Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School
Floyd Footnotes www.sirhenryfloyd.bucks.sch.uk Issue 26 | May 2017
International Mindedness Week International Mindedness Week took place in January. It aimed to open our eyes to the fact that we are part of the world community and raise money for our United World Schools partner school in Wana, Nepal. More on page 2
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International Mindedness Week
From leg-waxing to a bake-sale, lunchtime lectures to henna painting, everyone had a chance to be involved. Thank you to all the students that showed great leadership skills throughout the week, and to everyone who took part. Over £1200 was raised, and in the summer we hope to add to this from the end of term mufti-day donations.
For those of you who would like to see a little more of the school we are assisting the links below are for two recently produced short videos:
For the geographers and travelers amongst you this link will show you just where Wana is:
https://tinyurl.com/jw5tmu6
youtube.com/watch?v=sGhEocuCTz4
youtube.com/watch=MG0V1fP7Www
International Mindedness will be an ongoing initiative at the school, involving all year groups. It is about going beyond understanding and appreciation to action and involvement. This is both in and outside of our community.
Cameron Bashford, History/International Mindedness Teacher
As a group we planned activities throughout the week. There were lectures, beat the goalie, basketball, free throws, a talent show, bake sale, and we started the week off by collecting donations for the big event of leg waxing certain male staff.
We also planned an international food week for the canteen to provide. There was Nigerian, South African, Italian and Chinese food being sold that aimed to raise awareness of the different cultures from around the world.
Here are some of the things that were said from the people involved: “Felt good to help others less fortunate than us and amazing to be part of the organising.”
“It was successful as a lot of money was raised for a great cause.”
“It was good to work with older years in planning the activities.”
“It was an eye-opening experience.”
Year 10 Oli, Denzel, Arsalan, Jake, Yousuf, Sam, Abdi, Kortei, Zach, Ashwin.
The Henna Hand Designs We held a Henna session during International Mindedness Week. It was during lunchtime and I helped out to do designs on students’ hands. This was a very enjoyable occasion and I would love to do it again next year.- Trisha Aiyer, 7W
Talent Show On the Friday of International Mindedness Week, the school held a talent show. It was a very good atmosphere and there was a lot of clapping and cheering. I wasn’t expecting the talent to be so good! The winner was a group of three boys performing a crazy, energetic and multi-cultural dance. The runner up was an amazing singer who sang ‘Mercy’ by Duffy. Overall the experience was great and I definitely think that the school should hold another Talent Show next year in International Mindedness Week. Sophie Fines-Allin, 7W
Headteacher’s Update The final run in
The start of the summer term is a very important time for examination preparation. A huge amount of work will be covered by staff and students over a very short period of time. A large number of teachers have given up some holiday time to run revision classes. I believe that we had something happening almost every day of the Easter break, following a series of classes that took place in February half term. This year we have had to work particularly hard at understanding new syllabuses at A level and new grading systems for some subjects at GCSE. I am absolutely confident that our staff have got to grips with all the changes and that our students will be rewarded with excellent results in the summer.
Charity Days
The spring term ended with two days of charity fundraising. The sixth form Charities Committee worked incredibly hard and managed to beat their target by raising £3200 for our local Air Ambulance – a charity that the students voted to support with this year’s efforts. The level of organisation demonstrated by the committee in planning and running events, getting students to participate and then clearing up afterwards – all in a very short time window - was very impressive.
Building Works
Our new building is now fully constructed with the external brickwork and rendering complete. Internal fitting and decoration will continue for a few weeks before we take over the building around the time of the half term break. The whole process has been very smooth and efficient. The main contractors, Wernicks, have again proved to be excellent partners and (apart from the delay caused by some high winds at a time when the units were due to be lifted into place by a crane) have kept to time and budget. We recently sat down and worked out how much extra funding we have spent on new buildings and other major works such as new boilers since 2011. The total is over four million pounds in the past six
years!! Some of that has come from our own budget and some from the Local Authority to help them provide for increased numbers of students in the area. The biggest sums have come from successful bidding to the government’s Education Funding Agency.
Chinese visitors
We are looking forward to welcoming another group of Chinese students and their teachers. This is the second wave of the exchange that we began last October. We took out students across to Beijing in one group of thirty. The Beijing Academy students sent fifteen students in October and the rest of their party are spending time with us in late April and early May. We are looking forward to gaining more insight and understanding of a culture so very different from our own. They will spend some time having classes designed especially for them and will be attending some lessons with our students.
Admissions into Year 7
We are delighted to be able to admit 180 students into Year 7 this coming September. There are thirty families still appealing for places as well. Looking back over the numbers of applications we have received in recent years we have noticed a strong trend of increasing popularity – with the number of first choice applicants this year the highest it has ever been.
Model United Nations Rome 2017
A small group of sixth formers went to take part in a model United Nations event in Rome at the end of last term. We have participated in similar events in the UK in the past and have found them to be a very positive experience all round. A topic for debate is chosen. Students are allocated roles within national teams and have to quickly learn and understand what the position of the country is likely to be. Some students participated in the debate but some become researchers, press office members and some negotiate behind the scenes. The biggest learning opportunity is probably experiencing how to broker compromise deals with other countries, modifying your own position to be able to gain support from others who have different priorities.
We saw an international version advertised and were excited at the prospect. When our students arrived in Rome they found that there were very few school age students – most were undergraduates. There were very few students from UK as well. Nevertheless they soon overcame their sense of being overawed and actually won some prizes for their performance.
