FOCUS

Half-Term Newsletter

Issue 12 - July 2005

Contents
 

Dear Parents and Students

Welcome to the last Focus Newsletter of the academic year. There is a great deal of important information in the newsletter, including key dates for next term, and information about a number of new developments starting in September. In order to ensure you all receive the information, we are posting the Newsletter home on this occasion.

The Focus newsletter is published on the last day of every half term. Postage costs make it impossible to post it every time, so please ask your son for your copy if you do not receive it. It is a vital means of communication with you and we are concerned at the number of parents who do not seem to receive it from their sons each half term. We are also collecting e-mail addresses, so that the newsletter can be e-mailed home. Please let us know your e-mail address if you have one.

This has been an extraordinary year for the school. Being our Centenary year, we have enjoyed a number of special events, including the wonderful Centenary Ball on Saturday 16 July. This was a glittering occasion, thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended. Our grateful thanks go to Dr Alan French and his team for their hard work in preparing for the event. The Centenary Day itself is on September 12 and will include a Church Service in St Mary’s Church, followed by a picnic and pop concert back at school. Parents are very welcome to join us.

We have had two inspections this year. We started with the Ofsted inspection in November which gave us a number of issues to address. Then, in July, a team of Her Majesty’s Inspectors came to assess our progress and gave us a very positive report. They found no issues of concern and felt that good progress had been made in all areas. Further details of the inspection appear later in this newsletter.

Thank you to those parents who have supported our events this year, including PFA events, concerts, sports day and parents’ information evenings. We are always interested in your feedback, and take note of comments made in order to improve everything we do. Our partnership with parents is very important to us.

As the year has progressed, we have been pleased to see the students increasingly focused on their work and contributing positively to Team DGSB. Visitors to the school, including the inspection team, comment favourably about the behaviour and attitudes of our students, and their ability and desire to learn. We await with interest the public examination results this year. Our students deserve to do well, and I hope they achieve the grades to reflect their efforts and aspirations.

A number of staff will be leaving this year, and new staff joining the team. A full list of comings and goings can be found in this newsletter. I would like to extend my best wishes to all the staff who are moving on from the school and to thank them for their contribution during the time they have been with us. A particular mention is due to Mr Paul Skelton who has served the school as technician and teacher for a total of 26 years, after attending the school as a pupil. He moves on to Archers Court School, and we wish him every success in his new position.

I hope you all enjoy a restful and relaxing summer holiday. Next year promises to be an exciting year as the school moves forward with building improvements and curriculum developments, and builds on the progress made this year. As we continue to celebrate our Centenary year, we can look forward to a bright and exciting future for DGSB.

With best wishes
S J Lees
Headteacher

Curriculum Developments for September 2005

As part of our focus on helping students to develop the skills they need to become effective learners, we are introducing two important new developments in Key Stage 3:

• Every pupil in Year 7 will have a lesson each week dedicated to developing literacy skills such as handwriting, presentation of work, structuring written answers, reading and speaking

• Every pupil in Years 7 – 9 will have a lesson each week which we are calling “enhancement”. This lesson will focus on skills such as oral presentations, research and study skills. It will also give opportunities to develop skills in leadership and teamwork as the pupils work on enterprise projects, such as setting up a small business.

At Key Stage 4 we are concentrating on offering our students different learning pathways, dependent on their aptitude and skills. Some students will study more GCSEs than others within the same curriculum time. We hope this will provide the appropriate level of challenge and support for each student.

The Castle Pilot

Over the next few years, we are planning to develop the House system so that it becomes central to the organisation of the school. Heads of House will take on the current role of Head of Key Stage, and become the people who are monitoring the progress of the students in the House. As a first step, we are introducing a pilot scheme into Castle House next year. All pupils in Castle House will be reorganised into different tutor groups. Pupils in Years 8 to 11 will be in mixed age group tutor groups, with approximately 7 pupils from each year in each tutor group. 7Ca will remain separate, as will the 6th form tutor groups, although they will also be part of the House structure. Mr Jonathan Gaskell, Head of Castle House, will work with his team of tutors to monitor the progress of all the students in Castle. The form tutor remains the first point of contact.

Pupils in the other three houses will continue in their current tutor groups, monitored by their Head of Key Stage.

It is only tutor groups which are affected by the pilot. Teaching groups are not affected. Tutor groups for September are listed on page 4.

