THE "FIRST THURSDAY" NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER FEB 1998 No. 45

GOVERNORS

The next main Governing Body meeting will take place on Tuesday 10th February at 7.00 pm.

SKIING

The half-term ski trip is nearly upon us. The excitement is rising and the snow reports are good. A full report will follow our return including the announcement of the Mr Cool and Mr Bean awards.

Reminder: Could parents of pupils going on the trip please return the reply slips (and cash/cheques for exchange to Swiss Francs if appropriate) as soon as possible.

Mr N Boardman - Teacher in Charge

GCSE HISTORY CONFERENCE

On Monday 26th January 18 Year 11 History students attended this GCSE History Conference at The Stag Theatre, Sevenoaks, along with nearly 400 other GCSE students from schools all over Kent. There were two sessions, the first a fairly traditional discussion of exam technique carried out by a Chief Examiner, the second a theatrical production which supposed that Hitler had survived World War 2 to be put on trial for "causing the war". Historical characters from the 1920s and 1930s were portrayed and cross examined before the audience, or the Jury, got the chance to decide on Hitler's guilt. Rather surprisingly this Jury voted overwhelmingly to acquit Hitler of the charge of starting the war, though this may have been because they wanted to convict other individuals or nations as well. All in all it was a useful and thought provoking afternoon.

Mr G M Falconer - Head of History

BOOKWEEK 16th - 20th March 1998

Advance Notice

There will be an exciting week of activities connected with the first English Department Bookweek planned for the week commencing 16th March. On the Monday we shall host a visit by local poet and storyteller John Rice who will give readings of his work and conduct workshops in writing and performing poetry for boys in KS3. On the Tuesday Anthony Masters will be running two creative writing workshops with boys in Year 7. We also hope to be able to invite a drama group to perform some of the Shakespeare texts currently being studied by Year 9.

In addition, there will be two competitions for boys to enter with results to be announced during the Bookweek. Firstly, there will be an Art Competition for boys in KS3 to design a book cover for any chosen book. Prizes will be awarded for the best book cover submitted by boys in each of Years 7, 8 and 9. Secondly, there will be a Poetry Competition for the best poem submitted in each of three categories: KS3, KS4 and Sixth Form. For full details of these competitions please see any member of the English Department, Mr Almond regarding the Art Competition, or the School Librarian.

FRENCH DEPARTMENT

The French Department has now started its yearly programme of visits. Last week the first part of a 2 day exchange took place with the College St Pierre in Calais. The French party arrived on Friday morning and visited the White Cliffs Experience. They spent lunchtime and the afternoon in school when their penfriends showed them how to use a Graphics programme on the network. At 3.30 pm the English boys took their French counterpart home. The French pupils left on Saturday afternoon pleased with their experience of England and English life. They will play host to our pupils in March.

A similar exchange for Year 9 will also take place this term but over 3 days.

A group of pupils from Year 10 and Year 12 are at the moment spending 5 days in Valenciennes, also on an exchange basis. They are staying with families but during each day there is a blend of visits and classroom activities arranged.

Year 13, on the other hand, are busy writing up coursework on topics of their own interest and have consequently visited the Library in Calais and are due to attend an 'A' level study day.

Mrs M Hargrave

SCHOOL LIBRARY

Tesco Computer Voucher Drive 1998

Please see the attached letters giving details of the School's intended venture this year. Library Computer No.2 would make a measurable difference at lunchbreak and when projects and assignments are being researched. Use and demand is then at its highest.

With a growing list of CDs available further hardware would utilise them more effectively, and cut down on waiting.

Mrs L George - Librarian

CO-OP VOUCHERS - Sports Equipment

As at 29th January 6,191 vouchers had been collected. The scheme finishes on 21st February but in the meantime please keep sending the vouchers in.

SCHOOL DRAMA PRODUCTION

On Thursday 5th, Friday 6th and Saturday 7th March the boys will be presenting two plays written by Chris Maybury entitled 'Anonymous' and 'Hit and Run'. Both are modern approaches to contemporary issues and deal with them in very different ways.

It is hoped that you will support the students by coming along to what promises to be a very enjoyable evening.

