23 February 2016

Welcome to the start of Term 4.  I hope you all had a good half term break and are well rested for the next few weeks.  Firstly I wish to welcome back the students and staff who have just returned from the MGS Ski Trip.  It was the first school ski trip for a few years and it is pleasing to hear that a good time was had by all.  I have already been told that the students were a credit to the School and thoroughly enjoyed being on the slopes for the week.  A big thank you to the staff members: Mr Martin, Mr Kincaid, Mr Williams, Mr Jones and Mr Terrell who accompanied the boys for the duration of the trip.

Just before half term a group of CCF RAF cadets took part in the South East Area Air Squadron Trophy Competition.  The Air Squadron Trophy is one of the most prestigious cadet competitions within the Combined Cadet Force and Maidstone Grammar School has won it on numerous occasions.  This year we have once again achieved a place in the National Final by coming second in the SE Regional Final.  We were also the highest scoring state school out of 13 competitors.  Well done to the cadets, thank you to the staff who accompanied the students, and good luck to the team who compete in the Final on Sunday 13 March.

This week we will know who next year’s School Captain and School Vice-Captain are.  Seven candidates, shortlisted from 16 applicants, took part in a rigorous interview process which involved two interviews, an assembly, two presentations, a group task and a lunch with key staff and members of the wider school community.  The outcome of the process will be announced very soon.

Finally’ on Friday all of the Year 7 boys take part in the annual BBC School Report.  This is an opportunity to illustrate how the BBC works and provide an insight in the field of journalism.  Every year the boys enjoy the experience, and it is one activity they fondly look back on when they get older.

9 February 2016

I cannot believe we have reached the end of Term 3 and that today is Shrove Tuesday.  It only feels a few days ago that we were taking down our Christmas decorations.  Last Friday saw the last House Charity Day of the year.  Challenger and Churchill students took over the School for the day to raise money and awareness for Sarcoma UK and The ABF Soldiers’ Charity.  The highlight of the day was the showing of The Great MGS Bake Off on the big screen in the Hall which was filmed the week before.  Thank you to the staff and students who took part in the Bake Off and well done to those who won Star Baker.  Friday was also the day 22 teams competed at the annual Parents' Association Quiz Night.  Over 150 people took part in what was an enjoyable evening and congratulations to Fifty Shades of Grey Matter who won scoring 222 points out of a possible 300.  Thank you to the Parents' Association, the student helpers, Mrs Lois Birrell and everyone who took part.  The quiz illustrated one thing though, the need to brush up on our spelling as the spelling round saw some very low scores!
In all my recent Blogs I have never mentioned school assemblies, but the last five weeks’ assemblies have been particularly appropriate.  The members of staff who give the assemblies have always spoken about something specific to them or on a matter that is significant for the time of year.  Since returning to school in January, everyone, without being asked to, has spoken about resilience.  Mental resilience and mental toughness amongst young people is something I am particularly keen to see develop at MGS and so spoke about it during the first week of term.  Following this, Ms Lang, Ms Johnson and Dr Everett all then continued the theme and spoke about something specific to them, from the strength of character Shackleton had when he endeavoured to cross Antarctica 100 years ago, to Dr Everett who shared with everyone the need to find peace and time to reflect quietly.  All of the assemblies certainly made me think, and I am sure many of the students did the same.
Congratulations to Rebecca Stone of Year 12 who has been selected to represent England at the U19 Korfball World Cup taking place in March in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands. She will be part of a squad of 7 boys and 7 girls and will play teams from 15 other countries. Well done and good luck Rebecca. Finally I wish to thank the 18 students who have applied to be School Captain for the 2016-17 academic year.  Reading application letters from students who wish to be considered for the role and how they feel about their school is always incredibly rewarding.  The shortlisting now begins with the interviews taking place after Half Term.  Best of luck to them all.

2 February 2016

Today we welcome back to school the Year 12 students who spent last week attending the Harvard United Nations Conference.  I am sure they had a wonderful experience and were given the opportunity to achieve something that they thought they would never feel possible.  I expect they also enjoyed the snow.  Welcome back everyone.

This Thursday is the opportunity for parents of Year 8 students to come into school and meet their sons’ teachers.  It also provides an opportunity for the boys to find out more about the new subjects that we offer at MGS during the GCSE years and so give greater understanding to help in the up-and-coming decision making process.  We look forward to welcoming you all on Thursday.

This Wednesday we welcome a group of French students and their teachers who are spending the day in Maidstone.  They will be joining a number of lessons during the day and helping our own students in their French lessons.  We hope they enjoy the day.

