Gryphon School Newsletter Spring 2023

@Gryphon

Book Day Community Hub

WELCOME

The Spring Term has brought with it a range of opportunities and challenges. As usual we have so much to celebrate in this newsletter; The Gryphon really is a 10:10 school, where our students and staff experience life in all its fullness. Special mention must go to Year 13 students Neve, Harry, Adam, Ed, Jess and Louisa, who have all received offers from Oxford and Cambridge Universities; six offers is a Gryphon record. In addition, Ruby (Year 11) travelled to Serbia and became the Girls European Boxing Nations Cup Winner in the Junior Under 48KG category, and then flew to Sweden to win the Golden Girls Championship, also receiving the Best Junior Award. Meanwhile, River (Year 11) raised an incredible £1,400 for the charity PROMISEworks, which will help them to mentor students in the future.

There are so many opportunities for personal development at The Gryphon as well as the careful preparation necessary for the public exams that will be upon us, soon after the beginning of the Summer Term. We are often asked about the secret of success in exams; it does come down to time and practice. This means two hours revision a night leading into the exams and using a day at the weekend. Year 9 students have been choosing their options for GCSEs and there have been meetings with prospective Sixth Form students to guide them in their A level and BTEC course choices.

SCHOOL UNIFORM

Please ensure students are arriving in proper school uniform, it is important that we maintain our high standards and tutors will be monitoring this over coming weeks. All the details about our school uniform are available on our website. A reminder that black leggings are not acceptable, students should wear trousers or skirts.

With the ever-increasing costs that we all have to face, we are looking to set up a Uniform

Outlet of used uniform that parents/carers can purchase to reduce their costs.

There will be students who no longer attend the Gryphon with uniform still in cupboards that could be recycled within school. We are looking for clothing that is of a good quality and something another family would purchase. If you are in Year 11 please consider donating your uniform at the end of term when you leave.

If any parents or local individuals would be interested in helping us set up our Uniform Outlet please contact Jackie.brighouse@ gryphon.dorset.sch.uk

CHRISTMAS SHOEBOX APPEAL UPDATE

We were delighted to receive a certificate and message of thanks for the support our school community gave to the Christmas Shoebox appeal. Organised by the charity, House of Opportunity, the appeal saw 7,588 boxes donated this year, which is fantastic and brought a lot of joy to people in Bulgaria who received them.

Canon Nicki Edwards Headteacher

GRYPHON STUDENTS INVOLVED IN SHAPING NEW YOUTH COUNCIL IN SHERBORNE

This year students from The Gryphon School proposed the idea of Youth Council for Sherborne, a place where young people can have their voices heard and to help shape the decisions made about the town. Liv B and Bea G presented their proposal to the Health and Wellbeing committee of the town council in November and from there the project has grown. In February consultations about the council began, with representatives from The Gryphon School, Sherborne Abbey Primary, Sherborne Primary, Sherborne Girls, Sherborne School and Sherborne Prep to shape what the council will look like. Working with town clerk Steve Shields and with the full support of the Mayor and Town council we had some fantastic discussions with innovative and creative ideas shared. We are so excited to launch the Youth council and cannot wait to see what opportunities it brings young people in the town.

.3

WORLD BOOK DAY 2023

The Gryphon School celebrated World Book Day in style, from book swaps, to listening to opening chapters of new books to some of the staff dressing up as book characters.

This year we tried a new activity, where all Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9 students listened to the openings of four new books during their lessons: Rise Up – Ordinary Kids with Extraordinary Stories, Wrath by Marcus Sedgwick, Refugee Boy by Benjamin Zephaniah and The Thief Who Sang Storms by Sophie Anderson. These openings were pre-recorded by Mrs Bendell and Mr Fernandez so that students could hear the books read by an expert reader and follow along with a copy on the whiteboard – a technique that literacy guru, Alex Quigley (author of ‘Closing the Reading Gap’) champions. Whilst listening, students rated the openings

and completed a booklet to be handed in at the end of the day, with the possibility of winning all four books! Students were really engaged by this approach, and we have many hundreds of entries to read through. Winners will be announced very soon!