Year 8 Pilot

We are arranging the teaching groups in Year 8 differently from September. In order to provide the appropriate level of challenge for our pupils, and support for those with less well developed literacy skills, we will be setting up a “Progress group”. Pupils in this teaching group have been identified by their teachers as benefiting from more structured support with their writing in particular. They will have all their lessons in the same teaching group. This arrangement will enable us to meet the needs of individual pupils more effectively.

Year 8 parents will find the tutor group lists on page 4.

Tutor Groups and Registration Rooms
KS3 Tutor Groups

KS4 Tutor Groups

KS5 Tutor Groups

Vertical Tutor Group – Castle

Staff comings and goings

Mr Potter (Senior Assistant Headteacher) is leaving to become Deputy Headteacher at Chichester High School.
Mr Howe (Subject Leader for PE) is leaving to teach Mathematics at St George’s School in Broadstairs.
Mr Crosby (Subject Leader of Design Technology) is leaving to teach in Shanghai.
Mr Skelton (Technician and teacher of Design Technology) is leaving to take up a position as Technology Technician at Archers Court School.
Mrs Chandramohan (Teacher of Mathematics) is moving out of the area.
Miss Rowley (Teacher of ICT) is leaving to take up an alternative position.
Mrs Durning (Teacher of English) is leaving to teach in Qatar.
Mr Gowan is joining the school as Subject Leader for ICT.
Miss Graham is joining the school to teach Mathematics.
Mr Morgan-Smith is joining the school to teach Design Technology and Art.
Miss McTaggart is joining the school to teach English.
Mr Tomlinson is joining the school as a part-time teacher of PE.
Mr Friis-Lawrence is joining the school as a part-time teacher of Design Technology.
Miss Causton is joining the school to teach Mathematics.

Other staff responsibility changes

Mr Almond will be Subject Leader for Art, Design and Technology
Dr Cruttenden, Mr Davies and Mr Ralph will be joining the Extended Senior Leadership Group.
Mrs Grilli will be Subject Leader for English.
Mr Gaskell will be Head of Castle House.
Mr Morrissey will be Subject Leader for History.

The HMI Inspection

In November, the Ofsted inspection team left us with a number of issues to tackle. They felt that whilst many of our students were achieving well, there were some who were not really being stretched and challenged to reach their true potential.

Since then, staff and students have been working together very hard and great strides have been made. Last week, HMI inspectors were here to judge the progress that had been made. Two inspectors spent two days in school, observing lessons, speaking to staff and students, looking at student work and interviewing members of the Leadership Group. They were very impressed by what they saw.

• They found the attitudes of pupils to be very good, and their behaviour good in lessons and around school

• They commented on the good social atmosphere between students and good relationships between staff and students

• They praised the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom

• They noticed that students are much more aware of what they can achieve, and that they believe in their ability to achieve that.

• No issues of concern were highlighted; the inspectors felt that any problems observed during the Ofsted inspection had been successfully resolved

We are all delighted by the outcome of this inspection and feel it is a fitting reward for the hard work and co-operation of all staff and students throughout the year.

Looking ahead

Important dates for the Academic Year 2005 – 06
In line with all other Kent Schools, we are moving to a six term year in September.

First day of term is Monday 5 September. Students should go straight to their registration bases for registration at 8.40 a.m.
Parents of our New Year 7 students are invited to tea at 2pm on Monday 5 September to meet their son’s form tutor.

Term and holiday dates

Assessment Dates for Key Stage 3

Assessment Dates for Key Stage 4

Assessment Dates for 6th form

Other important Dates

Year 10 Enterprise – Ethiopian Project – Sponge the Teachers
(By Mr Howarth)

A group of Year 10 Business Studies students have volunteered to run a number of enterprise events with the primary focus that all profits will ultimately be given to the School’s twinning project in Ethiopia.

At very short notice, they organised fund raising activities for the School Centenary Sports and Fun Day including ‘Splash the Teachers!’ A number of staff and pupils, including Dr Cruttenden, Mrs Bradford and Mr Harris, Simon Tester and Anthony Bugden volunteered as targets. In excess of 300 sponges were hurled at the victims, including a volley from Mrs Lees. Fortunately for the recipients, the day was very hot – so the occasional direct hit came as a pleasant relief.

Other initiatives on the day included the sale of ice pops and water, with all activities contributing to a total of £76 after all the costs were taken into account. This money will form the group’s ‘seed fund’ for future events, which we hope everybody will strive to support.

School Library News (By Mrs George, School Librarian)
Thanks to all those parents, pupils and friends of the school who have supported us yet again with all our annual voucher collections.

A cheque for new books is awaited from Nestle Cereal Box Tops, sports equipment from Sainsbury Active Kids and one new computer from Tesco arriving late September or early October. It really makes a difference and every voucher has played its part.

