THE "FIRST THURSDAY" NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER APR 1999 No. 58

OFSTED PARENTS' MEETING - Reminder

The meeting of parents with the OFSTED Registered Inspector will be held at 7.00 pm on Tuesday 20th April in the Great Hall. The Registered Inspector will be accompanied by the Lay Inspector.
It is hoped that as many parents as possible will attend the meeting in order to give a balanced view of parental opinion.

Headteacher

LENTEN APPEAL 1999

The week 22nd-26th March saw this year's Lenten Appeal charity week in aid of:

The Kent Air Ambulance, the RNIB and the St Laurence Hospice at Cernovoda (Romania).

As usual there were a number of fund raising events, including many individual sponsored silences, quizzes, a paper glider competition (won by David Garrett of 8PY with a "glide" of 21 metres), raffles, Mr Sewell shaving off his beard, Mrs Lloyd being soaked on the quad and culminating in the Powell Cup for which many pupils were sponsored. The current total raised is £1,965.30, but we are still collecting, so get any money outstanding in as soon as possible please.

WIND IN THE WILLOWS

The school production of Wind in the Willows which took place on the 11th, 12th and 13th March was a great success. Audiences enjoyed the lively style, excellent character masks and amazing vehicles specially constructed for the show. The cast, drawn entirely from Years 7 to 10, had worked with great enthusiasm and interest since before Christmas. We have just one plea: in future productions could we have more support from members of the upper school?

YEAR 12 EUROPEAN WORK EXPERIENCE

Six Year 12 students and five from the Girls' Grammar School were involved in the European work experience that took place during March over a period of four weeks. The first two weeks we welcomed the French group from a school in Brittany who spent their first week working in companies based in Dover and Deal. We had some very good feedback from both the students and the businesses. The second week had more to do with the cultural aspect of an exchange where our visitors discovered the area of Dover and also travelled to London for a day.

Much the same happened when the English group went to Brittany for two weeks. All but four boys are French specialists. I must say that I was most impressed by the quality of French that was used by all of them and I would particularly congratulate the boys who overcame their fear of speaking a foreign language that they are not studying for 'A' Level. They did it very successfully!

We have had some excellent feedback from the French companies who did say that after this first experience of having a foreign student on work placement they are quite prepared to go ahead with it again next year.

Our second week was a lot more relaxing and based on visits. We went to a biscuit factory, the telecom museum, the impressive Pink Granite Coast and also had great fun, and a few bruises, on the ice rink in St-Brieuc.

As a whole this four week exchange was a success and it seems that every student, English and French, thoroughly enjoyed it and gained a lot of confidence by being fully immersed in the different ways of life and working environments. I was very pleased to see that all our students showed the ability to adapt and be very flexible in these different environments. They got on very well with their penpals and some friendships were forged from this exchange.

The work placements in France included:- a lawyer's office, a laboratory, a design company, 2 town halls, a hospital, 2 primary schools, a physiotherapist, a bank and an IT company.

Mrs S Dukes - Modern Languages Department

An account by Stephen Bannister (Year 12) of the European Work Experience:

The English group, which consisted of six boys, five girls, Mrs Dukes, Miss Shafi and Mrs Riley departed on Sunday 21st March with the French visitors. Loading the minibus with our superfluous luggage seemed an impossible task, so congratulations were in order when we accomplished it. However, comfort had to be abandoned and now we can all empathise with live export victims.

Torrential rain hindered us, so we arrived much later than we had hoped for and we were all sore and tired and, to make things worse, we had to be at work early the next day.

We visited the picturesque Mont Saint Michel whose architectural flair was like no other we have seen before. To see it is to believe it. The granite coast was equally as spectacular but all the fun was found at St-Brieuc ice rink. Alex Kenmure still has the scars. The telecommunications centre, I'm afraid, was feeble and we failed to pretend we enjoyed ourselves.

We were not happy to bring this trip to an end but at least we have all improved our French and come away with permanent penfriends whom are likely to be visited in the near future.

A big thank you to Mrs Dukes for the crêpes! And yes - Alex received an award for his ice-skating talent!

This scheme is highly approved of by those who participated.

6th FORM HISTORY TRIP

On Monday 29th March twenty Year 12 and Year 13 'A' Level History students attended an 'A' Level Study Day at the University of Kent, Canterbury. They attended lectures as diverse as "The French Revolution of 1789", "Gladstone and Disraeli" and "Propaganda in the Third Reich".

