Tuesday 28 June 2022

A huge thank you to the parents, staff and students who helped support the MGS Parents’ Association Summer Fair on Saturday.  The weather held for a glorious day of fun and food, with many attendees going home with a souvenir of their day.  Thank you all very much for coming along. 

Even though many of our year 11 and year 13 students finished their exams last week, yesterday marked the official end of them.  Well done to all the students and thank you to the huge staff team that supported the students along the way.  Now they can all have a good rest.

Yesterday we welcomed over 200 students to MGS to take part in our Sixth Form Induction Week.  Throughout this week students thinking of joining the MGS Sixth Form will experience what it is like being a sixth from student.  They will have lessons in their chosen subjects, opportunities to use the library and sixth form common room, and take part in a few ‘getting to know’ you activities.  We hope they have a good week.

On Thursday we are looking forward to the Summer Showcase which will include a number of music and drama performances including extracts from Aladdin.  Do come along.  It starts at 6.30pm in the Big Hall.

On Friday we acknowledge the end of Pride Month with an MGS BBQ in the Quad and a performance from The Madam, a local cabaret drag act, who will sing a few songs and talk about her life. 

Congratulations to Lucas of Tonbridge House who won this year’s Year 7-9 Spelling Bee Competition. He won a £20 Amazon voucher and 120 points for his house.  The runner-up was Mark of Barton House. Well done to both of them, and thank you to Miss Wilson, Mr Highsted and Mr Amin for their help.

Congratulations must also go to Theo R of Corpus Christi House who won the Kent Schools U15 800m race two weeks ago and won the Inter County Schools 800m last Saturday.  He has been selected to run at the English Schools Athletics Competition in Manchester in a couple of weeks.  Well done Theo.

Finally, from Icarus in the Archives, did you know in 1932, the year that the Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened, the first Mars bar was sold and the first Christmas broadcast was made by the monarch, the MGS swimming pool was opened?  Sadly, the swimming pool was replaced many years ago with two tennis courts.

Tuesday 21 June 2022

Firstly, I would to thank Corpus Christi House for arranging the Pride Bake-Off Competition and cake sale last Friday. There were plenty of rainbow-themed cakes on sale for everyone to enjoy, and out of the ten competition entries, Kai B of Corpus Christi House came away as the winner. Congratulations Kai.

This week the GCSE and A Level examinations begin to come to an end. Many of the big examinations will finish this week so I expect years 11 and 13 will be looking forward to a well-deserved rest. To acknowledge Year 13 finishing, the Year 13 Leavers' Tea will be taking place on Thursday. It is an event that dove-tails with the book collection day where we say goodbye to the students before they venture onto the next phase of their lives.

This Saturday the MGS Parents’ Association Summer Fair takes place.  Sadly, due to the pandemic, the Parents’ Association has not been able to host its annual fair, so this Saturday’s event is hoping to be a successful one.  Do come along; doors open at 12pm.

Finally, from Icarus in the Archives, did you know in 1888 Mr. Henniker, the teacher who wrote the music to the school song, was awarded a Doctorate of Music by the Archbishop of Canterbury. 

Tuesday 14 June 2022

Last Friday we all enjoyed coming to school wearing rainbow-coloured clothing to acknowledge Pride month as well as helping the Parents’ Association for their upcoming Summer Fair which will be held on Saturday 25 June.  Thank you to everyone who supported the day.

As part of Pride month, yesterday we welcomed an Old Maidstonian and former School Vice-Captain back into school to share with a group of students what it was like for him growing up at MGS as part of the LGBT+ community.  The ‘In conversation’ event was well received, and hopefully will be the trigger for similar events in the future.  Thank you to everyone who came along.

Tomorrow the MGS Art Department is hosting its annual Art Exhibition in the Big Hall: an event that shows off the many talents of our budding art students.  The event is free to come along to and starts at 4pm.  Do join us.

Congratulations to the MGS 1^st XI cricket squad who enjoyed playing against the MCC last week.  Sadly, the MGS players lost the match (MCC scored 300 runs, MGS scored 138), but they had an amazing experience playing against some incredibly talented players.  Thank you to Mr Saunders for arranging the fixture.

Finally, from Icarus in the Archives, did you know in 1668 the 13^th headmaster, John Law, was admonished for frequenting alehouses. Twenty three years later he was indicted for murder, but refused to leave the school buildings until an order was given by the Queen!

Tuesday 7 June 2022

Welcome to Term 6 and the last term of the academic year. It is incredible to think that there are only seven weeks before we break for the summer holiday. I hope you all had a good half term and an enjoyable Jubilee weekend.

Yesterday marked the beginning of Pride month and the start of a number of activities and events that the School is putting on to acknowledge the month. Mr Terrell and I shared with the school how important the month is to us at the first quad assembly of the year. We hope many take part. 

 Also, yesterday marked the start of a week-long series of house teas that we are putting on to say hello to our newest Maidstonians who are starting Year 7 in September. Sadly, due to the pandemic, we have not been able host such events over the last couple of years, so we hope that they go well and are able to enjoy a spell of fine weather.

And of course, picking up from where they left off, Year 11 and Year 13 continue with their GCSE and A Level exams. Good luck to them all.

Finally, from Icarus in the Archives, did you know in 1554 the School was closed for 4 years following Maidstone's sympathy with Sir Thomas Wyatt and cancellation of the town's charter.  The Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth I) was imprisoned in the Tower of London by Queen Mary.