There are two events taking place on Friday: the Challenger and Churchill Charity Day and the Parents’ Association Quiz Night.  The Charity Day is the final House Charity Day of the year and is the chance for the students from those two Houses to raise money and awareness for their charities, which this year are ABF The Soldiers’ Charity and Sarcoma UK.  I hope everyone is able to support the two Houses and so collectively raise a substantial sum of money for two important charities. 

Also on Friday is the annual Parent’s Association Quiz Night.  It takes place in the School Hall and starts at 7.30.  This year I am in the Quiz Master’s chair once more, so there’ll be no running in the aisles!  If you are able to come along and enjoy what proves each year to be an entertaining evening then please do make contact with the School Office to book your team a table.  We look forward to seeing you there.

26 January 2016

At the weekend the Year 12 students attending the Harvard Model United Nations Conference jetted off and hopefully have not been affected by the heavy snow too much.  We should feel reassured though that the Americans can deal with heavy snow much better than we can!  We look forward to hearing about their experiences when they return.

This week the Senior Leadership Team is spending some time popping into a selection of Science lessons to experience what the students experience each day.  This is simply routine and nothing to worry about.  Part of the Senior Leadership Team’s responsibility is to monitor teaching and learning across the School and part of that process is occasionally spending some time visiting lessons.  The main aim is to share the very good practice that is currently going on in Science and to celebrate its success.  It also can provide opportunities for members of staff to reflect on their own teaching style and develop further as a professional.  I am sure that everyone involved will learn a lot.

Before I arrived at Maidstone Grammar School many of you will know I spent six years at The Judd School as Deputy Head.  During those six years I undertook a one-year secondment at The Coopers School in Bromley, and this week I am returning to Coopers to meet up with the Headteacher.   I have not been back to Coopers for nearly five years and so returning there this week will certainly bring back some memories.  The Headteacher of Coopers is an extremely experienced Head and so I will use the opportunity to share with her the developments that we are seeing at MGS and how we are continuing to evolve.

Every two weeks I spend some time meeting with Harry Webster and Alex Harward, the School Captain and School Vice-Captain, and this Thursday is that opportunity.  The meetings are not only used to discuss operational matters within the School and how the prefect body can support them, but also provide me with a sounding board to share with the two of them a number of developments  I have in mind for the future.  It is incredibly valuable hearing a student perspective, and both Harry and Alex have provided me with that during their time in office. 

Congratulations to Ryan Ambanpola of 7Cl who has been selected to represent West Kent District U12s Cricket team for the 2016 season.  Well done Ryan.

A final reminder that the Parents’ Association annual Quiz night takes place next Friday 5 February starting at 7.30 - please contact the School Office if you would like to book a table and come along for an enjoyable evening.

 

 

19 January 2016

Last Tuesday the teaching staff took part in an activity where they all became learners again.  Four different activities were on offer: Bridge, Yoga, Samba Drumming and Russian, and each member of staff chose one of them which they had never done before.  I chose Bridge.  The idea was to put ourselves back into the mindset of a learner and consider what it is like learning something we know nothing about; something our students go through probably every day.  Not only was it incredibly informative and created much conversation over the following few days, but it also was an opportunity for staff to work with others that they would not normally do so.  It was a brilliant experience.

On Monday this week Dr Everett, the Assistant Headteacher in charge of the Upper School, and myself launched the application process for next year’s School Captain and School Vice-Captain positions.  I particularly like this time of year as I get to read about, meet and interview a number of students who really do value what it means to be a Maidstonian, have huge amounts of pride for their school, and who wish to give something back to a school to which they hold close to their hearts.  We will know who the successful candidates are by the end of February.  Good luck to everyone who applies.

At the weekend a group of Year 12 students leave us for a week and fly to the USA to attend the Harvard Model United Nations Conference.  This trip takes place each year and is a fantastic opportunity for those who are able to go to join young people from all across the World and debate a number of global issues that matter to us all.  Enjoy the experience.

On Friday I am attending the termly Kent and Medway Grammar Schools’ Association meeting.  Three or four times a year all of the Kent and Medway Grammar School Heads meet up and share good practice and advice about a number of matters that affect us all.  The meetings also provide excellent opportunities to network with like-minded colleagues and ensure that we continue to support the many thousands of young people in Kent and Medway in our care.

 

12 January 2016

The first week of the New Year where we all reflect on the Christmas holiday is now over and we can get on with the everyday business.  At this point I wish to thank all the students for a really good start to the term; please may it continue. 

Last week Year 8 took part in a Careers Day – a day off timetable in order to take part in a number of activities that help young people think about their futures.  One parent emailed into school on Friday saying, “my son came home yesterday absolutely enthused by the careers day that you held at MGS.”  It is pleasing to hear such encouraging feedback, and well done boys for approaching the day’s opportunities with positivity and enthusiasm.