Mr G Falconer - Head of History Department

ART TRIPS TO LONDON, FOLKESTONE AND SANDWICH

Royal Academy of Arts and National Gallery, London

The main trip made recently was the trip to London on 4th March 1999. Year 11 and Year 12 students visited the majestic 'Monet in the 20th Century' exhibition at the Royal Academy, then the late 19th century rooms of The National Gallery, and lastly the stupendous 'Portraits by Ingres' exhibition in The National Gallery's Sainsbury Wing. Lunch was taken at McDonald's at the Haymarket.

A great deal of sketching and note making was achieved in all parts of the day, and the pupils' response to everything was extremely positive. Even the astonishingly heavy crowds at The Royal Academy could not spoil what proved to be a highly enjoyable and fruitful day.

Thanks go to all pupils for their exemplary attitude throughout and to my colleagues Mr Stephen Thompson and Mr Giles Falconer for their excellent support.

Metropole Arts Centre, Folkestone

Mr Thompson took the Sixth Form Art and Design students to see the Arts Council touring exhibition 'Here to Stay' (Modern British Art) at The Metropole Arts Centre and to Pfizer's, Sandwich (in connection with an Art competition we have decided to enter).

Exhibition of Pupils' Work in Folkestone

Over the Easter weekend several of our Year 11, Year 12 and Year 13 students had their work exhibited in The Young Artists Section of Folkestone Art Society's Spring Show at The Leas Cliff Hall.

We showed a range of work including still life, landscape, 'world' art and imaginative composition. The response from the public has been totally positive. Well done to the pupils concerned.

Mr S M Almond - Head of Art & Design

SPORT STUDIES VISIT TO SIXTH FORM P.E. CONFERENCE IN LONDON - Wed. 17th March

The whole Sixth Form Sport Studies group travelled to Central London on Wednesday 17th March for an 'A' Level Revision Conference. Over a thousand students from all over the country attended so that they could benefit from the advice of Chief Examiner Paul Beavis and listen to outstanding lectures from Geoff Cooke (the former British Lions Rugby Manager), Brendan Batson (the Deputy Chairman of the Professional Footballers Association) and media expert Professor Wray Vamplew, about various exam related topics.

Mr S Bailey - Sport Studies Teacher

BOOKWEEK

This year's bookweek will be from the 19th - 23rd April. On Monday we will welcome Rob Parkinson to the school, an experienced storyteller and musician, who will perform to members of KS3 and run workshops throughout the day. On Tuesday Nicky Leggatt will return to the school with her Mobile Bookshop. She will speak to each Year 7 class and offer a wide range of good reading books for children and teenagers for sale at discount prices. The Bookshop will be open to anybody during the lunchtime, and boys are asked to bring money with them then if they would like to buy new books.

We are also running two competitions:

1) A poetry illustration competition which is being run for KS3 by the Art Department.

2) A poetry written competition open to anybody in the school. Maximum length 30 lines, and up to 5 poems may be submitted. Prizes will be offered to Year 7, Years 8/9, Years 10/11 and Years 12/13 if work of sufficient quality is entered. We would particularly welcome work from senior members of the school.

The deadline for both competitions is Friday 23rd April. Further details to follow.

Mr M Thomas - Head of English Department

LIBRARY NEWS

Vouchers and Tokens

The vouchers for Tesco and Free Books for Schools continue to pour in. The Tesco drive only stands at around 7,000 at present but we still have a few weeks remaining. Book vouchers will continue to appear in the newspapers until the end of the month even if crisp supplies are getting harder to locate. PLEASE keep on collecting.

Lenten Appeal

The Library Quiz remained a firm favourite this year with pupils raising £30 in all. Thank you for all who gave support, the usual enthusiasm and rivalry amongst the boys taking part was heartening. The winners were as follows:

First Prize - Books Tokens: Corbyn Matthews Crow and Mark Farthing of 7PT. Corbyn and Mark admitted putting to good use information given as part of Year 7 Library Study Skills. Well done!!

Second Prize - Easter Egg: Adam Belsom of 12SW

Third Prize - Slab of chocolate: Chris Tutthill of 11R and Edward Smith of 10PT.

Bookweek

Our second book event is scheduled for 19th - 23rd April culminating with World Book Day on Friday 23rd - Shakespeare's birthday. Boys will receive a £1 book voucher on that day as last year.

