Tuesday 25 February 2020

Welcome back to school and to Term 4; I hope you all had a good week’s rest. 

This week starts the new term with us hitting the ground running. 

Yesterday and today Mr Rivers and I, accompanied by Jonah and Jack the current School Captain and School Vice-Captain, interviewed the six shortlisted candidates from Year 12 who wish to take on the roles of School Captain and School Vice-Captain next year.  The interview process was a two-day rigorous affair to put the candidates through their paces, and now I have the difficult job in selecting the two successful ones.  I will be in a position to announce the successful candidates next week.

Also this week there is a lot of focus on Year 11.  Firstly, the students complete their mini-mocks - another set of assessments across all of their subjects to provide another picture in how well the students are performing and what they need to do in their last few weeks before study leave begins.  In addition to these mini-mocks all of the student in Year 11 will have a meeting with a senior member of staff to discuss their thoughts for the future and what steps they wish to take in the next phase of their education. 

On Wednesday parents of year 12 students are invited in to attend the Year 12 UCAS Evening.  The evening will be a chance for both parents and students to hear what the UCAS process is all about and how the students should be positioning themselves to get the best out of it.  Many of our students make university applications, and we have always been proud in the destinations are students go onto.

And finally, on Friday, we have a non-uniform day to raise money for the Parents’ Association and to collect donations for the up-and-coming Spring Fair, and the final of the Spelling Bee Competition takes place.  Over the last few weeks preliminary rounds have taken place to find the best speller of MGS.  The final on Friday will see the best spellers pitted against each other to find the ultimate winner.  From memory, the spellings from last year’s final were very hard indeed!  

Tuesday 11 February 2020

It is good to be back!  Thank you to Miss Johnson and Mr Ferguson for writing my blog over the last couple of weeks - I was away in the US attending the Harvard Model United Nations Conference in Boston.  I am pleased to say that all 28 students thoroughly enjoyed themselves and gained so much from the experience. Congratulations to Daniel Andrews, our Head Delegate, who achieved a Diplomatic Commendation for his work. 

Congratulations also must go to the U14 and U15 basketball players, the U13 and 2^nd XI football squads and the 2^nd XV rugby squad who all performed incredibly well last week.  The basketball players took part in a Kent tournament bringing home four wins out of six; the 2^nd XV rugby squad beat The Judd School 19 – 7; and the U13 and 2^nd XI football players have now reached the final of the Kent Cup for their respective ages.  Well done all.  A good week for MGS sport.

Friday was also the deadline for year 12 students to apply to be next year’s School Captain and School Vice-Captain.  At last night’s SLT meeting we shortlisted the applicants based on their letters of application, but also took into account the student and staff votes that took place yesterday.  Interviews for the two posts take place after half term.  News of the two successful applicants will be shared soon.

Thank you to everyone who supported the Parents’ Association Quiz Night last Friday.  It was a successful evening raising over £1800 for the School.  Thank you to the members of the Parents’ Association for organising the event, to the students who helped throughout the evening, and to Mrs Friend who supported me with the questions.  A good evening was had by all.

And finally, tomorrow we welcome parents of year 8 students to attend the Year 8 Parents’ Evening.  It is a chance for parents to hear how their sons are getting on particularly at this crucial stage when the boys are choosing to select what subjects they wish to study from next year.  We look forward to welcoming them tomorrow evening.

Tuesday 4 February 2020

It has been another lively week at MGS with so much to report on and look forward to next week. As usual, we strive to develop the wider character of our students, so we have sporting updates, fund raising and academic events aplenty to update you on.

Last Friday, Tonbridge House held their annual charity day. The students decided to raise funds for Brain Tumour Research and held a number of events to support the cause. We had a vast tombola, bustling fete in the gym and cake sales galore. Tonbridge also encouraged Maidstonians to wear a hat for the day to raise awareness for the cause and brought the day to close with their own version of ITV’s ‘The Masked Singer.’ As much as Mr Taylor’s rendition of ‘Sweet Caroline’ got the crowd going, Mr Ashenfelter stole the show with his powerful version of ‘Amazing Grace.’ Well done to all involved; it was a fantastic day to be part of.

On Monday, 28 delegates, Mr Rivers, Mrs Van Mol and Mr Tomkins himself returned from the Model United Nations Conference in Harvard. This was a remarkable opportunity for the students and as always, they performed incredibly well and conducted themselves in a considerate, authoritative and intelligent manner when discussing the most complex of topics. I know how much Mr Tomkins relishes his time on this conference, always returning beaming with pride and full of ideas to continue to build a culture of leadership and academia at MGS. While on that topic, MGS also hosted the Cambridge University Debating Regional Round this weekend, with MGS entering four teams against 48 other schools. We are incredibly proud to be selected to host such a prestigious event and look to build on this further on Tuesday when we take another team to the English Speaking Union competition at Tonbridge School. One of the reasons that these events are so popular with our students is the number of them that want to study Law. If your son or daughter is interested in this path, we are running a talk on Wednesday afterschool in the Library on careers in Law.

During tutor time this Friday, tutors will be running the first round of our annual ‘Spelling Bee’ competition. This was a huge success last year and we look forward to seeing the students push themselves again as they look to accumulate points for their Houses. You could certainly see that competitive House spirit this week as the fiery Inter-House Rugby competition got underway! If you and your family have got that same competitive strain running through you at the moment, there is still time to enter a team for PA Quiz this Friday, which is always a fantastic event. Do also look out for the Parent Mail sent out by the PA on their new sporting predictions quiz that you can complete at home and your child can hand it at the Bursary with £1 per entry. I like to think I know my sport, so I might have a go myself!

Finally, the 1^st XV rugby side will be playing Judd this week as they continue to prepare for the national semi-final in March. Last week, they played Langley Park and beat them 40-0. It is at this point that I would like to highlight the contributions of one young man in Year 11. Toby Henley of College House contributed significantly in securing that victory, so much so, that Mr Hathaway was eager to share his thoughts on Toby’s impressive efforts during the difficult transition from junior to senior rugby. Toby is playing sport inside and outside of school, debating for the school next week and performing well academically. This demanding balancing act is one we want to push Maidstonians to strive for and Toby is one of many examples of young men and women here that prove it can be done.

A busy, but productive period of the year for all involved. Friday is the deadline for School Captain applications from Year 12 and then Mr Tomkins and Mr Rivers will begin the challenging process of finding the school’s new leaders. Never a quiet moment at MGS, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

Mr Ferguson

Deputy Head