Mrs L Watson - English Department

MUSIC

The next event to be presented by the school's musicians will be the Spring Concert to be given on Wednesday 18th March at 7.30 pm in the School Hall. Full details of the concert will be published next month.

A small number of orchestral instruments belonging to the school are not in use at present and would be available on loan to any pupil who would like to take them up through instrumental lessons in school. The vacancies are in Trumpet (3), French Horn (1), Trombone (1) and Clarinet (1). Please see Mr Davies or Mr Harding if you are interested.

Mr R S Davies - Director of Music

PFA

200 Club

Results of the January draw are as follows:

1st (£25) Mr J Petts (140), 2nd (£15) Mr A Husk (147) and 3rd (£10) Mrs K MacMillan (196).

We thank all those who supported the Barn Dance on Saturday evening. Everyone had a very enjoyable time.

We hope to arrange another Wine and Wisdom evening in March - more details will be announced soon.

Thanks to everyone who responded to our appeal for more members to join the 200 Club. We still have room for more so please return the forms as soon as possible so that you can take part in the monthly draws with a chance to win one of the cash prizes.

Just a reminder that aprons, T-shirts and tracksuits are on sale at the School Office. A good selection of second-hand uniform is also available at very reasonable prices. Please contact Mr Milford Lingard on (10304) 365155.

OLD PHAROSIANS

The latest edition of the newsletter of the School's Old Boys' Association is due to be published this month and will be sent out to its 700 members. The association is having a membership drive this year to recruit former pupils who are not yet members. It may well be that fathers of current pupils used to attend this school so now would be a very good time to join the Old Pharosians. If you are an 'old boy' and would like to join please contact the school for a membership form. A copy of the newsletter will be sent to you which contains details of the association's activities, news of reunions and updates of what other old boys have been doing since they left the school. An increasing number of former pupils keep up to date with what is happening at the school through the Internet and it is planned to make the newsletter available in this way too. The association continues to support the school in a variety of ways and is a very active part of the DGSB community.

CCF

We have two main events happening this month. Over the half term week we are running an NCO Cadre at Napier Barracks. Its purpose is to give Cadets with good leadership potential a good grounding in the skills required.

The second event is a fieldcraft exercise, on the last weekend of the month, to be held at the Mereworth military training area near Chatham.

Shooting practice also continues. This month we have a day planned on Hythe Ranges. Cadet skills at competition shooting have been improving rapidly and we hope to gain further prizes at meetings during the course of this year.

Recruiting for both the Army and RAF sections is encouraging - numbers are increasing steadily.

No.7 Cadet Training Team, from Chatham, continues to give us valuable support, both in military training techniques and in adventure training activities. The team will be with us on a regular basis at all our activities in February and beyond.

FOR SALE - Work Benches surplus to requirements.

A number of woodworking benches, in varying conditions, complete with vices are for sale through the Design & Technology Department. Please contact Mr P Jennings for details.

SPORTS NEWS

Rugby

The 1st XV enjoyed a useful win over Norton Knatchbull G.S. in a recent friendly rugby match. The team was not at full strength and some good running moves ensued during the game. The Captain Ian Matthews scored 3 tries with Ben Parkin, Phil Disbrey and Tom Scrivener each adding one apiece. Some slack defending especially in the second half allowed the opposition to score, the overall result being 30 points to 12.

On Saturday, 24th January, a series of friendly 7-a-side rugby matches took place against Harvey G.S. at home. The two Year 10 teams won their four matches showing some useful running and tackling.

Mr M Grant - Head of PE

Year 8 Rugby

DGSB 38 -v- Simon Langton 5

Extreme pressure in the first 10 minutes meant that the opposition had no time to settle and lead to mistakes which were converted into points, and a dominance which was maintained throughout the first half. Excellent penetrative runs by Hornsey, Carley, Luchford, Stanley and Artis lead to several tries. The pack played well with a lot of work being carried out by Artis and Stanley and ably supported by the rest of the pack. After surviving an onslaught in the second half further tries were scored.

When the backs learn to time and give a pass efficiently and the forwards play as a unit they will have the makings of an excellent side. A good first match.

