Dover Grammar School for Boys
THE "FIRST THURSDAY"
NEWSLETTERTHE 2002 LENTEN APPEAL
A big 'thank you' to all those, pupils, parents and friends, who helped raise money for this year's Lenten Appeal. At the time of writing the amount collected has reached £3,217.16. This is a magnificent effort, a total not reached for as far back as anyone can remember. The three charities - the Demelza House Trust, Starlight Children's Foundation, and the Meningitis Trust - will all be given their share of the total during the Summer Term.
Among the highlights of the week were:
· Mr. Ralph raising £100 to have his hair cut short and beard shaved off,
· Dr. French and his Form raising around £100 through the (now traditional) "Cola and Questions", and with more from other events (so far totalling £471.01 they were the most successful form.
· Kirk Waite, helped by various other Sixth Formers and 'Ann Robinson' (aka Mrs. Marion Pardoe, Finance officer for the "Teachers' Weakest Link", won by Mr. Frost, which raised over £140.
· Robert McKay, Daniel Nash, Adam Owen-Stirna, Tom Wood, Thomas Kennett and Darren Jarvis organising (for the second year running!) the excellent "Murder Mystery" which also raised over £140.
· Ross Greig, who raised £110 by gaining sponsors to run the Powell Cup Cross Country
Plus all the other, pupils and staff, too many to mention here, who found new ways of having fun and raising money for the worthy charities - well done!
Mr. G.M. Falconer - Assistant Headteacher
STAFF CHANGES
At the end of the spring term we said goodbye to three members of staff, each of whom had been at the school for two terms. They were Mr. David Shaw (English and Drama) who made a great impact with the Year 10 Sketch Review Show; Miss Cecile Deltreil (French and German); and Mr. Peter Stringer (Business Studies). We thank them all for their efforts and wish them well in their future careers.
From today we welcome three new members of staff. Dr. A. Cruttenden comes as Head of English and Drama. He was previously Head of English at Barton Court Grammar School, Canterbury and an English tutor at Christchurch University College. Dr. Cruttenden's appointment will allow Mr. M. Thomas to concentrate on managing our expanding Sixth Form. Also joining us are Mr. A. Lascelles (French and German) who has taught at Dover College and also spent a year at DGSB previously, and Mrs. J. Trinder who will be teaching part-time in the Business Studies Department. She has previously taught at Rainham Grammar School and Sir Joseph Williams' Mathematical School in Rochester.
Mr. G.M. Falconer - Assistant Headteacher
INVESTORS IN PEOPLE SUCCESS!
The school is delighted to announce that, following a visit by an IiP (Investors in People) assessor, we have been confirmed as an "Investor in People" for another three years. This is a nationally recognised award any business can apply for - you may have seen the triangular plaque at your bank or building society, for example - and it means that our practices in areas such as the induction of new staff and development planning satisfy the national criteria according to the judgement of an independent assessor who interviewed some 17 members of staff. This renewal of IiP came a few days after the Government appointed assessor for performance management had awarded us a "strong" on every single criteria against which we were measured.
Mr. G.M. Falconer - Assistant Headteacher
MORE AWARDS FOR THE SCHOOL WEB SITE
We are pleased to announce that the School has won two more awards for its web site, designed and administered by Mr. Paul Skelton. One award is the Excellence Award from the Community Web Site, and the other is also an Excellence Award from the Dover Web Site, contents of which benefit Dover residents.
The web site address is : dovergrammar.co.uk
FOOTBALL
Year 7 County Cup Final versus The Howard School, Gillingham
This match is being held at Gillingham Football Club's main ground, The Priestfield, on Thursday 18th April with a 5.00pm kick-off. The team is leaving promptly at 3.30pm in the school minibus.
Parents and friends are very welcome to come along, with their own transport, to support this exciting sporting event.
Mr. M. Grant - Subject Leader for P.E.
JOB OPPORTUNITY
As you may know, teachers are not the only staff required by schools these days - in addition to the teachers there are many others who help the progress of teaching and learning, either on an individual or group basis. The following post may be of interest to anyone contemplating a 'gap' year before University, or after completing a University degree, or equally to anyone looking for part time work locally. Please feel free to mention this vacancy to anyone known to you who may be suitable.
From September 2002 there will be a vacancy for a Learning Support Assistant (20 hours per week) to help a student with hearing difficulties. This is an ideal opportunity for anyone considering a career in teaching to gain relevant experience - the current post holder and her predecessor have both planned a career in teaching following on from this post. However this is by no means a necessity, nor is previous experience or specific qualifications required.
Anyone interested should contact Mr. Falconer via the School Office in the first instance for an informal discussion.
Mr. G.M. Falconer - Assistant Headteacher
YEAR 11 SATURDAY SCIENCE REVISION CLASSES
Just a reminder that all Year 11 students are welcome to attend the GCSE revision classes on Saturday 13th and Saturday 20th April, whether or not they have attended the previous two classes.
Mr. S. Nugus - Subject Leader for Science
UK (INTERMEDIATE) MATHEMATICS CHALLENGE
This year there were over 160,000 entries from 2,200 schools and as usual a large number of pupils achieved certificates.
