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Dover Grammar School for Boys

THE "FIRST THURSDAY" NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER OCT 1998 No. 52

YEAR 11 HISTORY TRIP TO YPRES

On Monday 21st September pupils studying history in Year 11 and the Sixth Form took a trip to Ypres or Ieper (whichever you prefer). Led by Mr Falconer we set off at the very early time of 6.40 am. We caught the 7.45 am P & O Stena ferry from Dover and soon discovered the arcades.

Just before arriving in Calais we boarded the executive coach, all except for Daniel Oborne that is, who liked the arcades more than most of us, but just before the search party left Daniel walked onto the bus to a chorus of sarcastic voices.

The coach journey was very smooth, with the entertainment being laid on by Mr Falconer once we had got into Belgium.

Our first stop was to the very interesting Sanctuary Wood. Here there was a museum full of photographs and equipment from World War I. The museums were a lot different from the ones we know, with no real room to see or put everything and a smell of smoke wafting through from the bar. Outside were some of the World War I trenches. The wet trenches were very small and gave you an idea of the unbearable conditions the soldiers had to live through throughout the Great War.

Next stop was the eerie German Cemetery Langermark. At Langermark tall trees left the cemetery very dark and four statues stood at the back, adding more intrigue. Also at Langermark was an area no larger than the school hall floor filled with 25,000 German soldiers, very sad.

The immaculate Tyne Cot was our next stop. The huge Commonwealth Cemetery, one of the biggest in the world, was full of white headstones and was as impressive as it could be for the men who died fighting for their country. Towards the back of the cemetery was a long monument showing thousands of names. Three of those were Old Pharosians, old boys of the school, who are commemorated on the school's stained glass window.

We then went to the centre of Ypres stopping at the Menin Gate. The superb archway shows all the names of the people who died in the third battle of Ypres. Quite like the Arc d'Triomphe the Gate stands as a permanent memorial to those who died in the war.

The next hour was spent wondering around Ypres, looking at shops and for Belgium chocolates.

On the way back we were deprived of a World War I video, so it was left to the good old pack of cards and Walkman to entertain us for the rest of the journey. On the ferry the journey was quite rough and so I sat in the Lounge Room and stayed there!

Overall it was a very good experience to go to Ypres and I would advise anybody who has the chance to go.

Ritchie Hulks - 11B

JUNIOR PRIZEGIVING

This year's prizegiving took place after school on Wednesday 23rd September. Approximately 75 prize and certificate winners were joined by their parents and friends and a number of guests of the Headteacher for a very enjoyable event. The Vice Chairman of the Governors, Mr Walter Robertson presented the awards and gave the main speech. Musical items interspersed the different groups, with a stress on performances by pupils from (last year's) Lower School. In a break from recent traditions the Form Teachers from each form introduced the winners from their form - an innovation that seemed to go down well with all present.

Mr G Falconer - Senior Teacher

JAMES A JOHNSON SCHOLARSHIP

We are very pleased to advise you that this year's Scholarship has been awarded to one of our students, Tim Courtney. The Trust were very impressed with Tim's academic abilities and his general enthusiasm for his future at Oxford.

This year the value of the Scholarship will be £6,000. As in past years Tim will be presented with his award at Guest Evening to be held on Friday 20th November.

GOVERNORS

The Governing Body re-elected Robin Terry, Director of London Fancy Box, as their Chairman at the first meeting of the new school year on Wednesday 16th September. Walter Robertson was re-elected Vice Chairman.

The Governing Body currently has a vacancy for a First Governor and applications are sought from people having some or all of the following qualities:

Background skills are desirable in one of the following fields: finance, publicity, marketing, the law or work in the caring professions.

If you are interested or know of someone who may be suitable then please write to the Chairman of Governors at the School. A letter of application must provide brief details of the interest in becoming a Governor and any relevant skills and experience that could be brought to this voluntary but vital task. The Governing Body has the sole authority in appointing First Governors.

