Sir Roger Manwood’s School

Spring Term 2017

Newsletter

The Headteacher’s Message Spring 2017

Page 2 of 29

Dear Parents and Carers,

We come to the end of what has been a very busy term indeed. I will refrain from mentioning anything about funding in this letter other than to say thank you for the many supportive emails and letters we have received in school, plus the letters and emails I know you have been sending to your local constituency MP as well as the national figures that have the power to make a difference to the amount of funding being allocated to our country’s schools.

As last term, there is less content in this newsletter than used to be the case due to staff not having the time to write up all that they do for your sons and daughters. However, the important thing is that despite teaching more, assessing more, rewriting schemes of work for new GCSEs and A Levels, they have continued to give of their time to run the enrichment and extra-curricular activities and experiences that makes Sir Roger Manwood’s School so special.

CANTERBURY YOUTH COUNCIL On Wednesday 18 January 2017, 7 Year 12 students joined young people from Kings’, St Edmund’s, Simon Langton Girls’, St Anselm’s, Archbishops, Ursuline, Royal Harbour, Spires, and King Ethelbert’s at the Canterbury Youth Parliament.

Lottie Sparkes, one of the 7, gives her impression of the event: It was a day that featured presentations by experts as well as several student debates. It was enjoyable and educational as we got the opportunity to debate with peers from all sides of the political spectrum. We debated topics such as Brexit, Trump and issues surrounding civil liberties. In addition, we also got a taste of university and gained knowledge on a wide variety of topics.

PLIGHT OF SYRIAN REFUGEES On Wednesday 8 February, the sixth form had the opportunity to listen to a young American man, Mr Jordan Hattar, to find out about the work he has been doing to help Syrian refugees in the camps in Jordan.

RESEARCH PRESENTATION AT THE ROYAL SOCIETY A group of Y12 students (Tilly Bowlt, Matthew Gates, Matthew Green, Darcy Holmes, Emma Maine, AJ Stoffer and Fabian Uchejuafor) attended the Royal Society’s annual Partnership Conference on Thursday 23rd February 2017 at their headquarters on Pall Mall in London. The students had to present a poster and give a talk on the Computational Imaging research they have been carrying out with the help of Dr S. Gibson and Mr F. Bai from the University of Kent. The project was funded by a grant from the Royal Society.

Page 3 of 29

As I write this letter, two of our sixth form teams are out in the Gambia and India visiting our partner schools, and 25 CCF cadets will be at a camp in Weymouth during the first week of the holiday.

During the last term, here a few of the many and varied activities that have taken place:

• We began the term with our Presentation Evening of GCSE and A Level certificates to last year’s Y11 and Y13

• The orchestra trip to Sardinia • Our magnificent production of Oliver! • The Rock and Pop concert • Founders’ Day, including the traditional raising of the school flag and ringing of the old

school bell, as well as the Founders’ Day Service • The OMA Annual Dinner and OMA v School hockey matches • Y12 geographers field trip to London’s Docklands • Y10 drama trip to the Marlowe Theatre to watch ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the

Night-Time’ • 8 Y10 students attended a Maths Feast • Y7 and Y8 were lucky enough to hear a talk from Jon Robinson, a local published author • Y9 and some Y10 and Y11 artists attended workshops run by the University of the

Creative Arts • 40 odd Y8 students went to the Big Bang Fair at Discovery Park • We ran, and several teams competed in, the local rounds of the national school’s version

of University Challenge • A UCAS Information Evening for Y12 and their parents • Y12 Young Enterprise team have been working hard on marketing and selling their

product (and it is selling well I am told) • The National Careers Service came in to talk to Y11 and Y12 about their programme and

how to apply for it (which I know several students then did) • A talk for Y11 and Y12 about apprenticeships, including the fairly new degree

apprenticeships (these are when a student joins a company and the company pays for them to complete a degree i.e. no student loan debt!)

• A talk from 3 Queens’ College Cambridge students about life at Cambridge to about 40 Y11 and Y12 students, covering myth busting about students there, what life is like and a bit about the application process. Interestingly, they also pointed out it is amongst the cheapest places to study as terms are only 8 weeks long and accommodation only has to be paid for the 8 weeks, not taken for year round as many other higher education institutions

• Lots of charity events took place, including Charity Week, Manwood’s Bake Off, a magic show, stalls and serenades for sale for Valentine’s Day, non-uniform days, and several raffles

• Our annual Easter Tea Party for local senior citizens • In the most recent shooting competition, the school’s CCF team beat an OMA team for

the first time in 12 years

Page 4 of 29

In sports, there were over 130 fixtures this term, including several whole day tournaments. The highlights of the sporting term include:

• The U13 indoor cricket team came 3rd in their Kent tournament • The U16 badminton team came 3rd at the Kent Games • The boys’ First XI hockey team came 5th at the county Frank Mason tournament • 9 students who qualified as individuals for the county trampolining finals, and another 3

qualified as a team for the team competition. Special mention must go to Hollie Allison, who came 3rd at those finals.

