THE "FIRST THURSDAY" NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 1994 No. 5

We're Smart!

OUR school has become the first secondary school - and only the second school in the town - to be presented with an award for good behaviour by Dover's top tourist attraction, the White Cliffs Experience.

The presentation was made on Friday at the school assembly by Kim Norton, the heritage centre's education officer.

Staff at the centre are always watching school groups carefully as they tour the centre, taking special notice of the children's behaviour, and the interest they take in their visit. At the end of each month, they pick out the best school for "Sid's Smart School" award (named after the infamous Sid Seagull).

The winning school each month receives a certificate, £25 cheque and five video tapes. And they also go into a competition to find the best school of the year. The staff again re-assess each group's performance, and £500 worth of video equipment is presented to the overall winner.

So, congratulations to the boys who represented the school so well in the first place. . . and here's hoping we could be in with a chance of winning the top prize!

A longer day?

A couple of years ago, the times of the school day were altered, to make the joint working with the Girls' Grammar School - and especially the school transport - easier.

Now that is no longer necessary, it has been suggested that slight alterations be made to the school day, which would have the overall effect of lengthening lesson times by five minutes,

Here's how it would work.

The school would start at its usual time of 8.40 a.m. and the morning lessons would remain unchanged.

Lunchtime would be lengthened by five minutes, so that it would run from 1.10 to 1.10 p.m. This would be of benetit to various groups - such as the school choir - that meet during the lunch break.

Five minutes would be added to period eight (the last period of the day) to allow for movement after period seven (in the same way as we do in the middle of the morning double periods). The school will then finish at 3.35 p.m. instead of 3.25 as at present, giving a total "class contact" time of 25 hours per week.

The Governors discussed these changes at their meeting last week, and decided to put them out for consultation with the staff and parents. Changes of this sort can not be made overnight. . . they probably won't come into effect until September.

Parents will be given the chance to express their views, probably at the annual parents' meeting in the summer term. Watch out for more details!

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 . . .

The countdown is proceeding towards the announcement by the Department for Education about our application for Grant Maintained Status. They say we ought to know by Tuesday, 8 February. As soon as we know. we'll tell you! The new governors who will join the G.M. board came to the school a couple of weeks ago to discuss the situation.

Philip Buss and Don Soppitt have resigned from the existing governing body. We express our appreciation to them for all they have done during the many years they have been connected with the school.

The next meeting of the Governing Body is on Monday 28 February at 7 p.m.

Congratulations!

We congratulate Mark Scales on being offered a mathematics scholarship by the University of Wales. The offer, from University College, Swansea, is for the first year of the Mathematics and Statistics course at Swansea, and is subject to two passes at A level.

Well done, Mark!

Our commiserations to Ian Tillyard who has taken over part of the gardens at the Maison Dieu car park as part of his community work for the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme.

He planted a number of bulbs, but unfortunately someone stole some of the plants the other week. We hope his work will be appreciated more in the future.

Parents and Friends Association

Who is the Greek goddess of victory, what's the name of the cafe in "Happy Days", and what does V.S.O.P stand for?

Those were just some of the devious questions posed by Paul Hough at the latest wine and wisdom evening, held in January.

We are very grateful to Paul and everyone else involved in organising the event for all their hard work, and congratulations to the Good Companions team who were the winners. Thanks to all those who supported it and helped raise nearly £400.

200 Club

The 200 Club gives you the chance to win a cash prize of £25, £15, or £10 every month. for a monthly subscription of just £1. Twice a year, there's a special £100 prize. The next one is due in June.

If you haven't joined yet all you have to do is contact the School Office for an application form, and return it by 15 February, together with £7 to cover the rest of the school year, to be included in the February draw.

Winners of the January draw were: £25 Mr. M. E. Collins, £15 Mrs. Val. Davies, £10 Mrs. Gill Smith. The draw takes place on the third Thursday of each month, and the next one is on Thursday 17 February.

C.C.F.

On Sunday, 40 members of the Combined Cadet Force took part in a 20-mile sponsored walk around the Alkham Valley for C.C.F. funds. We know they raised at least £260.

We congratulate several C.C.F. members on the following achievements.

Two members of the Royal Air Force section of the Combined Cadet Force have been awarded R.A.F. Scholarships.

Anthony Downing, 16, who lives at Kingsdown, and Mark Tillyard, 17, from Shepherdswell, attended the Officers and Aircrew Selection Centre, and as a result of their performances, they have been awarded the scholarships.

In addition to receiving some financial reward while they continue their studies at school, university or college, they are entitled to a place at Initial Officer Training at R.A.F. Cranwell when they finish their education.

They will also be expected to undergo a two-week Preparation for Leadership course at the R.A.F.'s outdoor activities centre at Grantown-on-Spey in the Cairngorms, and undertake an 18 day flying scholarship course at a civilian flying school.

We congratulate Anthony and Mark on this fine achievement, which is all the more remarkable when you consider that there were 1,000 applicants from throughout the country.

David Hughes, of the R.A.F. section has been awarded an overseas night with the R.A.F. - possibly to Cyprus - this month, and three other members of the R.A.F. section. Anthony Downing, James Carpenter and Danny Berwick will be going to Germany during the Easter holidays.

In April, about 20 members from the three sections will be going adventure training in Brecon.

Old Pharosians

The latest edition of the Old Pharosians' Association newsletter was sent out to the 686 members this week. As always, the editor Ken Ruffell has crammed it full of news of old boys, reports of events at the school, and dates for the future.

All old boys of the school are invited to join the association. The membership secretary, R. Gabriel. of 229 St. Richard's Road, Deal CT14 9LF, (phone 366110) will be pleased to give you more details.

Sports News Rugby

This season got off to a good start last Wednesday (26 January) when our 1st XV team beat Simon Langton Grammar School 27-3.

On Saturday, three of our school teams played Norton Knatchbull Grammar School from Ashford at home. . . in the rain! The Year 9 team lost 33- 7, Year Swan 95-0 and the Year 7 team - playing their first match - lost 15-0.

Future fixtures include a match against Oakwood Park Grammar School (away) on 3 March, the 1st XV, B XV, Year, 9 and 10 XVs v Bethany School (away) on 9 March, and 1st XV and under 16 XV games against Minster College at home at 2.45 p.m. on 16 March. Spectators will be welcome!

Football

Three of our boys, Marc Goodacre, Chris Broom and Matthew Oiller played for the Kent Schools A side in an away game against Middlesex which ended in a 0-0 draw, and five boys played for two Kent teams in their matches against Hertfordshire. Both ended in victories for Kent, with Justin Luchford scoring twice - including the winning goal - for the Kent B team.

Cross-Country!

The Inter-Schools Cross-Country League got under way this term, and the next event is at St. Edmund's R.C. School, Dover, on Tuesday 8 February at 4 p.m.

The Powell Cup inter-house cross-country competition is at 2 p.m. on March 18.