Tuesday 27 June 2017

There are now only four weeks to go until the end of the year, but nothing is slowing down.  This week is a very busy one. Yesterday and Thursday we welcome a gentleman to the school who is currently undergoing his NPQH: the qualification required for headship. He will be spending 9 days in school over the next few months, and the two days this week involve him shadowing me, attending SLT meetings and working on a project that provides him with a contrast to his current school.  Yesterday I also met with the Head of a local primary school to chat about how we can both learn from each other’s experiences and give us a different perspective to our schools.  It was very helpful. This week public examinations finish after six busy weeks for a number of students.  With the examinations finishing, students in Years 11 and 13 are invited back into school to return their textbooks.  For Year 11 that day is Thursday and for Year 13 it is tomorrow.  To coincide with Year 13 book collection we also invite Year 13 to stay in school for a little longer and attend their Leavers' Tea: an opportunity to catch up once more over some strawberries and cream and a glass of punch.  Year 11's book collection takes place on Thursday morning as the rest of that day and Friday we run our Pre Sixth Form Induction Days.  Over these two days, students wishing to take up a place in the Sixth Form here spend time in school learning about the subjects they have chosen and hearing from key staff about life after GCSEs.  On Friday this week, I am out of school attending two meetings: the Kent Schools’ Funding Forum and the Kent and Medway Grammar Schools' Association.  Both meetings are incredibly valued as they provide opportunities to meet colleagues from across the county and learn about a number of important matters that affect our schools.  Also on Friday, the Parents’ Association are putting on an ABBA tribute night.  About 100 tickets have been sold already, but there is still time and availability if you fancy a night dancing to some ABBA classics.  The evening includes a BBQ and starts at 7.30pm. Congratulations to Kaan Belton (OM 2015) who qualified to row in this week’s Henley Royal Regatta, the most prestigious rowing event in the World.  He is rowing for Maidstone Invicta Rowing Club, in a coxless 4, and has a pretty good chance for progressing past the first round in the competition.  Well done and good luck Kaan. And finally, Teddy Ostler of Year 7 coxed a J14 crew on Saturday for the South East at Peterborough Junior Regatta, and after a long hard gruelling day with wins under his belts progressed to the final and won gold.  Well done Teddy.

 

 

Tuesday 20 June 2017

Firstly I would like to acknowledge and congratulate Samuel Ghinn of Year 9 who competed in a National U16 Gymnastics Competition last Saturday and won Gold on the Pommel Horse and came 4^th overall across all disciplines.  Sam has also been selected to take part in the GB Squad that is competing in the Junior International Competition in Portugal this weekend.  Well done Sam.

 

This week the four new Heads of House finalise the House Prefect Structure by appointing their House Captains and Deputy House Captains from the 16 strong Student Leadership Team.  Thank you to the students who have applied for the posts of House Captain and good luck.

 

On Thursday and Friday of this week students from Years 7 and 8 put on the dramatic production Fantastic Mr Fox.  The boys and staff have been working really hard over the last few weeks and months rehearsing and preparing themselves for these two performances.  There are tickets still available so please do come along.

 

With a temperature yesterday of 30 degrees, and the rest of the week being predicted to be in the high 20s, it is important that everyone stays as cool as possible.  School buildings are not the best for staying cool so we need to ensure we can adapt to the high temperatures easily.  During the summer months we always enforce summer uniform regulations, and on very hot days we will also allow students, if they wish, to remove their ties and undo their top buttons.  Students should also be sensible themselves and think about what they do and where they go at break and lunch.  Staying out of the sun and drinking plenty of water would be a good idea.  I hope everyone is managing.

 

 

Tuesday 13 June 2017

This week is a busy one.  Last night students and parents of Year 12 attended our UCAS Evening: the event at which Year 12 students begin to think about what they wish to do after they leave MGS.  It is followed today with Year 12 students being off timetable and attending a carousel of sessions that get them thinking about university and the world of work.  I hope they had a good day. 

This afternoon the middle leaders of the school meet for the last time this year and will be using that time to review the year and consider ideas for the future.  It is always important to build time in the academic year to reflect on how things are going, and the meeting this afternoon is one opportunity of doing that. Public examinations for Years 11, 12 and 13 continue all of this week and do so for another couple of weeks.  Keep revising hard everyone! Today and tomorrow I am attending the Grammar School Heads’ Association Annual Conference in London.  Every year the heads of grammar schools come together to discuss a number of matters that are prevalent in their schools and hear from key speakers who give them their thoughts on a variety of issues.  The timing of this year’s conference is very apt following last week’s outcome of the General Election. Tomorrow and Thursday after school the other half of the new Year 6 students are coming into school to begin their induction process.  With the introduction of new Houses from September we have introduced four Year 6 House Teas, and the first two were last week which went extremely well.  Well done to the U13 Cricket Squad who beat Harvey Grammar School last week in their weekly fixture.  The boys scored over 100 in their 20 overs and then managed to keep Harvey to a total of about 60 in their overs.  Congratulations boys and keep up the good run that you have produced so far this year. And finally, on Saturday the 9th of June, Simon Coppard of Year 11 attended the Kent School Championships at the Julie Rose Stadium in Ashford representing MGS. He won his heat in a comfortable time of 2:05 and then went on to win the 800m Intermediate Boys Final in a time of 1:59 which will hopefully allow him to be selected for the English School Athletics Championships in Birmingham representing MGS and Kent during early July. In addition to Simon, Bashiri Ryan of Year 9 also ran at the weekend and placed 4th in the Junior Boys 800m Final.  Well done to them both.

 

Tuesday 6th June 2017

Welcome back everyone; I hope you all had a pleasant Spring Bank Holiday.

Just before the half term break over 100 people on Thursday 25 May enjoyed an evening with Steve Davis.  We were thoroughly entertained throughout the whole night watching the six-time world champion play six frames of snooker and listening to a number of funny stories about his life.  Thank you to everyone who came along and supported, and thank you to the Parents’ Association for organising the event.

Yesterday, while many students continued with their half term, staff were in school attending one of their training days.  The day involved learning about a number of new and different initiatives that will be introduced into school in the near future, and provided time to prepare for events that are coming up this term.  A good day.

This week is a busy one.  This afternoon and tomorrow afternoon half of the new Year 6 students are coming into school to begin their induction process.  With the introduction of new Houses from September we have introduced four Year 6 House Teas.  Year 6 boys and their parents are being invited into school for about an hour or so in their Houses to meet each other and key members of staff in that House.  We hope they enjoy themselves.  The other two House teas take place next week.