Pupils’ outstanding work is rewarded
STUDENTS, staff and parents joined in what head teacher Neil Slater described as an “evening of celebration” at Dover Boys’ Grammar School on Friday.
Upper school and GCSE prizes were presented to the boys by Roger Gabriel, regional curriculum manager for Kent Adult Education.
A former pupil, he has also taught there and his wife Christine is a teacher at the school. Their son attended the school and their daughter is also doing some of her studies in the sixth form.
This weekend, Mr Gabriel is due to be elected President of the school’s old boys association, the Old Pharosians.
Encouraging the boys to continue learning throughout their lives, he told them: “Don’t live to work, work to live.
“Work isn’t work for me. I really enjoy what I am doing.” He said he was dealing with 1,000 adult students, whose ages ranged from 15 to 92.
“The 92-year-old wanted to learn Internet skills so she could send e-mails to her grandchildren in Australia,” he said. “Now she has come back for a digital photography course so she can send pictures as well.”
Mr Gabriel is involved in the development of the Dover Discovery Centre at the former White Cliffs Experience centre.
“Dover Museum will stay there, with arts and library and adult education moving there, together with UK On-Line funded by the Government,” he said.
“There will be a pre-school facility, safe, theatre and bar, and it will be open from 9am to 9pm.” He said he was trying to get the library facilities opened for longer hours.
Head teacher Neil Slater said the boys who left school in the summer, and who were receiving their prizes, had been pioneers in several ways.
They were the first to be involved in Curriculum 2000, which included taking four AS-levels in the lower sixth and then specialising more in year 13.
“Last year we hit 21 points on the old system — as high as any other school n Kent but the points system has now changed, and we got 29.8 this year, which includes the AS-levels.
Direct comparisons are not possible,” said Mr Slater. "The average Point score per exam was seven, which is higher than last year. That’s a spectacularly good result.”
He said the boys were the first to be admitted to the school, seven years ago, under the school’s own entrance exams. “Sixteen of them would not lave come here under Kent’s selection procedure, and some of those have got first rate results and are going to good universities to read intellectually challenging subjects.”
Mr Slater paid particularly tribute to former head prefect Nick Hayward, who had come third in the world in a science competition, and the Young Enterprise team who had won through to the South East England finals of the scheme, and picked up an innovation award.
During the evening there was a flute solo by Aaron Hobday, vocal solo by Robert McKay, and music from the school’s big band.
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TOP RESULTS: Above and below, principal guest Roger Gabriel and |
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Prize-winners: Giles Barrett, Bulow music prize and senior music prize; Anthony Boden, psychology prize and sociology prize, Samuel Cairns, business studies prize and A E Coulson prize for computing; Jonathan De Keyser, maths prize; James Eaton, John Tomlinson memorial prize for mathematics; James Eberlein, geography prize and Jubilee prize for endeavour; Thomas Freeman, Pfizer prize for mathematics; James Garlick, German prize and Martin Broom prize for special endeavour: Richard Gleeson, design and technology prize and art prize.
Nicholas Hayward, chemistry prize, Headmaster’s prize and the Town Mayor of Dover’s prize; Stuart Inglis, philosophy prize, government and politics prize and history prize; Ben Langley, Pfizer prize for chemistry and Hubert Hopkins prize for physics; Matthew Neill, French prize; Paul Savage, Law prize; Edward Smith, Bulow prize for English Literature, Clatworthy prize for classics, and ancient history prize; Samuel Smith, Gordon King economics prize; William Swallow, sports studies prize, Pfizer prize for biology and the Arnold and Carey memorial trophy for cross-country running; Paul Witty, Pfizer prize for physics and John Talbot prize for practical computing.
James Evans, Nigel Pointer prize for special endeavour; Christopher Hadley, Haydon-Watt prize for innovation; Kirk Waite, Staff prize; Jason Downer, Robert Michael Brown prize for RAF cadets; Patrick Mallery, Old Boys Cadet Prize; Jason Laird, Ian Wallace Bird Cup for outstanding service to school sport.
GCSE prizes: Toby Auld, Sidney Clout music prize; Martin Bannister, Lewis Robert Kennedy memorial prize for technology; Ben Bulow, Thomas memorial prize for chemistry; Joshua Collins, biology prize and physics prize; David Garrett, art prize and the Pfizer prize for design and technology; Robbie Guy, Frederick Ashman memorial prize for mathematics; Aaron Hobday, Patrick Elworthy memorial prize for French; Robert McKay, Sidney Clout music prize, German prize, and the Whitehouse memorial prize for RE; Gary Mulhearn Latin prize, Paul Mulhearn, physical education prize; James Rowson, John Talbot information technology prize; John Stokes, Business Studies prize, Roy Sutton memorial prize for English, Tunnell memorial prize for history, and J E Ellis geography prize; Ronnie Yau, Alec Coveney memorial prize for technology.
Certificates for outstanding service to music were presented to Toby Auld, Simon Bishop, Ben Bulow, David Collins, Aaron Hobday, Patrick Mallery, Robert McKay, Thomas Munford, Adam Owen-Stirna, Paul Savage, Thomas K Smith, Thomas A Smith and Sam Wilkie.