As already stated visits are planned by two authors Rob Parkinson and Peter Corey with the popular mobile bookshop making a return visit on Tuesday 20th April. During the day boys will have an opportunity to browse and buy current popular teenage fiction if they so wish. To avoid disappointment boys will need to bring money in on that day if it is appropriate and your wish that they do so.

Library Events

A Shakespeare Quiz linked to the Shakespeare event planned for Friday 23rd April.

Books Around the World Quiz: Linked to this the Librarian would like to make a donation to Book Aid International - the U.K's largest book aid charity. To be involved a pupil donates a book in good condition to a child in another part of the world who has little or no access to books. Because it costs over £160 to send books overseas each pupil would also be asked to give £1 as well as their chosen book. For each book given by a pupil Book Aid International will receive one brand new book free, donated by the publishers taking part in World Book Day.

Any support you can give will be gratefully received.

Mrs L George - School Librarian

MUSIC

Each month usually sees a number of musical events taking place and March brought four contrasting activities to report on.

GCSE Music Conference: On Wednesday 10th March the Year 10 and 11 GCSE Music groups together with the Year 12 'A' Level musicians, Mr Baldock and Mr Davies joined forces with their counterparts from the Girls' Grammar School to travel up to London by coach for a GCSE Music Conference at the University Institute of Education. The conference featured a sequence of presentations covering the Listening and Appraising paper, Composing coursework, Early Music, Jazz, Pop and Music on the Internet. The day was informative and useful in providing a checklist of the examination requirements as well as presenting some new ideas and enjoyed by all who attended.

Spring Concert: On Wednesday 24th March the school's musicians presented the annual Spring Concert in the School Hall under the direction of Mr Davies, Mr Baldock and Mrs Greenacre. Performances by the Brass Ensemble, Training Band (conducted by 'A' level student Michael Quinn), Jazz Group and Big Band were interspersed with a large number of varied solo items. The programme in the first half featured mainly younger soloists whilst after the interval it was the turn of the more experienced musicians to show their talents, amongst them Year 13 students Sam Donaldson on Saxophone, Alex Wilder on Drums, Ian Banks on Piano and Stephen Moloney (who recently gained his Grade 8 with Distinction) on Clarinet. During the interval wine and cheese refreshments were served by the PFA and the event was supported by a large and appreciative audience.

Sponsored Practice: During the February half term break and the following weeks the school's musicians took part in a Sponsored Practice to raise money for the Music Fund. Almost £400 was collected altogether, prizes were awarded to the three pupils who raised the most (winner Ben Bulow and runners-up Christopher Leach and Stephen Reeves) and all those who participated received a letter of thanks.

Grade Examinations: At the end of the Spring Term seven pupils took Associated Board Practical Examinations and all passed with fine results. Congratulations are due to Toby Auld (Grade 2 Saxophone with Distinction), Iain Thomas (Grade 2 Clarinet), Adam Owen (Grade 4 Clarinet), Paul Savage (Grade 3 Trumpet), Mark Wolstenholme (Grade 3 Trumpet), Tom Punton (Grade 4 Trumpet with Merit), Henry Bainbridge (Grade 4 Baritone) and James Rowson who has passed the Trinity College Initial Grade in Electronic Keyboard with Distinction.

Mr R S Davies - Director of Music

PFA

200 Club

The winners of the March 200 Club draw are as follows:
1st £25 Mr P Devereaux (160), 2nd £15 Mrs M Prior (131) and 3rd £10 Mr D Bull (55).

Second-hand Uniform

Second-hand uniform is on sale at the school office on Tuesdays and Thursday from 3.30 to 4.30 pm.

SPORTS NEWS

The Powell Cup 1999 Cross Country

The summary of results is as follows:

Year 7 1st Port, 2nd Channel, 3rd Priory, 4th Castle
Year 8 1st Castle, 2nd Priory, 3rd Port, 4th Channel
Year 9 1st Channel, 2nd Priory, 3rd Castle, 4th Port
Year 10 1st Castle, 2nd Priory, 3rd Channel, 4th Port
Year 11 1st Port, 2nd Priory, 3rd Castle, 4th Channel
Year 12/13 1st Priory, 2nd Channel