Staffing News
We said farewell to two members of staff at the end of last term. Our Site Manager, Mr Ken Hazell retired. We shall miss his cheerfulness, reliability and flexibility and wish him well. Mrs Steph Mast Hughes left our Personalised learning Department. She is setting up a new venture. In her brief time with us she has helpfully shared some of the learning she gained in completing her MSc in psychology and has enhanced our understanding of how students learn most effectively. Praise from a member of the public I was delighted to receive some feedback from a member of the public who came into contact with our senior ski trip in February. I will close this article with an extract from the letter they wrote to me. “All of the staff showed great authority by allowing the young adults some independence but also letting the young adults know what was expected of them at all times. They had a balance of having fun with them yet showing clear leadership. We very much hope we come across the young adults in your school in the future.” Stephen Box Headteacher
Year 7 Netball Team The Year 7 netball squad have had a tremendous season, remaining unbeaten. They had been training hard and were committed to performing their best in the end of season tournament. They played some outstanding netball, really starting to come together as a team. They won all of their matches; an excellent run through the tournament. Overall, they finished District Champions – a deserved result for a hard working team and a great foundation on which to build. Many congratulations to the winning team, which included:
Running Well In February 2017 I competed in a county school’s cross country race, where I came ninth and qualified for the Buckinghamshire team in the Nationals Cross Country Competition. The national competition was held in Loughborough during March 2017. There were 151 runners in this national race, and I came 60th. The Bucks Year 7 girls team came second as well, so I got a silver medal. It was a massive event, the biggest race that I’ve been to. I really enjoyed it and hope to qualify again next year! - Sophie Fines-Allin, 7W
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Aisha Aliya
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Lizzie Pearce
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Alexia Stocker
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Maya Chin
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Lucy Dover
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Rachel Murray
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Lauren Fines-Allin
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Jessica Thorn
District Netball Tournament results: • • • • •
Year 7 – 1st place – District Champions Year 8 – 4th place Year 9 – 5th place Year 10 – 2nd place – District Tournament Runners Up Year 11 – 3rd place
The Netball Season All years have developed their skills and started to play some excellent netball this season, despite the commitments that some girls have to the many other events in school. Girls from Year 10 to 12 have been actively involved in the coaching of the lower year teams and they have been an asset to the PE staff and their respective teams, with some of them using this as part of their GCSE PE practical. This season SHFGS netball teams have been increasingly improving and all teams have participated to a good standard in the 1st division of every year group’s league. In addition to this, each year group has produced good results in the District finals. These
tournaments are where all schools (usually more than 15 teams per tournament) in the Aylesbury Vale District gather to compete with all other schools on one evening. This year has proved to be a success with each of our year groups placing well and winning most of their matches.
Stowe House As the newly appointed Stowe House Captains, we feel that it is going to be most important to launch this house with a strong sense of pride and house spirit. We hope that what we can bring to the positions is passion, new ideas and excitement, and that we can feed this enthusiasm into the rest of the student body. These ideas involve creating a number of new opportunities for students involving house competitions. For example, we would love to make competitions such as Sports Day more inclusive, especially with more opportunities for Sixth Form students to take part. We would also love to develop a less competitive event which may involve activities such as egg and spoon races, three legged races and many other classic
As the school has expanded to six forms of entry – 180 students in each year group – a new house has been required to accommodate our growing numbers. Ascott, Claydon, Hartwell, Mentmore, and Waddesdon are all named after historic houses in Buckinghamshire, and following a vote amongst both students and staff the new house has been named. With a new colour banded tie ordered for September 2017, and a notice board planned, we just needed certain students to lead the house: games. We feel that students who are not confident competing in Sports Day would be more willing to take part in a competition that is less pressurised, and would therefore still have the opportunity to develop teamwork skills and work within their house to achieve a goal. Our core objective as House Captains is to create a sense of community within Stowe House, and set up a strong foundation for the house that we hope many future captains will build upon. We are thrilled at the opportunity, and cannot wait to take on the challenge to make Stowe a successful and notable house for years to come. House Captain, Liv Sheridan, 6H2
Vice-Captains, Jess Hubery, 6H2 and Oyin Alli, 6A1
Contrasting Styles In January the GCSE Y10 and Y11 Art Students visited V&A Museum in South Kensington and Saatchi Gallery on the Kings Road, London.
‘The trip taught me a lot about modern art, and how it compares to classical art. I especially liked Aleksandra Mir at the Saatchi Gallery.’ – Hannah Williams 10M1
Our day started slowly due to the thick fog on the way into London and we arrived later than expected, however the students were eager to explore the V&A Museum. This museum has exhibits from fashion to cultural artwork, jewellery, glass work, sculpture and is a leading Art and Design Museum. After lunch and a short walk, the group were at the Saatchi Gallery to see ‘Painters Painters’ exhibition. This gallery exhibits contemporary art in contrast to the V&A Museum. The students were given a guided tour of the exhibition and this provided them with an inside view of what the artist was thinking when producing the artwork.
‘Among the beauty of the classical sculpture and painting in the V&A, I was able to discover the connection and meaning behind more contemporary art that didn’t seem as aesthetic at first glance. I particularly loved Dexter Dalwood in the Saatchi. Great birthday timing as well! – Jay Nathan 11M
After a long day on our feet, we were glad to see the coach for our return journey, and the students commented: ‘I was very memorised by the work of David Brain Smith, and hope to create works inspired by him. Overall the trip was great!’ – Lorne Hyde, 11W
‘Overall, the best thing about the trip was being able to see the contrasts, but also similarities between the two galleries. I also really enjoyed finding out about the history of art from different cultures at the V&A.’ – Venkat Satram 11C
‘I really enjoyed the works of Dexter Dalwood in the Saatchi Gallery. I loved looking into all of the artwork and trying to figure out the story behind them.’ – Megan Humphries, 11H
‘The trip was very enriching and helpful to teach us about modern and traditional art. The modern art techniques were inspiring, particularly the works of David Brian Smith and Dexter Dalwood.’ - Alisiya Tomak 10H
‘I liked all the work from both galleries but was especially inspired by Dexter Dalwood. I thought the museums were very insightful to modern art but also historic art. It was great!’ – Arianna Michopoulou 10M2
Band Night
Band Night 2017 was bigger and better than ever. The theatre, with the help of our amazing tech team, was transformed into a professional music venue decked out with bright lights, loud speakers and a four-foot-high stage where 8 bands provided an amazing evening of fantastic live music. Band Night has always showcased the school’s alternative music scene with pop and rock classics being played and this year was no different. ‘Sidemen’, a three piece, opened the gig with a great set while ‘Six Times Lit’ brought the evening to a rousing close with their rendition of ‘Sugar We’re Going Down’ leaving the crowd screaming for more.