Another fantastic way of celebrating the wealth of reading material out there is our huge book swap, this year held in the Learning Hub, with hundreds of books to choose from. Students can bring in books they no longer want and then swap them with new ones. We encourage students to look for different genres and writers, rather than stick to their

favourites – this is a great way to do this for free. Likewise, our amazingly well-stocked library is constantly updating its stock to include the newest fiction and non-fiction books. Students visit the Learning Hub fortnightly in English lessons and can also go during a tutor time.

Lastly, some of the staff opted to dress up as book characters, from the assorted creatures from Lewis Carrol’s Alice in Wonderland to Douglas Adams’ Arthur Dent. We managed to get lots of smiles from the students of The Gryphon School during the day – happy World Book Day 2023!

Mrs Bendell

&

DofE Ten Tors

LEGO CLUB

The Gryphon School Lego Club has just agreed on its third Lego project. After building a 6ft mosaic of the school’s Gryphon Logo, now hanging in the Conference Centre entrance, and then building a Lego model of Sherborne Abbey, which now sits proudly in the Abbey itself, members have decided (with a little help from Mr Cooke) to build a model of Sherborne Old Castle. Keeping our project local and hopefully useful, the community was an important part of the choice. However, the Lego Club want to build Sherborne Old Castle as it was in its heyday, ramparts, draw bridge, soldiers and all. The keen builders in the Club want to build it in minifigure scale – more on that in later articles as we are still in the planning stage!

We estimate it will cost over £4,000 but we have already raised a considerable amount towards the project thanks to Sherborne Abbey and the Fabulous Foundation. Other bids for funds to buy thousands of Lego bricks are in, but the Club would welcome any sponsors or donations of Lego, especially Lego castle pieces or knights. We don’t how long it will take, Sherborne Abbey took the Club 5 years as Clara pointed out at the last year 6 open evening, but we will keep you updated along the way.

The Gryphon School’s DofE and Ten Tors programme has gone from strength to strength over the last seven years. Despite the pandemic, numbers remain strong with nearly 60 students taking part in Bronze, 30 Silver and 30 for the Gold award. As they say in the Kevin Costner film, Field of Dreams – ‘If you build it, they will come’. And that is not just the students but also the grants.

Over the years (in no particular order) we have had grants from The National Lottery, Sherborne Castle County Fair, Rotary Club of Sherborne, Sherborne Castle Rotary Club, Yeovil Lions Club, Gryphon Foundation, Alpkit Foundation, John Thorton’s Young Achievers Foundation, Sherborne Chambers of Trade and Commerce, Chetnole Fair, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Tesco. We have just

secured a large grant from the Phillip Barker Charity which will allow us to develop the programme and help other schools in SAST and the local area. We hope to be able to tell you more about it in the next issue. This new grant will help the Adventurous Training Programme by funding the training of more Mountain Leaders.

Not only do the students keep coming, but our volunteer pool keeps growing, training, and giving up their weekends to walk locally, on Dartmoor, across the New Forest, along the Purbeck Hills, all over the Brecon Beacons and through the Rhinog Mountains in Snowdonia. The volunteers are truly an amazing group and include staff, parents of students in the school, parents of students who have left the school, ex-pupils like Will (now

a qualified Mountain Leader), willing volunteers, Mr Cooke’s friends (they are all friends now) and even family. Thank you all.

Ten Tors continues to grow, and again this year we are the largest state school in the Challenge. We have had many firsts over the years – First team to complete (2015), first all-female team (2018), first students to complete all three distances (2019), and first Year 9 students to complete 35 miles (2022). This year should see more firsts – with it being the first time we have entered 6 teams, but we are unlikely to see the first year Mr Cooke doesn’t get emotional as the teams finish – it is just the dust on Dartmoor!

