Tuesday 18 April 2017

Welcome back everyone; I hope you all had a good and well-rested holiday.  Today we embark on the final term of the year, and this first week is a relatively quiet one, to ease us back into things, but the new term sees the very important examination season begin. Students from Years 11 to 13 are completing GCSE and A Level exams in May and June and I am hoping that they have already started with their revision! There are now only four weeks until the exams begin so many students will be knuckling down to prepare for them.  Good luck to everyone involved.

Before the holiday we enjoyed a week of Old Maidstonian events. Last year's leavers returned to receive their A Level certificates; the 1st XV played the Old Maidstonians at rugby and beat them 40 - 0; and nearly 100 former students attended the Old Maidstonian Society Supper. This last event took place on the last day of term and was presided over by the then president of the society, Neil Turrell.  His presidency came to an end at the supper and we welcomed Sam Coppard, School Captain 2011 - 2012, to take on the role for the coming year.  The supper was a lovely occasion, and I thank all the students, parents and staff members who attended and supported the event.

A lot of work has taken place over the holiday, particularly to the premises: new flooring and carpet in Reception and Lobby, new lights in the Quad, new gold curtains now hang in the Big Hall, a number of areas of the school have been painted, and progress has continued with the building project.  Thank you to all of the staff who continued their work over these last two weeks which included a number of crucial revision classes for the older students.

Many congratulations to Maxim Bragin of 7H who competed for Kent at the South East Schools' Inter-Counties U13 & U14 Cross-Country Championships at the end of March. The competition was very tough indeed with Maxim coming 49^th out of 80 and 10^th out of 16 in the Kent Team.  Well done Maxim.

Over the first weekend of the Easter holiday, the Army Section took part in the Cadet Cambrian Patrol in the Brecon Beacons.  This is a national competition with 22 Army sections selected from all over the UK. The cadets spent 13 hours navigating 30 km, over arduous terrain in typically challenging Welsh weather.  On route they had to complete 7 military tasks, ranging from first aid to a sniper stalk. This was the first time that MGS entered the competition and the months of preparation was rewarded with a Bronze Medal.  

Enjoy the first week back.