THE "FIRST THURSDAY" NEWSLETTER
JUNE 2000 No. 71

LENTEN APPEAL 2000

Two of the three charities to be supported by this year's Lenten Appeal have received their cheques for £600 each in a whole school assembly. The representative of each charity explained how the money will be used, the first being Ms Helen Fletcher of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) on Thursday 4th May and then on Tuesday 16th May Mrs Eileen Higgins and Mrs Rachel Dedman attended on behalf of the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Mrs Dedman, the mother of a former DGSB pupil, and herself a sufferer from MS for nine years spoke movingly and informatively about the disease to the whole school.
The third charity, the Kent Air Ambulance, will receive their cheque on 4th July.

FIRST DGSB OLYMPIAN?

In February Hugh Styles, who left DGSB in 1992, visited the school to discuss with the 'A' Level Sport Studies group about his ambition to compete in the Sydney Olympic Games. Several boys asked him questions about a wide range of sporting issues from drugs in sailing, costs of equipment, sponsorship, time for girlfriends and so on. His selection for the Games was still subject to various trials and competitions in the two man Tornado Class when he spoke to us and I am delighted to report that after finishing fourth in the European Championships in Holland in May his selection has been confirmed. He has given up so much over the last eight year, totally dedicating himself to sailing and reaching the Olympics, and thoroughly deserves to go to Sydney. At present he can be seen training at Sandwich Leisure Centre or practising at The Downs Sailing Club at Walmer. I'm not sure but this could be the first time an Old Pharosian has competed in an Olympic Games - keep an eye on his progress in September. He has promised to revisit the school and show off his gold medal!

Mr S Bailey - Sports Studies

ART EXHIBITION IN DEAL

Our school was one of a very small number in the region to be invited to submit Artwork for an exhibition, held over the half term holiday, at The Holm Oaks Gallery, Deal.
The gallery's co-owners visited the school and selected paintings by three of our Year 12 pupils, namely Christopher Wright, Daniel Phelan and Lee Kembrey, whose work the gallery owners described as being 'strong, vibrant and dynamic'.
The well-attended private view was held on the evening of Friday 26th May 2000.

Mr S Almond - Subject Leader for Art & Design

FIELD TRIP REPORT

On 8th May all of Year 7 went out on a Geography Field Trip to study the River Dour. The day started quite cool for the trek down to Bushy Ruff where eight groups went their separate ways to sixteen different sites set along the river. Each group surveyed two different sites and measured various statistics such as the speed, width, depth and quality of the River Dour.
After all the groups had completed surveying two sites we were going to gather up at the river's end, at De Bradlei Wharf then walk back to school in one big group. However, only two groups made it to De Bradlei because the other six slowed down because of the sheer heat!!
I know everyone got something out of the trip that will help them understand more about the River Dour. On behalf of everyone in Year 7 I would like to thank all the teachers who helped on the trip and especially Dr French and Mrs Partridge for organising the whole event.

Andrew Ward - Form 7CH

WORK EXPERIENCE

Chocks Away!
All of my friends were off to Superdrug and Homebase for their work experience but not me, I wanted to go somewhere that I would enjoy and cherish for a lifetime and find it as close as I could to my dream job, an RAF fighter pilot. I set about finding a suitable placement by myself. I looked in the yellow pages under "Aviation" and came up with a good looking business situated at Manston Airport, Hangar 1.
I arrived at the Jet Support Centre on a wet Tuesday morning with a feeling of anticipation and excitement. I walked through the doors and saw a huge DC8 Cargo Jet. My dreams had come true, it was an organisation which serviced, repaired and maintained nothing but jets. I was in my element.
During the first week I mainly spent my time in the engine bay working on the obese Pratt & Whitney jet engines. At the beginning of the second week the DC8 left the hangar and was replaced by a Boeing 707. On the Thursday after a hard morning's work I sat down to a gorgeous cheese and tomato sandwich only to be interrupted by Mr Slater who had come to visit me. He was delighted when I offered to take him up to the flight deck which I think he enjoyed thoroughly as I couldn't get him out. We were there for ages.
Throughout the fortnight I must have done everything from changing wheels and brake units from the undercarriage to removing birds' nests from the ailerons which would have prevented the jet from flying, and fitting seats in the cockpit.
My very last day was the best of all as the 707 was going out and I was told I would be controlling the brakes while they dragged us out using a small tug. And then it just got better, I was told that I could stay up in the cockpit while they did engine testing, it was immensely thrilling and I'll never forget it. I even got to help test the engines by pressing a variety of complex buttons and knobs.
Overall my work experience was enthralling and I will never forget this magical time for as long as I live.