The latest addition to our Adventurous Training Programme is the Sports Leaders Assistant Expedition Leader Award. Last year we ran the Level 2 qualification, but this year have decided to step up to the Level 3 qualification – with added CAT points for university. Eleven students have enrolled this year, meeting every Wednesday to learn about leadership, to go out with younger students as assistant leaders and to plan their own expeditions. We hope to update you on their, and everyone’s progress later in the year. DofE, Ten Tors and Sports leaders are for life, not just for school. The things students learn about will stand them in good stead for the future. We want all students to have the opportunity to experience the great outdoors and to believe in themselves.

DofE trip to The Gambia

My friend Imogen and I wanted to go to

The Gambia as part of our Gold residential for our Duke of Edinburgh award. So much effort went into making the trip possible: we fundraised by organising a Talent show, setting up a GoFundMe, running a halfmarathon...but in the end it was all so worth it!

Every day of our trip was amazing, filled with special memories that will stay with us forever. It was an eye-opening experience - seeing the poverty, and yet happiness of all the people, and their willingness to share that joy with utmost generosity. We spent time helping in the Lisa Kent Trust schools, teaching in the classes (where there was a range of ages ), once taking a nursery class on an excursion to the local monkey sanctuary; another, participating in a football match (we played on the teachers’ team against students - I can’t say we were much help to be honest); we also visited the beach, got to see the markets, went to a medical centre, and were able to experience Gambian culture first-hand in a Christian mass. It was a spectacular week, with lots of incredibly emotional goodbyes (a week surely isn’t long enough!?), and back onto the plane for the 6-hour flight home.

James Kidner Visit & Talk

On Tuesday 18th January 2023, students from the Gryphon School received a visit from James Kidner, a representative from SpeakersForSchools, who provided very useful advice on life, post-16 choices and university.

James had lots to tell us about his widely varied career life. He worked for a bank, the Foreign Office for 30 years and, more recently, in gaming and AI – a venture that has led him to have a very interesting outlook on life. He spoke at length about independence, and how this can be visited through imagination, gaming and books. Indeed, some of his most fervent words were: to read books. Additionally, he recommended us to “network” – a feat reached through communication, connections and asking questions – he told us to “smile, smile, smile: chat, chat, chat”. It was sound advice – especially for someone who is considering their next steps.

A further topic of conversation – for a conversation it was – was freedom. One of James’ daughters has recently enlisted in the army, and in her case, freedom is a scenario of life or death. For others (examples mentioned were the Somme and the Korean war) it came at the cost of their life. Whilst he was keen to persuade us to not give our lives in the name of liberty, he encouraged us to follow our passions and do everything with enthusiasm – like his daughter had done. We are a privileged nation, and our freedom can be taken for granted. Nevertheless, James reminded us of the experiences of others – things he has seen with his own eyes through his work overseas with the Foreign Office – a plea for us to stay humble. He himself was raised on a farm in Devon, and from there he has travelled to 96 countries, both for work and leisure. He strongly recommends travelling (and taking a gap year) to allow for maximum experience of life.

It was an honour to have been visited by such an engaging person, and enlightening to hear from his experiences from life. We all learnt something, and I personally found it exceedingly interesting and informative. He gave good advice, sprinkled with anecdotes from his varied life and altogether was a lovely person.

Beá G and Ellie T

CHALLENGE PLUS

This year’s Challenge Plus group for more able students, has begun its programme of extra-curricular sessions. So far, students have been involved with a problem-solving session, stretching their cognitive skills. This was then followed by a session looking at the different areas of the brain and how they are stimulated through thinking in different ways. Activities have ranged from University of Cambridge entrance puzzles to juggling!

TRACK SUCCESS

Year 7 student Mason T has been excelling on the racetrack after gaining place at the 100 Club Academy for go karting. With some impressive results and ever faster times, Mason is definitely one to watch as he develops!

EPQ PRESENTATION EVENING

On Thursday 23rd February, the Sixth Form at The Gryphon School held an EPQ presentation evening in the Learning Hub. This was a showcase of all of the EPQ projects undertaken by our Year 13 students. The EPQ is an additional A Level qualification in which students get to independently develop, research and explore an area that they are interested in.