This week Year 8 also begin their process of thinking about what subjects they would like to study at GCSE.  On Wednesday evening Year 8 students and their parents are invited to attend the Year 8 Options Information Evening to hear from key staff about the next few months and what to expect when making these important decisions.  We look forward to seeing you all there.

Tonight after school all teaching staff will remind themselves what it is like to be a learner again.  As part of our year-long work on learning at MGS, staff will be learning something that they currently know very little about: Bridge, Samba Drumming, Yoga or Russian.  The aim is to get teaching staff to imagine what it is like learning something new again, and so evoke thoughts on how they teach in their classrooms.  The session will be both informative and reflective but hopefully fun too.

I received a letter from The Salvation Army yesterday thanking us for the toys and gifts generously donated by our parent body.  As a result of this generosity, Christmas presents were given to 340 children who would have otherwise received very little if anything at all.  In addition, mums and carers were also given a small present and 210 food parcels were distributed to families.  I would like to thank you for the support you give to this worthy cause, it was overwhelming to see the gifts around the Christmas tree at the end of term.

Finally, an advanced notice of Friday 5 February which is the Parents’ Association annual Quiz Night.  Please look out for flyers giving details of the event, and come along to enjoy an evening’s entertainment.  

 

5 January 2016

Happy New Year to you all.  I hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing Christmas and not regretting eating that last mince pie! 

Just at the end of last term we held once again the Great MGS Christmas Quiz: a tradition that Mrs Anderson, former Deputy Head, left with us.  The main aim of the Quiz is to build greater allegiance and community spirit within each House and be one of few opportunities where students of different ages work together to win points for their House.  It is in its third year, and this year proved to be stressful for the ICT Technicians.  The Quiz relies on running the questions through our ICT infrastructure to ensure that all students see each question simultaneously.  The 2013 and 2014 were a great success, but this year proved somewhat challenging.  We got there in the end thanks to some quick reactions by the ICT Technicians, and thank you to all the students and staff that waited patiently in what must have been a frustrating and anxious time.  Results will be announced in the assemblies this week.

This week is a quiet one; the aim of it is simply to get everyone back into the swing of things.  This term, I find, is the hardest.  Despite the Autumn Term being the longest, the Spring Term sees the beginnings of the build up to the summer examinations.  Many students are completing essential pieces of coursework, they need to be marked and moderated by staff, and additional revision sessions and one-to -one offers of help are put on to support a number of individuals.  In addition Year 8 students make their choices for which GCSE subject they wish to study next year and all Year 11 students meet with a senior member of staff to discuss their A-Level thoughts and future plans.  Alongside all of this a number of initiatives that are being worked on in preparation for next year come to a head: how we will assess students, what the House structure will look like and how teaching and learning will continue to evolve all need to be answered.  A busy term.

15 December 2015

First I would like to express how incredibly honoured I felt during Friday’s Charity Day.  The response from students and parents in support of the day, particularly seeing hundreds of cans of food being brought into school to help with the Homeless Care Appeal and the huge array of Christmas presents under the School Christmas tree for the Salvation Army was unbelievable.  Thank you so much once again for you generosity and charitable nature that we are so very proud of at MGS. The Charity Day raised funds for Porchlight and for Hi Kent. 

A massive thank you also to the cast and crew, led by Dr Froud, for four wonderful performances of Return To The Forbidden Planet.  Like with many productions the day before the opening night there were many concerned faces and anxious voices, but they were short lived, as yet again the students and staff pulled it out of the bag to produce a delightful evening’s entertainment.  Thank you again Dr Froud for your leadership and commitment over the last few months, to all the other members of staff in the cast and crew who supported him, and to the many students who took part who we can all be very proud of.

On Tuesday last week the staff meeting after school focussed on learning and the sharing of good practice within and across departments.  Room 60 was a hive of activity and debate, created simply by colleagues sharing good ideas that they use in their classroom.  This meeting was part of a year long sequence of meetings that is aimed at reflecting on our core business of learning, and ensuring that the students get the best possible learning diet in the classroom. 

Sadly the three wins out of five at last year’s rugby fixtures with The Judd School was not repeated.  Only four squads played: 1^st and 2^nd XVs, U14s and U13s, and only the U13 squad won.  Well done to the Year 8 boys who played and brought home a win that keeps a slight chink in the Judd armour.  Bad luck to the other squads, but it is hoped that they will respond positively next year.

Thank you to the parents of Year 11 students who attended the Year 11 Parents’ Evening on Monday.  Hopefully the opportunity to meet the teachers was both helpful and informative following a busy term of work which has included mock exams and the beginnings of the process of applying to join the 6^th Form.

Finally, I wish to thank the staff and students of the School for another productive and busy term and wish you all a wonderful Christmas and peaceful New Year. 

