Summer 2023 Newsletter

Box Hill School

Summer Term 2023

Latest News

Racing to School At the start of this Summer term, the whole of Year 7 went to Epsom Downs racecourse (on a rare sunny day!) to learn about the real-life maths involved in the horse racing industry.

Head for the Day Daniel C was “Head for the Day”, an annual event in which one student wins a prize to experience what it is like to lead our school.

He was Acting Headteacher and was given the opportunity to be involved in decisionmaking meetings and to be given an insight into what goes on behind the scenes with the senior members of staff. When Mr Lowde asked Daniel if he had achieved his goal of understanding what the role involved, he said “Thank you to everyone who gave me this opportunity, I learnt a lot from this experience and thoroughly enjoyed my day.’

On behalf of all the staff involved, well done Daniel, it was a pleasure working with you and thank you for your contributions.

The day was organised and run by Racing to School, a charity set up to inspire young people through educational trips to a variety of racecourses around the UK. During this annual trip the students dressed in Jockey’s silks and made a range of estimates and calculations ranging from measuring the circumference of the parade ground, using the Jockey’s scales to convert between imperial and metric.

Before lunch there was time to learn about how to read the race cards and how handicaps are applied and then to take part in their own handicap race! After a busy morning calculating, it was time for a well-earned rest in the sun and time to watch some races!

A fantastic and engaging day out for all!

Equality March On Friday 24th March, both Year 8 History classes reenacted a 1913 Women’s suffrage protest march around school.

They have recently been studying the origins, main events and legacy of British women’s suffrage in the early twentieth century. They carried out depth studies on Emily Wilding Davison and the 1913 Epsom Derby as well as hunger striking in British prisons. The march around school went really well and culminated in meeting Prime Minister H.H. Asquith (Drew Vermeulen) where some of the students petitioned him with written speeches and he replied explaining the constraints on him.

Speech Day Speech Day is an important day when we all come together to celebrate all that is special about our school and the community.

On Saturday 20 th May, we enjoyed a day filled with family, friends and smiles. Congratulations to the whole school community on what you’ve achieved so far this year.

I would encourage families to visit the new Emily Wilding Davison memorial statue and stone bench in Epsom market square and Tattenham Corner at Epsom racecourse which also has a memorial.

British Record Holder We are also very pleased to report that one of our Year 12 pupils has become a British record holder in powerlifting.

Shaan V competed in the British Junior Championships 2023 in Birmingham in the sub junior under 53kg class, taking victory in that class and achieving a British record at the same time, lifting 127.5kg in the squats round. In the bench rounds, he lifted 65kg, and in his deadlift round he lifted 155kgs.

His success in the national competition now gives him a chance to be selected to represent Great Britain.

We are incredibly proud of Shaan’s achievement and wish him continued success in his powerlifting.

Valedictory Ball

Valencia

This event is a tradition at Box Hill School and a wonderful opportunity for our senior students to join together for an evening of great food, music and dancing (and a few other surprises too!).

Mrs Aurini, our Head of Spanish along with Mr Vaquette and Mr Anderson, took 23 students studying Spanish in Year 9 and Year 10 to visit the wonderful city of Valencia over a weekend.

This year’s theme was Circus, and Mrs Osborne really out did herself with this event! We really enjoyed the evening and made life long memories.

They have experienced the festival of Las Fallas and have also visited the main attractions of the city such as the City of Arts and Sciences and the Stadium Mestalla.

Students went to restaurants and local markets and made good use of their Spanish knowledge to order food and buy souvenirs.

Blenheim Palace On Monday 27th March, staff took students from the EAL and ISC department on a trip to explore Blenheim Palace, the home to the 12th Duke of Marlborough and the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. Built between 1705 and 1722, Blenheim is a country house in Woodstock, Oxfordshire and is one of England’s largest stately homes. The students were split in to three groups which gave them the opportunity to enjoy a tour of the Palace State Rooms, the Churchill exhibition and gardens, and finally a spy-workshop in the MI5 Room!

The staff were knowledgeable and helpful and the students particularly enjoyed the MI5 workshop where they had chance to use their ‘spying ‘skills to crack a code and open the treasure chest!

The Baroque-style palace boasts a long and diverse history and a number of students remarked on the fascinating collection of artwork inside but also enjoyed the exhibition of costumes, some of which are used in the Netflix dramas The Crown and Bridgerton.

Many of the students were also impressed by the beautifully landscaped parkland and stunning formal gardens.

