The Veseyan - Spring 2022

BISHOP VESEY'S GRAMMAR SCHOOL INSPIRATION AND EXCELLENCE

THE VESEYAN SPRING 2022 | EDITION 14

HEADTEACHER'S FOREWORD I hope you enjoy reading the articles in this edition of The Veseyan.

There has been a strong sense of a warm community this term as we have together responded to the terrible plight of Ukranian refugees forced to flee by the Russian invasion. Fundraising, with the centrepiece of our ‘Walk for Ukraine’ (as seen on ITV Central!), has been a brilliant example of our Vesey values in action. Thank you Mrs Dille and to Liam McGrade (our student Charity Captain) for spearheading our efforts, and to all students, parents and friends of the School, who have contributed in any way they could.

I was also delighted by our Careers Day. It was so inspiring to have very busy parents and Old Veseyans giving their time to deliver a really wide range of fascinating talks to the School. I was really proud of our students. Our 6th Formers learnt how to introduce guest speakers and lead a question and answer session in front of big audiences. Meanwhile, our student audience asked thoughtful questions and were very attentive. I hope the event reinforces their ambition and aspirations. If previous Veseyans can be neurosurgeons, engineers, designers, barristers, music promoters or ground-breaking campaigners for social justice, our current Veseyans should know that, with hard work and resilience, they can achieve their goals.

There has been plenty going on for students to get involved with outside of the classroom with excellent opportunities in hockey, rugby, cricket, cross-country, rowing, chess, music, debating, speech and drama. The Spring Concert on Tuesday 26th April promises to be a very well-supported evening.

At the same time, it is great to see so many other signs of the scholarship of the Vesey community with so many successes in Maths and Coding challenges, Art and DT trips, and an excellent sense of student purpose in and out of the classroom.

In this beautiful, optimistic season of Spring, marked by a number of significant religious festivals, we celebrate our community and our scholarship on Thursday 7th April for our Speech Day at Sutton Coldfield Town Hall. We look forward to welcoming the Class of 2021 and our guest speaker, Anna Fielding OV. Wishing you all a happy Easter, Mr Robson

BISHOP VESEY'S GRAMMAR SCHOOL INSPIRATION AND EXCELLENCE

IN THIS EDITION VESEY COMMUNITY + OUTREACH STANDING WITH UKRAINE | PG 1 - 4 CHARITY REPORT | PG 5 - 6 PLANT/GREENHOUSE DUTY | PG 7 DEBATING EVENT | PG 8

INSPIRATIONAL CURRICULUM + STUDENTS LEARNING COMES TO LIFE | PG 9 - 17 SPORT NEWS | PG 18 - 21 BVGS REWARDS | PG 22 - 23 LANGUAGE CORRIDOR QUIZ WINNER | PG 24 ASSEMBLIES THIS TERM | PG 25 - 26

OUR STAFF WARM WELCOMES | PG 27 VALETES | PG 28 - 29

Standing with Ukraine

SPRING 2022 | EDITION 14

STANDING WITH UKRAINE In the days since the invasion of Ukraine we have all watched with horror and real sadness at what is unfolding in that country, often feeling quite powerless.

In these difficult times, BVGS want to stand and support the Ukrainian people affected by this conflict in whatever way we can. We have worked hard to raise money for The UN Refugee Agency.

Who are the UNHCR and what are they doing to help?

UNHCR are working with authorities, UN agencies, internally displaced community groups and partners to provide humanitarian assistance who are on the ground in Ukraine. Over 2.3 million refugees are estimated to have fled to neighbouring countries since 24 February and rising.

They are providing aid, cash assistance, protection and registration, and other means to help people forced to flee and so that humanitarian access and safety is granted. They are identifying and responding to the needs of the most vulnerable, many of them women and children, including a growing number of unaccompanied and separated children. More core relief items such as blankets, sleeping mats and emergency shelters are on their way to Ukraine and bordering countries.

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We have held a variety of Fundraising events/activities here at BVGS including: 50p a ribbon Staff and student Bake Sales Staff car wash Mario Kart Racing Lunchtime games Morning charity board games Blanket and items collections Science Quiz Magnetic Fishing Game Sponsored Silence Football Match Swim for Ukraine ...and our mammoth 'WALK FOR UKRAINE'

Watch the ITV coverage of the 'Walk for Ukraine' event below!

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Standing with Ukraine

SPRING 2022 | EDITION 14

Standing with Ukraine

SPRING 2022 | EDITION 14

The Swim for Ukraine event at Whitehouse common went swimmingly. These 10 students managed an amazing 2000m between them:

Isaaq Ali Omar Karim Jayden Siluvaimani Milford Tartagalia Navtej Vetsa Ayaan Ali Anwar Benhur Debas Ahamad Yousaf Sidney Harris Kanishk Polisetty Well done all!