The Annual Parents' Meeting takes place on Wednesday 14th October at 7.00 pm in the Great Hall at the School. Please come along on the night to share with the Governors how the school operates and to explore how the governors and staff are developing your school's aims and plans for the coming year. Staff are also warmly invited. Refreshments will be served by the PFA and a concert of instrumental music will be presented by the school after the meeting at 8.00 pm.

We look forward to seeing you all.

Robin Terry - Chairman

MUSIC

The school's musicians have already got off to a busy start this Autumn with the Choir, Training Band, Big Band and Jazz Group preparing for a number of events.

The first performance of the term took place as part of the new more informal Junior Prizegiving on Wednesday 23rd September when musical items followed each of the Year 7, 8 and 9 Presentations. A duet was played by Tom Punton on Trumpet and Henry Bainbridge on Baritone Horn together with Tim Salisbury on Drums. Andrew Lightwing played Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag as a Piano solo and James Garlick (winner of the Year 9 Music Prize) played a Clarinet solo. At the end the Training Band gave rousing performances of three popular pieces - Themes from Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance Marches, Summertime by Gershwin, and Rock Around The Clock. The band was conducted by Michael Quinn who is studying music at 'A' Level and all the musical items were prepared and accompanied by Mrs Greenacre.

Another musical presentation took place on Saturday 26th September with the Director of Music's traditional organ recital to old boys of the school before their Annual Old Pharosians Dinner.

Looking ahead, the next event is the Autumn Concert which is to be given in conjunction with the Governing Body's Annual Parents' Meeting for 1998 on Wednesday 14th October in the School Hall. The musical programme will start at approximately 8.15 pm preceded by Wine and Cheese/Light Refreshments as a follow-on to the meeting which starts at 7.00 pm. The concert programme will include performances by the Big Band, Jazz Group and Training Band together with a variety of solo items and you are warmly invited to attend either the concert alone or both the meeting and the concert, as appropriate.

Other events to follow later this term will be a lunchtime Jazz Concert, music at Senior Prizegiving on Friday 20th November at 7.30 pm and the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols to be sung by the School Choir in Charlton Church on Wednesday 16th December at 8.00 pm.

Mr R Davies - Director of Music

SCHOOL LIBRARY

Tesco Computer '98 Update

On Friday 25th September I was accompanied by two pupils, James Garlick 10CA and Ben Bridges 9CH, to the Tesco Store at Whitfield to be presented with our new computer and printer. We gathered with a number of other successful participants and received a certificate and took part in a photo call. At the end of the morning we were able to bring back our prizes.

The new system will hopefully be up and running by the end of the week.

Special thanks to Mr Chatfield our Premises Officer for accompanying us with the school minibus and helping with the safe transportation back to school. There follows a personal resume of the morning's events by James.

Mrs L George - School Librarian

We arrived at Tesco's, Whitfield, at 10.40 am in the school mini-bus. At 11.00 am we were taken upstairs to the 'Green Room'. When all of the nine schools had arrived, the manager of Tesco's welcomed us and thanked us for taking part in the Computers for Schools Scheme, before handing over to Gwyn Prosser. Mr Prosser gave a brief talk and then photographs were taken. Food was provided, and cans of drink as well.

All in all it was quite enjoyable. In total nine schools were awarded computers amongst others were River, Walmer, Sibertswold, Eastry, Langdon and Astor. We arrived back at school at about 12.30 pm.

James Garlick - 10CA

PFA

The PFA would like to remind you that they are holding a Wine and Wisdom evening on Friday 9th October at 7.30 pm. The cost is £3 per person and teams are made up of eight people. The evening is run on a "bring your own food and drink" basis. Please book your table by 5th October and send your cheque to Sandra Wright, PFA Secretary c/o The School Office.

We need a new PFA Treasurer and would be willing to receive any nominations as soon as possible. If you are interested please contact the PFA Chairman, Jill Tutthill, or Secretary, Sandra Wright.

Second-hand clothing is available - please ring Sandra on Dover 820709.