Students prepared a stand that displayed their research, finding and finished products as well as answering questions about their work. One of our Year 13 students, Chloe G, undertook an EPQ about the representation of women in film. She said “The presentation evening gave me the chance to showcase my project, as well as utilise the knowledge gathered over the course of my EPQ when sharing my artefact with others. As the project itself is very independent, it was very refreshing to see everyone else’s projects. It was a wholly new experience to be explaining and teaching about feminist film theory and representations – I’m not fond of public speaking, so to be expected to do this meant that I had to overcome my own nerves whilst ensuring that I gave an engaging presentation.’ The evening was open to friends, family and staff and was a wonderful opportunity to see some very exciting and creative work. The evening was a great success and thank you to all of our EPQ students who have worked so hard!

Sherborne Abbey Festival

Sunday 30th April, 1pm

We are honoured to have once again been invited to perform at this year’s prestigious Sherborne Abbey International Music Festival after a threeyear gap. I am extremely pleased to be able to promote this event on a personal level since this free lunchtime concert in Sherborne Abbey will be a world premiere performance of highlights from my own new musical theatre interpretation of the wonderful novel “Moonfleet” (by J.M. Falkner, first published in 1898), which I first conceived during the Covid-related lockdowns.

Following on from our previous collaborations with the Bournemouth Sinfonietta Choir, this year’s concert is an exciting three-way collaboration between: the Gryphon School Choir, the Gryphon Staff Choir (both Directed by Adam McDonald) and ‘The Phoenix Voices’ (Directed by Kris Emmett) - a local Community Choir based in Yeovil, whose members come from around our local area. In addition, to the Choral items, there will be a selection of solo and duet numbers performed by Gryphon Sixth Form students Grace B, Danielle R, Barny G and Jack B, and also by Mr McDonald, Mr Kris Emmett and Mrs Tracey Mizen; I am extremely grateful to each of them for kindly agreeing to sing these for me!

Set in 18th century England primarily on the South Coast of Dorset, ‘Moonfleet’ features many well-known modern-day tourist sites such as Fleet near Weymouth, Chesil beach, Portland Bill, Dancing Ledge and Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight. The plot is an exciting and fastmoving historical adventure tale of smuggling, hidden treasure, romance, murder, treachery, imprisonment and shipwreck involving the personal tribulations of John Trenchard, a young orphan who grows up on tales of the ghost of a certain Colonel ‘Blackbeard’ Mohune and his cursed lost treasure - a diamond, said to have been gained from King Charlies I through deceit (as the price for the desperate King’s freedom from imprisonment during the English Civil War). The story follows John’s eventful path to adulthood through his ill-fated yet ultimately fruitful pursuit of this treasure and the valuable life lessons he learns along the way about friendship and loyalty, honour and redemption, selflessness and sacrifice, chance and fate and the course of true love and devotion.

By Val Mizen, Head of Music

Primary Schools Music Pyramid Sing-Up Showcase Concert

Following three years of not being able to run a ‘Sing-Up’ project with our local Primary Schools, it is fantastic that our local music pyramid is now back up and running with this year’s chosen theme being ‘Rock Musical Theatre’. Mostly year 5 and year 6 students have been learning eight well-known Rock-style Musical Theatre songs: “We Will Rock You”, “We Are The Champions”, “You Can’t Stop The Beat”, “Stick It To The Man”, “When I Grow Up”, “Footloose”, “It’s A Hard Knock Life” and “Mamma Mia”. The schools participating this year are: Sherborne Abbey Primary, Bishop’s Caundle, Bradford, Abbas, Buckland Newton, Sherborne Primary, Thornford, and Trent Young’s. Each school is learning and performing three songs in different paired combinations with other schools.

This year’s musical collaboration is being rehearsed and directed by Amy Parker - our very own singing teacher - whose enthusiasm for singing and musical performance is inspiring our primary students to overcome their anxieties about singing and to join in whatever their ability or previous experience. The free to attend Sing-Up showcase concert is on Wednesday 29th March at 4pm at the Sherborne Girls’ School’s ‘Gransden Hall’; due to the hall’s capacity we are unfortunately limited to one primary school parent attending per child performing.