Head Shaving fundraiser My name is Toru Ashton and I am interested in current affairs. I have been watching what is happening in Ukraine and I wondered what I could do to make a difference, and potentially give that little bit of help that I would want if I were in their shoes. I decided to shave my hair, which is a trade mark of mine, known by many people. It was a great shock for my friends and family when I told them, and when they saw my with no hair left! Currently, I have raised over a thousand pounds for this brilliant cause, which I hope will positively change lives. I hope it will also show others that they too can accomplish a charity goal and impact lives which are endangered.

Sponsored Silence Our names are Hunza Hussain, Precious Oloruntola, Precious Onojah, and Titilore Ojeyemi-Oyadeyi and when our form were discussing about how to raise money for Ukraine, others suggested that we do a sponsorsed silence - how charming!

We took up the challenge and it was very hard.

People kept asking us questions, especially as we did the sponsored silence for 3 days. In total we raised around £150. Thank you to all who supported us and this amazing charity!

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WALK FOR UKRAINE

Thank you to every single person who has thought of a fundraising idea, organised an activity, taken part, and/or given.

IN TOTAL WE HAVE RAISED

£9,335.99 4

Standing with Ukraine

SPRING 2022 | EDITION 14

Charity Report

SPRING 2022 | EDITION 14

Yet again at BVGS, we have held a wide range of events for many great charities. This includes fundraising initiatives for some of the house charities like raffles, bake sales and an online quiz for Cancer Research UK, to other events like ping pong tournaments, a penalty shootout and even a dance off for Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

We have also supported different public campaigns this year like Comic Relief in March, the summary for which is below, and Children in Need in November for which we raised a grand total of over £5,000 from some inter-house football tournaments, which the students really enjoyed, and a sponsored silence which three Year 7 students from each house participated in, as well as other events.

Some individual students and teachers have also used their initiative to raise money for different charities like Women’s Aid, Young Minds, the Aston Hotel Project, OSCAR Birmingham and Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust. More students are encouraged to do this as well if there is a cause they feel passionate about supporting. Just contact a member of the Charity Team or your Head of Year.

Back in December we continued the tradition of the Giving Tree which is a project in Gracechurch Centre that the students have been running each Christmas for three years now, even during the pandemic. The premise of it is that we ask some charities what donations they require around Christmas time, this year the charities were St Basils, St Giles, YMCA and the Buddy Bag Foundation, and then appeal to shoppers to purchase these items and return them to the tree whilst shopping. The project is a big one and there are students on the tree appealing for donations for the whole four week period that the tree is up but it’s all worth it and this year we received just over 1000 gifts for those less fortunate than us, including items ranging from clothes to toys to toiletries.

Finally, we've been fundraising for the UNHCR in support of refugees displaced and suffering due to the crisis in Ukraine. Above you can read about all the work that the UNHCR do and why it’s such a good cause to support. As you can see from the list above there was a huge range of events going on, some organised by the Charity Team and others by determined form groups, students and teachers. Just being around school on the Friday of the 'Walk with Ukraine' was a great experience with a buzz in the air seeing people walking around in their blue and yellow outfits and sprayed hair going from event to event, such as the Mario Kart tournaments or seeing Mr Doughty getting his head shaved.

Of course, the main event of the day was the 'Walk For Ukraine'. Organised by the Charity team led by Ms Dille and Liam McGrade, all the students from Years 7-10, and also those in Year 12 collectively walked the 2260km distance from Birmingham to Kyiv on the pavilion in their period 5 lesson on Friday 25th March. The students got sponsored for this and the total raised including online fundraising and in school donations from this and the other events is £9,335.99. I want to say a huge well done and thank you to everyone who helped us reach this amount and hope everyone enjoyed the day.

Overall, there has been huge success this year so far in charity and everyone has been so generous in getting involved in the events and giving up their time to run and organise them. The total for the year so far is over £15,000 raised for various causes which is a huge amount to have raised with a whole term left, so before the end of the year hopefully we can raise much more and do a lot more good.

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THE TOTAL RAISED FOR RED HOUSE FUNDRAISING WEEK WAS £278.40

The beginning of this term saw Red House come together to create and organise a week of fundraising events, with all proceeds going towards the Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

The events held included; a penalty shootout on the Astro turf with 11R, a table-tennis competition after school with 10R, a ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ Competition with 9R, a ‘Fortnite Dance-off’ with 8R and a bake sale, ‘Rubik’s Cube Competition’ and a few individual fundraisers from the students of 7R. Even without a dedicated non-uniform day, these events managed to raise £278.40. Many thanks to all of the Red House form groups, their tutors and the charity intern for Red House.