Many thanks to Miss Bahra and the Performing Arts Ambassadors for making the evening possible and to all the performers who made the evening so enjoyable. A massive thank you also goes out to the tech team for all of their hard work.
Other performers such as James Turnham, Ben Hinge, Ben Kwan and many more made this year’s line-up as exciting as ever.
Scott Caldwell-Nichols, 6W3
Be sure to listen out for details of next year’s Band Night!
Stepping Forward… Dance Showcases In March our A Level students showcased some excellent examination work. The showcase included original choreographies by Gabriella Mears, Wilfred Kenyon and Meghan Bunyan and solos in the styles of a specific practitioner by both our Year 12 and Year 13 A Level students. The styles showcased were diverse, encompassing ballet, musical theatre, Bob Fosse, Judith Jamison and the more abstract contemporary style of Hofesh Schecter. The standard was very high and the students should be particularly proud of their accomplishments. Later in the same month we held our GCSE dance showcase. Students performed their
duo performance pieces and showcased their own choreography work. It was once again gratifying to see the students tackle some controversial and challenging stimuli in a creative and original way. The standard was excellent and this will ensure the students are in good stead for their exam in the summer term. What is particularly special about the dance department is the way students across different year groups support and help each other by taking part in these pieces. We had a number of talented Year 8 students who took up the challenge of being in GCSE pieces and did an excellent job. Thank you to all those students who have given up the time to work with our examination students.
Rock Challenge 2017 Regional Showcase In 2012 we had great success at the Rock Challenge event and we won our regional heat at Stevenage Leisure Centre and then went onto win the Southern Open Final at Portsmouth Guidlhall too. This meant that as a school we would now be part of the Premier Division of the event where we would compete against the best schools from across the South of England, including Berkshire, Hampshire, Dorset, West Sussex, London and The Isle of Wight. All the schools in the Premier Division have had success in previous years in the Southern Open Finals. Last year we became the Rock Challenge Southern Premier Champions after winning the Southern Premier Final. This is an accomplishment that few schools achieve, so we were very proud of all involved and excited about taking part again this year. As a premier team we have the opportunity to showcase at a regional event and so our largest team yet of 96 students performed at Milton Keynes Theatre at the end of March. This year we based our piece on the events of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. A man called Richard Jewell worked as a security guard at the games and when a bomb exploded he managed to evacuate the majority.
well collaboratively to ensure the concept is interpreted in an original and creative way, and the end result is testament to their talent and hard work. The team were a credit to the school both in their onstage performance and in their attitude throughout the day. The judges awarded us awards of excellence in: Student Leadership, Choreography, Performance Skill, Stage Use, Visual Enhancement, Concept, Soundtrack, Entertainment and Lighting. Thank you to Mrs Chapman, Mrs Pilkington and Mr Blackaby-Iles for supporting us on the day. Thank you to Miss Ksiazek for all her help preparing costumes and helping with the administration of this event. Finally, thank you to Mr Cole for once again creating our impressive set, including a huge Olympic torch! We would like to thank all the parents for their continued support. We hope to see you in Portsmouth on Saturday 29th April 2017. We will also be performing in the summer concert at Aylesbury Waterside on Thursday 13th July 2017. Sara Durose, Subject Leader for Dance
Of people and was initially hailed a hero. The media Soon manipulated perceptions. He was accused of having planted the bomb and despite never standing An official trial, the media persecuted him, therefore the later stages of the piece focus on his treatment at the hands of the media. The Sixth Form team have worked extremely
Author Inspires Writers In late January 2017, best selling author Steve Cole visited Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School to tell us about his new book ‘Young Bond : Strike Lightning’. We were all inspired by his captivating speech and hilarious antics. Steve told us about how spying had developed through the ages and how nothing is quite what it seems, via an array of flasks! He also told us about some of the technology they had when the Young Bond was set, and how he created his characters such as Maximillian Blade, who possesses a frightening bone disease called ‘Stone Man syndrome’ which is a real life threatening disorder. A special offer was on, where we could purchase his Bond books and get them signed. We both leaped at the offer! We were both motivated to do some writing ourselves and wrote a letter back to Steve, telling him of our own Bond encounters. We both want to be authors when we grow up, so listening to Steve was a very special event. He told us he had wanted to be an author from a young age and had been inspired by many authors such as some of the Doctor Who authors and Ian Fleming himself. He mentioned he had visited Covent Garden’s ‘Bond in Motion’, and one of us had been there too. One of our fathers had bought a huge Madeline Swann poster for his study, which made us laugh. We are huge Bond fans, and are eager to start reading our signed books! Thanks to Steve Cole for coming in and to Mrs Cole the librarian (not related!) For arranging it, we all really enjoyed it. Grace Curcher & Isabel Henderson, 7A1
Bucks Medical The introductory talk was presented by two current medical students and it was very helpful as it gave everyone an insight into what it is actually like to study medicine and the different kinds of courses you can choose. For example, the medicine courses at Oxford and Cambridge are much more science and lecture based and there is no patient contact until the fourth year. Whereas at Barts, the university that the medical students came from, has a course which involves patient contact from the first year. They also told us what we needed to do in order to make ourselves stand out, from getting relevant work experience in hospitals to volunteering in a care home. After this presentation, we were split into three main groups to go and do various medical-related activities. The first activity our group did was learning how to perform basic medical procedures, such as CPR, the recovery position and the Heimlich manoeuvre. It was a lot of fun performing CPR on the dummies and it was surprising how deep into somebody’s chest you had to go for it to work (4-5cm). The next activity was about medical ethics - the four main principles being Autonomy, Beneficence, Non-maleficence and Justice. We were put into groups of four, mixed with other schools, and given an ethical scenario which we had to act out to the rest of our group. We then had interesting discussions on the ethics of each situation and what we thought should have happened, using the four principles. It gave me an idea of the kind of difficult situations doctors have to deal with, although each hospital has an ethics committee that doctors can go to for advice.
interesting to hear what medical students do once they have studied for 5 or 6 years at university. Once you graduate from medical school you go on to do your foundation years, in which you do 4-month rotations in different areas of medicine, such as Cardiology, Paediatrics or Intensive care. During this time you are a junior doctor and are being paid, but I was surprised to hear that you actually remain a junior doctor, up to, if or when you become a consultant. The talk convinced me that medicine is definitely what I want to study, partly due to the huge variety of roles you can have, and I was relieved to hear that being a woman and having children will not limit my abilities to progress to possibly become a consultant.
