31 October 2017

Welcome back after the week's break; I hope you all had a restful holiday. 

Term 2 starts with a number of events during this week.  Today there will be an extended form period during lesson 1 to allow form tutors to spend some time with their tutees discussing the recent assessment and attitude to learning grades.  These extended form periods are a new initiative to MGS and form part of the new pastoral restructure that we launched this year. 

Tomorrow is the first of two Post 16 Open Mornings where perspective sixth form students come round the school to see if they would like to make an application to join MGS in September.  The second one takes place on Friday.  Both mornings start at 9am and current sixth form students will be on hand to act as tour guides.  These two mornings will be followed by the Post 16 Open Evening which takes place next Thursday.
Saturday is a big day for the school as it is the annual MGS Parents' Association Firework Display.  Every year the Parents' Association puts on a wonderful firework display watched by many hundreds from the school and wider community.  Do come along.  Gates open at 6pm with the display starting at 7pm.

17 October 2017

Congratulations to the senior rugby squads bringing home two victories at the weekend when playing Rochester Mathematical School.  The 1st XV game was particularly exciting to watch as it was touch-and-go for a while, but they managed the win in the end.  Sadly, the younger squads did not have as much success, but hopefully the senior wins will inspire the younger boys for their next game.  Good luck to the senior boys for Wednesday as they are playing The Judd School in the next round of the NatWest Cup.

On Sunday I went over to Rochester to watch Daniel Jones (OM 2017) row for Maidstone Invicta Rowing Club at the Medway Town Head Race.  He did well being part of the 3rd fastest boat on the day rowing a distance of 3 miles.  Well done Dan.

Yesterday was an extremely busy day for me as I took part in eight different meetings.  They involved a variety of different people ranging from other members of staff discussing matters in school; to governors, outside consultants and parents looking at wider topics.  A lot of discussion took place which will now be followed up in the form of specific action.

This morning was our second Year 6 Open Morning, which will be followed by Thursday's Year 6 Open Evening.  Both events are important occasions for the school as they provide opportunities for us to open our doors and welcome the wider community in to see how MGS works.  If last Friday's first Year 6 Open Morning is anything to go by, both the events this week will be extremely busy.

Tomorrow evening is the Old Maidstonians annual quiz night. It is taking in the Refectory and starts at 7pm.  Do come a long and enjoy an evening with them. 

Following the end of half term on Thursday, the staff will be in school on Friday attending their second Inset Day of the year.  A number of training themes will be addressed, but the main one will be focussing on e-safety and improving our understanding and knowledge in this vastly expanding issue.  Keeping ourselves and young people safe when it comes to the social media world is a growing concern in schools, so Friday's training is an opportunity for us to become familiar with the issues and know how to address them.

 

10 October 2017

Firstly I would like to thank everyone in Tonbridge House who helped organise last Friday's Charity Day.  The atmosphere around the school was very pleasant indeed with many students taking responsibility for the numerous events that were put on to raise money.  The highlight of the day was the Karaoke performances from staff and students in the big hall at lunch!  Congratulations to Tonbridge House and thank you everyone for supporting.  Last Thursday the MGS Cross Country squad competed in the English Schools Championships First Round at Sevenoaks School.  Both the junior and intermediate squads competed at an extremely high level against schools such as Skinners', Dartford Grammar, The Judd, Chis & Sid, and a number of local independent schools.  Sadly the junior boys missed out on qualification for the next round but Alastair Shelley of Tonbridge House won the overall race by a comfortable distance.  Well done Alastair.  The intermediate boys, however, did qualify for the next round joining The Judd School and Sevenoaks School at the regional event.  If they get through that round then they will be back at Sevenoaks School for the English Schools Final.  Hamish Reilly of Corpus Christie House did extremely well taking first place in this race winning by an even more comfortable distance.  Congratulations to Hamish and to the other boys: Bashiri Ryan, Ewan Christmas, Mark Bloomfield, George Dadd and Shaun Berry.  This week is the start of a very busy four week period for the school.  Tonight we welcome parents of Year 7 boys to attend our Year 7 Welcome Evening.  It is an evening for our new Maidstonians and their parents to see how the first few weeks of school have gone, meet key staff who are responsible for Year 7 and enjoy some refreshments together provided by the Parents' Association.  We hope the event is an enjoyable one.  Tomorrow is the Performing Arts Autumn Showcase.  It is the first showcase of the year and will be held in our new Performing Arts Centre.  Do come along.  It starts at 6.30pm. And on Friday is the first of our two open mornings for parents and boys who are considering a place at MGS next year.  It is now that time of year when we open our doors and invite perspective students to tour the school and see for themselves what MGS is all about.  Guiding them around will be current year 7 students who, I think, are the best people to show the school off.  We look forward to welcoming everyone on Friday.  The second of our open mornings is taking place next Tuesday.   As well as a busy week for the school, it is also a busy week for me.  Last night I attended a MGS Development Fund Trustee meeting, today I am attending a Kent Schools Funding Forum meeting, Thursday after school I am attending a governors meeting, and on Friday I am attending a Kent and Medway Grammar Schools' Association meeting.  All of these meetings are examples of how my role requires me to look out as well as in when deciding what is best for MGS. 