- Harry Hubbleday

THE TOTAL RAISED FOR RED NOSE DAY WAS £1,291.91

THANK YOU EVERYONE

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Charity Report

SPRING 2022 | EDITION 14

Plant/Greenhouse Duty

SPRING 2022 | EDITION 14

One of the great joys of a school community is that there are so many positive goings-ons happening in the background that few know about or recognise.

One of these is the plant/greenhouse duty led by Mr Barker. The current volunteers are Intishar Arefin in 7G and Arun Foxall in 8E.

Arun

Arun said "I carry out my plant duty every Tuesday lunchtime and help Mr Barker look after the plants in the Biology Labs which includes watering and feeding them, and repotting, sometimes dividing into new pots. I usually water the plants on the windowsills, such as the geraniums and rubber plant.

Mr Barker has been teaching me how to tell how much a plant needs watering, and how to repot different seeds and plants, and other duties with the plants. He also is keen to answer any questions I have, and teaches me about the plants as we look after them. Through the year, I would like to learn how to care for all the plants in the labs, and learn all their scientific names, as some of them are quite difficult."

Intishar said "Before the day of a test or after doing a lot of homework I usually go to my plants, water them and rest for a while. I am quite lucky to have many species of different plants.

Probably my most favourite are the succulents and cacti. They come in a variety of shape and sizes; they are easy to take care of and you get to see cool pieces of 'art' with them, such as terrariums.

I've got a wide selection of herbs - rocket, coriander, stevia, parsley, basil and thyme.

Intishar

I have carnivorous plants, which include a Nepenthes (large tropical pitcher plant) with some adorable little plantlets!

I also had a Venus flytrap (Dionaea) that sadly died off a few months ago.

I've got an orchid that has grown three spikes, a Christmas cactus that flowered near/at Christmas and the New Year. I also have a peace lily that is quite large now. I've got a tomato plant and a few bell pepper plants that have grown from a store-bought fruit's seed. I have some young Cyclamen growing, a bromeliad from my other plant loving aunt, a calla lily from recent times, a Scotch Bonnet Chilli plant from a local plant shop and a spider plant which was a baby from the plant they had but now it's producing more plantlets!"

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On Tuesday 5th April, students from Bishop Walsh Catholic School joined pupils at BVGS for an informal debating activity in Old Big School. The motion was "This house believes that NATO should get involved in the Russo-Ukrainian War", and this proved to be sufficiently broad and topical as to permit lengthy and impassioned discussion.

The event commenced with a brief presentation on the historical context of the ongoing conflict, which explored how Ukraine has, for centuries, been situated at the crossroad of diverse cultures, and how this has, in some instances, given rise to border disputes. After this, students were divided into two teams, and given time to refine their arguments before the collective debate commenced. Discussion was mature and empathetic: whilst it encompassed abstract geopolitical, financial, and ethical issues, it was clear that the tragic plight of the Ukrainian people was at the forefront of each of the speakers' minds.

In making this event open to students from other local schools, I sought to create a model for how inter-school activities may enable students to interact with peers from a more diverse range of backgrounds and genders than to which they may ordinarily be exposed. It is my hope that the Sutton Coldfield schools will be able to offer a broader range of joint extra-curricular activities in the future.

Finally, I wish to express my gratitude to Owain Prescott, Blessing Sowunmi, Ella Delicate, and Mr Robson, each of whom provided invaluable assistance in the organisation and delivering of the event.

- Ellis McKenzie (U6, 2)

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Debating Event

SPRING 2022 | EDITION 14

Learning Comes to Life

SPRING 2022 | EDITION 14

ART The Art department has been a hive of activity this term! In January, 54 Year 9 students travelled to the Pitt Rivers Museum and the Museum of Natural History in Oxford. More recently, Year 10, 11 and L6th students travelled to Liverpool to visit the Tate and Walker Galleries.

"I was inspired by the Tate exhibition. I was interested by the unique and media that had been used. I found the experience eye-opening" - Tess Hardy, L6

"In the Walker Gallery, I particularly enjoyed the Ancient Statues and tusks.

One of the forms I admire most is sculpting, and this benefitted me as I am focusing on portrait work in my GCSE project." - Felix Lawrence-Pietroni, 11B

"My favourite piece was a Mesh sculpture from 1961, which was hung from the ceiling to cast a complex shadow behind it." - Thomas Lewis, 11W

"The Liverpool trip really opened my eyes to different types of art. In the Tate, I saw a stark difference to the Walker Art Gallery. I found the art to be more bold and exploratory.