We are extremely grateful to each of the Headteachers and Music Leads for their support, without which none of this year’s Sing-Up project could take place. Our thanks also go to Sherborne Girls’ School for the use of the Merritt Centre and for being so supportive of this endeavour.

.7

Sixth Form

Next Steps

As Year 13 look forward to their final exams, Year 12 are starting to explore their future pathways. Recently we hosted our Year 12 Parent Forum, where parents found out about how to apply to university, information on early applications, apprenticeships and support for students in school. This was followed by Exeter University coming into speak to our students about university, and explaining their expectations for students applying to them. Over the next month we will be visiting Bournemouth University for the UCAS Convention, where a whole host of universities will have stands so that our students can speak to them about their university and the courses on offer.

UNIVERSITY OFFERS

This year we have had 131 applications to university, and it is fantastic to see so many offers piling in already for these students. Included in these offers we have had a record 6 students offered a place at Oxford and Cambridge. Harry O to study Linguistics, Jess to study Maths, Louisa to study Natural Science and Neve to study English all at Cambridge. Adam C, Physics and Ed S, Engineering have received offers for Oxford. Although we are still awaiting the majority of decisions for Veterinary, Medicine and Dentistry we have already had some excellent news for Emma G for Medicine, Rosie for Vet and Amelie for Dentistry. What is so pleasing is that so many students are receiving a great range of offers that reflects their ability, hard work and strength of their personal statements. The passion for the subjects is self-evident, and now comes the rest of their hard work to ensure they meet the necessary grades!

Emily signs to Crystal Palace!

Congratulations to Year 13 student Emily W who has been signed to Crystal Palace Women’s football team! Emily is an England Schools FA youth international player, who joins the club from third-tier Bridgwater United FC Women, where she was named Young Player of the Year last season. Emily says “This is an amazing opportunity for me, and luckily at the club I support. I can’t wait to get started.”

We are delighted to announce that Isla W has been offered a 12-week internship with the Borgen Project. The Borgen Project is an incredible non-profit organisation that is addressing poverty and hunger and working towards ending them. They work collaboratively with governments to raise awareness, publicise success stories and ensure that global poverty is not forgotten. Isla was awarded this internship after writing articles, submitting work and an interview. This was a globally open position, with only 5% of applicants achieving a place. This is a fantastic achievement by Isla, and we have no doubt that she will be an excellent addition to their campaign.

Congratulations also go to George M who has been offered a paid internship at the Bank of England this summer on the back of a video presentation he designed and prepared on ‘The role and influence of Artificial Intelligence in financial markets’. We can’t wait to hear how he gets on!

P.E.

a close second in the Somerset area netball tournament with many external teachers commenting on not only the great netball they played but how polite they were. Particular stand out performances from Izzy W and Ronel B who continue to be a force to be reckoned with in defence and centre, and Abi H and Rebecca R for hop scotching around positions to help others out. What a great way to finish 5 years!

Netball:

The Year 7 netball team have shown lots of enthusiasm for netball since joining the school in September and have finally managed to put their skills into practice in lots of competitive fixtures against local schools. With over 22 Year 7 girls turning up to training and eager to participate in games, it has allowed for great versatility in teams, which the girls have shown high levels of sportsmanship and teamwork.

The Year 8 and 9 Netball teams have had a strong start to the league this half term, winning lots of games and coming within one goal in others. The Year 8’s have shown some fantastic progression this year, showing resilience and determination, demonstrating great passages of play and accurate shooting. The Year 9’s have had a fantastic turn out to netball, and all combinations of players have worked fantastically well. With some determined defending and accurate shooting they are smashing the league so far.

The Year 10 netball team have shown great resilience and team work in the face of postponed games, weather issues and clashing fixtures taking away team players. A triumphant moment came in a game versus Bucklers Mead where the score line represented just how they all worked as a team. Shout outs to Immy F for outstanding shooting and Sophia V-B for stepping back in to the netballing role and smashing it. With still a few games to go, we are hopeful for more big wins!