INDIVIDUAL STUDENT NEWS Our congratulations go to:

• Diego Hernandez Valle, who placed 3rd in the national competition for non-native speakers of Chinese

• Maisie McCartney, Y11, will be competing at the British Swimming Championships during the first week of next term, where she was qualified for 7 events. We wish her well and look forward to hearing all about her success

• Those students, across all year groups, who helped to run two local primary school events – a swimming gala and a tag rugby competition

• Congratulations to the students who recently passed their Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music examinations. Special congratulations go to Annik Schenck, Y11, who achieved a grade 7 in Violin and Victoria Allen, Y13, who achieved a grade 8, also in Violin.

ALUMNI NEWS It was with sadness that the school heard of the passing of one of its most well respected past teachers earlier this week – Mr Peter Firminger. Peter died on Monday 27 March 2017 at the age of 82. He was a pupil from 1945 to 1952, returned as a Games Master from 1958 to 1993, and ended as Head of Games. Peter was also a House Master of the Grange from 1971 to 1981.

Earlier this term, we were visited by Mr David Farmer, who was at the school between 1945 and 1952. He wrote to us to ask if he could come and visit as he was in the area spending a holiday with his wife, showing her the area where he was born and raised. After Manwood’s, David had a career in the Navy, which took him away from Kent, and except for a brief visit in the early 1960s he had not been back since. He went on to become the Naval Adviser to the High Commission in Nigeria, finally retiring from the Navy in 1988. Below is an extract from the thank you letter he sent following his visit:

“Dear Headmaster,

Page 5 of 29

Many, many, thanks for organising such a comprehensive tour of the school, even if I could not shoot for toffee [he happened to come in on a Wednesday when CCF staff were here so was able to use our shooting range]. It was very interesting to compare the new and old, and brought back many memories both happy and sad. Please thank all those who organised our tour particularly the School Captain who showed us around, for whom I wish all the best at Oxford. What made it more interesting was that she will be reading German at Oxford as my youngest daughter read German at Cambridge!

I include a picture of Form One, taken in 1945, with our teacher Miss Newman. The boy standing in the back row on the right (behind the only boy with a cap on) is R Jarman who, as an Army Officer, was killed in Northern Ireland in 1973 and is on the Roll of Honour Board in the main hall. His father and my father were at school together – Manwood’s has always had such strong family connections.

Once again many thanks for making my visit a memorable one”.

Best wishes,

Lee Hunter Headteacher

Page 6 of 29

University Challenge

This term we had the first round of the University Challenge competition for schools, with Manwoods hosting teams from Chatham & Clarendon, Kings Rochester and Dover Boys. In the junior competition, we entered two teams who came first and third out of six teams. That means that the team of Solveig Kjellberg-Motton, Jude Davies, Theo Larsen & Pranav Siddappa have made it through the regional finals next term – a great effort! Well done to Ross Gregory, Blaine Miller, Sydney Evans Ciara Campbell who only narrowly missed out on getting through to the next round. In the senior competition, our two teams came second and third out of six. Sadly only the winners went through to the regional finals, so our teams narrowly missed out. However, the highlight of that competition was a tied match between the two Manwoods teams and which went to a dramatic tie break question. Thanks to Alex Waldron, Megan Cantle, Eleanor Dwyer, Emma Rudge, Claire Carlotti, Tom Heppell, Joseph Flack & Michael Gwillym for their great efforts and sense of fun. Mr Anderson & Miss Lightfoot.

Page 7 of 29

Charity Report

It has been a very busy term for charity fundraising, particularly for this year’s school charity, The British Red Cross.