Total House Points:- Priory 18, Channel 14, Castle 13 and Port 12.
Houses in order with points counting towards House Championship:-
1st Priory 16 points
2nd Channel 12 points
3rd Castle 8 points
4th Port 4 points
Individual Winners:
Year 7 Stephen O'Brien (Port)
Year 8 Aaron Hobday (Priory)
Year 9 Luke Cassidy (Channel)
Year 10 William Swallow (Castle)
Year 11 Tom Parkin (Priory)
Years 12/13 Dan Trenowden (Priory)

RUGBY

Overall results of Inter House Rugby Championships

Year 7 1st Port (4 points) 2nd Castle (3 points)
Year 7 3rd/4th Channel & Priory (1½ points each)
Year 8 1st Castle (4 points) 2nd Channel (3 points)
Year 8 3rd Port (2 points) 4th Priory (1 point)
Year 9 1st Channel (4 points) 2nd Port (3 points)
Year 9 3rd Castle (2 points) 4th Priory (0 points)*
Year 10 1st Port (4 points) 2nd Castle (3 points)
Year 10 3rd Channel (0 points)* 4th Priory (0 points)*
Years 11/12/13
1st Priory (4 points) 2nd Port (3 points)
3rd Channel (2 points) 4th Castle (0 points)*
* no teams fielded

Final Placings:-

1st Port 16 points
2nd Castle 12 points
3rd Channel 10½ points
4th Priory 6½ points

Overall therefore PORT gain the EBBW VALE CUP. Well done to all who participated.

Mr M Grant - Head of P.E.

Year 7 Rugby

Year 7 had a fairly good term with regards to rugby. In the first match we played away to Chatham House G.S. who are a rugby playing school. The 'A' team lost 36-18 and the 'B' team also lost this time 35-0. This was also the match where one of our better tacklers, Jon-James Bumstead was injured, cutting his knee open and needing hospital treatment.

In our second match we played away to Oakwood Park G.S. The tackling was still not there but despite that the 'A' team won 63-14 thanks to brilliant tries from Gareth Hewer and especially from Simon Pearson-Wood for his excellent try where he ran almost the entire length of the pitch. The 'B' team also won 35-25.

We met Tunbridge Wells G.S. for our third match and although the 'A' team lost 55-45 it was a close match and we had started to tackle well. This was a very good match considering we were 25-5 points down at half time. The 'B' team also lost in a very close match.

In our first 3 matches we weren't playing as a team because we were either new to playing together or new to the game of rugby. The tackling was coming along but only a few players were willing to go in hard.

Our 4th match was at home where we took on Howard School. The 'A' team started well but unfortunately lost 48-24. The 'B' team followed suit and also lost their game.

The 5th match was also at home this time against St Anselms. The result was a crushing defeat of the opposition by 67 points to 7. The scorers were Paul Cairns, Simon Pearson-Wood, Gareth Hewer and Steven King. The tackling was there and things were looking up for the forthcoming festivals.

Festivals: The first festival was played at Folkestone Rugby Club. We won our group by winning all three games but lost 15-5 to Pent Valley in the semi-final. The tackling was much better than at the start of the season and we were looking forward to the all day festival near Dorking in Surrey. Not many people turned up for the lunchtime training sessions but on the session before the all day festival at least 30 to 40 people turned up. Could Latin really be that bad that most of Year 7 tried to miss it for just two periods? We played four matches in our group, losing one, drawing one and winning two. We went on to the next round but lost 15-5. In the end we came about 6th out of 40.

Some main team players were: Gareth Hewer, Luke Meredith, Andrew Gaines, Aaron Dawkin, Bradley Thomas, Richard Hayward, Michael Marsh, Steven King, Simon Pearson-Wood, Sean Golden, Paul Cairns, Jeff Miskimmen and David Fagg.

Written by Bradley Thomas and Richard Hayward (Year 7)

The following reports were written by various team members.

Year 8 Rugby

Last year, our Year 7 squad were put together for the first time to play rugby as a team. Some boys played for their first time and others with some experience.

We did not start off too well as many of the team did not know how to play rugby. After a year's practice our Year 8 team has come together to perform great achievements.

The squad consists of Jonathan Mapp, Robbie Guy, Paul Mulhearn, Gary Mulhearn, Craig Mellors, Ryan Kilpatrick, Chris Lucas, Thomas Walton, Thomas Gimber, Toby Freeman, Richard Trenowden, Alex Barr, Alex Libby, Aaron Abbot, Thomas Smith, Edward Close and Jonathan Stubbs.

