"The First Thursday Newsletter No. 29."

Our intake for next September stands proudly at 110 boys, which means four classes of 27 or 28 boys.

We were encouraged by the increasing interest in our own entry test and the number of parents who put DGSB as their first choice on the selection forms.
In the first fortnight of June, Mrs Hargrave visited all the boys, but one, in their own primary school.

On Tuesday 2nd July, they came eagerly for their induction day. It went very well and their sense of direction was good. An interesting time was had by all and hopefully they are now more excited than apprehensive about transferring to Grammar School.

On Wednesday 3rd July 1996, there was an unveiling ceremony on board the 'Pride of Dover', one of P & O's largest ships. Two huge murals, one produced by pupils of this School, and one produced by pupils of The Blaise Pascal School near Calais, were the centre of all the media attention.

The two murals were installed in the ship's main upstairs lounge. Each school took a very different approach to the project, the French painting the view of Calais and its surrounding area, our students taking a much more illustrative approach, including 38 different images of South East Kent, such as famous places (in geographical sequence), crafts, traditions, wildlife, flora and fauna, and typical Kentish scenes. We created a new type face for the lettering. The entire project took several months, the actual mural painting taking approximately 80 hours.

Present from the School at the ceremony were Mr Slater, Mr Almond and the four artists involved, William Flack, Peter Nightingale, Tim Falconbridge and Patrick Jones (all Year 12). Later in the year, we will be supplying the same ship with a huge cartoon mural to be placed outside a children's playroom.

Parent Governor elections are due to take place next term. It is important that the Governing Body continues with its work as smoothly as possible, so the elections will take place right at the start of the term in September. Within the next couple of weeks you will all receive nomination forms which should be sent back by the beginning of the Autumn Term. Please think carefully about who should serve as parent governors, or about whether you would like to volunteer. Being a Grant Maintained school responsibility for the way the school runs rests with the Governors. There are four vacancies and those who are elected will serve for four years.

We thank those who have served as Parent Governors during the past four years, especially Penny Slade and Barry Crush who have given many years service, but who no longer have sons at the school and so are not eligible to stand for re-election.

Please look out for the nomination forms and make sure you submit your nomination by the due date.

There is the possibility of a Japanese student giving courses at DGSB next year at no cost to the school. It depends on a family being prepared to accommodate the student and provide transport to and/or from school occasionally. The student would contribute £50 a week to cover the cost of board and lodging. If you are interested in helping the school take advantage of this opportunity please contact Mr Lodder by the end of term, stating whether you would prefer to offer help for the minimum period of three months, or whether you can accommodate him/her for longer.

The Year 11 boys who took their GCSE's this year are taking part in their sixth form induction course this week. On Tuesday they were visited by Mr Peter Booth of the Young Enterprise Scheme who told them what the competition involves. It is hoped that our school will be able to enter a team in September.

To make it more successful we would be pleased to hear from any parents who are involved in business and who would be prepared to act as advisers to the team. You don't have to be in management to become an adviser, although managers are obviously welcome. Your expertise may be in marketing, public relations or on the shop floor. Whatever you do your experience could be vital to our team's success. The scheme involves a commitment of a couple of hours a week from September to May. If you can help, or you would like more information before making a decision, please contact Peter Booth on 01304 616161 or 203285.

Music for a Summer Evening in the School Hall at 7.30 pm on Wednesday 17th July.

The programme will include a variety of instrumental music played by the School's musicians ranging from classical through jazz to pop. One of the highlights will be performances by the school's new Big Band which made its debut at our Spring Concert in March. Music presented by the Brass, Woodwind and Jazz Groups will be interspersed with solo items featuring violin, clarinet, trumpet, piano and the school organ.

During the interval a choice of cheese and wine or light refreshments will be served, included in the admission charge of £2.50 for adults and £1.00 for students.

Please make this concert known amongst family, friends and others who may be interested. You are warmly invited to attend and we hope you will be able to join us.

The school is buying a digital camera, a demonstration model of which was seen in action on Sports Day. Digital cameras do not use film, the images being transferred directly to computer within minutes of being taken.

In the interests of tighter security during the school day all visitors are asked to report to Reception where they sign in and collect a visitor's badge. Not only does this allow us to identify intruders but it provides a better check in case of fire. This applies without exception to parents (and governors) and we shall be grateful for their co-operation.

The next PFA event is a Wine and Wisdom evening which takes place on Friday 12th July at 7.30 pm. As always, we are looking for tables of eight to take part, the cost is £2.00 per person (£16.00 per table) and you should bring your own food and drink. These are always very popular evenings, so send in your bookings as soon as possible.

The next PFA Committee meeting is on Wednesday 11th September at 7.30 pm when new members will be welcome. There is still a vacancy for a Treasurer and we would also like to hear from those willing to help at events but who, perhaps, do not want to join the committee.

Subscriptions for the 200 Club are due in September. It costs just £12 to belong to the club for a year, and to stand a chance of winning one of the monthly cash prizes of £25, £15 or £10. Twice a year, in June and December, there's a special prize of £100. You have more chance of winning a prize in our 200 Club than you do of winning anything in the National Lottery. If you pay by standing order then of course you need do nothing to continue your membership. If you pay by cash then please make sure your subscription is sent in by the beginning of September to avoid the need (and cost) of any further reminders. You can send it in NOW if you like, while you remember!!

If you don't belong to the 200 Club contact Jill Tutthill, via the school, for a membership form.