Once the mock examinations were over, 2 Year 11 students, Sophie Gisby and Kira Titmarsh organised our first, “ The Great Manwood’s Bake Off “ staff competition. 7 cakes were entered. At break time students paid 20p to view the cakes and vote for their favourite cake. Cakes were numbered, not named. Students were also given a raffle ticket each. Mrs Shelton’s Valentine themed red, white and silver heart shaped cake won the students’ vote. Sophie and Kira chose the canteen ladies’ tiered, gluten free, Valentine themed sponge cake as the most aesthetically pleasing, and awarded Mrs Szczerbicki’s gluten free chocolate brownie cake the best tasting !! At lunch, Mrs Shelton, our talented Biology Technician, was delighted with her certificate and prizes, as were the ladies in the canteen and Mrs Szczerbicki. Mrs Bedford’s gorgeous hedgehog cake, Mr Outen’s red cross themed creation, Mrs Urquhart’s “ sweet challenge “ and Miss Lupton’s “ roses grow on you “ were all worthy runners-up , and all received a certificate of participation and prize. Slices of the cakes and drinks were sold at lunch. Over £120 was raised for the Red Cross. A student “ Bake Off “ is planned for next term.

Also before half-term, 7B held a cake and sweet sale and raised almost £100 for the Red Cross. Yasmin Adams, Sylvie Bates, Sophia Cole, Lottie Harmeyer, Bethany Hodge, and Georgie Upton organised a sweet stall, and many other members of the form made posters and baked cakes with a chocolate bar theme.

The week before half-term the Junior and Sixth Form Charity Committee ran their traditional Valentine’s stall. Roses were ordered, goodies sold and, once again, serenades proved very popular. On the last day of term, sixth formers delivered roses and Karys Battenfield, year 10 and a group of sixth formers, Megan Battenfield, Louise Lindsey, Robyn Manning and Becky Smith sang 12 serenades for unsuspecting students and staff. This proved very entertaining and at £5 each raised £60 for the Red Cross. Overall, the Valentine’s stall raised just over £400.

The end of February and the beginning of March was our main Charity week of the year. Over £2500 was raised for The British Red Cross. 8A raised over £60 with a jewellery and gift stall, 8E raised over £50 with their cake and drinks stall, 9A, led by Daniel Hodgson raised almost £100 with their games and 9E, led by Lily Dewick, Helen Ogilvie and Nell Westbrook raised over £70 with a cookie stall. Boarders Jess and Vega raised almost £100 with their home baking stall. Mrs Turrell, our super librarian and her library prefects raised almost £80 with “ Take Your Pick “ – there’s a prize every time ! The charity committees sold cakes, sweets and easter eggs and raised over £500. On the

Page 8 of 29

Friday of Charity week students and staff donated almost £900 on the non-uniform day. Also on the Friday, we held our second “ Manwood’s Got Magic “ show. This was led by our amazing sixth form magician, Ted Missons, with a spectacular guest appearance by Mr Outen. Everyone really enjoyed the show. Over £50 was raised.

After Charity week, during March, week several junior forms, hopefully inspired by the fundraising in charity week, have been raising further funds for the British Red Cross. 7A held an Easter cake sale and raised £125! 7E held a cake sale which raised over £90 and this week have held a “ Pick‘N’Mix” sweet stall which raised a further £170 ! Those involved in the fundraising in 7E were Kathryn Bailey, Stanley Curling, Ruby Day, Izzy Georgiou, Sam Hammond, Archita Jain, Sammy Killberry, Matilda Ovenden, Lucy Rotter and Izzy Todd. 8C have raised almost £300! Ella Gibbons, Amber Hicks, Harrison Last and Natasha Mitchell ran a cake and sweet stall. Octavia Harris, Theo Larsen, Molly McGuirk, Nico Papadopolous and Malachi Sewell completed a sponsored silence. Honor Goodall and Paris Critcher raised funds with a 3-armed day!

Finally, over the last week 9A have been selling raffle tickets for Easter hampers. They have raised almost £200.

Just before the Easter holiday the Sixth Form Charity Committee held their fourth Easter tea for local retired citizens. Over 50 guests were entertained and were fed a delicious selection of sandwiches and cakes made by Mrs Debbie Mason and her team in the school canteen. One elderly guest said the scones were the best she had ever tasted-and she is in her 90s ! Thank you to the canteen staff, Year 13s, Victoria Allen, Megan Battenfield, and Becky Smith, who played and sang, the Yukele band for their playing and singing, and the members of the Sixth Form Charity Committee who helped so much to make this event a success. Also, thank you to those parents and students who donated prizes for our raffle.

Again, I would like to thank everyone at school and at home for their help with the different fundraising activities and charitable events.

Best wishes for a relaxing holiday time.