The last activity we did was all about how to diagnose patients with various medical conditions. We did this by studying X-rays and CT scans; testing ‘urine’ samples; using stethoscopes to listen to our heart rates and breathing; shining torches in our group’s pupils and asking patients about their medical history and current situation. For the final talk, all three groups came together again to listen to two junior doctors discuss their experiences. It was
The Medical Day was an amazing experience that I’ll never forget. Doing CPR on dummies was lots of fun and the ‘Heimlich belts’ we used to demonstrate the manoeuvre caused lots of giggles! Any doubts I had of going to medical school and working in the medical profession have been well and truly dispelled. I didn’t manage to perform in the Talent Show on Friday as a result, but I really wouldn’t have missed this event for the world! 10 out of 10 from me! - Dexter Adonu, 10C
British Airways Work Experience
jobs.ba.com/jobs/st udentsgraduates/w orkexperience/
I recently took part in a week of Customer Service work experience with British Airways at London Heathrow Airport in Terminal 3. The application process was long and daunting and I knew that it was extremely competitive; there were hundreds and hundreds of applicants, but only a small handful would be successful and get offered a place doing work experience. The first stage of the application was on the British Airways careers website, which involved me answering various short essay-style questions and uploading a copy of my CV. A couple of weeks after submitting my online application, I received an email saying that I had got through to the next stage of the process, and I was invited to attend an assessment day. My assessment day was in October half term and it took place in the Waterside Building (British Airways HQ). The assessment day was split up into two sections: an individual one-to-one interview with a British Airways employee, and a group interview with several other work experience applicants. I was extremely nervous for the assessment day, and I could not help but compare myself to the other applicants, thinking “there is NO WAY they are going to pick me!� It came as quite a shock when I received an email a few weeks after the assessment day saying that my application had been successful; I cannot even put into words how surprised and excited I felt when I found out! On the email, British Airways also provided me with lots of feedback from both my individual and group interviews, and this was extremely useful because I was able to see what my strengths and weaknesses are.
My work experience was from Monday 27th February to Friday 3rd March. Our shifts started at 07:45am, which meant that I had to wake up at 05:00am every morning before embarking on a one hour commute to Heathrow Airport. There were five Customer Service work experience students (including me) and, even though we were all complete strangers at the start, we bonded so well from our first day together. Each work experience student was paired up with a mentor, who was a British Airways Customer Service employee. My mentor literally taught me everything I needed to know about Customer Service and she was so lovely and helpful throughout the week. All of the British Airways employees that I came across over the course of the week were so friendly and welcoming, and it was nice to be treated like an adult. On Monday and Tuesday we worked landside in Terminal 3. Over the course of these two days, we were checking in passengers, helping to tag and send off their bags, sorting out payments for extra bags or seat upgrades, checking travel documents, and assisting with any other needs/requirements that the passengers had. Within a few hours of sitting at the check-in desk, I could use the computers with ease and I was able to do most tasks with little or no help from my mentor. From Wednesday to Friday, we went air side. This was the part of work experience that I was most looking forward to, because it actually felt like we were in an airport and everything was so much busier and more
exciting! Not only did I sit at the gates and help with boarding passengers, onto both short-haul and long-haul flights, but I also got to spend time at the First-Class and Business-Class Lounges and FCC (Flight Connections Centre). Dealing with awkward passengers was an everyday occurrence, so my patience, communication and social skills have improved dramatically. On some flights, we even had to go onto the plane and search for missing passengers! There was never a dull moment during my work experience, and time went by so quickly because I was always busy. To summarise, my week of work experience with British Airways has been so rewarding in so many ways. I have gained and developed so many personal skills and my self-confidence and maturity have improved dramatically. As I am not going to university next year, I plan to apply for a Customer Service Apprenticeship with British Airways, which will be very similar to what I did on my work experience (but I will get paid to do it). Once my two year apprenticeship is over, I would like to train to be either cabin crew or a pilot. British Airways offer a range of different work experience placements, so if you aspire to work in the airline industry I would 100% recommend you apply for one of them. If you are interested in taking part in work experience with British Airways. Victoria Bromiley, 6M1
m a e T ip h rs e d a e L r io n e S t n e Stud In the sixth form we encourage our students to take on a wide range of leadership positions within the school community. New for this year, we have added careers and library ambassadors who have a cross-faculty remit. Students are appointed to these roles following a formal application and interview process developing skills necessary for their futures in the workplace.
lunchtime clubs or curriculum support lounges. House Captain teams foster team spirit in inter house fundraising, extra-curricular and sporting competitions, while the Student Senior Leadership Team (SSLT) concentrate on school wide projects including the School Council.
The responsibilities of Faculty Ambassadors include promoting their subjects at Open Evenings and organising
Mrs Williams, Assistant Headteacher
Congratulations to all successful applicants!
NEW BEGININGS Easter time brings many new beginnings, including for the schools’ Student Senior Leadership Team. At this time the outgoing SSLT hand over to the new, leaving behind their legacy, including awareness of the school community through the Social Awareness Council, and increased opportunities for students from all year groups to participate in together. As a team they have served the school with exemplary commitment, acting as an inspiration for all, something we thank them for greatly.