Winners of the June draw were: £25 Mr P Devereux (160), £15 Mrs S Tilbee (173), £10 Mrs A Russell of Dover (130). The special £100 prize goes to Mr B Crush (192).

The latest edition of the Old Pharosians' newsletter has just been published and is being distributed to all members of the association. It includes details and a booking form for the annual dinner which is due to take place on Saturday 12th October. The annual meeting and the football match between the old boys and the 1st XI also take place that day.

Former Headteacher the Rev. Dr. Michael Hinton is due to become the new President, taking over from Mr John Booth, son of another former Headteacher of the school.

We know of many fathers of current pupils who attended this school but who may not be members of the Old Pharosians' Association. So why not join? Membership forms are available from the school.

The contingent has enjoyed a busy and successful term. After a lapse of several years Competition Target Shooting is becoming a strong feature. Our teams have attended practices and matches locally at Hythe and Connaught Barracks and have also travelled to Ash and Pirbright Ranges in Surrey. We gained Bronze medals at the Kent Schools Rifle Shoot in May which greatly encouraged us.

A number of Cadets experienced flying in the RAF's new Bulldog trainer aircraft at Manston.

Other Cadets recently attended a short service at the Dover War Memorial to commemorate the First World War Battle of the Somme, together with several veterans of the conflict. The youngest of these was 97.

A recruiting presentation was organised by some Cadets at both the Girls Grammar and Astor schools, resulting in a good number of female cadets.

During the summer holiday the Army Section will be attending a week's camp at Wathgill, near York, whilst the RAF Section will be going to St. Athan in Wales.
(Written by David Horsley)

MARK INGLIS

Mark left the school five years ago after taking his 'A' levels which included a double A in Computer Science. Subsequently he graduated from Leeds University and worked for Pfizer. It was a great shock to learn that Mark died three weeks ago at the tragically early age of 23. The school was represented at his funeral and extends its sympathy to his family and friends.

The publication deadline of this newsletter means a full report on Sports Day 1996 cannot be given but yesterday's programme was affected by the rain.

However, some events took place on Monday and although no records were broken there were some good performances, especially Daniel Trenowden, winner of the Year 9 Triple Jump and 1500 metres, and Colin MacLennan who won the Year 7 1500 metres.

By the end of the twelve events Port House had scored 97 points, Castle - 81 and Channel - 75, to be added to their totals on the main day.

Fri. 5th at 1.00 pm 1st XI -v- Langley Park (Home). Wed. 10th at 2.00 pm 1st XI -v- The Old Pharosians. Thurs. 11th at 1.30 pm Yr 10 Inter House Cricket Match

The 1st XI cricket team have been enjoying more success this season playing two more games since the last report.

Mid-June saw us playing Sir Roger Manwood's away in a 'friendly' and after winning the toss the captain, as ever, decided to bowl first.

Opening bowlers Ian Matthews and Simon North performed excellently keeping their total down and were unfortunate not to take more wickets. Our good bowling saw Manwood's scoring slowly, and with a few wickets under our belts things were looking good. The pressure was kept on but Manwood's decided to hit out and eventually took them to a very respectable 185 declared. Their declaration came very late in the game, leaving us only 50 minutes before 20 overs were called.

A slow over rate on their part during the first 50 minutes meant our openers needed to set the pace from the start. No. 2, John Castle, finally found good form, quickly rising to the challenge keeping us up with the run rate. Daniel Bowley joined Castle, coming in at No. 3 and quickly hit 35 runs. During their partnership, Castle received a blow to the head off a rising ball and temporarily retired hurt. Bowley was dismissed after seeing the No. 4 getting out in the previous over. Castle returned to the crease, but never got re-settled, eventually scoring a commendable 47. The chance of winning was gone but our lower order batsmen were sensible and took us to a respectable draw with a total of 142. Had Castle not been struck a win would have easily been attainable.

A better result, however, occurred last Wednesday (26 June) when we played Dane Court Grammar School in the third round of the Lemon Cup.

Our opening bowlers once again proved their worth, with Matthews taking a wicket in only the fourth ball of the game. This breakthrough somewhat set the tone for the day with Simon North and Matthews pegging back their batsmen throughout their innings. Matthews ended up with 4 wickets for 31 off 12, and North had very respectable figures of 3 for 15 off 10 overs. Spence also bowled well in only his second match for the 1st XI taking 2 for 10 off 4.5 overs. This excellent bowling display was well rewarded when we finally took all their wickets for just 75 (24 of which were extras).

This low total didn't seem particularly hard to attain, but Dane Court's opening bowlers were two recognised Kent U19 & U17 bowlers. The openers seemed to find the going tough, scoring only 18 between them and things were not going particularly well.

It was then left up to the Captain, Daniel Bowley to score the runs, and despite finding runs hard to come by quickly took charge, and with John Brothwell doing well in a supporting role, Bowley took us to victory finishing with 29 not out.

The semi finals now down we are to play Langley Park Boys (Beckenham) at home on Friday 5th July at 1.00 pm.

We also have a fixture which will be enjoyed by all, when on 10th July we play the Old Pharosians (at home), who have many successful cricketers playing for them, such as Chris Penn who is in his testimonial year, after playing for Kent for many years.

It would be nice to see some support for this fixture from pupils and parents alike as the game is always of a high standard and a good atmosphere.
(Written by Daniel Bowley)