Page 9 of 29

Boys’ Sports U12XI Hockey

Considering many players were new to the game, the under 12s have made a solid start to their hockey careers. In our league games, our passing skills continued to improve as we recorded 3 wins and 2 losses. Our game against Borden Grammar epitomised our team spirit. Equally matched sides, the difference was that we made the most of our opportunities to win the game 2 - 0. In contrast, our heaviest defeat was a friendly vs a St Lawrence College team full of Canterbury hockey club and county players.

Special mention goes to Dan Lowman and Matt Barras for their consistently strong performances. Thanks to Mr. Pearce and Mr. Riordan for all their guidance, support and encouragement throughout the season.

Written by William Green (Captain)

Page 10 of 29

U13XI Hockey

Page 11 of 29

U14XI Hockey

This season has been a great season for the team and we have improved a lot. We won 4, drew 3 and lost 3 games. Our top goal scorer was Matt Carney with a total of 14 goals. A particularly memorable game was against Simon Langton, a very strong team, who we drew 5-5 against.

A special mention to Freddy Larsen, who received a serious injury while playing against St Lawrence College. This put him out for almost the rest of the season.

A thank you to everyone who has played and thank you to Mr Riorden for coaching us and Mr Pearce for helping out as well.

Written by Will Ainsworth (Captain)

Page 12 of 29

U15XI Hockey

This season for the under 15s hockey team was the last but the best, for the first in the 4 years playing together they have finally come away with a win, but better we got two. Our first ever win being in the semi-finals for the plate in the Peter Firmingers tournament, taking a nice win of 2-1 against duke of York’s and after going home after a loss again Chatham and Clarendon we got our revenge beating them 2-1 next game. Our top goal scorers ending up as Noah upton, Sam Bennett and Theo Smith with two goals each. Our last season together has been a great one, thank you to Mr pierce and the others in the sports department for arranging, coaching and refereeing the games.

Written by Noah Upton (Captain)

Page 13 of 29

2XI Hockey

After a slow start to the season, the second XI’s form improved dramatically despite being severely depleted in numbers. After a fierce battle against St Lawrence in which we drew 1-1 after a sublime goal from Laurie Marshall provided by Brad Roy’s excellent run and driven cross, the Second XI played their match of the season – a 6-0 victory over Ashford thirds. Expertly executed goals from Brad Roy and Harry Brown to name a few aided the demolition which put us in good spirits to take on Duke of Yorks. Once again, despite depleted numbers, the Seconds put up a good fight in the narrow 3-2 loss which spurred them on to the final game of the season against St Edmunds. The lads put up a fantastic fight to destroy the opposition 5-2. Goals from that man Brad Roy again and despite breaking his thumb just 3 weeks before, the man of the match went to Harry Pierce who picked himself up a brace. Exciting performances from Matt Carney in year 9 too showed the potential the hockey team will have in years to come. Overall with 3 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses, the seconds enjoyed an exciting season full of highs, lows, McDonalds and classic tomfoolery which I’m sure the leaving year 13’s of Brad Roy, Max Taylor-Nobbs and Euan Newgreen will remember for years to come. A special thank you to Mr Pearce, Mr Riorden and Miss Woodgate too for putting up with our extremely mediocre standard.

Written by Brad Roy (Captain)

Page 14 of 29

1XI Hockey

Manwoods 1st XI hockey had an incredibly young team this year, with just 3 players being selected from Year 13. Despite this, the overall season was a huge success finishing with 6 wins and 3 losses. The season started off on the wrong foot with early defeats in the cup and a disappointing Frank Mason tournament, but with the positive mental attitude of the team, especially from the cool heads of the Verrier brothers at the back, we were able to put this behind us and wont the next 5 games on the trot, only to be defeated in the final game of the season against an incredibly talented OM side, including the likes of Andy Dunne, a household name in Canterbury hockey. Whilst a 2-0 loss may not sound impressive, to do so against the quality of opposition we were up against was highly commendable.

Special mention bust got to the contingent of younger years who made up the bulk of the team, especially Year 10 Noah Upton, frequently putting in performances to put the rest of us to shame. It goes without saying that none of this would be possible without the time and effort of the P.E. department, not least Mr Pearce- the team and I are incredibly grateful for all of the hard work you put in throughout the season.

Written by Alex Waldron (Captain)

Page 15 of 29

Kent School Games – U16 Badminton Finals – 3rd Place

Kent Schools Trampolining Qualifiers

Page 16 of 29

Girls’ Sports

U12A Netball

This term has been an amazing netball term. Our team have improved massively and have gone so far. This term we have won 3 games and a tournament drew one and lost the rest but overall this term has been great. I would like to say a big thank you to the teachers that trained us and took us to and from our matches and also a big thank you to the girls that played in the team this term.