Shaun Friend - Form 10PY

PARENTS' AND FRIENDS' ASSOCIATION

The next committee meeting takes place on Tuesday 20th June at 7.30 pm when the Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and 200 Club Secretary will be elected for the coming year.
PFA members will be helping to serve refreshments at the school Sports Day on Wednesday 5th July (or Thursday 6th July if it's wet on Wednesday) and if any other parents are able to help please contact Jill Tutthill on Dover 822121. The PFA will also be helping at the New Boys and Parents Evening on Thursday 6th July.
Don't forget that second hand uniform is on sale from the School Office after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Mrs J Tutthill - Chairman

200 Club

The winners of the May draw were:
1st £25 Mrs G Garrett (65), 2nd £15 Mr K Nye (155) and 3rd £10 Mr M Collins (105).

OLD PHAROSIANS' ASSOCIATION

The committee met last month and started the meeting by touring the new accommodation provided by the completion of the mezzanine floor above the dining hall and workshops. They were also able to see the new lockers which the association funded for the Sixth Form Centre.
Plans were made for the annual meeting, football match and dinner on Saturday 23rd September.
A reunion is also to be held in central London next Wednesday (14th June) for former pupils who live in that area and would like to have an informal get-together. The association's President John Philpott and Vice-President Phil Janaway will be there, together with the Headteacher.
A number of old boys who were at the school during the evacuation years in Ebbw Vale (1940-1944) were at a reunion organised in Dover by the national Evacuees Reunion Association in May. The BBC interviewed two of them, Derek Crouch and Brian Hedgecock whose memories were broadcast the next day. Local journalist and Old Pharosian Terry Sutton took part in a BBC Radio Kent broadcast on Sunday about Dunkirk.
Association Present the Rev. John Philpott has just completed 25 years as Vicar of Whitfield with Guston and presentations have been made to him.
Vice President Phil Janaway produced the very successful production of Iolanthe by Dover Operatic and Dramatic Society at Dover Town Hall last month. A number of former pupils of the school were among those taking part and sharp-eyed members of the audience with a knowledge of DGSB spotted an Old Pharosians' tie being worn by one of the chorus!
The next edition of the association's newsletter is to be published at the end of this month.

Mr G Tutthill

PREFECT LIST

The complete Prefect body is as follows:
Peter ALLUM 12B
Bryan ASHBY 12B
Sebastian BARLING 12B
Tom EVANS 12B
Ritchie HULK 12B Head Prefect
Geoffrey KEEN 12B
Jonathan OWEN 12B
Kemal OZKOROYUCU 12B
David PARISH 12B
Thomas PARKIN 12B Deputy Head 
Prefect 
Nicolas PILLAI 12B
Christopher TOWNEND 12B
Christopher WRIGHT 12B
Andrew CHALKLEY 12M
Stephen GARRETT 12M
Mark LONG 12M
Jonathan PASCOE 12M
Thomas REAY 12M
Thomas ROBINSON 12M
Fabian TREVELYAN 12M
Stuart WRIGHT 12M
Arnab BANERJEE 12R
Daniel BROWN 12R
Robert KENNETT 12R
James LANGLEY 12R
David MACMILLAN 12R
Luke STOCKDALE 12R
Christopher TUTTHILL 12R
Jonathan VISSCHER 12R