Furthermore, it changed my 2dimensional view of art which was based on painting and drawings to a more open view" - Abraham Olawoye, 11P

I really enjoyed seeing art in real life post-pandemic. Especially, Van Gough and Mondrian. It was also great to see a range of art from sculptures, to Renaissance paintings, to abstract modern pieces." - Max McCabe, 11P

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THE LOST AND FOUND PETER BOLTON PROJECT This project was very special, mainly because it was a memorial of Peter Bolton, a local artist and an Old Veseyan who sadly passed away years ago. To remember his spectacular and unique artwork, Year 8 took part in a competition where we had to make intricate shadowboxes using one of four different themes: carnival, theatre, tools, and animals.

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Learning Comes to Life

SPRING 2022 | EDITION 14

Learning Comes to Life

SPRING 2022 | EDITION 14

We weren't restricted to only one theme, in fact, so I created a mashup - a 1950s themed carnival with a tiger. And so, the process began of modelling, cutting, collecting, and gluing. First, we made a clay tag and clay sculpture both decorated and modelled to our liking. For my tag, I added a few imprinted clay coins stacked onto a candy cane with a cut-out of a crunchy caramel apple.

I also made a rollercoaster. This was an innovative idea as, one, the box looked quite empty until now and two, I did not need to paint it as rollercoasters in the 50s would have been made of wood. I managed to make a working carriage that was slotted into the rollercoaster gap so you could move it up and down it.

I love my finished project and I am so glad that I was chosen by Geoff Bolton (Peter Bolton's brother) as as one of the finalists. I didn't win but I am proud that my art brought back memories of Peter Bolton to his family.

- Parin Ragmanu, 8R

I enjoyed the clay sculpting the most as it was something I had really wanted to do for a long time, and I thought it would be a really good way to show my theme and create an atmosphere in my box. I also liked how you could bring things in from home to add to your box to make it look better. I think that the care to bring things in from home and to spend your lunchtimes perfecting your box was the difference between a good box and one of the 15 winners that Geoff Bolton selected after looking at the multiple boxes.

Another thing that inspired me to put 100% effort into my Shadow Box was the mention of a prize at the beginning of the project, (I am sure lots of other people got extra motivated at the mention of a prize!) .

I felt really proud to be selected as a winning box by Geoff Bolton because this was a memorial project celebrating the life of Peter Bolton, a local artist and an old Veseyan. Geoff picked boxes that he thought would interest his brother, Peter. I thought this was a good addition as we were celebrating his life.

The thing I like about art the most is the ability to express a thousand words and emotions with just a pencil and a piece of paper. This was by far my most enjoyable topic of my Vesey experience so far. I just loved how the multiple aspects of art came together to form a box with theme of whatever you wanted.

- Alex Williams, 8G

Parin's shadowbox

Alex with Geoff Bolton

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Exhibition featuring excellent Year 9, 10, 11, and Sixth Form art.

MANDARIN EXCELLENCE PROGRAMME On Saturday 2nd April, Year 7 MEP students from BVGS, QMGS and QMHS were preparing all 4 skills, (listening, speaking, reading and writing) ahead of the Hurdle tests in May. Students also learnt some new words about Easter and participated in a Chinese Dance Workshop!

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Learning Comes to Life

SPRING 2022 | EDITION 14

Learning Comes to Life

SPRING 2022 | EDITION 14

PHYSICS Advanced Computational Science Club The past few decades have been pivotal in reforming how science is undertaken today. This year, Mr Panagiotidis (Physics Dept) has launched a new extracurricular club for students reflecting this change, undertaking advanced Computational Science projects.

Predicting complex systems in science (for example, the weather in the UK!) is only possible through the use of powerful computers analysing and simulating large amounts of data.

Students have engaged with solving such scientific problems and how to use one of the most advanced digital scientific tools, Wolfram Mathematica.

Our Year 13 participants explored ways to simulate chaotic systems computationally, approached the Two Fixed Centres Problem through Lagrange mechanics, and explored how Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning can predict future system behaviour. Meanwhile Year 12 participants have begun to explore computational methods to simulate dynamical systems and apply that knowledge to fields such as population dynamics and mechanics.

After Easter, Key Stage 3 students will get the opportunity to explore the universe using an exciting modern space simulation, Universe Sandbox by Giant Army. They will explore our Solar System, create their versions of stellar systems, and test how planets, stars and galaxies behave using a space simulator that merges gravity, climate, collision, and material interactions to reveal the beauty of our universe.