Written by Lucy Rotter (Captain)

Page 17 of 29

U12B Netball

This season the under 12 Netball B team played very well, despite losing all our matches, apart from one where we drew 6-6 against The Duke of York’s. Overall, we played a total of 5 matches, two of which were against the B and C teams from Kent College. We lost both matches 0-1 and 0-2. It was quite difficult as the floor of the hall was particularly slippery and it wasn’t easy to stay still whilst passing the ball. We also lost our game against Chatham and Clarendon Grammar 0-2.

We then faced our hardest opponent, St Lawrence. Although we lost rather dramatically (0-10), we still played as hard as we could and had lots of fun. Keeping the ball at our end was a challenge as St Lawrence were a lot more experienced than us.

I am very proud of the team and I think every one of us played extremely well and with lots of enthusiasm. We all deserved to be part of the netball team! Also, a very big thank you to Miss Deveson and anyone else that helped us out along the way!

Written by Elissa Kingsbury (Captain)

Page 18 of 29

U13A Netball

This season had many highlights; one of the teams was beating Astor 19-0 in just half a game! In the tournament at Wellesley House the team managed to finish 3rd in their pool; a huge congratulations to Grace Wilson who was player of the tournament. At the Kent County Tournament some amazing netball was played; we finished 6th in our group where Yasmin Carney was the top goal scorer of the day and Grace and Sophia Scholfield were nominated best players. The last fixture of the season was the Dover District Tournament where the A team came 2nd by one point however the girls weren’t too disappointed as they didn’t lose a match.

Finally I would like to say a huge thank you to Miss Deveson, Mr VP and Miss Blythe for their support in training along with taking us around on fixtures a long with Miss Woodgate. Also, a huge thank you to all of the players for your commitment this season who I’m sure will want to hugely thank all of the PE staff for their help as well as taking the team to McDonalds after tournaments- also I guarantee that the coaches liked it too!

Thanks for a great season.

Written by Yasmin Carney (Captain)

Page 19 of 29

U13B Netball

The team had a great season, winning 3 of the 6 matches we played and coming 3rd in the district tournament. We had an amazing match against Chatham and Clarendon Grammar winning 12-0 with Cordi scoring 9 goals and Ananya scoring 3. In addition the win we had against Ashford school was brilliant as well, 9-5. Lois scoring 4 goals and Ananya scoring 5. The match against DOY’s was close winning by one goal, 4-3. Hannah scored 3 and Ananya scored 1.

Throughout the season the team has improved greatly. And have gained new skills. But none of these fixtures or the team would have been possible without the enormous help of our coaches, Miss Deveson and Miss Blythe who gave up their time to help the team.

Written by Ananya Uppal (Captain)

Page 20 of 29

U14A Netball

This season has, overall, been very successful with four wins, three losses and no draws. The whole team worked well together, this really shines through in the win against Sandwich Tech where the final score was 33-7. Our match against St Lawrence was an excellent game where even though the game ended in favour to the opposition there was some excellent netball played. Thank you to all those that have played and Miss Woodgate, Mr Van Poppel and Miss Deveson.

Written by Millie Prestleton (Captain)

Page 21 of 29

U14B Netball

This season the U14B team played brilliantly from the attacking to the defending. Over the course of the season the team won 3 matches and lost 1 against St Lawrence College with the close score of 13-9. Along with the great match results the highlight of the season for the Sir Roger Manwoods B team has to be coming second (after losing to the Sir Roger Manwoods A team,) in the District Tournament! The players of the matches were: Emily Kent, Catherine Morrell, Sasha Kilmurray and Hannah Kuruvilla. The players of the District Tournament were Hannah Kuruvilla and Emily Greenham, nevertheless everyone played well.

Finally a great big thank you to Miss Woodgate and Mr Van Poppel for coaching the U14B team to be the best they can be, and all the players for the dedication and skill they showed throughout the season.

Written by Hannah Kuruvilla (Captain)

Page 22 of 29

U15A Netball

The under 15s had a good season this year. We had lots of tough matches, especially against St Lawrence. Even though we never managed to win against them we played really well and came very close to beating them in the Granville Tournament (8-7) which we came second in overall. We also had a very close match against Chatham and Clarendon with our shooter scoring the winning goal in the last minute of the match. The end result was 14-13. Unfortunately in our first match of the season against Duke of York’s one of our players acquired an injury and the match was stopped. Overall our fantastic team won 3 matches, came second in the Granville Tournament and once again won the under 16 District Tournament against Dover Girls. Thank you to everyone who has played and to all the coaches who have helped us.