3 October 2017

Thank you to everyone who supported last Friday's Macmillan Coffee Morning.  Over £500 was raised and it was lovely to see students, staff, parents, governors and Old Maidstonians come together for the event.  Thank you.
Congratulations and well done to Oli Evans (College House and Year 13) and Old Maidstonians Dan Jones (2017), Luke Collins (2014) and Joe Magid (2013) for competing as MGS in Sunday's Maidstone Invicta Autumn Head.  They competed together in a novice 4x+ but also against each other in smaller boats.  The novice 4x+ was the third fastest boat for the entire day out of the 144 boats that entered, and Dan won his category in the novice 1x.  They did the School proud.
Also at the weekend the U12 A & B, U13 and U14 rugby squads played Simon Langton Grammar School coming away with two wins for the U13 and U14 squads both winning 40 - 0.  Well done boys and hopefully the two wins will inspire the younger ones next week.
Tonight the teaching staff have their first twilight training session of the year.  We will be spending it sharing thoughts, ideas and good practice following four weeks of the new house structure.  It is important that we have such sessions like this to ensure we continue to reflect on our own practices and to go on improving.
Tomorrow we invite parents of Year 10 boys into school to attend the Year 10 Information Evening to hear what is to come for the year and hear about how the School continues to develop.  We look forward to welcoming them.
This Friday is Tonbridge House Charity Day.  The House community has planned a number of events throughout the day to raise money and awareness for Hi Kent, a registered charity for deaf and hard of hearing people, whose aim is to provide a full range of services that meet the needs of anyone with hearing difficulties, and those who have an interest in their welfare. The day complements Mr Holmes's (Head of Tonbridge House), Mr Highsted's (Head of Barton House) and Mr Terrell's (Head of PE) efforts at the weekend as they are set to run half a marathon for the charity.  Good luck to them and thank you in advance to everyone who supports the day.

 

26 September 2017

Firstly I wish to congratulate the 1st XV Rugby Squad who played their first game of the season last Wednesday against Simon Langton Grammar School and won 70 - 0.  Yes 70 - 0.  What a great start to the season.  And this start continued at the weekend with every rugby squad beating Cranbrook School.  Well done lads.

Yesterday evening we welcomed parents of Year 9 boys to attend the Year 9 Information Evening.    Year 9 is an important one as it the year that sees the start of the GCSE process and with all GCSEs from now being assessed using the new measures, it is even more important to have such an evening.  I hope the evening was helpful.

 

Tonight after school sees the first full governing body meeting of the year.  It's more of an administration meeting, but it also provides an opportunity to reflect on last year and look forward to this one.

 

This Friday is a very important date in the MGS calendar; it is the Macmillan Coffee Morning.  Each year we acknowledge the event by holding our own ‘coffee’ morning, and it is always very well supported.  Last year we opened our doors to the wider community and a number of parents and Old Maidstonians joined us over a cup of coffee and a slice of cake.  If you are able to please do join us from 10.30am on Friday.

 

Finally, good luck to the boys who are taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh Weekend this weekend.  I hope the weather holds out for you and you don’t get lost somewhere in the Kent Countryside.

 

19 September 2017

Despite the lovely weather we ended up having on Friday we sadly had already decided to hold Upper School Speech Day in the Hall and not the Quad.  It was a wonderful occasion; congratulations again to all prizewinners and thank you to Dr Derrett who was the Guest of Honour.  The Beginning of Year Service went extremely well too and was able to go ahead at All Saints Church; not like last year when we had to bring the Church to MGS.  Thank you to Rev. Mark Pavey who stepped in at the last minute to lead the Service.

Yesterday, Year 7 enjoyed a team building day completing a range of tasks and activities.  This event is new to the MGS calendar and we hope it proves successful, developing not only greater friendships but also the boys’ problems solving skills.

