Tuesday 20 October 2020

This week sees the end of the A-Level examinations.  A handful of Old Maidstonians from last year’s Year 13 have returned to sit their A-Level examinations as they were unable to sit them back in the summer.  It has been good to see them and find out how their lockdown has been.  We wish them well for results day in December.  After half term the GCSE examination period begins with students from the current Year 12 choosing to sit some.  Good luck to them.

Tomorrow we welcome back Year 11 from self-isolation.  Last week we had to send them home after we received confirmation of a positive Covid 19 test from one of them.  They all appreciated the situation they were in and have all immersed themselves in home learning once again.  It will be good to see them again.

On Thursday our virtual Year 6 Open Event goes live on our website.  Thursday would have been the day when we opened our doors up to the hundreds of Year 6 boys and their parents to see the school for our Year 6 Open Evening.  Sadly, due to the circumstances we are unable to do this, but hopefully the video presentations that we have put together will go some way in illustrating what life is like for each and every Maidstonian.  Even if you are not a parent of a Year 6 boy do take a look. 

Tuesday 13 October 2020

Firstly, I would like to say how pleasing it is to have Year 13 back in school.  They returned last Thursday after having to self-isolate at home for the previous two weeks.  Lessons during that time continued virtually via Microsoft Teams, but nothing can replace being in the classroom and engaging with the learning there.  Welcome back Year 13.

Each week, as we progress through the term and our new way of working, we are looking to see if we can introduce some of the activities that would normally go on in and around school.  A number of them have evolved and moved to a temporary home on line, but senior rugby training for years 12 and 13 has started, CCF training and parade continues on a Thursday, and this week preparations for the next Harvard trip begin.  And also, very soon, peripatetic music lessons begin.  All of these activities are being risk assessed to ensure they can go ahead, with the long term aim being to bring back as many as possible, but as carefully as possible.  It is vitally important that we return to the MGS we remember.  

Just a quick update, the all-weather pitch is coming on well with a completion date around the middle of November.  As I do a lot of my duty in the Year 7 area up by the new pavilion, I have watched the progress of the pitch on a daily basis.  I was particularly impressed with the machine being used to ensure each level of hard core and gravel being laid are level.  Now the fencing posts are being installed right around the pitch as well as the retaining wall that lines the edge that runs adjacent to the school building.  We are all looking forward to it being completed.  

 

Tuesday 6 October 2020

 Firstly, I would like to thank everyone who supported last week’s charity day which was in support of the Teenage Cancer Trust.  Considering the circumstances, and the fact that Year 13 students were not here, we did extremely well, raising £1302.73.  We should all be very proud of this, and thank you to the Year 12 prefects who helped out.

This week, for the first time ever, MGS is staging autumn public examinations.  With there being no GCSE and A-Level examinations in the summer there is now a series of examinations for those students from last year’s Year 11 and Year 13 who wish to sit them.  A handful of students have made this choice, and so we wish them well.

This week we are continuing to make preparations for our Year 6 virtual open event.  Under the current circumstances we are sadly not able to welcome the wider community into the school, so we are having to do things differently.  So, students and staff have been working really hard to move what we normally do, online.  The open event, which will go live in a couple of weeks, will include a speech from me, a speech from the School Captain and a Year 7 student, and a virtual tour of the school.  We hope that perspective parents and their sons find the presentations useful.