Here’s wishing you all an enjoyable summer.

Sports Day Report 2005 (By Mr Howe) CLICK HERE FOR (XLS file) RESULTS

It is with great sadness that I write this report because it is the last one that I will ever organise.

I am extremely pleased, however, that it was a Sports day filled with personal records and titanic tussles by the boys themselves – which is what it is all about. I hope that some of the athletes go on to greater things in athletics and other sports and more importantly, that the discipline needed to excel at athletics will prove invaluable to the boys in their quest to succeed in their sporting career and in life generally.

During the day 8 school records were broken, several of which were previously set over 20 years ago. They are listed below:
 

  
The Championships were won for the 2nd year in succession by Castle. Well done to all competitors from that House, whether you were 8th or 1st all your points contributed to the team’s success.

In the Field events there were many battles but none were more closely contested than the Year 10 boys Long Jump where even in the 1st round 3 boys jumped 5.10m or more! In the final round Michael Magrino equalled his 1st round jump of 5.20m to stay in front of John Ellender on 5.10m and Oliver English at 5.15m. However, Ollie jumped a massive 5.30m to clinch the title with his last jump. This event was superbly supported by scores of boys clapping the run-ups which really lifted the athletes.

The Year 10 Shot record fell to Adam Hall who putt a colossal12.95m in the 1st round after following the injured Anthony Hart’s extremely impressive 12.15m opener. Anthony recorded a 12.35m final throw with Hall finishing on a ‘mere’ 12.42m. What a contest! For good measure Ryan Hockley and David Close both went over the significant 11m barrier to claim the minor places. David went on to win 4 Golds in a very impressive Sports day – Triple Jump, 400m, 800m and Relay! In the 800m David came from behind to beat Victor Townsend in an absolute thriller.

Another to get 4 firsts was Michael Kelly. Michael won the 200m, 400m, Relay and Triple Jump. Mike very narrowly missed 3 records (2 runs by 0.2 secs!), showing how versatile he is in the runs, jumps and throws (2nd in Shot Putt)!

The Year 8 sprint relay was won by Castle by 0.1s from Port – some finish! The team consisted of Mitchell Parsons, Joe Bell, Joshua Howie and Andrew Reet.

Daniel Allen got within 1 metre of Anthony Hart’s Year 9 Javelin record on no less than 3 occasions! Dan however, did break 2 records. Firstly, he broke John Ellender’s 100m record by half a second in 12.48s then he partnered Michael Kelly, Sam Douglas and Ryan Doble when they set their 3rd consecutive Relay record – a magnificent achievement! Can they complete the set next year? We must wait and see! Dan also won the High Jump and narrowly missed the record.

Daniel Robinson set the bar at a new school record of 1.67m but narrowly failed 3 times after securing victory in the Year 10 High Jump from Joe Abbott. Daniel did win the Discus (using the ‘Robbo’) with an impressive performance of 31.52m just beating the in-form Will Heatlie.

The Year 10 Hurdles was won by the very impressive Kieran Johnston – all the runners in this race were within 3 metres of each other! Kieran also won the 100m in a super time of 12.34s after a slip by favourite Ellender. Ben Clarke got up for 2nd place in a very fast time. Kieran however, was later beaten in the hotly contested 100m Open Final by Daniel Allen with another impressive sprint.

In Year 10 Ben Clarke held off John Ellender and Michael Magrino in a scintillating 200m final. Ben, Anthony Hart and Karl Knight lost out to newcomer Phillip Horne in the Javelin – courtesy of a re-throw in round 3.

Max Minus and Chris Yarrow won 5 events between them. Yarrow broke the Hurdles record along the way. Max was in top form in the 100m Open event as well. Sam Douglas was in fabulous form winning 3 events – Relay (record), Hammer and Long Jump, and came 2nd and 3rd in two others. Well done Sam.

Visar Beqiri was in awesome form winning the Javelin, Discus and Hammer - disintegrating James Franks’ Hammer record by 12 metres! The majestic James duly set another Hammer record for Year 10. Visar however, may well break 50m next year – good luck! Sheridan Martin took the Shot title by virtue of a better 2nd best throw – well done Sheridan.

Steven King was in sparkling form on the ‘mike’, adding to a thrilling track programme ably staffed by starter ‘Nugus’ and timekeeper Steve White.

Thanks to all staff for their hard work on a very hot day. Without your help none of this would have happened. Even the Laptop recording programme worked, giving Ben Ralph and Alan French time to soak up the sun and possibly write some Schemes of Work!