Tomorrow we open our doors to students across Maidstone who wish to attend our University Fair. Over 50 universities across the entire country will be here providing information and literature about themselves and the numerous courses they offer.  This is the fourth year MGS is hosting such an event, and if the last three years are anything to go by, the event tomorrow will be extremely busy and informative to all who come.  Bring a large bag to take home all of the many prospectuses!

And on Thursday this week we invite Year 13 parents into school to meet with their child’s form teacher to discuss the next stages of the UCAS process.  It is this time of year when the students complete their personal statements and we complete their references before the deadline later this term.  We hope the day is helpful.

Finally, many congratulations to swimmer Ben Ward of Y10 who in August competed in the 14yrs age group English Nationals, winning Gold in the 400 IM.   He also raced in the British Summer Championships gaining 4th in the 200 Brs, 6th in 100 Brs, 6th in 200IM and 9th in 50 Brs which places him in the top 10 British Swimmers in his age group for 5 events.  Well done Ben.

12 September 2017

Tuesday 5^th September 2017

Welcome back to Maidstone Grammar School.  I hope you all had a wonderful summer holiday and are well-rested ready for the start of a new academic year.  A particular welcome goes to all our new members of the MGS Community: the students, the staff and to the parents.  I hope you all settle in and enjoy your first few weeks and that you develop a strong allegiance with the School. The summer holiday has been incredibly busy: we have seen the completion of the new performing arts building, the demolition of the old music block, the completion of all of the ground works in preparation for the new pavilion, the installation of a new glass roof over the boys’ entrance, numerous areas of the school being painted and the beginnings of the remodelling of the staff toilets.  On top of all of this we have also received and issued, like every year, the GCE A Level and GCSE examination results to the out-going Year 13 and to the former year 11 students.  At this point I wish to thank all those members of staff who have continued their work over the summer supporting the School in preparation for the start of the new term. A couple of pieces of student news to share: On the weekend of the 26-27 August, Simon Coppard of Corpus Christi House participated in the UK Athletics Championships at Bedford International Stadium in the U17 800m. On the Saturday he ran the heat and qualified in second place with a time of 1:59.89 which meant he progressed into the final the following day.  In the final on the Sunday he ran in a very quick final against the 15 year old world record holder Max Burgin and finished with a silver medal with a new PB of 1:51.97 which he was delighted with.  Congratulations Simon and well done. And well done to William Bitz of College House who passed his Grade 5 Cornet Trinity Music Exam which he took at the end of the summer term. This week, despite it only being Week 2, is a busy one. Yesterday after school the first Extended Leadership Team meeting of the year took place.  With a new deputy head and assistant head, and four new heads of house this year it is important that we develop into a strong team early on.  In addition to this meeting the first Parents' Association meeting of the year took place, and as always have a packed programme of events to support the School. Tomorrow we invite year 12 students and their parents into school to attend the Year 12 Information Evening.  Year 12 is an important year and so it is vital to meet with the year group early to share with them what is to come during the next couple of years. And on Friday we have our Beginning of Year Service and Upper School Speech Day, the latter being the occasion when we recognise the achievements of the older students from last year.  It is also a time when many outgoing students meet once more before going off to university and the world of work.  We keep our fingers crossed for good weather.

 

 

 

18 July 2017

Welcome to my last blog posting of the 2016-17 academic year.  Yesterday we saw a marvellous Sports Day where the whole school competed in numerous events to win points for their House.  The weather was kind and made for a great day.  Afterwards the governors hosted a Governors Tea for those staff who are leaving at the end of the year.  Thirteen members of staff are leaving this year and collectively they have given 199 years’ service to the school.  Monday evening was a chance for the governors to say thank you.  Last Thursday a number of our sixth form students organised a football match against a local charity that supports young refugees.  The match raised a small amount of money that is now going to be used to buy some English teaching books and to pay for travel to and from the charity’s centre.  Thank you very much to the students who organised the event, and let’s hope for similar opportunities in the near future.

Congratulations to Hamish Reilly who took part last weekend in the European Biathlon Championships in Portugal representing GB in the U17 category.  He qualified in the semi-final on the Saturday to compete in the final of 16 competitors on the Sunday.  The event included a 1200m run, followed by a 200m swim, followed by another 1200m run.  He produced the race of his life to clinch second place achieving a silver medal and the knowledge he is the second fastest U17 Biathlete in Europe.  Well done Hamish.