With still a few games left to play, the Year 11 netball team have really merged together this year, settled into their positions and found their groove. This resulted in coming

Following on from their efforts back in the autumn term for the Sisters Sport competition, the Sixth Form Netball team have demonstrated some impressive wins in competitive fixtures against Yeovil College and Sexeys. Whilst the team has included a variety of members due to study commitments, all girls have shown high energy, enthusiasm and positivity in what may be some of their last few games for the school before moving on to their next endeavour.

Cross Country:

Runners from all years have been working hard this year on their cross country performances, which have been rewarded with top finishing spots at several events already, including races at Bryanston, Clayesmore, Sherborne Terraces and the Dorset Schools Cross Country in Bournemouth. The weather has managed to stay mostly dry for all of these competitions, so the pupils have had great opportunities to run alongside lots of fellow athletes their age.

Boys Football:

The Year 8 boys attended the final instalment of the Gillingham 8-a-side Astro Football tournament at the end of February. Our B team performed with heart and determination, placing 3rd in their group despite some strong competition. Our A team made it out of the group stage and

into the first round of knockouts, where, unfortunately, the boys just came up short against the hosts - placing 4th overall for the day. However, as one team made it through the group stage, the boys secured enough points for The Gryphon to walk as overall tournament winners!

Year 9 boys came 2nd at the Gillingham astro tournament, losing on penalties to Blandford in the final! Fantastic numbers to training every week, even giving Year 10 and Year 11 a run for their money in some intra-school games!

The Year 10 football team showed real class and finesse in their cup run before and after Christmas. The highlight of the cup run was definitely the 10-2 win against Magna Academy where all the boys showed just how well they could play.

Year 11 boys are currently having a brilliant run in the Dorset County Cup. They managed to overcome and outplay a strong Corfe Hills side to make it to the last 16 quarterfinals where they are waiting to find out who their opponents will be. The team is going from strength to strength and are playing dynamic and cohesive football against tough opposition.

The Gryphon School 1st XI football team have shown real quality in their games this year. It is great to see some of players representing the school in their final year before leaving us having previously been involved in football since they joined us in Year 7. In addition the fact that some of the players have joined us in the Sixth Form from other schools in Year 11, demonstrates just how powerful sport is as a tool for bringing students together and getting the best out of them. This has resonated throughout the players with a series of superb performances against Yeovil College, Blandford and other local teams. As the season draws to an end it is a great opportunity to thank those players who have given so much to The Gryphon

school teams over the years and we wish them all the best in the future.

Girls Football:

Year 7/8 Girls football – some great tournaments this year, including at Westfield school where 11 out of the 14 girls involved were making their debut for the school! Their love for football has stemmed from their PE lessons and we are so proud to see them involved competitively!

Girls Rugby:

U13 Girls Rugby – some cracking matches for these girls, taking on Westfield and Holyrood in the space of 3 weeks! A fantastic win against Westfield was followed by a narrow defeat to Holyrood but these girls have become so much more confident with their rugby since last year!

U15 Girls Rugby – despite some cancellations due to the weather, the girls were back in action recently against the U16 Holyrood side! The girls didn’t let the age gap phase them and made some massive tackles, darting runs and gave everything for their teammates. Unfortunately they came off second best but this is a really talented group with over 10 of the girls now playing club rugby and 3 of the girls being asked to represent the U18s England 7s squad!

Individual Performances:

Lily

N & Hannah B

Congratulations to Lily N (Year 7) and Hannah B (Year 13) who successfully qualified for the Southwest Schools Cross Country Championships. Both girls led their Team Dorset teams to victory, with the next round of English Schools Championships being held in Nottingham in March.

Proving the all-round athlete she is, on the same weekend, Lily then competed at the Somerset County swimming championships at Millfield, reaching the final in the 50 freestyle and coming 7th with a PB. Both of these are fantastic achievements, which take lots of determination to achieve.

Focus on Curriculum: Handball

Our Year 8 boys have been taking part in a handball tournament spanning their last 5 PE lessons. The boys have shown incredible enthusiasm and resilience, with some fantastic skills on display. All involved have displayed excellent teamwork, fair play and competitiveness to help their team reach the top of the coveted leader board!