The final job for the outgoing SSLT was to help select the new team to take the school forward. This comprised of an extensive four-stage process, commencing with an initial letter of application. These letters were narrowed down and followed by hustings, in which applicants addressed expectant Year 12 students. After an exhaustive interview, and staff voicing their opinions, final decisions were made, with the new SSLT being announced shortly afterwards. The quality of applicants was extremely high, and we are very fortunate to be
Delighted “After only being at this school for 2 terms, I was absolutely honoured to be given the role of Head Girl. I see it as a privilege to attend Sir Henry Floyd and I am delighted that I will be able to give so much back to the school in my role over the next year. The team that Matt and I have behind us have been a pleasure to work with so far, and I know that we will work together to do our best for the school. Student participation in the way that the school is run is something that I am really keen to push forward and the most effective way this can be done is to have a strong Student Council that are listened to, and this is something we will be working hard to improve.”
working with a team who will bring a range of experiences and fresh ideas to the school. Despite only being in our new role for a few weeks, we have started planning upcoming events, and set short and long term goals. We do not underestimate the scale of the challenge ahead, and the responsibility that it brings, but we are fortunate to have a strong and capable team supporting us. It is an honour for both of us to be given the opportunity to serve this outstanding school, and we look forward to the tasks and challenges of the next twelve months.
Reflections “Reflecting on my first day here in Year 7, walking into the hall filled with nerves and excitement, I could never have imagined I would end up in the position I now find myself in. As Sir Henry Floyd has given me many opportunities and a solid foundation for my future, I wanted to give something back, and becoming Head Boy seemed the perfect way to do this. I currently study the International Baccalaureate, but when not studying I can be found partaking in many extra-curricular activities such as performing arts, and playing my favourite sport, cricket. The welcoming atmosphere and friendly community this school has makes it a unique environment, and it is an honour to be able to serve this outstanding school as Head Boy.”
We would like to thank Abbie Foy, Sam Benbow, and the outgoing SSLT for their previous service, and the support that they have given us over the last few weeks in preparing us for what lies ahead. We aim to match the hard work and dedication they have shown. Head Girl, Imogen Biggs, 6W1 Head Boy, Matthew Travers, 6H2
The Italian Job About sixth months ago, Mr Box received an email providing information about a Model United Nations (MUN) simulation in Rome. After a lot of planning, booking of flights and writing a position paper, an email turned into an eye-opening trip. In March 2017, Jensen Vickers, Sehar Shaheryar, Harry Axelson, Adrian Gallie, Mr Bashford and I landed in Rome to attend an MUN conference consisting of more than 1,500 people.
Before we left for the trip we all had to pick what country we wanted to represent and what United Nations committee. All of us chose to represent Israel and we divided into the High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the General Assembly and Environment Programme (UNEP). The conference itself took place in a university from 9.00am through to 7.00pm over three days. On day 1, I think it is safe to say we all felt out of our depth – being the youngest there and probably the least experienced we all felt quite intimated. But after a trip to the Colosseum, a pizza and some ice cream we reframed and started day 2 with a bang. All of us began to learn new terminology such as moderated and unmoderated caucuses, made speeches and passed resolutions. We also learnt about how diplomatic relations worked; one of the most interesting parts of the conference was the fact you could send notes between countries. For example, Israel could write to Egypt about their concerns over the influx of refugees coming in from the African borders – each of us had to learn what methods of persuasion were most effective in order to achieve the goals of your country.
Day 3 was the most challenging of all as we had to work together in order to get your resolution paper passed by the entirety of your committee. Luckily every single one of us won our resolution paper, and Sehar and Adrian even won the prize for the best delegation, winning a trip to Chicago and Taiwan MUN! As well as the conference we did manage to squeeze in some sightseeing including the Vatican, the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain. Overall the trip was amazing. The fact we were able to meet and make friends with so many people from around the world was surreal, and combined with the experience of Italian culture made the trip unforgettable. Abbie Foy 6H3
Space Camp In September 2016, I received an email about the opportunity to apply to Honeywell Leadership Challenge Academy at the U.S. Space and Rocket Centre in Huntsville, Alabama. Anyone who was 16-18 years old and a child of a Honeywell employee could apply for this unique opportunity, and after two months I proudly received an email informing me that I was accepted to the programme.
March 4th rapidly approached, and when I first met all the ‘trainees’ under the Saturn V rocket (which to date is the tallest, heaviest and most powerful rocket), I knew no-one. I was surrounded by people from over 25 countries and 17 states. I immediately knew that this experience would be unique, because I would learn a lot of different skills, whilst also gaining new knowledge from a diversity of cultures. One of the simulators I went on was a real training Space Shuttle Simulator where I was allocated the position of Mission Specialist Number One. This meant that my duty was to help the shuttle launch into Earth’s orbit, and when it finally docked to the International Space Station (ISS), I went aboard and conducted experiments. During this two-hour experience, I learned how real Mission Specialists live in space, which is a very difficult task as they spend time aboard the ISS for six months and even sometimes up to a year.
We also did a variety of experiments and team building exercises. For example, we had to program a Raspberry Pi and by using this equipment, we made an accelerometer. After launching our rocket using high-level air pressure, the accelerometer tracked the height and distance that the rocket travelled. Each night we had the honour of listening to a very inspirational speaker, one of whom, Hoot Gibson, has been to space five times and was mission commander on his last mission. He spoke to us about his journey to becoming an astronaut and the reason why he is known as the “man who can fly everything.”
