"The First Thursday Newsletter No. 59."

Pupils from KS3 recently entered work for an Art competition run by The Association of Men of Kent and Kentish Men. The themes to choose from were 'Kent in The Millennium' and 'Kent As I See It'.

The competition, open to all 11-14 year olds in Kent, was entered by a large number of pupils from all over the county. We are pleased to announce that two of our pupils, Jamie Turner in Year 7 and Samuel Tiltman in Year 9, have been awarded runners' up prizes.

The Year 13 group visited various sites associated with the Battle of the Somme (1916) on a cold, wet and even slightly snowy day at the start of the term. The sites visited were: Delville Wood and the South African Museum; the German Cemetry at Mametz; the Lochnagar Crater; Newfoundland Park; the Ulster Tower and Memorial Museum (about Northern Irish Regiments) and the Thiepval Memorial where the names of several Old Pharosians were found.

A display of photographs from the trip is on show in the school foyer at present. My thanks to Mrs F Lloyd for accompanying me and sharing both the driving and the historical work.

Please dig deep and track down any vouchers you may have missed. The total collected has risen dramatically over the past month and a new computer is now a definite possibility.

Any Year 10's who were absent on Work Experience are the most likely candidates.

This has also now closed and it is time to begin counting and collating. Orders placed will appear in later editions.

This proved to be most enjoyable with all our visitors inspiring pupils and promoting reading and writing for leisure and pleasure.

Congratulations to Ben Bridges of 9Ch who was the winner of the Shakespeare Competition.

The books collected and donated for Book Aid International will be packed up and sent off. Response was limited but not a disaster - one box full in total. Thank you to all who took part.

The school once again welcomed several visiting writers and performers during its Bookweek, 19th-23rd April. On Monday Year 8 were entertained by Rob Parkinson, a fascinating story teller and musician who performed on a wide range of instruments as he told stories from many cultures around the world. All the boys in Year 8 had the chance to participate in a workshop with Rob during the day.

On Tuesday Nicki Leggatt brought her Mobile Bookshop to the school and talked to each Year 7 class about new reading. We were pleased that the boys bought nearly £400 worth of books from her at discount prices - plenty of reading to keep them busy!

Our final guest on Thursday was the writer Pete Corey, winner of several BAFTA awards for his TV scripts. He spoke to Year 11 about how he became a writer (despite his inability to spell or punctuate) and how he wrote comedy. Year 11 were very impressed - an uncommon experience for them - and found him very funny. Peter then went on to conduct creative writing workshops with groups in Years 8 and 9 which were highly stimulating and successful.

The concluding event took place on Wednesday last week when prizes were awarded to boys in Years 7, 8 and 9 for their art work illustrating poems and to boys in Years 7, 8, 10 and 13 for their own poetry. There was a good standard of entry this year and many boys read their poems confidently and expressively. We were also delighted with the excellent art work, especially Anthony Crockett's wonderfully effective illustration of Blake's The Tyger done in card using 3D relief.

Year 7	Winner	Anthony Crocket
	Joint Runners Up	Paul Cairns
		Stephen O'Brien
Year 8	Joint Winners	Max Beresford
		Ashley Rickman
Year 9	Winner	Nick Downs
	Joint Runners Up	Alan Blanchflower
		Sam Tiltman

POETRY:
Year 7 Glen Burdett
Year 8 Robert McKay
Year 10 Robert Oliver
Year 13 Nick O'Brien

There was also good work submitted by Jonathan Shaw, Simon Hurst, David Harper, Jonathan Fullarton and Ross McNamara.

Thanks to all those who gave up an evening the other week to polish all the trophies in the cabinet at the back of the hall.

Second-hand uniform is on sale at the school office on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3.30 pm to 4.30 pm. If any parents have uniform they wish to donate we would be pleased to receive it. Your son may have grown out of his uniform which may still have many months more wear left in it, or perhaps he is moving into the sixth form and no longer needs some items. Please send it to the school for the attention of the PFA.