We owe our thanks to Wolfram for their continuous support and to Giant's Army's kind offer of ten free licences, so our students will have the chance to enhance their learning with one of the most exciting and scientifically accurate space simulators!

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ENGLISH Year 11 enjoyed a production of An Inspector Calls by the professional theatre company Katch 22. Arranged by the English Department, the performance enabled students the opportunity to revise for their forthcoming English Literature GCSE in an accessible and engaging way. As well as the performance of Jekyll and Hyde last term, it's been fantastic to enjoy live theatre productions again!

COMPUTING Students from Years 8, 9, 10 and 11 took part in the final round for the Perse Coding Team Challenge on Thursday 17th March after qualifying in the first round held in February.

Students worked in teams that had contain students from different years groups to develop their teamwork and communication skills and utilised a variety of strategies to complete the 12 programming challenges in the one hour time limit. We eagerly await the results to find out if we maintained our position as the top performing state secondary school in the West Midlands.

Viraj Gupta (11R) was one of the successful qualifiers and took part in Round 2. After the competition he commented:

I really enjoyed taking part in the 2022 Perse Coding Team Challenge with my team mates Aditya Muthukumar 11G and Bastiaan Vorster 9G. After making it through Round 1 we had been practicing over the past few weeks to prepare for the noticeably more difficult Round 2. I think that this competition has helped me to develop better team working skills as, during our practice and in the actual thing, we helped each other to solve questions and spot pesky syntax errors in each other’s code! A strategy we employed in Round 2 was strategically dividing up the questions between us based on what each of our strengths were.

What I like about this competition is that there are questions for all levels of programming experience. I also think that attempting the challenges are a great way to learn new programming techniques and discover more sophisticated ways to think about the problems because some questions require time efficient solutions. PCTC has also helped me to see how much my programming skills have improved and what my weaknesses are which I can now work on.

Overall, my teammates and I had a great time taking part in PCTC, not only in the actual round but in the weeks of practice preceding it. I would definitely recommend it to anyone in years 7-11 wanting to put their programming and problem-solving skills to the test.

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Learning Comes to Life

SPRING 2022 | EDITION 14

Learning Comes to Life

SPRING 2022 | EDITION 14

DESIGN TECHNOLOGY F1 in Schools is an international STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) competition for students aged 11–19, in which groups of 3–6 students have to design and manufacture a miniature car out of the official F1 Model Block using CAD/CAM design tools.

On Friday 25th March, six year 12 students who make up the BV Racing F1 in Schools team, travelled to Aston University – College of Engineering and Physical Science - to participate in a test day, in preparation for the regional competition.

Our team got the chance to see their car being machined out on the CNC milling machines and then assemble the car.

After assembly, we were able to test the car in a wind tunnel to assess the aerodynamics as well as race it along the track! The BV racing car was competing against a previous competition winning car! Our team gathered lots of valuable information on the test day, which was then used to make improvements to the car using computer-aided design software in school.

On Tuesday 29th we returned as a team, to Aston University to take part in a build day, where they manufactured the new and improved car which was tested down the track on Friday 31st.

The team are now in the process of making further refinements and putting together technical details and a project portfolio for the regional competition, due to take place later this year.

Next academic year, the F1 in Schools project will be open to Year 10 Design Technology students and students in Year 12. There is a link below to the F1 in Schools website so that those who are interested can get an idea for the project - https://www.f1inschools.co.uk/ - Matthew Merrill (BV Racing Project Manager)

Car on track

Testing car

Finished car 15

MATHS UKMT Success Year 9 and 10 were entered for the UKMT Maths Challenge this term with some excellent results. Year 9: 9 Gold, 31 Silver and 51 Bronze and Year 10: 7 Gold, 35 Silver and 52 Bronze.

Well done to Jack Wadlow-Smith (best in Year 10) and Kieran Cheng (Y9 and best in school). Kieran qualified for the Olympiad and we await the outcome of his performance with interest. A much higher number of students than normal were entered into the Grey Kangaroo. A big well done to Tom Davie from 9B and Tom Griffiths from 9G, who were both awarded a Merit in the Grey Kangaroo.

MUSIC AT THE ROYAL BIRMINGHAM CONSERVATOIRE

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Learning Comes to Life

SPRING 2022 | EDITION 14

Learning Comes to Life

SPRING 2022 | EDITION 14

It has been an absolute privilege in recent weeks to see Vesey musicians performing in different venues across Birmingham. The senior Percussion Group and the Senior Choir took centre stage and gave sparkling performances at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire on 5th April. Enjoy the videos above.

Meanwhile, on 5th March, Funky Bishops performed an inspirational ‘set’ at the Elgar Hall, university of Birmingham. You can listen here.