On Thursday 25th February our team went to Ashford Rugby Club to play in the East Kent Rugby Festival. Our team played very well putting some good hard tackling in and good link up play. More importantly we scored many well earned tries. We played a lot of short games and were victorious in all of them, winning the tournament overall.

We then played an away tournament at Canterbury. Again the team played very well and we scored lots of tries to win the tournament.

We then travelled to Oakwood Park G.S. In the first half we dropped 19 points within the first 15 minutes but we would not give in and managed to score some excellent tries. We finally turned the game around from 19-0 to 44-19. The whole team put in their all and the effort paid off. This game was probably the best we have played as a team with great tackles, set moves and good ball handling skills.

The try scorers were Robbie Guy, Thomas Walton, Ryan Kilpatrick, Aaron Abbot and Jonathan Stubbs. Jonathan Mapp scored a try and two conversions.

Many thanks go to Mr Grant and Mr Duke for coaching us and I should like to remind you, you still owe us a McDonald's for our victories!

Year 9 Rugby

This has been quite a successful season considering injuries and other reasons for people not being able to play.

Our first game was in the Kent Cup against a very strong Chatham House team. Our players played very well and managed to keep the score to only 44-20. Good performances from Rick Stanley and Mark Artis.

Our next game was against a weak Dover College team and it did not take long for us to make a big lead and with 6 early tries (4 from Steve Hornsey and 2 from Rick Stanley) we knew we could get a lot more points. Many more tries were added and we ran in very comfortable winners 67-0.

Next we played Chatham House again. We knew we had a hard task to start with because we only had 13 players. They turned out very easy winners and the game had to be stopped after an incident.

The next game was away to Tunbridge Wells G.S. We tackled well all the match especially Ian Chan and Casey Beer. Trailing for most of the game we won it late on from a try by John Waite and a good conversion from Matt Carley.

We then played host to Howard School, once again defending well and because of this were able to get two early tries from Ben Vick and Mark Artis. We then started to relax and they came back into it and we found ourselves behind, ending up drawing the match after two late tries from Matt Carley.

In our District Tournament we cruised through our first two matches to qualify for the finals. We played very well here and came out eventual winners after extra time against Dane Court. There were good performances from Ian Chan and Matthew Long who scored 11 tries between them in the four games.

We then played Brockhill School. We won very easily with 2 tries each from Matt Carley, Rick Stanley, Casey Beer and 1 try each from Matt Thomas, Ben Vick and Aaron Murray.

Next we played away to Maidstone G.S. with only 13 players but still played well and the score in the end was 29-5, the try coming from a superb run by Matthew Long.

Our last fixture of the year was in the County finals. We played very well to get to the semi-finals where we were beaten by St Gregory's School who came out the winners. The best player on the day was Michael Flynn who scored 4 tries overall.

The squad for the season was: Matthew Carley, Mark Artis, Ben Vick, Rick Stanley, Cameron Ward, Jonathan Pearson-Wood, Joe Burman, Aaron Murray, John Waite, Dave Percival, Dan Gill, Casey Beer, Tom Brooks, Darren Farrow, Ben Clutton, Steve Hornsey, Ben Cheeseman, Nick Townsend, Jon Sleep, Ian Chan, Matt Long, Glynn Myers, Matthew Thomas and Michael Flynn.

Year 10 Rugby

Year 10 opened the season against a strong Dover College team but due to lack of numbers players such as Mike Sterrow and Alistair McPherson were drafted in. During the game there was a lack of tackling, rucking and mauling and due to the fact it was the first time that some of us had played rugby since last season we eventually lost the game by quite a large margin.

The next game was against a strong Tunbridge Wells G.S. We had a reasonably strong team but we did not play nearly as well as we needed to to beat the opposition.

Over the next few weeks a number of new players such as Scott Guy and Stuart Inglis joined the squad. We then travelled to Canterbury with a reformed team with hopes of doing well in the South-East Kent Rugby Festival. In the first round we were drawn against Simon Langton School and Walmer. We lost both of our opening games but all was not lost. The team had done little or no training together but we were playing a lot better than we had done in our previous two games against Dover College and Tunbridge Wells. In the second round we were drawn against Christ Church College and Castle Community. In our first game we scored a brilliant breakaway try through Jason Laird and we won the game 5-0. We had high expectations for the second game but nothing really happened for us. Because of some lack of understanding from some of the players we were only able to manage a 0-0 draw.

