Tuesday 24 September 2019

At the weekend all of the rugby squads were away at Cranbrook.  With our pitches being too hard following the long dry and warm spell we had to call off all home matches, but fortunately Cranbrook was able to accommodate them.  We returned to school with two wins and two losses. 

 

Also at the weekend, the CCF entered two teams into the Cadet Skill at Arms Meet.  Cadets competed against CCF and ACF teams from all over the South East of England, in five different shooting matches.  The highlight of the competition for MGS was the Falling Plate Competition.  Congratulations to the tri-service team comprising of George Plumb RN, Simon Gurung Army, Alfred Hodges RAF and Logan Runham RAF, who won silver in the Falling Plate. 

 

Congratulations to the 1^st XI football squad who beat Dover Boys’ Grammar School 4 – 0 last week, and well done to Oliver Thackray of Tonbridge House who became the European Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Champion on Saturday in Birmingham winning gold. He also won bronze in the No Gi European Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Championships the following day.

 

Last night we welcomed parents of year 9 students into school to attend the Year 9 Information Evening.  The evening provided an opportunity for parents to hear what can be expected now their sons have begun their GCSE studies.  Thank you to everyone who attended.

 

Tonight after school is the second training session for teaching staff looking at developing strategies for differentiation in the classroom.  Over the course of the year these training sessions will be addressing a number of areas of teaching and learning we wish to see develop.  Feedback so far from teaching staff has been positive.

 

Tomorrow our Higher Education Fair takes place.  Over 50 colleges and universities will be in school providing literature and information about their institutions.  It is a very popular event which is aimed at students in years 10 to 13.  Do come along.  The event is between 5pm and 7.30pm.

 

And on Friday is the annual MacMillan Coffee Morning.  This is a national event which we have been acknowledging for years.  At morning break there will be cakes and refreshments available for the entire school community to buy.  Last year we raised over £600, so let us hope we can beat that this year.

 

Tuesday 17 September 2019

Firstly, I would like thank everyone who was involved with the organisation in last Friday’s speech day, and congratulate again all senior prize winners.  It was a wonderful occasion which added to the already positive start we have had to the new academic year.  It was a good day for the school.

 

Congratulations to all rugby squads at the weekend for bringing home a clean sheet of wins for the School beating Gravesend Grammar School at U18, U15, U14 and U13 levels.  Well done boys, an excellent start to the season; long may it continue.  Next week is Cranbrook School.

 

Also, we are delighted to be able to share the further good news that we last week secured planning permission for our all-weather pitch project.  We can now very soon begin construction of the pitch which is very much needed as the school continues to expand.

 

This week all form tutors are arranging meetings to see parents of year 13 students to discuss what they can expect from us over the coming year, and understand how the UCAS process is going to work.  At these meetings the UCAS predicted grades and elements of the UCAS reference will be shared with the students so they can understand where they currently are and what they can do to improve.

 

Also starting from this week we have a number of library launch events that have been planned to mark the opening of the new library.  The official opening will not take place until early October, but these events have been arranged to illustrate the benefits of the new library with it now being the academic hub of the school.  The first of these events takes place on Thursday – a spoken word poetry workshop aimed at years 12 and 13.

 

On Thursday parents of year 12 students are invited into school to attend the Year 12 Information Evening.  The students have just embarked on their A Level studies and so it is important they understand what is to come over the next two years.  The evening starts at 7pm.

Tuesday 10 September 2019

Firstly, I would like to congratulate Mrs Coveney who successfully completed the Great North Run at the weekend.  It was her first attempt, completing it in a time of 2 hours and 25 minutes.  Well done and congratulations.

 

Following last week’s staggered return to school, this week is the first full week of the year.  On Monday, Year 7 enjoyed the presentation ‘Bach To The Future’ from Kent Music, the organisation that promotes and encourages young people to learn an instrument.  It was a success last year, so we invited them back this year, and once again the response from the boys was again extremely positive.

 

Today the teaching staff begin a yearlong programme of continuous professional development that will support our aims of improved academic excellence.  Our hard work over the last two years has identified key aspects of the school we wish to see develop, and so this vital training will address those areas and provide new ideas for teachers to use in their classrooms.

 

On Wednesday we see the first senior rugby match of the year, playing Sutton Valence School in the National Cup.  A win will mean we play either Skinners’ School or our local rivals Oakwood Park Grammar School in the next round.  Good luck boys.

 

On Friday we will be enjoying our annual Beginning of Year Service and Upper School Speech Day, as well as Year 7 taking part in some team building activities.  This year’s guest of honour at Speech Day is Mr Paul Smith, former deputy head, who retired in 2017 and who gave 24 years’ service to the school.  We look forward to welcoming him back.

 

And at the weekend all of our rugby squads take part in their first game of the season, playing against Gravesend Grammar School. The U14 and U13 squads are at home with the U15 and 1^st and 2^nd XV squads being away.  Good luck to everyone.

 

Tuesday 3 September 2019

Welcome to the start of a new academic year, and welcome to the first blog.  For new readers the Headmaster’s Blog is published weekly, and gives readers a small insight into the workings of the school along with hearing about success stories.  

 

Before the year started we have already been busy analysing the summer examination results, and we are delighted to announce two sets of very pleasing and improving results at both GCSE and A-Level.  At A-Level 60% of all exam entries were graded A*- B, up 5% from last year and up 16% from 2017.  85% of all grades were graded A* - C, the highest we have ever had.  40 students achieved two A grades or better with 18 students achieving at least three A grades or better.  At GCSE 44% of all subject entries were graded 7 to 9, up 7% from the previous year.  99% of students gained five 9 to 4 grades, over 50% of students achieved five or more 7 to 9 grades, and over one-third of students achieved eight or more 7 to 9 grades. 

 

Over the next two days we welcome the students back to school.  Today, years 7, 12 and 13 return with the rest of the school returning tomorrow.  This staggered start will hopefully allow us to focus our attention on welcoming our newest students as well as dealing with the very important administration that always occurs at the start of the year.  Once all the students are here tomorrow we can then get on with the year which always starts with a whole school assembly.  Talking to the entire school community is always a delight, and fingers crossed for good weather as we need to have the assembly outside in the Quad.