Both concerts were wonderful and would not have happened without the hard work and professionalism of Mr Buxton, our Director of Music, and all the team at services of Education.

Look forward to seeing everyone at our re-scheduled Spring Concert on Tuesday 26th April. Tickets can be booked here.

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ROWING

At the start of the new year, Vesey rowing was left without a coach. Until Mrs. Bousfield returns in the new academic year, we will be unable to train on the water or compete. This came as a monumental blow to our senior athletes, who though have been consistently performing at the highest levels our school has seen, have never experienced a full, uninterrupted season of competitions due to staff issues or the Covid pandemic. It seemed like much of our hard work and dedication over the past 5 years had come to nothing, and the reputation we had worked hard to build up Vesey rowing had been lost.

I, however, was determined not to allow this to happen. I took it upon myself to deliver the high-quality training that our rowers had become accustomed to under the management of Mr Langton, focusing on building a core base of fitness in the rowers and developing their technical abilities. In the most recent round of ergometer testing, a huge amount of progress has been made by every single one of our athletes, both in fitness and technique.

Going into the summer term, we aim to develop a team that can attack next season with the targets of not only racing, but winning against the tops crews in the country. Although the start of the year seemed massively bleak for Vesey rowing, through the hard work and dedication of myself, Mr Gray and everyone who makes up our truly amazing rowing crew, the future will be bright.

- Josh Thompson

When I was asked to keep an eye on Vesey’s Indoor Rowing during Mrs. Bousfield’s absence, I quickly realised that I brought nothing to the table in terms of rowing prowess. I had 6 working rowing machines, 6 broken ones and a pool of keen rowers from Years 8 to 13.

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Sport News

SPRING 2022 | EDITION 14

Sport News

SPRING 2022 | EDITION 14

Being smart enough to know I’m dumb served me well in my business career. So I put out an enrichment opportunity (cry for help) to the 6th form. An early respondent was Josh Thompson, who has provided leadership and backbone to the effort to keeping rowing on track, as well as personally repairing 5 of the 6 broken rowing machines.

He was quickly followed by Evie Challoner-Miles, Bevan Tse-Stuart, Reinart Jensema and Euan Lim. Between them we now have a thriving, supervised and structured rowing programme covering years 8-11 between Monday and Thursday. Some days there is so much excitement and enthusiasm in the Erg (rowing) Room that sound-proofing is required.

In turn, the School has responded to the senior rowers request for the Erg room to be opened early on a Thursday morning and late on a Friday.

The Headmaster rarely wastes an opportunity to describe Vesey values. Well I think they are encapsulated in the contribution of these 6th formers. They have not just met the brief, they have torn it up and rewritten it to their standards. I cannot speak highly enough about them!

- Mr Gray

Fortunately for us the sixth formers have stepped up.

They've been running weekly indoor rowing sessions including 2K's, fitness sessions, setting personal goals and targets in order to push us to achieve.

This year Josh and Reinhart have attended weekly sessions with us and, in terms of personal goals, I've improved my 2K by 30 seconds, which I feel proud about.

Their help and support throughout has enabled all of the rowing students to grow and improve their fitness, technique, and rowing ability.

- Will Bowen Esquire, 9E

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Sport News

SPRING 2022 | EDITION 14

YEAR 7 RUGBY Here is the 7 rugby team who acquitted themselves brilliantly on Saturday 26th March at the Year Seven Sevens Festival.

They beat Warwick and lost to Old Swinford Hospital in the first group, then beat KES Birmingham, drew with Adams in an incredible back and forth match, and lost to a strong Monmouth team. It has been fantastic to see their confidence grow and see them develop as rugby players any young men.

- Mr Devine

UNDER 15S RUGBY Saturday 31st March saw the under 15s crowned winners of the Bowl at Kings Worcester under 15s Sevens Tournament.

Congratulations to the team: Ethan Miller, Ben Mostert, Isaac Lugg, Freddie Jones, William Todd, Luca Mayer, Kian Eratne (back row, from left to right). Will Cartwright, Lemar Salmon, Luke Smith, Saad Sohail, Doug Blaine,, Tino Madziwa (front row, from left to right).

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Sport News

SPRING 2022 | EDITION 14

FOOTBALL BVGS put in a fine performance in the Semi Final of the Midlands Schools Football Cup with a 2-1 win over Bishop Challoner’s, King’s Heath this week.

Well done to the whole team of Messrs Goode, Clarke, Kitchin, Franks, Roberts, Meehan, Irshad, Kearns, Davage, Allison, Olatundun, Nijjar, Wylie, Aston.