Dr A S Jackson - Deputy Headteacher

SPORTS NEWS

Cricket Match Report 
Year 7XI -v- Sir Roger Manwood's School - 5th May 
After several practices the team was selected for our first match which took place on Astor's artificial wicket. This was a friendly against SRM from Sandwich. We lost the toss and were put into bat. A good opening partnership between Greg Hill and Andrew Arter yielded over 40 runs.
Some of their bowling proved to be inconsistent and lacking in accuracy and there were nearly 40 extras including wides and no balls. After over 20 overs we had scored 99 for 5.
After Manwood's were put into bat some good bowling saw their first 3 wickets fall for under 15 runs. One of their middle order batsmen scored a very useful 40 not out and it looked as though we might lose the match. However, we rallied towards the end and managed to hold them to a draw after 20 overs of 93 for 7.
Overall this had been a good first match. All the team showed good concentration in the field and Greg Hill showed a mature and competent approach to captaincy. With the difficult tasks of field placing and the making of bowling changes he coped well.

Mr M Grant - Subject Leader for PE

The following reports were written by Mr Keith Onions - Teacher of PE and Games

Cricket.
Tuesday 16th May saw the Year 10 cricket side travel to enjoy the excellent hospitality of Sir Roger Manwood's School (SRM). 
Dover won the toss (the only thing that they did win that day) and elected to field first. This was an error on a dull pitch that only started to gain life as Dover's turn to bat came around.
SRM made light work of our bowlers, who failed to get any movement out of the dull pitch, putting on an impressive 107-5 in their allotted 20 overs.
We then broke for a really great tea put on by SRM's Sixth Form.
After tea SRM found some life in the pitch and quickly made light work of the Dover openers, Mark Artis going for 2 and Matthew Carley, captain, a golden duck!
A batting collapse that even a poor England side on a bad day could struggle to better followed. There was a total of 3 more ducks for David Percival, Steven Horsler and Richard Horsler, with only Ben Vick (1), Steven Hornsey (4), Ben Clutton (1), Matthew Thomas (3) and Luke Cassidy (6) putting up any resistance at all. After that we were all out for 20 with extras accounting for 3 of those. A poor loss by 87 runs.
Tuesday 6th June was the first chance the Year 10 team had to answer their critics after the heavy defeat by SRM. We travelled the short journey to St. Edmunds. 
Dover lost the toss and St.Edmunds elected to bat. They started poorly losing wickets early on and struggling to score off the inconsistent bowling of Dover. They managed to bat out their 20 overs for the loss of only 8 wickets but of their 55 runs only half were scored with the bat, our bowling gifting them 27 in extras.
With the ball John Stokes, 'playing up' from the Year 9 team, fared best with 4 overs 2 maidens 2 for 3. Other bowlers were Cameron Ward, 4 overs 1 maiden 1 for 7, Steven Horsler, 4 overs 0 maidens 3 for 10, Ben Clutton 3 overs 1 maiden 1 for 8, Ben Vick, 2 overs 1 maiden 0 for 8 and Steven Hornsey 1 over 0 (zero) maidens 0 (zero) for 5.
Catches fell for Ben Clutton and Matthew Carley, who was also run out.
With the bat we fared much better. Carley opened well with 18 with one 4 before getting out to a rushed shot as the first of the showers arrived. Hornsey also gave a good account of himself with 13, Ben Vick thrashed out a quick 7, whilst Cameron Ward scored 1, Stokes followed up his good bowling performance with a competent 2 not out whilst David Percival got the winning runs with 11 not out including 2 fours. With 4 extras the scoring was rounded off at 56-4 off 10.2 overs.
A much more satisfactory 6-wicket victory to leave us played 2 - won 1, lost 1.