Meet Jackson Jackson attended school frequently this term. He was available to relieve stress and stimulate conversation.

This was greatly received by our Year 11s whilst they studied for their exams. We hope to see more of you next term!!

Athletics Success Story Three Box Hill students were also selected to represent Central Surrey at the County Schools’ Athletics Championships at Kingsmeadow Stadium on Saturday 10th June.

James O’F reached the Final of the Junior Boys’ 100m, achieving a new PB of 11.8s to place 7th. James has enjoyed an excellent track and field season with success over 80mH, 100m and 200m at Claremont Athletics Meet and for his South London Club.

Sports, Exercise and Health On 15th June, our Year 12 A Level PE and IB Sports, Exercise and Health Science students visited the University of Surrey. Dr Ralph Manders, Lecturer in Exercise Physiology was our host for the day. Students took part in a practical to examine indirect calorimetry at rest and during moderate exercise.

They were able to watch Mr Cook perform a VO2 max test to exhaustion and they also participated in a Psychology practical that investigated heart rate response during video gaming. It was an excellent insight into different areas of expertise that are taught at undergraduate level.

Sports Day On Friday 16th June we also had our annual Sports Day event. We had glorious weather for the day and it was fantastic to see our pupils donning their Inter Thirds top and competing hard for their Third. Seven records were broken on the day and the overall victors were Spartans, their first Sports Day win since 2017.

A special mention to our Victor/Victrix Ludorums on the day: Y7/8 Josh E and Charlotte T Y9 Hugo H and Poppy W Y10 Archie F and Phoebe B Y12 Louie P and Freddie R and Daisy M We look forward to our next major Inter Thirds competition; cross country in October.

Miles for Maggie’s Maggie’s is a charity supporting people dealing with cancer. Their work is so important, and we hold their annual Maggie’s Surrey Hills Cycle Challenge. We worked with our charity committee to come up with Miles For Maggie’s – a student led initiative. As a school, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support.

The students were amazing during their PE sessions, tutor time and lunchtime.

Quigley’s Revenge The students of Year 7, 8, and 9 recently put on a successful production of Quigley’s Revenge. The play tells the story of an ageing custodian of a leafy village hall and their fight against an ambitious committee member attempting to redevelop the building into a shopping centre for the benefit of no one but himself. The production featured a talented cast of young actors, many of whom had never acted before. Despite this, they all gave outstanding performances and brought the story to life with energy and enthusiasm. The production team also did a fantastic job, with impressive costumes, stage design and sound that helped transport the audience into that village hall.

A huge thank you to Mr Freeman who lead the production and Mrs Walton, Ms Hinchliffe, Mr Urquhart and Mr Ward for their help. The students learned the discipline needed for putting on a production like this and had to come to terms with the challenging technical aspects of farce comedy and fast paced dialogue. The students successfully took this in their stride and managed a tremendous performance with a relatively short time frame. They should be very proud of themselves. Overall, Quigley’s Revenge was a triumph for all involved. The students’ hard work and dedication paid off in the form of a truly memorable and entertaining production.

With your help, Box Hill School raised a grand total of £2,106.74 for Maggie’s Cancer Charity. Thank you once again to all of you who supported Miles for Maggie’s… we’re already looking forward to next year. This is an AMAZING achievement and as a school we are proud! I really hope Harry enjoyed the day.

Box Hill School’s Got Talent On 24 th April, we hosted our annual Box Hill School’s Got Talent.

We saw the return of our annual ‘Box Hill Schoo’s Got Talent’ competition. Our talented young people spent the last term preparing, auditioning and practising for this competition and the evening of music, dance, and other acts did not disappoint. From Sam’s ‘Rubik’s cube’ to Connie’s powerful rendition of “I see red”, the evening was full of variety and excitement. The show was performed to a sold-out auditorium and the atmosphere was one of excitement and enjoyment. The level of performance of our students was outstanding and it was very challenging for the judges to deliberate.

However, after much discussion, the team (Mr Vermulen, Mr Nicora, Mr Freeman and Ms Taylor) decided that the places would be awarded as follows: 1st – Darcey B 2nd – Selina F 3rd – Nilu H Well done all! We are now excited about organising next year’s event and hope that even more of our talented young people will audition to take part.