We look forward to the final after Easter!

HOCKEY

Team photo of the successful school hockey 1st team who had such a fantastic season. Special mention to year 13 leavers: Morgan Simpson (Captain), Morgan Davage, Will Meehan, Oli Gray-Nimmo, Marcus Phillips, Ben Priddey, Finn Epting and Dexter Connor 21

It is so good to see students being awarded lots of merits with the Main School total standing at 17,653.

Well done to everyone for their hard work and commitment.

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BVGS Rewards

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BVGS Rewards

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As important a measure of student focus is the excellent number of students with zero behaviour points. For example, this term 448 students from Years 7-11 (48% of the total) have achieved this accolade. Mr Robson will be writing individually to each student to congratulate them.

Another positive initiative this term, introduced by Mr Goodwin, is the Class Pizza Award for the best attendance in a fortnight. Well done 8R, who triumphed in the latest fortnight period with a figure of 98.6%

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Following a redesign in the MFL corridor early this term, we decided to roll out a KS3 Quiz competition to encourage students to have fun and engage with the cultural and educational designs that have been installed. A few examples of questions were: 1. In this image (left), name the famous landmarks shown. Extra points will be awarded if you name the city or country in which they are located. or

2. How many of the Spanish verbs (below) can you translate into English?

The winner of the Quiz was Syum Bedi (7B)!

I have thoroughly enjoyed my second term here at Bishop Vesey’s and I am amazed at how quickly the time has passed; it’s been 7 months now, since I started in September, but it only feels like 3.

To add the icing to the cake, I won the Modern Foreign Languages quiz. At BVGS, there are many opportunities for friendly competition, with prizes up for grabs – in this case, it was a £10 amazon voucher!

Although I’m extremely pleased that I won, the competition was also great for learning – I’ve now learned around 50 verbs from French, Spanish and Mandarin each and an abundance of loanwords.

Loanwords are words which have been adopted from a foreign language, either being modified slightly or not at all. Just a few that I’ve learnt are café, bazaar and kindergarten, originating from French, Persian and German, respectively.

In addition to this, the quiz helped my geography skills too, with one of the quiz questions being to name the famous landmarks on one of the many colourful displays.

I’m so thrilled that I won and I’m sure that there will be more opportunities to do the same again in the future! I hope that everybody has a nice Easter break!

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Language Corridor Quiz Winner

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Assemblies This Term

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January Desmond Tutu Veganism Martin Luther King Remembering the Holocaust

February Chinese New Year LGBTQ+ History Where can Humanities take you?

"The LGBTQ+ History Month assemblies covered a brief history of the LGBTQ+ community as well as three individual stories from more recent history taken from archived interviews, photographs and news articles: The Glamour Boys, a group of gay and bisexual MPs who opposed the government's appeasement strategy before World War Two; the story of J.J Belanger, a gay fighter pilot during World War Two; and 'Dear Abby', an agony aunt and ally to the LGBTQ+ community during the 1950s, 60s and 70s. The students also learnt about the Aids Epidemic and Memorial Quilt in the 1980s and 90s and had the chance to see an interactive version of the quilt.

Students were encouraged to show compassion and empathy. The assembly had a fantastic reception from students and teachers with many wishing to know more. Presenting to a large audience has helped me to develop my public speaking skills and staff were very supportive, in particular I'd like to thank Ms Steadman."

- Toby Walton 25

Where can I get more social/historical/political/economic context on Ukraine?

An article by National Geographic on the tangled history of the region.

March Ukraine History

Ros Atkins (BBC News) has done a series of 3minute summary videos.

Careers in STEM

PODCAST: RUSSIA: The Geography – Tim Marshall looks at how the world's geography dictates politics, history and the future

Supporting people with eating disorders Understanding Autism The Power of Language

We spoke to Isaaq Ali, Oscar Bennett, Bowen Hu and Vedant Upadhyay on their assemblies this term They say they have learned a lot:

“I really feel for the Ukranian people and understand their history” “The importance of respecting everyone regardless of who they are” “If we have any concerns in life, we should always speak up” April Celebration Assemblies

“Veganuary shows us ways in which we can make our planet better” “I now know what LGBTQ stands for”

Looking further forward, the students are keen to hear about other themes in assemblies such as: foods and customs from other countries, other areas of the world where there are challenging situations.

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Assemblies This Term

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Warm Welcomes

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This term 4 new members of staff have joined BVGS. We are very pleased to welcome each one of them.

MR MORGAN - STUDENT MENTOR It's great to be back at BVGS, now not as a student but as a mentor. Working alongside the academic input of my colleagues, my main aim is to work with students to develop character so that they can have fulfilling and meaningful lives and careers.