Four Year 9 students - Sam Best, Joseph Hurling, Daniel Huxtable and Nicholas Thatcher - did exceptionally well getting through to the next stage of the competition. We wish them good luck and congratulate all those who took part.
Results:
Year 11:
Gold: Joshua Collins, Robbie Guy, Gary Mulhearn, Thomas Smith
Silver: Simon Bishop, Ben Bulow, Matthew Bunn, Sam Horne, Richard Horsler, Alex Libby, Chris Lucas, Paul Skeggs, Lee Westgarth
Bronze: Martin Bannister, Darren Jarvis
Year 10:
Gold: Timothy Hall (also joint top in the school), Oliver Mayes
Silver: Sean Golden, Steven King, Chris Leach
Bronze: Rahul Bakshi, Glenn Burdett, Michael Chivington, Richard Hayward, Martin Hogg, Grant Jones, Ian Morgan, Ben Punton
Year 9:
Gold: Nicholas Thatcher (also joint top in the school), Sam Best
Silver: James Dray, Adam Horne, Joseph Hurling, Daniel Huxtable, Mark Ritson
Bronze: Aaron Brading, Andrew Davison, Joe Grilli, Edward Haste, Michael Knott, Jamie Phillips, Luke Phillips, Mark Stamp
Mr. D.M. Murray - Subject Leader for Mathematics
BIOLOGY FIELD TRIP - Juniper Hall Field Centre, Dorking, 25th February to 1st March
After a three hour minibus journey (including a refreshing insight into Irish folk music) the A Level Biologists arrived at Juniper Hall ready and eager to embark on a week long ecology expedition. After two days of background knowledge from legendary ecologist John Bebbington (and five extra helpings of rhubarb crumble!) we were ready to concentrate on our chosen project and were given the next two days to collect the appropriate data. Thorough research in the well stocked library continued after lessons as the hardcore biologists made use of the vast wealth of knowledge at their disposal.
A week of hard work from the biology crew left everyone, including centre staff, pleased with our efforts. Our thanks to Mr. Ritson who used a lot of his free time to visit every night (and tick a few boxes on our behalf), and to the staff at Juniper Hall for giving us the opportunity to produce top quality coursework.
Jason Laird - 13 Channel
SCHOOL LIBRARY NEWS
Thanks to all those boys and staff who supported the Library Lenten Appeal quizzes. This year the Library donated £41.50 to the funds. Well done. The winners were: "Chocolate and Sweet" quiz, Ben Bridges Year 12; "Stars in their Eyes" quiz, Lewis Clewlow Year 8.
Jack Starling in Year 9 has been running his own Easter raffle leading up to the holidays to buy some new fiction titles for the Library. Thanks to everybody who has supported him. Who will win the Easter eggs I wonder?
Thanks to James Walker and Alex Coupe in Year 8 for all their assistance in the Library last term. They are both an asset and consistent workers and are much appreciated.
Please carry on collecting the Tesco vouchers. I will place the order at the beginning of June. At present we still have a long way to go if we want to procure a new computer. In the past I've had my doubts, but we usually manage to reach the target. So every token counts.
To celebrate World Book Day on 14th March I was happy to place another order with Scholastic Bookclubs and hope to receive a small number of new fiction titles. All boys should have received their Book Day Vouchers, value £1. These should have been spent in the run up to Easter.
Reminder - Any boys willing to help and be part of the Carnegie Book Award Shadowing Group after Easter please see me as soon as possible after the holidays. We only need a small group to make it happen.
Mrs. L. George - School Librarian
PFA
Reminder of dates mentioned in last month's Newsletter:-
16th April - PFA Committee meeting to be held in the Headteacher's study at 7.00pm.
26th April - Wine and Wisdom evening at 7.30pm. Details and booking forms were sent home with your son before the holidays. If you would like another letter please ask him to come along to the School Office to collect one.
PFA - 200 CLUB
The winners of the March draw are as follows:-
1st - Mr. R. Hopkins (68) £25. 2nd - Mr. D. Bull (55) £15. 3rd - Mr. G. Chawner (21) £10.
COMBINED CADET FORCE
On 13th March 13 cadets from the RAF section attended the National Ground Training Competition at RAF Uxbridge. Under the lead of CWO Gary Thomas we managed a very impressive tenth overall and third in drill. Many thanks to Flt Lt Masters and SWO Middleton who helped us achieve this impressive result.
Our annual handover parade said goodbye to Under Officer Blanchflower, CWO Thomas and Cpl Shrubsole. FS Shaun Friend took over as NCO ic RAF Section, Sgt Cannons as NCO 2 ic RAF Section and CWO Downer took over as Contingent Senior Cadet.
Over the Easter holidays cadets from the unit took part in a variety of activities. FS Friend went to RAF Brize Norton where he flew supernumerary in a VC10 to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. CWO James Downer and Sgt Naomi Cannons also spent two weeks at RAF Akrotiri where they undertook a variety of activities.
Approximately 40 cadets from both sections attended an Adventurous Training Week in Dorset. The week included kayaking, climbing, abseiling and other adventurous activities. It proved to be a fun week for all involved.
CWO Downer - Contingent Senior Cadet
DATES TO REMEMBER
Year 10 Work Experience -
Monday 22nd April to Friday 3rd May