Basketball.
Year 8 went to Dover Leisure Centre on Wednesday 24th May for the Dover District Basketball Championships. We were drawn in Pool 2 with Sandwich Technology, St. Edmunds and Herne Bay.
Sandwich couldn't make the competition so we were down to 2 games; our first against St. Edmunds. We put up a strong fight but lost bravely by 3 baskets to 2. Scoring for Dover were JJ Bumstead and Lewis Callanan.
In our second game we had to win by 2 clear baskets to have any hope of going through to the semi-finals. This was a tough task against the well organised Herne Bay side. 
We started well with Ian Morgan scoring early but Herne Bay then got the upper hand scoring twice in quick succession. We were then playing catch-up basketball and we got strung out from one end of the court to the other. Baskets from Simon Pearson-Wood and Ian Morgan followed but unfortunately Herne Bay were able to run in another 3 to win 5 baskets to 3. We were knocked out of the competition at the group stages. 
A sad end to our season. It was one in which we had played good basketball, quite often without the rewards in terms of victories that we deserved. Well done to all the boys who played for the Year 8 team. I hope to see you again in the team next term.

Football.
5.30 am on sunny Sunday 4th June - not a pleasant time to be stood on the dockside at Dover waiting for a ferry, however this was necessary to get the Year 7 team to Racquinghem in northern France for a tournament. We had been invited by the hosting club, Jeunesse Sportive De Racquinghem, through Miss Defrance to enter two teams in the tournament. One 9-a-side 'Benjamins' (11-13 years) and one 11-a-side '13ams' (under 13 years). Due to the differences in the age system between the UK and France (they are classified on calendar years rather than academic) our boys were playing some boys normally classified as Year 8 in the UK, but the majority of our opposition were Year 7 pupils.
The 'Benjamins' competition was based on a Euro 2000 style competition, a league format with the best 2 teams progressing to the knock out stage. In our league we were drawn against Jeunesse Sportive De Racquinghem 2(JSR2), St. Martin and Aire Sur La Lys. 
In the first game we met Aire Sur La Lys. Straight off the coach and half asleep we still managed to give a good account of ourselves. Unfortunately we were unable to score, whilst Aire Sur La Lys found the net quite late on in the game to win 1-0.
Our next game against JSR2 was immediately afterwards and wily coach Mr. Onions employed the squad system, rotating the players in an attempt to keep them fresh. The system worked well as we overwhelmed JSR2 5-0 with goals from Lynton Lythgoe, Liam Marsh and a hat trick from Liam Friend. 
The win set us up well as other results in our league went our way. JSR2 drew with St. Martin in normal time only beating them 3-2 on penalties, therefore earning the points for a Winning draw (3) as opposed to a Losing draw (2), a Win (4), or a Loss (1). Aire Sur La Lys beat St. Martin 2-0 and JSR2 4-0 respectively.
Going in to our final group game with St. Martin we needed a win to secure 2nd place and to progress to the knock out stage. We rose to the challenge well beating St. Martin 2-1 with goals from David Oxenham and Jarred Cole.
(The final league table (Table 1) for our group is shown on the final page of the newsletter).
With our place in the semi-finals secured the 'Benjamins' team now broke for lunch as the '13 ans' team started their matches.
The '13 ans' competition was less well represented with only four teams entered. Again it was in a league format with 4 points for a win, 3 for a penalties win, 2 for a penalties loss and 1 for a loss. There was no knock out stage so league position dictated who got the silverware.
Our first match was against the older and bigger side from Renescure. We fought bravely and played well but the extra size and strength of the Renescure players (they had a girl in their team!) showed on the very large pitch. We gave a good account of ourselves but lost 2-1 with David Oxenham grabbing our goal.
Our second game was against St. Omen who had beaten JSR in their first game 2-0. This was a very tight game which we lead through a Liam Marsh goal for all but the last minute and a half. Slack defending gave away the goal which put us in a penalty shoot-out situation.
Liam Marsh, captain, stepped up and confidently slotted home his spot kick for Dover to lead 1-0. The Renescure strike managed to put his kick just past the despairing dive of Dover 'Keeper James Dray for 1-1. David Oxenham then stroked home a perfect penalty to restore Dover's lead 2-1. Cometh the hour, cometh the man and superstar 'Keeper, a last minute substitute for the trip, saved brilliantly to make Dover GS one of the few English teams to win a penalty shoot-out on foreign soil.
Renescure and JSR then played out a 1-1 draw, which was won by JSR on penalties 3-2. Renescure then drew 1-1 with St. Omer forcing yet another penalty shoot-out. This time Renescure was victorious 1-0 which made it impossible for Dover to win the league due to our first game loss to the Champions. 
This left us with the need for a 2 goal or more winning margin in our final game against hosts JSR to secure 2nd place on goal difference. We played well dominating the game but we could not find the net until late on when David Oxenham netted. Unfortunately this is how the game ended leaving us in a creditable, if a little frustrating, 3rd place on goals scored. 
(The final league table (Table 2) for the '13 ans' competition is shown on the final page of the newsletter).
With the league now over attention focussed on the 'Benjamins' semi-final.
Dover were in the second semi final against a side from Renescure. We started slowly, giving away two soft goals through poor defending, coming in at half-time 2-0 down. After a brief talking to from the coach, and a re-discovery of their will to win, Dover came out with all guns blazing sweeping aside the Renescure team with the best display of direct passing football of the day. Liam Friend grabbed two goals whilst striking partner Liam Marsh netted the other to give us a victory of 3-2 and book our place in the final.
In the final we were drawn against Aire Sur La Lys, the only team to have beaten us in the competition, a tough fixture. The game appeared to be one too many for some of the boys as it was the 5th or 6th that they had contested. Tired legs were in abundance and passes were not going to feet. We defended well in the first half, hanging on with the Bulldog spirit to go in trailing by only 1 goal at half time. Unfortunately, the second half didn't go our way despite a Liam Friend goal as Aire Sur La Lys were able to score two more to finish off 3-1 victors.
The hosts, Jeunesse Sportive Racquinghem, had made us feel very welcome laying on an excellent lunch and a well organised tournament. 
At the prize giving we were surprised not only to pick up the trophies for 2nd and 3rd places in the 'Benjamins' and '13 ans' categories respectively, but also awards for fair play. Non of our players had been sin-binned been sent off during the entire competition or offered any back chat to the referees Coach, Mr. Onions, also somehow managed to win the Coach's Award. We were then presented with two vases from the Mayor of Racquinghem in recognition of us being the first English team to have competed in the competition. 
This left us only the trip home with our haul of six trophies for the cabinet and 19 very tired boys who were justifiably proud of their excellent adventure.
Well done to all concerned with special thanks to Miss Defrance for all her hard work in organising the trip.
We are now looking forward to making this a regular fixture for Year 7 teams.

Cricket Fixtures
Mon. 12th June
4.00 pm Year 7 v Astor (H)
4.00 pm Year 10 v Astor (A)
Tues. 13th June
4.00 pm Year 8 v Harvey (H)
Thurs. 15th June 
2.30 pm Year 10 v Harvey (A)
4.00 pm Year 8 v Astor (A)
4.00 pm Year 9 v Astor (H)
Mon. 19th June
2.30 pm Year 9 v Sir Roger Manwood's (A)
Wed. 21st June
2.00 pm 1st XI v Sir Roger Manwood's (A)
Fri. 23rd June
4.00 pm Year 7 v Harvey (A)
Tues. 27th June
4.00 pm Year 9 v Norton Knatchbull (A)
4.00 pm Year 10 v Norton Knatchbull (A)
Wed. 28th June
2.00 pm 1st XI v Old Pharosians

Athletics
Wed. 14th June
Years 8, 9 and 10 Powell Trophey at DYRMS

TABLE TENNIS

Early in July the Dover and District Table Tennis Association will hold their registration meeting in which ALL teams wishing to compete in the Dover and District leagues MUST apply for registration.
Last year the school had six teams represented in the two leagues, with three in each division. Dependent upon the number of teams wishing to take part this year, there has been a suggestion that the league will expand to a third division. The discussion will take place at the said meeting.
Would all members of the school who wish to be considered in a team this season (including staff, parents and friends of pupils) please make themselves known to me as soon as possible to enable me to formulate the players into suggested teams and divisions.

Paul Skelton - Workshop Technician

DIARY DATES FOR SUMMER TERM

Sports Day - Wednesday 5th July (if wet Thursday 6th July)

Music for a Summer Evening - Wednesday 12th July

Junior Prizegiving - Wednesday 19th July