This whole week was one of the most enjoyable of my life. I was taught about leadership; this was mostly done through meetings and lessons, where we learned about admirable traits that all good leaders should have. In addition, I gained in-depth cultural understanding of different religions, languages and traditions from people that I otherwise would never have met. Looking back on this week-long academy programme, it was truly a rare experience, where I learned a lot about my interests and abilities, whilst also managing to make a great deal of remarkable memories. Gabriella Parvanova, 6A1
Parents’ Society Update Welcome back to the final term of this academic year - hopefully some sunny weather will help to inspire our students and their families as they embark on the examination season. It is also an important term for the Parents’ Society as we continue in our efforts to reach our goal of raising in excess of £10,000 for our outstanding school this year. Our annual quiz was a very exclusive event this year with 10 teams battling it out to be winners on the night, with a fantastic range of questions from our quizmaster, Peter. The winning team enjoyed a bottle of champagne and sweetie stash as prizes to share between them. We all tucked in to a delicious curry provided for us by the new catering team in the canteen, so thanks again to them. Final numbers are not quite in but it looks as though we will have raised in excess of £500 which all helps. We have also had a particularly successful sale of second hand uniform at the recent Year 7 Parents’ Consultation evening and are now in need of more stock, especially girls’ blazers, although we are happy to accept donations of any unwanted uniform items. This initiative not only adds to the coffers of the Parents’ Society but also provides very good value items if you need spares or replacements, or your child has had another growth spurt! It’s great to see the re-homing of pre-loved gear. Looking towards the summer term, we have a number of initiatives coming up so there are plenty of ways you can support us.
First up is the Late Night Music Evening put on by the Performing Arts department, on the 26th May, when the Parent’s Society will be running a licensed bar. This event is a relatively new one on the social calendar and was very well attended last year - it has a relaxed jazz club mood with seating and tables set up in the theatre between 2 stages where various student bands perform. It is a lovely night out whether you have children performing or not. Then there will be our annual midsummer raffle so do look out for tickets coming home in the children’s book bags - it is a very easy way to support our school if you are not able to come along to events. Also if anybody could donate a prize we are always extremely grateful! The committee will be preparing the tickets for distribution on the evening of 24th April, at school and if anyone whose workplace offers matched funding for charities is able to help us that evening, we can effectively double our takings - does your company offer this? Do please get in touch… The final event of the year is the Years 7 and 8 Disco which is a great opportunity for our younger students to let their hair down at the end of the year. The Parents’ Society will be providing a barbecue
Investing In The Future £50,000 Annual Challenge
supper and tuck shop to keep the children fed and refreshed - save the date - 30th June. With the major fundraising going on currently for the new building we are hoping that Parents’ Society monies this year will go towards kitting out the new classrooms, so every penny we raise will be appreciated by all of our students. Don’t forget to do your internet shopping through the Giving Machine - easy money at no extra cost to you. We are currently receiving nearly £100/month from this venture - help us to achieve that target and we could raise £1200 a year! Everyone is welcome to attend our Parents’ Society Committee Meetings. Our next meeting will be held on Monday 24th April. If you can help in any way with our events, or would like to join the committee, Please contact us by e-mail: parentssociety@sirhenryfloyd.co.uk Or via the school’s reception on 01296 424781 Thank you all for your continued support of the Parents’ Society.
How to Contribute
Raising this each year will lead us to the target of £500,000 over 10 years.
Direct debit, cheque or cash - regular or one-off payments
link on our website
To donate please visit our website: www.sirhenryfloyd.bucks.sch.uk/fundraising or contact us at fundraising@sirhenryfloyd.co.uk
1
Project
SCIENCE LABORATORY REFURBISHMENT
In total we have 9 science classrooms with 6 remaining to be upgraded into rooms which will provide the best setting for our students and staff to learn and achieve in. Each room will cost £35,000 to bring up to modern standards making a total of £210,000 for all six rooms.
2
Project
IPADS/LAPTOPS MOBILE TROLLIES
Each trolley of 32 iPads or laptops is available to classes throughout the school day for use in all subject areas. The trollies keep the equipment safe and secure when not in use, and enables them to be charged and synchronised as a group. The school currently has 4 trollies and would like to see a further 10 available at a total cost of £140,000.
3
Project
NEW BUILDING
The school currently has 1200 students and is planning to increase this to 1300 over the next few years. This will be achieved by offering 180 places in each year group, from Year 7 through to Year 11. Additionally we will seek to increase the size of the Sixth Form to 400. It can only be achieved with additional space, and the plan below provides an outline of a new building adjacent to those we currently have. The cost of this is £1.85M. The project will be completed in 2017 and the school will be contributing £150,000.
A TERM IN PICTURES…
String practice
ky Blossom S
Black History month
Netball guidance
Charit y Days Mufti day
Sledging on the Easter ski trip
Students gunge Mr Scott Castle Competition winners
GCSE Food
Blazers off – here comes th e
sun!
tion ia c o s s A r a Burma St Year 11 Footballers
Shoot!
ts Magnificen
ounds!
The first sign of the Floyd Blossom
Old Flydians - Where are they now?
Emma Merett (Westbrooke) In 2005 I waved (sadly and anxiously) goodbye to my time at SHFGS. Six years of amazing memories, friendships and journeys up and down that Tower Block seemed to fly by, and I headed out in to the real world with GCSE and A Level results that not many people would be proud of. My passion throughout my whole time at the Floyd was in Dance and P.E (although we didn’t have the amazing facilities there are now). I was no A-star student to say the least. I was never brave enough to leave home or to audition for dance schools or colleges, and with my other results there was no chance of university. While I watched close friends and peers start new adventures travelling the world and going on to study degrees, my career took a slightly different spin in 2006 when I started an administrative role in a Performing Arts School. I didn’t know what I wanted to achieve in life, my personality had got me through my years at the Floyd, not any academic skills, but I knew that I didn’t want to work for anyone else and that I wanted a life of time and financial freedom.
and always wishing time away for pay day. Then last year an opportunity arose to go in to business with my sister, Sophie, partnered with a skincare and beauty company. Bear in mind, I took Business Studies GCSE at 16 and failed!