I love this role as I am pouring back what I have gained and having a part to play in shaping future leaders.

Outside of work, I like going to the gym, eating out and going to watch films.

MRS AYTO - SIXTH FORM PASTORAL ASSISTANT After many years of being 'on the other side' (both of my sons attended BVGS) I am delighted to be part of the school's team. My role as a Sixth Form Pastoral Assistant involves supporting students with their studies and supervising silent study sessions.

Outside of work I enjoy knitting and have great fun creating new outfits for my niece's dolls. In fact, Barbie's wardrobe is now more extensive than my own!

MISS FEE - TEACHER OF SPANISH I joined the Spanish department in December and I have loved taking on a new challenge of teaching Spanish to KS3, KS4 and KS5. I have previously taught French, but as someone who was born in Spain and has family there, I have a real passion for the Spanish language and culture and I have thoroughly enjoyed transmitting it to the lovely students at Bishop Vesey’s. I look forward to continuing my professional development here and integrating further into the Vesey’s community.

MR GORDON - CRICKET INSTRUCTOR I started in February and my impression so far of the School has been positive.

At Vesey, I teach Cricket and fill in for the PE department wherever they need me. I’ve been impressed with the opportunities, academic and sporting-wise, especially given that this is a state grammar school. There is something in the extra-curricular calendar for students every day, and for all abilities and commitment levels.

More recently, my role is evolving into a mentoring role. I enjoy building relationships, sharing experiences, and building character in students outside of a classroom context.

I am an ex-professional cricketer. I still coach and I am actively involved in Handsworth Cricket Club, as the Vice Chair. Apart from sport, I enjoy spending time with my family, debating, and reading.

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MR GREENWOOD A short perusal of the Vesey archive reveals that Mr Greenwood joined Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School as a student on the 1st September 2002.

Mr Gotschel, described him an exceptional young man: “Tom is an impressive young man who is a perfect role model for others and is well liked and respected by his peers. He must be applauded for his formidable commitment in rugby and as the gold house captain and the fact that he never gives anything less than a hundred percent in everything he does. Tom is kind, helpful, and mature as a person and an intelligent, highly motivated and superbly organised student. It is a pleasure and a privilege to have him in the tutor group.”

Tom gained excellent A levels and went on to Southampton University to study Geography, where he gained a first class honours. We welcomed Tom back to BVGS in 2014 as a Geography teacher.

All the qualities and skills as a young Veseyan were there to see in this new member of staff. A great work ethic, highly motivated and always 15 steps ahead of everyone else organisationally, full of plans and ideas.

It surprised none of us that his students made great progress in Geography. He brought new ideas to the table. We became used to seeing Tom’s students creating landforms out of jelly and interesting creations every year from the highly competitive student geographer of the year competition.

Outside of the classroom, Tom got involved with lots of geography and other trips, leading students and staff from Dorset to the Icelandic volcano with the unpronounceable name, spearheading the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme and the Wilson Stuart Sports partnership.

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Valetes

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Valetes

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The Wilson Stuart Sports partnership involves our school hosting all of the primary school sports programme and our students leading the events across a range of activities from indoor athletics, tag rugby, dodgeball, to the x-country events.

In Tennis Tom established a comprehensive fixture card for the juniors in the summer, taking them to a number of fixtures around the area which has really helped kick start the tennis again at the school, with the seniors back entering the National Cup for the first time this year after many, many years. All this has been done in that time he didn’t need to commit to but was happy to in order to provide opportunities for our students Tom’s greatest passion certainly lies on the rugby field and as a beneficiary of the journey he had as Veseyan he was determined to give his teams the same experience and more. He was an everpresent at training sessions and we could count on one hand how many Saturday fixtures he has missed. His teams always have the best uptake and consistency in numbers at training due to the culture he has developed with them. Tom stepped up to coach the 1st XV this year which he has taken to with great success.

One of his team said "he’s been a hugely positive influence on all of us not just as a coach, but also as a dedicated teacher. It’s obvious that he loves doing what he does, and it certainly passed onto us.'

We wish you all the very best at Bishop Walsh and in your new role.

- Written by Mr Robson and Mr Howell

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FROM ALL AT BISHOP VESEY'S GRAMMAR SCHOOL

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT THIS TERM. HAVE A FANTASTIC EASTER BREAK

KEEP IN TOUCH

@BVGS1527

BISHOP VESEY'S GRAMMAR SCHOOL

LINKEDIN.COM/SCHOOL/BVGS

BISHOPVESEYS_GS

EDITOR, NATALIE HARRIS

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