The next PFA Committee Meeting is to be held on Tuesday 3rd November at 7.00 pm at the school. We would like as many members as possible to attend please to help with the Christmas raffle tickets.

200 CLUB

The winners of the September and October draws will be included in the next newsletter.

Would members of the 200 Club who pay their subscription by cheque please let Christine Dunstone have their payment as soon as possible. If anyone would like to join the 200 Club, and stand a chance of winning one of the monthly cash prizes, NOW is the time to join.

OLD PHAROSIANS

The Old Pharosians' Association - the former pupils of the school - held their annual meeting, football match and dinner last Saturday.

Tony Bradley, who was at the school from 1945-52 and whose father was Chairman of the Governors at that time, has been elected President of the Association. The Rev. John Philpott (1957-63) was elected Vice-President. Thanks were expressed to retiring President, Denis Weaver, for all his work during the past year and it was good to see Ken Ruffell with us for the weekend. Archivist, Peter Burville, reported on the large quantity of material that has been donated to the archives, including the second and third editions of the Pharos magazine dating from 1909.

In the afternoon the Old Pharosians won their annual football match against the school by 4 goals to 3.

The annual dinner was held in the hall in the evening, giving old boys the chance to talk over old times, catch up on news of their friends and sing "Forty Years On".

We had several apologies from former pupils who could not attend the day, including our oldest surviving former pupil, Mrs Turnpenny, who is now 105 years old!

Just a reminder that if any fathers of current pupils are old boys of the school, and have not yet joined the association, it is easy to join. All you have to do is contact the school for a membership form which you fill in and return to the school.

CCF

July /August

At the beginning of July two members of staff and four Army Section NCOs took part in an exercise with Maidstone Grammar Schools CCF against Cambridge University's Officer Training Corp. The four day exercise which involved all aspects of the Army including The Army Air Corp, Royal Armoured Corp, Royal Artillery and the Royal Signals, culminated in a dawn attack of over 150 Officer Cadets and support on our enclave of 3 bunkers being defended lightly by 2 Officers, 2 Officer Cadets, 1 TA soldier and 20 Cadets only!!!

The RAF Section also went on exercise for the weekend with 1039 (Gillingham) Squadron ATC, following the Army Section's exercise. It was an excellent exercise that involved camping and escape and evasion exercises.

The RAF Section also attended the Battle of Britain Memorial Parade.

July ended with the Army Section going to Nesscliff Training Camp, near Shrewsbury in Shropshire for annual camp. Another excellent week with all sorts of military and civilian training taking place including canoeing, rock climbing and a 130' abseil!!

August began with the RAF Section Annual Camp to RAF Wittering, a fast jet base in Cambridgeshire. A busy camp where Cadets enjoyed visiting sections of the station, flying and a large number of exercises.

Range shooting took place during August and September at Hythe Ranges, practicing for the Cadet Skill At Arms Competition.

September

The start of the term has been busy for the CCF. We held two Range Days at Hythe and also sent two teams to compete in the Cadet Skill At Arms Rifle Meeting at Ash Ranges, Near Aldershot, which is a major national competition. Whilst we did not gain any prizes, our Cadets finished well up in the lists. As this was our first attempt the Cadets who took part deserve our congratulations.

Our Biennial inspection on the 25th went well. Judging by the Inspecting Officer's remarks we should soon be receiving an excellent report.

The Royal Signals gave a presentation to the Contingent on the 18th. It was much enjoyed.

October will be even busier. We have two Range Days planned, teams competing in the RAF Ground Training Competition at Uxbridge and several visits from The 7 Cadet Training Team to look forward to. One of these is for Watermanship Activities at Lydd.

To round off the half term we have an activities week, based at Napier Barracks. This will include rock climbing and abseiling.

SPORTS NEWS

Football Fixtures - October

1st XI fixtures: Wed.7th -v- Borden GS (A). Sat.10th-v- Norton Knatchbull (H). Wed. 14th -v- Chaucer (A). Wed.21st -v- Oakwood Park (H). Wed.4th -v- Maplesden Noakes (A).