Year 11 Leavers The Year 11s also celebrated the end of their GCSE courses on 11th of May, ahead of their exams starting on the 12th. To celebrate the last two years, and for a lot of students, the last five years at Box Hill, they started with breakfast and an option of a full English or pastries. There were then speeches from me and Ms Hinchliffe celebrating all that the Year 11s have achieved during their time here including completing their Duke of Edinburgh Awards, hosting the Round Square Conference and competing in the Adventure Race as well as school productions, talent show performances and sporting achievements. They were then given their yearbooks and hoodies, which were organised by a fantastic team of parents, and these were a great success.

in enthusiastically and had a fantastic time. Even some of the teachers got involved with Mr Thomson impressing several students with his football skills!

The “Guess the Baby” pictures were a definite highlight. After this they went out to the field where they had the opportunity to sign each other’s shirts and take part in the zorbing activities that had been set up for them. These included a Bubble Zorb arena, Human bowling, and Dart football which the students took part

After all this excitement the students were then given a barbeque lunch before going home for the rest of the day to start their revision.

Syndicates and Guardians Girl Guardian: Daisy M. Boy Guardian: Ben C. Deputy: Jack D Deputy: Clara D. Congratulations to all four, as well as those several who applied and made for a very competitive field.

SYNDICaTE memBeRs

The other syndicate members are as follows:

Ben Head Boy

Daisy Head Girl

Clara Deputy Girl

Jack Deputy Boy

Anusha

Gesila

Jonathan

Oliver

Oscar

Rose

Sienna

Sophie

Tom

Zac

Zayn

Their exams have started already but we wish them the best of luck during this exam period, and we look forward to celebrating the end of their exams with them at the Celebration on June 23rd.

I want to extend my sincere thanks to the Year 11 team who have worked so hard for our students during their time with us: Ms Hinchliffe, Mrs Fuller, Ms Aurini, Ms Bryson, Mr Cook, Mrs Peyton and Mr Vaquette.

Make a Difference (MAD) Day MAD Day 2023 was undoubtedly a roaring success. In the lead up to the day, pupils from all tutor groups prepared stalls, games and crepe machines for staff and students to enjoy.

The weather held off for the morning stalls very kindly, although Messrs. Thompson, Wood and Attewell were all dutifully soaked at the end, all in the name of charity of course! A hearty lunch preceded the infamous trek up Box Hill, where the weather was not so kind! The promise of a can of Diet Coke and a chocolate bar spurred on the 400 strong troop to the summit. The gravitational pull of a downhill walk back to a warm, dry school was strong, and unsurprisingly quicker with the addition of a months’ worth of rain in an hour.

Thank you to everyone who donated, the current total is sitting at £2,666.30 and an international donation of €2v.

Round Square Adventure Race Poppy W, James W, Joseph J, Florence D from Year 9 and Ioan T and Tim CG from Year 10, accompanied

by Mrs Wilson and Mr Holliman competed in the Round Square Adventure Race Challenge over the weekend of 28-30th April. This took place in Coniston in the Lake District and students camped in woodland adjacent to the Lake. Box Hill School competed against other Round Square schools, Gordonstoun, Windermere, Abbotsholme and Westfield, many of whom had been training for months prior to the event. At Box Hill, students join the adventure race activity in the Spring term and compete for their place on the team. Over the course of the weekend, the final teams competed in a series of outdoor events, rock climbing, open water swimming and night navigation. Speed over the ground was very much part of this, travelling by different modes of transport, mountain bikes, swimming and running.

The students gained so much, the value of teamwork, leadership skills and full-on adventure and challenge displaying a high level of technical ability as well as problem solving skills. Not many teenagers of this age would have been able to complete such an endurance race and each of them was pushed to their limit but able to cope because they had the support of each other. The Saturday’s activities lasted from 6.30 in the morning until 11 in the evening with little time for rest and then they navigated and completed a 12Km run/hike along a mountain route on the Sunday with 500m of ascent in very poor visibility and relentless rain!

GET IN TOUCH Please contact us via admissions@boxhillschool.com WHO TO CONTACT Claire Jordan, Registrar Daniella Quaglia, Marketing Manager

Old London Road, Mickleham, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6EA Tel: 01372 373382 www.boxhillschool.com  boxhillschool Instagram @boxhillschool

Staff were really impressed with their resilience and enthusiasm throughout.

Their behaviour was exemplary, and they are a real credit to the school.

So huge congratulations to the team! Mrs Wilson would like to start recruiting early for next year’s event, to be held in North Wales, so we would encourage any interested year 9s or 10s to speak to her!