Winner of the Victor Ludorum for 2005 was Daniel Allen who, in the words of Steven King, was like the Blackpool Illuminations at Christmas time – Switched on!

Thanks to all concerned for a wonderful day – I will miss all the excitement. Further sports day results can be found at the back of this newsletter.
Wayne Howe

On Saturday 16 July a couple of students of the school volunteered to help welcome the Calais FC football players to Dover’s Crabble Corn Mill on the morning of the friendly game against Dover Athletic later that day. Unfortunately, due to circumstances which we are still unsure of, there were delays with Hoverspeed on the day, which meant that the players did not have time for the mill visit and were forced to rush to the Hoverspeed Stadium in order to make it to the match in time.

Music News (By Mr P Baldock)

The school’s musicians have been busy providing the music at events at school and in the local community.

On Wednesday 29th June the second of our concerts of pop and rock music was performed by guitar students and staff of the school. The idea of these concerts is to give performing opportunities to the large number of boys taking guitar lessons at the school. The programme featured music in a variety of styles and included classical and Flamenco guitar playing together with rock and pop music from the 1970s to the present day. It is our intention to present these concerts every term and they are certainly worth supporting to hear the variety of music being studied by the school’s guitarists.

The following week on Wednesday 6th July the Summer Serenade was presented in the school hall. This concert featured soloists and the string ensemble drawn from students and staff of the school. Staff members Mrs Lees, Mr Thomas, Dr Cruttenden, Mrs Morgan and Mr Summerfield who all play stringed instruments were joined by students to give polished performances of music by Henry Purcell and Peter Warlock. The school piano trio gave a complete performance of Haydn’s Piano Trio in G major and solo items at the concert were provided by David Buhler (cello), Ben Reay (trumpet) and former student Bob McKay who performed three songs by Schumann. In addition, Miles Brett gave a spirited performance of a challenging violin concerto by Vivaldi accompanied by the string ensemble and harpsichord.

A few days later on Friday 8 July Miles Brett, David Buhler and myself took part in a charity concert at St George’s Hall, Deal organised by Macmillan Cancer Relief. Our performance of the first movement from the Piano Trio by Haydn was the final item in the first half. Other schools represented at the concert were Sandwich Technology School, Castle Community School and Sir Roger Manwood’s School.

In addition to the concerts above musical items were provided by students at the Junior Prizegiving and Centenary Ball.
 

COVER SUPERVISOR

We have a vacancy from September 2005 for a Cover Supervisor. The post will cover a range of duties including taking lessons for absent staff and working with individual and groups of students as part of a team of Cover Supervisors and Teaching Assistants based in our Learning Centre. Hours will be 35 hours per week, term time only. Salary will be paid on £13,338 which is Point 8 on the Kent Salary Scheme (KS3).

Dover Grammar School for Boys is a forward looking grammar school and at an exciting time in its development. The school is moving into a new and exciting phase and we are looking for staff who want to help us build on the excellent traditions of Dover Grammar School for Boys and provide a high quality learning environment for our students.

We are looking for enthusiastic, hard working people to join our team and if you enjoy working with young people, relish a challenge and feel you have the necessary skills for the position of Cover Supervisor please send a letter of application with the names and addresses of two referees to Sue Barham, Headteacher's PA at the school address.
Closing date: Friday 12 August 2005

Would you like to win a day trip ticket to France via Eurotunnel?

The winner of the Eurotunnel voucher in Saturday’s Centenary Ball Raffle wants us to raise even more money for Demelza House and the Whitfield Aspen Unit by auctioning the ticket. The voucher entitles the holder to make a day trip for one car and up to eight passengers (including the driver) at any time before 20.00, returning before midnight the same day. The voucher is valid for travel before 31st May 2007.
Any one can enter by making a sealed bid. Write the amount you are willing to pay for the voucher on a piece of paper with your name, address and telephone number or use the Auction Slip below. Hand this in to the School Office. The winner will be the person making the highest bid by the closing date: Friday 9th September. The result will be announced on Centenary Day, Monday 12th September.

"___________________________________________________________
Dover Grammar School for Boys

Sealed Bid Auction for a Eurotunnel day trip voucher.

I am willing to pay £………………….. for the Eurotunnel day-trip voucher.

My name is: ……………………………………………………
My address is: …………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………..
Post Code: ……………………………………………………..
My telephone number is: …………………………………….

Return this slip in a sealed envelope with “Eurotunnel Voucher” on the front to the School Office before Friday 9th September.