2nd XI fixtures: Wed.7th -v- Borden GS (H). Wed.21st -v- Oakwood Park (A). Wed.4th -v- Maplesden Noakes (H).

Football Reports

Year 10 - 2nd Inter Schools League Match

Dover G.S. 5 - Castle Community School 0
Thursday 24th September at Home.

The team scored a very early goal straight from the kick off with a fine cross which Jason Laird headed beautifully into the net. After this we dominated the whole of the first half although unable to put the ball into the net.

A similar picture emerged in the second half and it was not until the last 20 minutes that further goals were scored. Siad Alwan came on for Simon Norley and scored a good individual goal. Jason Laird scored another and Dean Scoggins scored 2 more. We overwhelmed their defence in the last part of the game.

Our first round of the County Cup was against Channel High School from Folkestone on Wednesday 30th September at home.

Division II League Match

Dover G.S. 2 - Tunbridge Wells G.S. 5
Wednesday 16th September 1998

Kicking off 25 minutes late did not help our cause, the team took some time settling down. This was our first match of the new season and most of the team had not played together before.

Initially our weak marking and tackling was underlined with the opposition's front two making fast breaks through the middle and catching our defence flatfooted; 2 goals ensued in the first 25 minutes.

Adrian Bailes scored a very nice goal in the last part of the first half and Daniel Trenowden had several chances elude him.

With some changes made at half time we started to play tighter football and make use of the significant wind, now behind us.

We started to put pressure on Tunbridge Wells' defence and this paid off with some well worked passing culminating in a good goal scored by Ross Gaffney coming in from the right wing. Considerable pressure was put on their goal mouth in the last 20 minutes.

As a whole the team played very much more effectively in the second half.

Year 11 Reply 1st Round County Football Cup

Dover G.S. 9 - St Edmunds' R.C. 1
Tuesday 22nd September 1998

The team started well and put a lot of pressure on the opposition's goal and this resulted in goals from Luke Stockdale and Peter Allum in the first half. Bringing Mark Long on at half time gave us a lot more width on the left wing. Ross Gaffney and Ben MacKenzie increased the pressure in the second half and 3 goals occurred in quick succession.

With some good work in midfield from the captain, Kevin Doughty, further pressure was put on St Edmunds' goal. Neil Brinicombe, Daniel Brown and Tom Evans all made some good runs from our own half and four more goals resulted from this pressure.

Overall this was a much better team performance than the previous week at the Danes.

Dover & Deal Inter Schools 7-a-side Tournament

The Dover and Deal Inter Schools 7-a-side Tournament was held on a beautiful Saturday morning , 19th September.

Results were mixed but special mention must be made of the Year 11 team who remained unbeaten in their 6 matches producing some excellent quality football. Similarly, the winning Year 8 team remained unbeaten in their age group. The Year 10 team were runners up. Our Year 9 and Year 7 teams did not do quite so well but overall an excellent morning's football was gained by all the participating boys.

Our thanks go to Castle Community School for hosting the event and the referees who did sterling work in managing the 105 matches played on the 5 pitches.

Year 7

After a disappointing start in the District Tournament the team has bounced back with two excellent wins against Castle Community and St Edmunds.

Rugby

Rugby is gradually taking on a more significant role in the school and the coaching sessions organised by Mr Duke are raising the standards considerably, especially in the Lower School.

Any boy who enjoys the game and who would like to play regularly at weekends might like to consider joining the Dover Rugby Club. Recruits are always welcome and the Club runs sides for all age groups from Under 12 (Year 7) through to Colts (Under 19). Training and matches are held at Crabble Athletic Ground every Sunday morning starting at 10.30 am.

Many boys from the school are already members and many of these go on to play for Kent.

Anybody wishing further information should speak to Mr Gardiner.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Annual Parents' Evening -

Wednesday 14th October at 7.00 pm.

Staff Development Days -

Thursday 22nd/Friday 23rd October.#

Half Term -

Monday 26th - Friday 30th October inclusive.