We were hoping to put our dismal season behind us and make a fresh start in our next game at home against Brockhill Park but because of injuries and absences we struggled to fill a full team and ended up playing with 11 men to Park's 12. New players were rushed in to cope with the team's crisis and they proved very useful. Simon Norley played a great game on the wing and was rewarded with a try. Sam Smith also scored a try but it was all too much for the make shift side and we lost 34-14.

Two weeks later we travelled to St Anselm's, Canterbury. When the half time interval arrived we were only losing 14-0 which surprised all of us, but it showed that we could play well. Straight after half time the forward drove the ball from their 22 and Sam Wolfenden scored a try. Anselm's then scored a clever breakaway try and our heads dropped. Anselm's went on to score a number of tries. The end score was nothing like it should have been.

Our last game of the season was against Walmer. We had one of the best teams that we had had all season with new players such as Ross Lacey making a solid performance in the forwards. We took the lead after just five minutes with a brilliantly worked try from Peter Elms who ran from one side of the pitch to the other and ducked in to the left of the post. Walmer replied with 2 quick tries and at the end of the first quarter the visitors were 10-7 up. In the second quarter there was a lot of strong running from Sam Smith and Matthew Swift to put Walmer under pressure, and at the end of the second quarter Matthew Swift ran through the defence to score a try under the posts. At half time a number of first team players came off to make way for new players such as Ross Lacey (who was unlucky not to score a try), Daniel Webb, Simon Conyers and a come back for William Swallow. Although we played well we were not strong enough to hold back the Walmer Side. Ben Knott played a commanding role as outside centre and almost created a couple of tries but the scoreline once again did not reflect the effort and commitment the team put it.

Special thanks go to Mr Grant and Mr Duke who took us to away games and trained us and to the players who represented us this season. It was good to see a number of new faces this season and we hope they and many more play next year.

Players this season were: Matthew Swift, Graham Cutress, Nick Bannister, Dan Webb, Will Swallow, Ross Lacey, Craig Downer, Sam Wolfenden, Richard Jones, Peter Elms, Scott Guy, Joel Petch, Simon Conyers, Lee Harris, Stuart Inglis, Jason Laird, Sam Smith, Matt Vassey, Ben Knott, Mike Sterrow, Alistair McPherson, Dean Scoggins, Simon Norley and Gary Thomas.

Year 11 Rugby

In the sole match of the season we travelled away to Walmer School. With a below strength team we always found the going tough and with 10 minutes to go we were losing 24-7. However with two tries from Adam Stennet and a try from Ben Mackenzie we closed the score to 24-19.

1st XV Rugby

With two games being cancelled by our opponents we only played one game in the term. This proved to be an excellent display by the team against Simon Langton G.S. away.

In very windy conditions we started a little shakily but settled down gradually to win some good second phase ball. This allowed our backs to run in some excellent tries Adam Stennet scoring 2, Ben Parkin scoring 2, Ben Mackenzie 1 and James Goodburn 1.

The team finished very strongly winning overall 34-19.

BASKETBALL

Year 10. Having been entered into the league for the first time Year 10 were looking to improve on last year's record of friendly matches.

Our first game was against Archers Court. A sudden injury to Antony Boden before the match and the absence of other strong players left the squad weaker than desired but excellent defence by Jason Laird and other good performances notably from Kevin Fielding and Dean Scoggins helped to secure a 18-16 victory with Julian Bailes scoring 2 late points.

Our next game took us to St Edmunds who we had beaten comfortably several times the previous season. The return of Nick Hayward helped to strengthen the team in defence and attack. However, with a greatly improved St Edmunds team and Jason being fouled out shortly after half time we finished with a disappointing 32-21 loss.

Michael Sterrow and Antony Milne were drafted into the team for the next game against Harvey. Their presence in defence was noticeable as we held Harvey to just 2 points at half time. The scoring finally picked up in the second half but a loss of concentration saw us slip to another disappointing 21-14 loss.

The following week we travelled to the league leaders, Channel High School. With several players still out the team was still not at full strength. We started well though and played the best we had done all season. We built up a lead with Julian hitting 3 long range 3 pointers eventually finishing with 11 points and Jason having his best offensive game finishing with 10 points. Mike Sterrow scored two freeshots which gave us an excellent 23-22 victory against a team which had only been beaten once before in 3 years!