The next meeting of the PFA Committee is on Tuesday 8th June at 7.30 pm at the school.

1st £25 Mrs A Stewart (114) 2nd £15 Mr D Hambling (128) and 3rd £10 Mrs G Roberts (93).

News items about old boys of the school are coming in for the next edition of the Old Pharosians' newsletter which is due to be published in July. We have been receiving letters and e-mails from former pupils of the school who are now living and working in various parts of the world. Archivist Peter Burville and his team continue to be busy adding items of interest into the school's archives and the Old Pharosians' computer database.

If any fathers of current pupils used to come to this school and have not yet joined the Old Pharosians' Association a membership form is available from the office. If you would like to write a resume of what you have done since leaving we would be pleased to include it in the newsletter.

May: Thurs 6th prov. 1st XI -v- Norton Knatchbull (Lemon Cup 1st round). Tues 11th 3.45 pm Yr 7 -v- Astor (A). 3.45 pm Yr 10 -v- Astor (H). Wed 12th 2.00 pm1st XI -v- Queen Elizabeth's (A). Thurs 13th 3.45 pm Yr 8 -v- Astor (A). Mon 17th Yr 8 -v- Sir Roger Manwoods (A). Wed 19th 2.00 pm 1st XI -v- Harvey (A). Wed 26th 2.00 pm !st XI -v- Simon Langton (A). Thurs 27th 3.30 pm Year 10 -v- St Edmunds at The Danes.

June: Mon 7th 4.00 pm Yr 9 -v- Harvey (H). Tues 8th 4.00 pm Yr 8 -v- Harvey (A). Thurs 10th 2.00 pm 1st XI -v- Sir Roger Manwoods (H). 3.30 pm Yr 10 -v- Sir Roger Manwoods (A).

The Ron Edwards Trophy final was played on Monday 19th April at neutral venue "Whitfield Club" with the two finalists Fire Brigade v Grammar "B" and a healthy crowd supporting both teams. The Fire Brigade consisted of Bob Tomlins on plus 4, Mick Christie on zero and Jim Forsyth on minus 5, and the Grammar "B" with Paul Laker on plus 4, Alan Boxall on minus 3 and Chris Bailey on plus 1.

The Grammar "B" won the first game quite easily with Bob Tomlins playing Paul Laker 12:21 14:21 but were beaten in the second game in a three leg match with Mick Christie playing Alan Boxall 16:21 21:17 21:15 to make the match one all. The Fire Brigade put on the pressure in the third and went one game ahead with Jim Forsyth beating Chris Bailey 21:18 21:17, but Grammar "B" came back in the fourth with the second three leg with Paul beating Mick 21:18 10:21 14:21 making the match two a piece. The fifth match was again won by Chris of Grammar "B" 13:21 15:21 against Bob and the sixth match also a three leg match 21:13 16:21 18:21 between Jim and Alan making the score Fire Brigade 2 Grammar "B" 4, the first team to reach 5 being the outright winners.

The next crucial game for the Fire Brigade between Mick Christie of the Fire Brigade and Chris Bailey of the Grammar "B" started absolutely even, but Chris finally put and end to the match winning the Grammar "B's" fifth game 20:22 15:21.

Although the Trophy had been won by Grammar "B" there were still two games left to play and both teams decided to continue. It was the end to a very entertaining night with two very close matches Grammar just pinching the eighth match in another three leg game 17:21 21:17 19:21 between Jim and Paul and lastly the Bob of the Fire Brigade stealing the final match back against Alan 21:12 15:21 24:22. Had it been four each at this last game stage, it could have almost been "toss a coin" to determine the eventual winners. All in all a nail biting and fitting end to a 6:3 victory for the Grammar "B".

Please save your used postage stamps and send them in to the School Office. These are then sent on to the undermentioned charities: