THE "FIRST THURSDAY" NEWSLETTER

JULY 2003 No. 105

HEADTEACHER'S RETIREMENT

As this is the last First Thursday Newsletter in my time as Headteacher I wish to thank everyone for the magnificent support they have given me over the years. As you will imagine, I go into retirement with extremes of mixed feelings, on the one hand pleasurable anticipation at the forthcoming freedom and on the other hand a wrench from the community of which I have been a part for 34 years.
I am very fortunate to have spent most of my career in this particular school, as classroom teacher, head of maths, head of sixth form, deputy head and head. I have stayed so long because I have never been able to imagine a better place to do what I have set out to do. That the governors have seen fit to give me ever increasing responsibility has been fulfilling. There have certainly been plenty of challenges and I can fairly say that I have never felt bored in any of the roles I have performed. I have certainly done my best to rise to the occasion!
There is, as will always be the case, lots to do to improve the school further and I am very pleased to be leaving the place in the very best of hands. The joint pursuit of our mission with the Girls' Grammar School is key to continuing strength.
I am very sorry to be leaving you and I wish you the very best of fortune for the future.
Neil Slater

MODERNISATION PROGRAMME 2004-2006

We have very recently received notification from KCC that we are included in a £30m school modernisation programme 2004-2006. After pressing the county for some years to give us the funds to update our changing rooms, science labs and other areas it looks as if at last we have succeeded.
Neil Slater

THE DATA PROTECTION ACT

Would parents and students please read the attached document very carefully, particularly the section entitled "Providing Information to Connexions".

SUPPORT YOUR SCHOOL AND SAVE MONEY AT THE SAME TIME

DGSB has joined forces with Comec Voice and Data Ltd to introduce to you an exciting new fund raising initiative which can actually save you money.
On 25th June Sarah Fisher, Sales Director at Comec, presented this new opportunity at our parents evening to an enthusiastic audience.
The proposition is as follows. In association with Comec, DGSB is to provide low cost telephone calls to parents and friends of the school. In addition, local business can also benefit from significant savings on their company calls. Both options offer fantastic benefits to the users and generate much needed revenue for the school.

Residential: PTA-Telecom

DGSB PTA-Telecom is a totally transparent telephone service which works over your existing BT lines and significantly reduces the cost of your telephone calls when compared to BT prices.
For example:

All prices are pence per minute and include VAT
In addition, for each and every call you make (excluding free phone lines, eg 0800 numbers), Comec will donate 1p to the school.
To put this in perspective - the average household makes 180 calls per month and the donation therefore would be £1.80 per household. We have approximately 300 sets of parents at DGSB, so if everybody joined (and saved) the school would receive approximately £560 per month, every month. This excludes the participation of our old boys and our friends.
As you know, we are currently well underway with our fundraising efforts to secure Business and Enterprise Status from the government: this additional revenue, at no cost to you, will significantly help us to reach our target. And once we have reached that target, the revenues will ensure continued investment in our school to the benefit of our pupils, parents and the wider community.
To join you must have a BT telephone line and internet access. Registration, payment and billing is all done over the internet and you do not need any additional equipment or dial any extra codes to use the service.
The web site will be complete by the middle of July and we would strongly urge you to log in and sign up, on www.dgsb.pta-telecom.co.uk. (no longer valid) Business: School Fund School Fund is designed to enable business to assist DGSB to acquire the technology we require without any capital outlay.
Working on a similar principal to PTA-Telecom, businesses connect to Comec's telephone network. 10% of all call revenues generated through this activity will be provided for the purchase of PCs, laptops or any other appropriate technology, directly to the school. Typically we would expect the school to benefit from in excess of £15,000 worth of technology equipment.
The sponsoring company that connects to Comec will, of course, receive the benefit of highly competitive call charges, as well as having the knowledge that they are assisting their school to provide the highest levels of education.
Please log in to www.theschoolfund.com or email schoolfund@comec.co.uk.
Mr. M. Harrison - Assistant Headteacher

E-LEARNING FOUNDATION

The information evening on Wednesday 25th June was a great success and already a large number of parents have registered for the scheme.
For those parents who were unable to attend the evening you should find a registration form at the back of this Newsletter.
The scheme is designed to allow pupils access to computers when and where they need them. This includes at home and in lessons. Parents donate money via a monthly direct debit to the E-Learning Foundation. This donation gains Gift Aid which is used to lease the computers. A typical donation equates to £5 per week over three years.
Boys gain better results and access to technology at a very competitive price. Parents gain from technical support and the school benefits from a better teaching and learning environment.
Mr. M. Harrison - Assistant Headteacher

HISTORY VISIT TO THE NATIONAL ARMY MUSEUM

On Thursday 26th June 8 Port and 8 Priory went on their history trip to the National Army Museum in London.
We left school at seven in the morning so we could get to the museum just before opening time at 10.00am. The journey was not as long as the previous one so we arrived with time to spare.
After a short stroll around the cricket pitch opposite the museum we were ready to continue the trip. Once everyone had entered we were introduced to our tour guide who would give us a thorough talk on life during the English Civil War. The presentation was given by a visual and aural explanation from both PowerPoint and actual artefacts from the Civil War. At first we were asked what we already knew about the period but no-one was over-confident in saying what we knew so the guide answered the questions for us.
The information given was mainly on the armies more than the war itself but it still taught us things we did not know at the time. The guide also asked for volunteers to try on typical uniforms from the period including Pike men, Musketeers and most interestingly Cavaliers. Overall the presentation proved very interesting.
After the presentation we were taken into the main Civil War Gallery where most of the items were stored. Here we were given a worksheet that we had to fill in with help from all the sources of evidence around us. For some this proved more difficult than it seemed but we all got it finished in the end.
After we had finished our lunch we were taken up to the World War galleries where information was displayed on the first and second world wars. We remained here for several minutes before returning to the coach so we could beat the traffic back home.
Overall I found this trip a worthwhile experience that I recommend to anyone.
Paul Hasler 8 Port

YEAR 9 EXCHANGE WITH COLLEGE ST. PIERRE, CALAIS

Interested pupils were given a letter and several boys will take part in this exchange. The French pupils will come in September and we will return in February 2004. Unfortunately there is a discrepancy between the number of participants in both schools. I am therefore asking if anyone would be willing to host a French pupil from Thursday 18th to Saturday 20th September. This would avoid the French teacher having to select pupils to take part and disappoint others.
On the Thursday, the boys will be looked after in school and on the Friday they will go on a day trip. They will be with you the rest of the time until the Saturday afternoon when they will return to France.
Obviously should your son then want to go to France he will be welcome to join us in February.
If you are able to help out please contact me at school.
Mrs. M. Hargrave

SCHOOL LIBRARY NEWS

Thanks to all for collecting so many Tesco Computer Vouchers this year. One computer has been ordered and we were very close to a second - these vouchers will be banked for next year.
Please would parents and pupils have a good look around at home to find any overdue/late Library books. It is amazing what you find on desks and under beds and wardrobes!
The Library is currently processing new Fiction for the Lower/Middle and Upper Schools to be added to our stock which I hope will instil fresh enthusiasm and kickstart some pupils to rekindle the "reading bug".
Enjoy the summer and your latest Harry Potter novel, boys and parents alike.
Mrs. L.K. George, School Librarian

YEAR 12 ACTIVITIES WEEK 2003

For five days after the AS examinations, year 12 students at DGSB took part in an activities week consisting of team-building and problem-solving exercises. The week began with an informal introduction to the activities, given by Mr Thomas and a briefing on the Great Egg Race given by Mr Harrison.
The first, and arguably most popular activity in which we took part was the Upper School Challenge: a supposedly easier version of TV's University Challenge (although I think that most students would debate the easiness of the questions, which were set by a range of A-level teachers!). Team Arethusa's grand-slamming score of minus 15 saw Team Victory through to the second round, in which they played and, ironically, defeated Team Invincible. The final consisted of Teams Belfast and Hood competing for 1st place on the Friday morning. Members of Team Victory found this unfair, and coined that term as the catchphrase of the whole tournament, directed at questions (specifically those set by Mr Crofts) and the failure of the buzzer system. However, despite these setbacks, the whole experience was thoroughly enjoyed by all who took part, not least by the winners - Team Hood.

Tuesday was the day designated for the Great Egg Race. Our brief was to transport an egg across the quad in a self-propelled vehicle without breaking it. The day saw many highlights, such as Beau Hayden's flame throwing aerosol car and a chemical explosion caused by Team Victory, dubbed 'The Chemical Brothers', who used a Bicarbonate of Soda and Ethanoic Acid mixture to try and propel a vehicle across the quad. This was not achieved, although they did manage to decorate me and half the quad with a sticky white solution, which smelt of salt-and-vinegar crisps. Other designs included 'The Flying Brick' and Team Belfast's 'Seagull', which basically consisted of a flowerpot and a piece of string. There was some controversy involved in the competition, due to Team Hood's use of a powerful rocket motor, and Robbie Guy's winning design, which required him to walk behind the vehicle carrying a magnet. Although the teachers accepted this design as the champion, many of the students disputed its mechanism, which was probably a form of remote control.

The team building exercises on Wednesday were also an enjoyable experience, if not a little confusing, due to the dispensation of approximately 93 different sets of rules for the problem-solving activity. However, the students really enjoyed pulling each other at high speeds along the canteen level in a wooden boat on wheels, watched by various laughing teachers and bemused year 7s.

The most profitable experience was probably our chance to assist, or even lead certain first-year classes, namely Art, French, Music, English, PE, RE, Technology, Maths and History. We found it very rewarding to be able to allow the younger boys to benefit from our studies. Some students even mastered the rules of class discipline, bribing their students with food and sweets! Thanks to the relevant teachers for handing over their classes!

Other topics discussed during the week were the role of prefects and the prefect application procedure, and the different skills that we would need to show on our UCAS forms, (University and Colleges Applications' Service).

We would like to thank Mr Thomas and Mr Harrison, along with any other members of staff who were involved, for giving us a chance to relax and have fun, whilst preparing for next year's studies and university interviews.
Bob McKay - 12O

MATHS CORNER

Welcome to the last Maths Corner of this academic year. Thank you to all of you who have entered our competitions over the last months - you have made this column both popular and successful.
June's double bill of puzzles produced one of the largest responses to date. It also produced a wonderful variety of methods from a wide range of readers. I will happily supply fully worked solutions to anybody who requests them. The actual answers were as follows: Problem One - The rectangular field needs to be 100m by 63.7m (3sf). The semicircular areas are placed on the shorter sides of the rectangle. Problem Two - It will take the object about 48 minutes and 11 seconds to cool to the required temperature.
The prize for June's competition goes to an Old Pharosian of some distinction, Mr. Ken Lott. Mr. Lott, ex Upper VI 1953, expressed the hope that he hadn't let his old teachers down by getting the solutions hopelessly wrong! Rest assured, the solutions were both elegant and precise. Mr. Lott will receive a token of our esteem in due course, but for now please accept our congratulations.
July's Puzzle

A Roman Holiday

Across
I A multiple of XXXVII
II A multiple of LXXIII
III A non prime factor of I down

Down
I A square
II A multiple of VII
III Ptolemy's age when he did this puzzle

Well, it's all Greek (or do I mean Roman?) to me! So, can you tell the Maths Department just how old Ptolemy was? A prize of £XXV to the first correct solution received by close of play on 23rd July 2003. Good luck!
Mathematics Department

VISIT BY TEACHERS FROM HONG KONG

On 30th June eight teachers who are on a month long visit on a course based at Christchurch College came to spend a day with us to sample life in a Boys' Grammar School.
They greatly enjoyed their day with us and I thank all pupils and staff who made them feel so welcome.
Mrs. F. Lloyd - Modern Languages

PFA

All parents automatically become members of the PFA when their sons join the school and we look forward to welcoming the new parents in September.
The PFA raises funds to provide more facilities for the school, arranges social events and helps at various school functions. Over the years we have provided many "extras" through our fund raising. We provide help at events such as Sports Day, Open Evenings and concerts. We also sell new t-shirts and hold a good stock of second hand uniform at very reasonable prices.
Fund raising activities include Wine and Wisdom evenings and a Christmas Draw with full details given in the First Thursday Newsletters. We run a successful 200 Club which we hope you will join.
If you wish to serve on the PFA Committee you would be most welcome. Just come along to the next meeting on 10th September at 7.00pm in the Headteacher's study. The meetings normally only last about an hour and we usually have a meeting once a term.
The long awaited trip to Bruges has now been arranged and will be on 4th October. The cost of the trip will be £20 per head and more details will follow in the September Newsletter. Bookings can be made via the school office.
Mrs. J. Gambrell, Chairman

PFA 200 Club - June Draw

1st prize £25 Mrs. D. Neeve (191)
2nd prize £15 Mr. N. Devonport (58)
3rd Prize £10 Mrs. A. Smith (49)
Special £100 prize Mrs. G. Ferguson (155)

TABLE TENNIS

With thanks to Mr. Bird (Tom's father) and Mr. Honey who already plays for the school table tennis team with his son (still at primary school), I am able to continue to run the school teams in the Dover League. Will all interested please send me their details as soon as possible, so that I can determine how many teams the school will be putting into the Dover and District League next season. The League will probably start within the first two weeks of the school starting the autumn term, so I must get things organised before the end of this term.
Players must be prepared to play in the evenings from 7.30pm and have transport to and from to the events, some of which may be in Sandwich, West Langdon, Whitfield, etc. in village halls and social clubs. All home matches are played in the school gymnasium and it may be possible to rearrange games between the school teams directly after school at 3.30pm. Each team comprises three players, but I do need at least four signed on in each team in case of illness etc. Parents, friends, sisters, etc are welcome to apply for a place in the team.
There is a table tennis policy that each member will be required to abide by before they are registered and a small fee of £5 per player to help pay for team registration and cost of balls.
Please contact me with your details or for further information.
Mr. Paul Skelton

KENT SCHOOLS UNDER 15 TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

On Saturday 21st June the Under 15 team took part in the Kent Schools Under 15 Team Championships against 16 of the County's best athletics schools. The favourites were Judd and Brockhill. Noone gave our school a second glance.

After a good start in the Shot by Lee Aicken, putting just under 11 metres, Dover's Long Jumpers excelled with Chris Franks and Ben Walker recording pb's. Ben jumped an impressive 5.22m to win the event.
John Ellender then came a very close 4th in the 100m.His time was definitely faster than the one he was credited with - probably closer to 13.3 seconds. This was quickly followed by Troy Butcher coming a very good 4th in the High Jump. Troy just missed clearing 1.50m.
Troy then partnered Alastair Walker in the 800m against some very strong opposition. Troy was in the frame for over 600m and finished a fine 4th whilst Alastair almost timed his race to perfection to almost catch the leaders on the line. Both boys smashed their pb's by over 15 seconds.
At this stage Dover were 10 points adrift of Judd and looking as if we were going for Runner's Up spot. Then came the 200m. Chris Franks blazed his race to record a fine time of 27 seconds and close the points gap. Ben walker then stormed away after a slip at the start to post a sensational time of just over 25 seconds, winning by 20 metres.
These 2 runs meant that Dover's Captain Lee Aicken only had to throw the discus over 27 metres to win the Trophy!
'Cometh the hour, cometh the man', Lee was in awesome form, throwing almost 32 metres to seal a splendid win for the school.

The top 3 schools were:

YEAR 7 DISTRICT ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

On the 10th July the climax to a very successful Athletics season will be the Year 7 Dover and District Championships at Astor, 4.00pm to 5.50pm. The team will be selected over the next week so athletics clubs for Year 7 will still run for this period. It would be nice to win this Trophy to close the season off in style. If you think you are up for it see Mr Howe about training ASAP.

FOOTBALL

Don't forget, there will be Trials during the last 2 weeks of the Summer Term for all Years to select teams for next September. Please be aware of this and be ready to take part if you wish to be considered for selection. Further information and details of Trials will be posted on the Notice Boards next week.

SPORTSDAY 2003

The Final totals for Sportsday 2003 are given below:

SPORTSDAY REPORT

Overall, there were some hard fought battles on the track and in the field events. Castle dominated the Year 7 Championship with Daniel Allen winning 4 events and Michael Kelly nabbing 2. Year 8 was won by Port with Troy Butcher getting 3 wins and John Ellender and David Close each winning 2 events. Port also won both the relays for this age group. Year 9 was convincingly won by Channel with Lee Aicken winning 4 events and Ben Walker taking another 3. Priory stormed away with the Year 10 Championship with James Kember winning 2 events and almost breaking the 60 second barrier in the 400m. David Oxenham also won the Triple Jump and Hurdles to help his House. Both relays were also won by Priory to add to their impressive points total.

The result of the day belonged to Jamie Phillips of 10 Port. Jamie took the only record of the day in the Javelin. Jamie threw 42.67 metres, beating the old record of 41.93m set in 1967! Well done on an outstanding performance.

Jamie almost took the Shot record as well and then for good measure also won the Hammer throw. Lee Aicken got within 30cm of the Year 9 Shot record and was only just over a metre off the discus record. Lee also won the Hammer throw after a scare from Michael Munro. There was a real tussle in the Year 10 High Jump. David Oxenham cleared 1.58m along with Andrew McKay. David was unlucky at 1.63m but Andrew cleared this and then had 3 attempts at a new record of 1.68m. Andrew almost got over this height with his last jump. On grass this was a superb result.

The 200metres races were very close and exciting with Jack Staley, Nick Smyth, Aaron Reed and Steve Law recording fine wins for their respective years. Andrew Martyn also scored a double in the Year 7 Discus and Hammer throws.

Well done to all of you who took part, whether you came 8th or 1st. All of your points contributed to a very exciting day. It was good to see so many pupils encouraging their team mates on throughout the day.

As well as the Year 10 Javelin record there were 8 others set as the Hammer was introduced for all years and the 4*400m relays were reintroduced.

As well as the serious athletics events there were many fun events set up including welly throwing, coconut shy, obstacle course, football dribble and Petanque.

The winners of some of these are included below:

Welly Throwing Year 7 Alex Webb 17.10m
Year 8 James Denne 14.20m
Year 9 Arian Beqiri 18.15m
Year 10 Mark Ambrose 20.69m
Year 11 Steven King 22.70m

Obstacle Course 1st Gareth Cotter 27.00s
2nd Mathew Johncock 29.07s
3rd Jacob Perry 29.34s
4th Toby Kember 30.88s
5th Mr Haines 41.05s

Football Dribble 1st Luke Phillips 8.19s
2nd Sammy Brannan 8.97s
3rd Sam Marriner 9.44s
4th Lloyd Stevenson 9.62s
5th= J Townsend 9.65s
5th= Mathew Wraight 9.65s