So a few years passed and I was lucky enough to marry my husband Daniel and then have my beautiful son, Jack. I knew I wanted more from life than being a ‘working Mum’, leaving Jack at nursery
We are now lucky enough to no longer need full-time jobs to support ourselves and finally have the financial and time freedom we had always dreamt of! The company rewards us twice a year
I won’t babble on with the business details (you can find me on Facebook for that), but to sum it up we started selling beauty products to our social media followers and friends. We began to introduce other girls who did the same, and it grew and grew making us an incredible commission (and no, it’s not a pyramid scheme). A few girls turned to a few hundred girls and now we have a team of around 1500 girls including other Old Floydians, Abigail Taylor, Jodie Taylor and Clare Wood.
with all-expense paid trips around the world and next month we are off to Cape Town, South Africa. In September we will be jetting off to Puglia, Italy and next year Provo, Utah. So I am now living a whirlwind of excitement with my family and my sister, something I never could have imagined while sat in Mr Burr’s bottom maths class. So, if I can thank the Floyd for anything over my six years – it would be to say thank you for appreciating my personality, for allowing me to flourish in the subjects I loved, for my teachers who helped me every step of the way and for my best friends. When I come back to visit (which is quite often, as my Mum has been the receptionist since 2002) I feel at home, and I have such happy memories.
An Invitation to all Old Floydians Following on from the success of the reunion last year we are Pleased to announce that the 2017 Old F loydian events will be on Saturday 8th July 2017 - Old F loydians Please Save the date!
Doing Good Things Three Old Floydians are currently in Nepal working with All Hands Volunteers, a disaster recovery charity building schools in remote communities in the Nuwakot region following the devastating earthquakes of April 2015. James Harris and Rosie Rice, both 2008 leavers recently joined Dom Bryant, 2009 leaver as unpaid volunteers, giving their time and labour for the benefit of those less fortunate, especially the children whose schools were destroyed. For nearly two years
many children in this mountainous country, home to the Himalayas have been schooled in temporary structures. All three say that the hard work is a fair swap for the smiles of the locals and the camaraderie amongst their fellow volunteers who are from all parts of the world.
Joanne Clarke (nee Beill) I joined Sir Henry Floyd in 1976. Living in Princes Risborough, I was one of only two girls from my middle school to go to the Floyd, and my parents were thrilled, though I do remember feeling reticent about leaving my friends behind. I commuted into Aylesbury everyday by Motts coaches, we had such fun on the journey. I didn’t excel in many academic subjects but enjoyed socialising, especially with the boys! My best friend was Mindy (Melinda Aldred). I remember these times fondly.
I left the Floyd to go to Aylesbury College having not attained the 5 O’Levels necessary to stay for sixth form. I completed a medical secretary’s diploma prior to going on to do my nurse training in Poole, Dorset. I qualified as a RGN in January 1986 and travelled for a year in the USA, working on a summer camp in Maine New, then I went to France and worked in Morzine for a ski season. I returned to Poole and was seconded to go and work in Trento, Italy as part of a group from Wessex Regional Health authority looking at health services in Italy for three months. In September 1989 I returned to Bucks, I married and was a nursing sister at Florence Nightingale Hospice when it
first opened. I stayed for five years, had my first child and went on to do my degree in community health care studies at Reading University full time. Having now qualified as a district nurse I got a job with Whitehill surgery in Aylesbury, and had a further two children. I completed a degree in palliative care and stayed at the surgery for 16 years. I changed jobs and role in 2010 moving to Rennie Grove Hospice Care as a practice development nurse. For the last 3 years I have been Head of Education Training Quality and Audit having done my MSc in Clinical Leadership in Palliative and End of Life Care at Southampton University. I have had a very successful and worthwhile career, of which I am suitably
proud. The Floyd undoubtedly put me in good stead, but my success has largely been down to hard work, determination and a caring nature. The years I spent at the Floyd were unquestionably very happy and enjoyable, perhaps a little too much so! I have three beautiful daughters, having divorced in 2013 I married again last year a fabulous Irish man. We are now living back in Aylesbury. My middle daughter Georgie followed in my footsteps and attended the Floyd, she is now a talented dancer and is teaching dance.
Slip Sliding Away During February half term students from Years 11, 12 and 13 travelled overnight by coach to the beautiful Austrian Alps for six days of skiing. Our hosts Snowslippers greeted us as returning friends as we have been taking two trips a year for some time now, so impressed we are by the excellent service provided in this less well known resort in the vast Ski Amade region. We had two absolute beginners with us this year who had never even tried on a pair of ski boots and yet by mid-week they were using chair lifts and skiing confidently. They were so pleased with themselves. We were blessed with five days of lovely sunshine - “blue bird days” that enabled the intermediate and advanced skiers to travel long distances and explore the adjacent resorts of Wagrain and Flachau. On our final day it snowed just to prove that the “white fluffy stuff” can fall from
the sky in large quantities! Lunchtime stops with instructors is one highlight of the day as the region specialises in traditional mountain restaurants with delicious menus - one favourite is the Krapfen Alm or “doughnut shop” that specialises in this Austrian dessert with combinations of cream, jam, chocolate sauce and ice cream OR sauerkraut, bacon and egg!
The standard of skiing was once again very high amongst our students and they were very successful competing against the other schools. Our medallists this year were: • • • • • • • •
Katie Ewart-Warren - Bronze intermediate Gabi Parvanova - Bronze advanced Brooke Moon - Silver beginner Harry McRae - Silver intermediate Paul Hand - Silver intermediate (first teacher medallist) Kia O’Neill - Gold beginner Casey Simons - Gold advanced (fastest female skier of the week) Jack Brailsford Gold Cup (overall fastest skier of the week)
The trip also includes a full apres ski programme of night sledging, Austrian bowling, karaoke, swimming at a thermal spa and of course shopping… who can resist all those flavours of Milka chocolate that we never see in the UK? We have launched the 2018 trip - letters can be found on the school website:
Sirhenryfloyd.bucks.sch.uk/students/ski-trips/
Silver DofE Training Expedition Over the winter months, a team of Year 11 and 12 Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award students (Tomas, Luke, Izzy, Dami, Joe and Sophia) have been working on their volunteering and skills commitments but also planning their three expeditions. Over the last weekend in March, they successfully completed their practice expedition from their base in Green Park, Aston Clinton. Their trainer Martin took them through map reading and navigation skills on the Saturday ensuring they were familiar with their route.