Our next match was against Brockhill and saw the welcome return of Antony. Brockhill never really posed a threat and with good performances from Antony Milne and Jonathan Howlett we finished with a 26-22 victory.

We then played in the Harvey Grammar tournament and with our strongest side out played well. We corrected regular season errors by comfortably beating Harvey and St Edmunds with good all-round performances from the whole team, but a disappointing loss against Channel High meant we finished second.

Our final game of the season was against Pent Valley who we had thrashed in the tournament. With another good all-round performance notably from Chris Belson we won 32-27.

Season Record:-

Played 6
Won 4
Lost 2

Tournament Record:-

Played 5
Won 4
Lost 1

Players were:- Matthew Ayers, Julian Bailes, Chris Belson, Antony Boden, Kev Fielding, Scott Guy, Nick Hayward, Jonathan Howlett, Richard Jones, Jason Laird, Daniel MacLean, Antony Milne, Dean Scoggins, Mike Sterrow.

FOOTBALL

U13 County Final for the Kent Messenger Cup at Crabble - Wednesday 24th March 1999 kick off 6.30

DOVER G.S. 1 HOWARD SCHOOL 2
(after extra time)

Howard School successfully retained the County Cup but only after a monumental struggle against Dover Grammar, scoring the winning goal two minutes from the end of extra time. In an even contest Howard scored with virtually their first attck with a break down the left side, good cross and neat volley inside the bottom corner. Dover started slowly but gradually the midfield began to assert itself with County player Peter McCarvill, the Mulhearn brothers and Captain, Robbie Guy, winning most loose balls.

Howard defended well not allowing the Dover forwards Ed Close and Jamie Jordan any clear chances but at the other end Lee Westgarth, Ryan Doel, Ryan Wilson, Martin Bannister and keeper Jamie Howland controlled the dangerous Howard forward line. The big pitch and greasy surface made control difficult and both sides continued to cancel each other out until near the end of normal time when Dover pressed forward. Howard then broke out of defence and had a goal disallowed for offside, only for Dover to sweep to the other end and win a penalty when Peter McCarvill was brought down by the Howard goalkeeper. He converted the penalty himself with aplomb, but Howard nearly snatched victory when a forward broke through only for substitute goalkeeper Paul Hill to make a brave save.

During the second half Dover's other two subsitutes, Ty Smythe and Robbie Bulmer, were used and the team paid for this two minutes into extra time when Peter McCarvill was badly injured and had to leave the field, meaning that Dover had to play the remaining eighteen minutes of extra time one player short. Peter needed eight stitches in a head wound when he accidentally collided with Lee Westgarth's outstretched foot.

With only ten men Dover played fluidly and sensibly but with only two minutes left Howard broke down the right and crossed for the centre forward to head powerfully down into the ground and over the stranded Paul Hill, and into the top left hand corner of the net. At full time both teams would have shared the cup if scores had been level so it was particularly disappointing for the depleted Dover team to concede a goal so late in the game.

The match was excellently officiated by Gerry Murray from Folkestone and local referees' secretary, Dick McCarthy, on one touchline.

Both teams played the match in excellent spirit with hardly a foul throughout the whole game, and they warmly thanked Dover Athletic F.C. for their hospitality. Thanks were also given to Ian Westgarth, local Director of Frans Maas Freight who sponsored the match and provided the match ball. The trophy and medals were presented by KSFA Chairman, John Thrush and KSFA Secretary, Phil Harding.

Mr S Bailey

TABLE TENNIS

Results for Dover Closed Tournament 1999

Junior U11
Winner: Marie Tilbee Runner Up: Matthew Wright

Junior U14
Winner: Kush Bopari Runner Up: Simon Bishop

Junior U17
Winner: David Tilbee Runner Up: Chris Hadley

Intermediate
Winner: Alan Boxall Runner Up: Andy Law

Allocated Doubles
Winner: Jim Wraight Runner Up: Roy Baker Chris Hadley Steve Powell

Handicap Singles
Winner: Paul Walmsley Runner Up: Mike Howard

Handicap Doubles
Winner: James Eaton Runner Up: Jim Wraight Stuart Davies Kevin Powell

Veterans
Winner: Mike Howard Runner Up: Paul Ridgeway

Super Veterans
Winner: Paul Ridgeway Runner Up: Alan Rutherford

Open Doubles
Winner: Phil Saxby Runner Up: Mike Howard Alan Rutherford Alvin David

Open Singles
Winner: Phil Saxby Runner Up: Simon Greenwood

Hard Bat
Winner: Mike Howard Runner Up: Mark Stanton

Player of the tournament - Stuart Davies

DATE FOR DIARY

Bank Holiday - Monday 3rd May 1999

GOOD READS

Thanks to Christine Gabriel, English teacher, and Linda George, Librarian.

