information up-to-date. If you have not registered, or
if your e-mail address has changed, this can be amended by
logging into the Parent Mail website: www.parentmail2.co.uk
and following the ‘parent login’ link or by contacting the school
Finance Office.
www.wirralgrammarboys.com• news • achievements • events • admissions
Parents’ Association 2015-2016 Our Annual General Meeting takes place
on Tuesday 8th September 2015 in the
dining hall at 7.00pm. Following the AGM, there will be a Committee Meeting at
which officers will be appointed. All parents are welcome
to attend. Extra support is always welcome. Details of the
2015-2016 meetings can be found on our website.
Absence RequestsParents are reminded that the rules have changed regarding
parental requests to take boys out of school during term time.
The new regulations now clearly state that “Headteachers may
not grant any leave of absence during term time”.
Visited our website recently?Over the last two terms, our website has grown into a
very important source of information about the school:
news, forthcoming events, guidance materials, sporting
achievements etc are all to be found on the website
www.wirralgrammarboys.com
Mobile Phone Policy - ReminderOur policy on mobile phones is very clear. Pupils are permitted
to have phones available for use before and after school but
during the school day they must be switched off and out of
sight. Staff will confiscate mobile phones that are on view/in
use during the day and they will not be available for collection
until the end of the next school day.
Cashless PurchasingAccounts are available for ‘top up’ at the relevant paying
stations but parents are also able to ‘top up’ their son’s
canteen allowance through our on-line service via
‘Parentmail2’. Using our on-line facility means that boys
do not need to queue up at the payment point in school.
Admission EnquiriesEnquiries relating to admissions should be directed to our
Admissions Manager, Mrs Tanya Fry on 0151 644 0908 or by
visiting the school website: www.wirralgrammarboys.com
Parents’ Surveys - The 2014/2015 AnalysesMany thanks to all parents who have reported through our
Parents’ Evening surveys which are always available at our
Parents’ Evenings. The full analyses for all year groups will be
available very shortly. Please follow the link from our website
home page.