Written by Sophie Green (Captain)

Page 23 of 29

U15B Netball

Under fifteen girls netball started with an unfinished match, due to an injury, however we did manage play the school again in the Granville tournament. Later on, we were able to win an extraordinary game on 20-0 to Kent College, so a big well done to those playing within that game. Other games we lost but only by a small amount, but sadly we came 4th out of five schools in the Granville tournament. But well done to all players in the under fifteen girls B team and a big thank you to Miss Woodgate, Miss Deveson and Miss Blythe.

Written by Katie Roy (Captain)

Page 24 of 29

2VII Netball

Overall, I think that we had a very good season with three wins, one draw and three losses. The team had great enthusiasm and continued to grow throughout, portrayed in our results. We came across some challenging teams but always tried our best. One of our most memorable moments was when we beat Kent College 26-13. A huge thank you to our excellent coaches who taught us many valuable practices and skills, which provided the eagerness within our team.

Written by Ella White (Captain)

Page 25 of 29

1VII Netball

We have had a very difficult season facing some very challenging opposition.. We suffered 6 loss’s throughout the season and successfully won 2 matches. Our most memorable win would have been the 18-3 against Dover College. Jemma Veness and Grace Baldwin provided a strong attack throughout the season, with Rachel Napier providing the strong defence needed at the back. Hopefully the girls will have better luck next year and providing more successes for the school. This year we say a sad farewell to 7 key players from year 13 and we wish them luck in the future. Special thanks to Mrs Young and Miss Deveson for supporting us throughout.

Written by Jemma Veness (Captain)

Page 26 of 29

U13 Girl’s Cricket Squad U12 Dover District Tournament Winners

U14 Dover District Tournament Winners U15 Dover District Tournament Winners

U15 Granville Tournament 2nd Place

Page 27 of 29

rs

Hollie Allison – 3rd Place – Kent Schools Trampolining

Kent School Trampolining Finalists

Page 28 of 29

Gymnastics On Monday 27th March, 12 pupils represented Sir Roger Manwood’s School at the Secondary School’s Floor and Vault competition. 135 pupils from 12 schools competed in two categories; novice and advanced in a variety of age categories also. This was the second year this competition has run and the first time Manwood’s has put out a team.

Our year 8/9 novice team, comprising of Abby Harvey, Sophia Scholfield and Molly McGuirk came 3rd in their category.

The year 7 novice team; Lottie Harvey, Elissa Kingsbury and Nicole Brokane came 2nd, missing out to 1st place (The North School) by 0.1!

We had two teams competing in the advanced category. This group consisted of pupils who do more than two hours of gymnastics outside of school and therefore, a very strong category. Our advanced 2 team consisting of Carlotta Harmeyer, Evie McGuirk and Imogen Moore-Taylor came 10th and our advanced 1 team consisting of Skye Witte, Alice Baddeley and Jamila Deveson came 2nd only to be beaten by Canterbury Academy by 0.1! Skye also achieved the 3rd highest score of the day.

Very close competition and fantastic performances by all pupils, well done girls!

Secondary School’s Floor and Vault Squad

Page 29 of 29

The Grange The Spring term began by welcoming Adeoye to the Grange and continued with mock exams for years 11 and 13 during the first two weeks of term. With revision and hard work taking centre stage, weekend leisure activities centred around movies and food – always popular amongst the boys! A Hot Dog and Movie night was followed by a cinema trip to Westwood Cross.

Chinese New Year is always celebrated in the boarding community and this year the Chinese Church Service gave us an insight of the history of Chinese New Year and what is meant by many of the customs. The heartfelt contributions of the Chinese boarders were very well received by all. The trip to Chopsticks in the evening for the Chinese buffet was superb and the entire community enjoyed the evening.

Another community event was the Food Night where every boarder cooks and prepares food for everybody to share. There was so much food that we couldn’t get through it all but it was great to be able to taste a variety of dishes from different countries and cultures. Once everyone had eaten enough the DJ kept everyone entertained for the rest of the evening.

Trips this term included a visit to Canterbury, Ice Skating in Gillingham and a day trip to Thorpe Park. From freezing weather, to falling over on the ice to long days taking on the biggest amusement rides in the country all the boarders have enjoyed a busy term.

Next term sees the exam season begin and we wish all of our boarders luck in their studies, particularly those sitting external exams in the weeks to come.

Mr Pearce