 

8 December 2015

Thank you very much to the many students, parents, members of staff and governors who supported the Parents’ Association Christmas Fayre last Thursday.  The School Hall was transformed into a Christmas market selling a variety of gifts that would certainly fill a few Christmas stockings.  Many thanks to the Parents’ Association for staging the event and to the students who helped during the evening ensuring the event ran smoothly.

Thank you to the parents of Year 12 students who attended the Year 12 Parents’ Evening on Wednesday.  Hopefully the opportunity to meet the teachers was both helpful and informative following a term’s work of A-Level studies. 

On Friday we acknowledged the academic success of last year’s Year 11 students, presenting them with their GCSE certificates at a presentation afternoon.  Parents of Year 12 were invited in to share the moment their sons received accreditation of all the hard work they had put in during their GCSE studies.  Well done boys and thank you for making it a lovely occasion.

I hope the cadets who attended the CCF camp to St Martin’s Plain, Folkestone at the weekend enjoyed themselves, particularly the Year 9 cadets as it was their first CCF camp since joining the MGS Cadet Unit.  Thank you very much to the staff who gave up their weekend to accompany the cadets as without their support such opportunities would not be available. 

The Year 8 footballers were sadly beaten last week 3-0 by Ravenswood School. However, they have performed admirably this year and reached the last 64 of the National Cup which had over 600 entries this year. They have been a credit to the School.  Thanks also to Mr Darbey who should get a special mention for all the hard work and time he has committed to the team.  Thank you.

This week is another busy week as it is the week in which the annual School Production takes place.  Return to the Forbidden Planet opens on Wednesday 9 December for four nights and is hopefully going to be a wonderful occasion in which to enjoy a December evening.  Tickets are still available from the School Bursary, so please do come along.  Good luck to the cast and crew.  You may be luck and see a glimpse of me performing!

Finally, good luck to all the rugby squads this weekend as they prepare to play The Judd School.  The MGS vs. Judd match is the match of the season.  Everyone who plays rugby wants to be in the side that is chosen, and then play well in order to bring home a win.  Last year MGS won three out of the five matches, so let’s hope we can do better this year.  Matches take place on 12^th December. 

 

1 December 2015

After a couple of relatively quiet weeks the next three leading up to the end of term are busy ones.  This week there are three events in which parents are invited to come into school.  Parents of Year 12 students on Wednesday attend their child’s Parents' Consultation Evening and on Friday they attend the GCSE Presentation Afternoon, a formal occasion where we present Year 12 with their GCSE Certificates and acknowledge the year group's academic achievements.  In between those two events, on Thursday all parents are invited into school for the Parents' Association Christmas Fayre and Pamper Evening; an opportunity to pick up some Christmas gifts and be pampered in the process.  We look forward to seeing many of you there.  In the week beginning Monday 7 December, the main event is the School Production: Return To The Forbidden Planet, being put on over four days from Wednesday 9th to Saturday 12th.  Tickets are now available from the School Bursary.  The show starts at 7.30pm each night.  On Wednesday 16 December, in the final week of the term, the School Carol Service takes place at All Saints Church, Maidstone at 7.30pm.  This particular event always hopes to provide an opportunity for the whole school community to come together, including many Old Maidstonians, some who are returning home for Christmas from university.
Looking back on last week, on Thursday saw a very good Autumn Concert.  With some high quality performances once again, the evening provided the first opportunity for the newly formed Performing Arts department to illustrate the excellent talent at MGS.  This year's concert saw a number of memorable singers, singing a range of songs, with some bringing a tear to the eyes of some of the audience!  Well done to all of the performers and musicians, and thank you to the staff members who continuously support them.  On Friday I had a meeting with our School Improvement Partner (or SIP).  With MGS still being a maintained school and not an academy, we still have a relationship with the Local Authority, and part of that is to have regular meetings with someone who simply keeps a little eye on what we are doing.  The overwhelming message at the meeting was one of positivity and support.  The Local Authority is extremely pleased how MGS is currently developing and is excited about what we want to achieve in the future.  Congratulations to the many students who play school sport, particularly as we have recently seen some outstanding performances.  Last week the 1^st and 2^nd XI football teams beat Norton Knatchbull 7-2 and Simon Langton 6-1 respectively, with both teams still in with an excellent chance of winning their respective league titles.  On Saturday the weekly rugby fixture was against Dartford Grammar School, a school that has a good track record against us.  This year we beat Dartford in five out of the seven fixtures, with all the Home matches coming away with a win.  The U12B squad beat Dartford 20-15, the U13s won 56-5, the U15s won 29-12, the 2nd XV won 10-7, and the 1st XV won a very exciting and tense match 22-19.  Well done boys and good luck to every squad in two weeks’ time as they prepare to play our, and mine, biggest rival, The Judd School.  Matches are on Saturday 12 December, so please do come along if you can.