Tuesday 25 January 2022

Today is the last day where we open our doors to the wider MGS community and invite prospective sixth from students to see what we do at MGS.  These mini post 16 open mornings, which we have run for the last few days, have gone extremely well, and I thank the staff and students who have helped organise them.

On Thursday last week two year 12 students, Thomas and Callum, qualified for the National Finals of the Oxford University Schools Debating Competition. This is one the country’s leading academic competitions and this is the first time that a team of Maidstonians will be representing MGS at the Oxford Union in this event. Well done Thomas and Callum; a remarkable achievement.

Congratulations must also go to the U15 football squad who beat Dane Court 1 – 0 to progress into the semi-finals of the Kent Cup.  Well done boys, and congratulations to Charlie of the squad who scored the winning goal.

On Thursday this week the virtual Year 13 Parents’ Evening takes place which is perfectly timed following the Year 13 Mock Exams that took place a couple of weeks ago.  The evening will provide an excellent opportunity for parents to understand how their children are getting on. 

And on Friday this week the first charity day of 2022 takes place.  Students and staff of Corpus Christi House will be leading the day with the usual non-uniform and fundraising events taking place.

And finally, well done to Alfred of Tonbridge House who, after writing his own book, raised over £1,000 for FareShare: a charity network aimed at relieving food poverty and reducing food waste in the UK.  He has also been invited to present his book at the Faversham Literary Festival next month and will be sharing the stage with a Michelin star chef who Alfred interviewed in the book and kindly agreed to come and support Alfred on the day.  Great job Alfred.

 

Tuesday 18 January 2022

Last Wednesday the senior footballers had mixed fortunes in the Kent Cup.  The 1^st X1 lost in their quarter-final to Dane Court Grammar School 2 – 1, but the 2^nd X1 beat Norton Knatchbull 4 – 3 to reach their respective semi-final.  Well done to the players, and thank you to the staff members who support them.

Congratulations to the year 7 and 8 boys who competed in the Junior Knole Run for the first time last Friday. It was a fantastic event and our boys gave everything.  Out of 211 runners MGS had four in the top 20, and as a team finished 3rd out of the 39 teams.  The boys were a credit to their school.  Well done.

This week Year 13 return to normal school following their mock examinations last week.  Now their teachers will be marking their papers and so results will come out soon.

Also this week we are opening our doors to the wider community and inviting prospective students and their families in to see if the wish to consider MGS as a viable sixth form option.  Sadly, due to the ongoing Covid restrictions we cannot run our normal Post 16 Open Evening, but the five smaller events over five mornings will hopefully go some way in illustrating to perspective students what life is like at MGS.  As well as this we are also inviting our own year 11 students to spend an afternoon in school speaking to subject staff about all things A Levels, and what subjects are right for them.  We hope the students find the opportunity useful.

Tuesday 11 January 2022

Welcome to my first blog of 2022.  Happy New Year to you all.  I hope you all had a good Christmas break and an opportunity to catch up with friends and family. 

The new term started last week with us testing those students who consented to have a lateral flow test.  I was delighted when I heard that we had tested the entire school in just one day, which meant that the disruption that it undoubtedly causes was kept to a minimum.  Many thanks to the testing team, which included a number of parents who came in to support.

Sadly, last week we had to cancel our Year 8 Information Evening and our Post 16 Open Morning due to the ongoing restrictions we are all experiencing, but alternative measures and events have already been put in place to provide the essential information that we wish to share.  Details of these will be shared soon.

This week is a relatively quiet week except for Year 13 who have their first set of mock exams.  All schools are being asked to run Plan B alongside Plan A, so Year 11 and Year 13 will be completing three sets of examinations over the course of the year to help their teachers, if required, give Teacher Assessed Grades in the summer.  Good luck to Year 13.