Chosen by Year 8 children (12-13 year olds) at Dover Grammar School for Boys, Kent.

Left to right: Cameron Ward, Marcus Wilder, Sam Grilli and Glynn Myers

Adrian Mole: From Minor to Major

Sue Townsend, Mandarin,
07493 11207, £6.99 pbk

Plot: This book is a collection of Adrian Mole’s first three diaries: The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 and 3 Quarters, The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole and True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole. All these diaries are a collection of Adrian Mole’s thoughts and philosophy on life. Adrian goes through many stages in his life and soon becomes fixated with a girl called Pandora. Adrian also wants to become a poet, and thinks that he is an intellectual. When all these things become mixed in his life, the results are hilarious.

General Thoughts: This book is one of the best books around for teenagers. You can really empathise with Adrian, with many problems being those of a teenager today.

Recommendation: I would definitely say this book is for teenagers. Some younger people may not understand it, while older people may not understand its humour.

Cameron Ward

Six Shakespeare Stories

Leon Garfield, Heinemann New
Windmills’. 0 435 12424 2. £5.75 hbk

Plot: The plots of these stories are very interesting and once you start reading one of the stories you just keep on reading it until it is finished. The plots range from magical adventure to romantic ones. Some of the plots are pretty hard to follow at times which is not because they are difficult to read, but because the author (Leon Garfield) still uses some of Shakespeare’s old English in some of the dialogue.

Criteria: There is not really much wrong with the book, apart from the parts when the old English is still used, even though that’s only in part of the dialogue and not in any other parts of the stories, I also like the way that Leon Garfield has changed the old English and made the stories shorter as they’re in story form instead of play form, but they still make sense,

Recommendation: I definitely recommend this book to any Shakespeare lovers and anyone who has not actually read Shakespeare before, It is not really a book for very young people as it is quite hard to follow in places.

Markus Wilder

Stranger than Ever

Chosen by Wendy Cooling, Dolphin,
1 85881 6009, £1.00 pbk

‘Vandaland’ is the first story written by Hazel Townson. ‘Vandaland’ is about a group of children who get lost on their way to a birthday party. They soon come to a dead end where a gang of older teenagers jump out on them and take them to an underground cave where broken street signs etc are stored. Their leader tells them to take their jackets off and give them to him, He also takes their bikes and then orders them to leave. The children then tell a passer-by what has happened and she rings the police. As the police arrive the cave collapses and the gang are killed.

Two days later one of the children is down the town when he sees one of the gang that died in the cave, ride by on his bike which was crushed in the cave. The boy then wonders if he’s seen a ghost or whether he was imagining it. This is just one of the five stories in the book, Stranger than Ever. The other titles are ‘Road to Nowhere’ by Nick Gifford, ‘Three Hundred Mullion Years’ by Anne Campling, The Great Pandolfo’s Last Trick’ by Simon Edge and ‘The Moss Garden’ by Suzannah White,

I would say the stories are suitable for children aged 8-12 and are best read on a car journey or something where you have some spare time.

Sam Grilli

Bullies Don’t Hurt

Anthony Masters, ill. David Kearney.
Puffin, 0 14 037484 1, £4.99 pbk

Alistair Hall is the leader of the rat pack, a group of four pupils, determined to make trouble for new teacher Bill Radford.

After Bill keeps Alistair’s class behind, All is beaten up by the school bully, Stuart Kennedy, This makes Alistair determined to make life even more difficult for Mr Radford.

After a series of stunts, All is exiled by the rat pack. His stepfather abuses him, and now All is out on his own. Dare he attempt another stunt to get back to the rat pack, or does he tell somebody of his troubles?

This was a great book, and it gets you into the action straightaway. The characters are lively and the story line exciting, and very realistic. It’s a horrible insight into the sensitive issue of child abuse and gets you feeling really sorry for Alistair. A great read for teenagers.

Glynn Myers