Mr A Lascelles

Year 9 Rugby

Simon Langton 49 -v- DGSB 19

In the first quarter of the game we let them cross the gain line on a number of occasions. As a result two of their strongest players ran in for a number of tries. After this initial onslaught Jason Laird and Russell Johnson started to cross the gain line to put in some big tackles. This stopped their fly half from running and won us some useful possession. From this we managed to gain ground through the centres which led to the try by Russell Johnson. As we gained confidence our game became more controlled with some strong charges from Graham Cutress leading to some quality ruck ball. Although our game improved we were still open to counter attack and unable to stop the fullback from breaking through.

Tackling will be the key in our next game!

Mr J Duke

Cross Country Championships

In the recently held South East District Cross Country Championships at Sandwich on 21st January some useful performances were recorded. In particular Daniel Trenowden looked very impressive in easily winning the Intermediate boys' age group. In the Junior age group the following places were recorded:

Daniel Trenowden, Michael Roberts and Neil Trenowden will all be representing the Kent South east District Schools at the Kent Schools Cross Country Championships on Saturday 7th February at Danson park, Bexley. We wish them good running.

Football

At home last Friday, 30th January, the Year 10 football side produced a good team performance to win their County Cup quarter final match against St Anselms, Canterbury 3 - 1. On Saturday the Year 7 side won in their County Football Cup match 3 - 2 in an exciting match against Simon Langton G.S. at Canterbury.

Mr M Grant - Head of PE

Quarter Final of Kent Schools Under 15 Cup (Portex Cup)

Dover G.S. 3 St Anselms 1

This was one of the best team performances by a school team that I have seen for some time against a strong St Anselms' team. From the outset it appeared that we possessed a height and strength advantage and that St Anselms were strong in midfield, but relatively weak in defence. By playing direct football to the front two of Sam Gibbons and Ben Mackenzie we were able to bypass the midfield. Ben Mackenzie opened the scoring with a fine angled shot from outside the penalty area into the bottom left corner, and could have converted two other clear-cut chances before beating the St Anselms keeper on a through ball for a second goal.

Throughout the first half the defence held solid with Darren Piper and Robbie Hawke blocking the wings and Daniel Brown and Neil Brinicombe the middle - Chris Wash hardly touched the ball! But St Anselms attached with purpose for the first 10 minutes of the second half and scored a slick goal through the middle. Captain Kevin Doughty picked up his work rate and with Peter Allum stemmed the flow, and for the last half an hour we completely dominated and with better luck and skill we should have scored several goals. Sam Gibbons was particularly unlucky hitting the crossbar and a post; Ben Mackenzie missed a sitter, but quickly made amends by converting another through ball to complete a fine hat trick. Luke Stockdale came on to replace Chris Stanford for the last 10 minutes and St Anselms hardly threatened.

It will be a lot more difficult in the semi-final but if we can play with this amount of determination and discipline we must have a fine chance. Well done everybody!

Mr S Bailey

Table Tennis

Monday after school sessions: A ladder league has been started. All are welcome. This league enables better players to be matched against players of equal standard and newcomers to easily catch up with those at the top of the division.

Saturday mornings at Dover Sports & Leisure Centre are also continuing. Coaching is from 9.30 am to 12 pm and a similar, but larger, ladder league has been started. All are welcome no matter what standard.

David Tilbee and Chris Hadley play for Dover 'A' Team and on 1st February playing in the Kent Junior League their results were as follows:

Dover A 1 -v- Maidstone E 4
(David Tilbee won the only match)

Dover A 4 -v- Medway D 1
(Chris Hadley lost to D Richardson)

Dover A 4 -v- Bromley B 1
(Chris Hadley lost to R Hubbard)

Dover 'B' Team - Darren Howard and his sister Kerry - no details currently available.

Nick Bannister and James Eaton play for the Dover 'C' Team their results were as follows:

Dover C 4 -v- Folkestone E 1
(Unfortunately they lost in the Doubles)

Dover C 2 -v- Gravesend A 3
(Both Nick and James beat A Buttle but again unfortunately lost in their Doubles match)

Dover C 1 -v- Maidstone F 4
(Nick beat A Benge)

HALF TERM HOLIDAY

Monday 16th - Friday 20th February inclusive.