In Year 11 and also as part of our Sixth Form Enrichment Programme we offer the Silver DofE qualification. We do hope that we will have lots of students signing up to this brilliant opportunity in the coming academic year. Watch out for the parents’ information evening in the autumn term.
In the evening they cooked themselves a hot meal on the Trangia cookers before snuggling down in their sleeping bags for a night under canvas. With the clocks changing, it was a very early start but it was not long before the frost melted and we were treated to a glorious sunny day.
Mrs Williams, Assistant Headteacher
The team proved to be very competent in every respect as they walked for just over 16km through Wendover Woods and the countryside beyond. They were told at the end of the day that they should have no difficulties meeting the exacting standards of the DofE in their three-day practice and qualifying expeditions in the summer term in the Cotwolds and the Peak District respectively.
AFRICAN THEMED EVENING Hosted by the 2018 World Challenge teams, friends and family were treated to a most enjoyable evening to raise team funds for their Sub-Saharan Expedition Programme. The guests were entertained with ‘gumboot dancing’ (audience participation essential) and music played on traditional marimbas. Thank you to Mr Merrow-Smith who coached the students and provided the instruments – we all benefitted from his years living in Botswana.
The guests certainly enjoyed the quiz, the mega raffle and then a very competitive auction for a section of honeycomb that won first prize in a local honey show this summer. Most important though, it was a great opportunity for our newest World Challengers to get together and organise an event and start to hone the team-working skills that they will need to apply in country next year. Overall they raised over £1,500 ensuring that they will be able to travel to Snowdonia for their training expedition in October (rather than spending a weekend locally).
Stay-Awake-A-Thon The World Challenge Borneo Teams would like to thank students and parents for their support for this enjoyable event last term. They are delighted to announce that they raised £2,705 (at the latest count - they are still accepting outstanding sponsorship money). Special thanks goes to Toluwaniyin Adeleye in Year 7; he raised an amazing £95, winning the prize for the largest amount of sponsorship raised. All the money raised will go towards team funds. Each of the three teams going to Borneo this summer will now be able to make a larger contribution towards their community projects and thus have an even greater impact in the remote jungle communities they will be visiting. On previous expeditions the money has paid for additional building materials, local labour and equipment for schools. Look out for our updates on the school Twitter page after we depart on July 17th for our month-long adventure!
Dates for your Diary Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School | www.sirhenryfloyd.bucks.sch.uk
May 2017 Monday 1st
July 2017 Bank Holiday - School Closed
Monday 1st - Friday 26th
Year 13 International Baccalaureate Examinations
Tuesday 2nd
Year 7 Science Museum Trip to Bristol
Tuesday 2nd - Friday 5th
Year 9 Examinations
Thursday 11th
Year 11 Students on Study Leave
Friday 12th
Year 13 Leavers Celebration
Saturday 13th - Sunday 14th
DofE Bronze, Programme 2 – Practice Expedition
Monday 15th - Thursday 29th June
GCSE and A Level Examinations
Monday 15th
Year 13 Students on Study Leave
Thursday 18th
Open Morning at 9.45am
Monday 22nd – Friday 26th
Year 7 & Year 8 Examinations
Thursday 25th
GCSE Art Exhibition from 3.30pm to 6.00pm
Friday 26th
Year 8 Girls 2nd HPV Vaccination
Friday 26th
Late Night Music at 7.00pm
Monday 29th - Friday 2nd
HALF TERM
June 2017
Saturday 1st – Monday 3rd
DofE Silver Qualifying Expedition in the Peak District
Monday 3rd
Year 7 Parents Evening
Tuesday 4th
New Year 7 Students Induction Day
Wednesday 5th
New Building Opening Ceremony at 4.00pm Year 12 Next Steps Day
Thursday 6th
Y13 International Baccalaureate Examinations Results Day Open Evening from 6.00pm to 8.30pm
Saturday 8th
Old Floydians Event
Saturday 8th – Sunday 9th
DofE Bronze, Programme 2 - Qualifying Expedition
Thursday 13th
Celebration of Achievements Summer Concert
Friday 14th
Inter House Competitions Year 12 Locker Clearance Day
Monday 17th
World Challenge Expedition to Borneo departs
Monday 17th - Friday 21st
Year 12 Work Experience
Tuesday 18th
Years 7 - Year 10 Locker Clearance
Wednesday 19th – Friday 21st
Enrichment Activities
Monday 24th – Friday 1st September
Summer Holiday
August & September 2017
Monday 5th
Inset – School closed to students
Tuesday 6th – Tuesday 13th
Year 12 Examinations
Tuesday 6th – Monday 12th
Primary Links - Year 5 Science Fairs
Wednesday 7th
A level Art exhibition from 3.30pm to 6.00pm
Saturday 10th – Sunday 11th
DofE Bronze, Programme 1 – Qualifying Expedition
Tuesday 13th
Open Morning at 9.45am
Wednesday 14th – Friday 23rd
Year 10 Examinations
Friday 16th
Parents Society Summer Raffle Draw
Monday 19th
Parents Society Meeting at 7.30pm
Monday 26th
Year 11 Book Returns, Cashless Catering Account Checks & Locker Clearance Day
Tuesday 27th
Sports Day
Thursday 29th
Sixth Form Induction Day
Friday 30th
Year 13 Book Returns, Cashless Catering Account Checks & Locker Clearance Day Parents Society Years 7 & 8 Disco from 7.00pm
Thursday 17th
A2 Results Day from 09.00am AS Results Day from 10.00am
Thursday 24th
GCSE Results Day from 10.00am External Admissions to Year 12 from 10:30am to 5.30pm
Monday 4th – Tuesday 5th
Inset – School closed to students
Wednesday 6th
Years 7 & 8 + Year 10 Buddies & Year 13 return to school
Thursday 7th
All Students in School Year 12 ‘Wet n’ Wild Induction
Dates are liable to change. Please see the school website for up To date information www.sirhenryfloyd.bucks.sch.uk
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