Tomorrow is a big day: House Launch Day.  The first two lessons of the day will be cancelled and students and staff will spend two hours in their new forms meeting their fellow tutees and coming together as one in their first house assembly.  We have been building up to this day for over a year now, and we look forward to see how the new structure develops.

On Thursday it is the staff's chance to say goodbye to their colleagues. Over 100 members of staff and former members of staff are all attending the Staffing Leaving Do; enjoying a two course meal prepared by Independent Catering and hearing a number of speeches about leaving staff.  It will be an emotional occasions and we wish all leaving staff the best for their futures.

And Friday is the final day of the year which will, as always, finish with an end of term assembly.  We are hoping the weather holds to allow for that assembly to take place in the Quad. It will be the last time the current student body have an opportunity to say goodbye to the leaving staff, and it will be the last time they see the current music block building.  When we return in September the music block will have been demolished to prepare the ground for the second phase of the building projects.  Have a wonderful holiday.

 

 

 

Tuesday 11 July 2017

Welcome back to normal school.  I hope everyone enjoyed last week whatever they were doing.  Years 7 to 10 took part in a variety of activities as part of Extended Learning Week, and Year 12 spent the week undertaking work experience.  I have already heard a huge number of positive comments about the week from students, parents, staff and governors.  At this point, I would like to thank the staff, older students and Old Maidstonians who helped support Years 7 to 10 during Extended Learning Week.  Their help and hard work was invaluable and contributed towards an amazing week.  Thank you.

We return to school for two more weeks before the summer holiday, but these last couple of weeks are packed full of events.  Tomorrow we welcome about 75 Year 4 and Year 5 students to MGS to enjoy our Brazil Extravaganza, and the outgoing Year 13 enjoy their Leavers' Prom, this year taking place at Bearsted Golf Course.  On Thursday we welcome all the boys who will be joining MGS in September to the Year 6 Induction Day, and on Friday it is our annual Founders' Day Service and Lower School Speech Day, with guest of honour Mr John Francis (OM 2009).

Next week we will be enjoying our annual School Sports Day on Monday (Tuesday if the weather is bad), and launching the new house structure on Wednesday.  Yesterday all the students found out what new house and form they will be in from September, and next Wednesday is the day when we will be embarking on the new structure for the final three days of term. 

Congratulations to the U13 Cricket Squad who reached the final of the Kent Cup.  They played their semi-final against Rochester Maths the Friday evening before Extended Learning Week and played fantastically well, beating them in a very close encounter. “The best cricket performance I have seen during my time here”, said Mr Terrell, Head of PE. They did the school proud.  Unfortunately, they were beaten by Chislehurst and Sidcup School in the final last Thursday.

And finally, many congratulations to Matthew Howson of Year 8 who has been selected to compete at the Inter-Regional Triathlon Championships taking place on Monday 28th August 2017 in Leicester.  Well done Matthew.

Tuesday 4 July 2017

Extended Learning Week is finally here.  Many months of planning and preparation behind the scenes have now come to fruition.  I hope everyone is enjoying their activities and that you are keeping up with what is happening with our daily blog. 

At the same time as Extended Learning Week, Year 12 students are enjoying a week of work experience.  The students themselves have chosen where they would like to work, with some scattered all over the country.  I hope they value the experience.

On Friday last week, Mr Seymour and Mrs Acaster accompanied six Year 12 students (Sam Jeffrey, Matthew Piper, Ella Collie, Charlie Luxton, Will Terry and Allen Wesson) to compete in the BASE 2017 National Final in Birmingham.  I am pleased to report that they performed fantastically in the various tasks and came overall runners up, finishing second to the North London Collegiate School.  In addition, Allen Wesson won an individual award for the Best Individual Performance across the day.  Well done to the team, they bring back a trophy as well as essential employability skills training.

It is a long way off but next year's school production, which will take place in December, is School of Rock.  Last week there was a meeting for students to register their interest and a staggering 94 students signed up.  This is an incredible number considering Years 11 and 13 are not currently in school.  This has the potential to be a truly amazing show.  Do look out for details nearer the time.Ben Ward of Year 9, who competed in the Kent Swimming Championships in February and the South East Championships in May, has now been invited to compete at the British Swimming Championships this month in Sheffield.  He will be competing with the top 24 swimmers in GB in his age group.  Good luck Ben.Finally, congratulations to Will Skinner of Year 12 who is the new English record holder for the U18 U74kg Deadlift with a weight of 213kg.  Because of this, he has been selected to represent England at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.  Well done Will.