The Newsletter December 2016
End of Term By Deborah Stanley, Headteacher The highlights of the autumn term at MGGS have always been House Arts and Rag Week, and this year has been no exception. This year, for House Arts, it was the turn of dance and the theme was Global Citizens. For our students the house structure, and the opportunities to be part of a community with the whole school is highly valued. It is repeatedly commented on by visiting students and parents, together with other visitors to the school that this feeling of ‘belonging’ and contributing to the life of MGGS is far stronger here than at most other schools. It is something I highly value and I will work to ensure that it continues to be an integral part of this school. I continue to be amazed by the talents of our students. I would encourage you to follow our Facebook page (MyMGGS), where on a weekly basis we are able to celebrate the achievements of our students. Recently, we have seen successes in horse riding, biathlon, and football. Students have been elected to the Kent Youth County Council, have won food competitions and have been nominated for, and won Try Angle Awards. I am hugely proud of the achievements of all our students. As a school we have continued to see our links with primary school students grow. Sixth form students recently led a Thinking Skills Workshops for primary aged pupils. The sessions reflected the high quality teaching our students themselves receive on a daily basis, given how well these students were able to lead the sessions. We have seen students come again to experience taster lessons in a number of different subjects. I am grateful to all our staff for leading these. Once again, this year we have had students come to visit our Second World War Tunnels but they have not been the only visitors to the tunnels this autumn. We welcomed back a number of our very ‘old girls’ who had been in the tunnels during the Second World War and had helped Mary Smith, former Headteacher in the research of her book, ‘A Schoolgirl’s War’. I am very grateful to Mrs Smith for giving so generously of her time to write this book, which is illustrated with contemporary paintings by the school’s Art teacher, Helen Keen, during the Second World War. If you have not already had the opportunity to purchase it, I would encourage you to do so. This autumn we were also reminded of another area in which MGGS is so linked to the local community. In November, we welcomed Maidstone Homeless Care to the school as it celebrated its 30th Anniversary. Maidstone Homeless Care, which was originally called Maidstone Christian Care, was started, in part, by Miss Mary Harvey, (Headteacher 1971 -1990). Many students from that time remember helping Miss Harvey and others with the soup kitchens in Maidstone. I am pleased that the school’s connection with Maidstone Homeless Care is continuing this year as one of the Rag week charities. The other charity is the Pahar Trust Nepal, through which we send money to our partner schools in Nepal. At the end of this term we will be saying ‘goodbye’ to Mrs Aime who leaves us to join a school in Dover; we wish her well in her new post. During the second half of this term we have welcomed Mrs Mayos as Receptionist and Attendance Officer, and Miss Atherton as Data Manager. In January, we will be welcoming Miss Green as Office Manager and Mrs Mason as Finance Manager. We trust that they will be very happy with us at MGGS. May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy and peaceful Christmas and I look forward to the new term which starts on Tuesday 3rd January (Week 1).
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The Newsletter Governor News By Mrs A Pilgrim, Chair of the Governing Body As we draw to the end of this busy term for the school, the governors would like to thank the staff and students for their hard work and dedication. Governors have been pleased to attend many successful events such as House Arts Day and the Careers Evening. It was good for us to be part of the very popular Open Evening in October and to see students and staff doing such an excellent job of welcoming parents and prospective pupils. The term has also brought moments of great sadness; the death of Jennifer O’Brien shocked us all. Our thoughts are with all her family and friends. The pace of school life is demanding. Governors are very proud of high achievements in the classroom and in the wider aspects of school life. We value the strong commitment of staff to meet students’ needs. It is worth noting that the caring ethos of the present school is rooted in its past. November saw the launch of a book of Second World War school memories collated by Mary Smith, a well loved previous Headteacher. Through sketches and prose the book paints a vivid picture of wartime life. It is good to see that the humour and determination that got past students through a grim wartime period is still present in the school today. The Governing Body also works with humour and determination to support our students’ education and to place MGGS as the best school in Maidstone. We are an outward looking group with a wide range of skills and experience. However we are aware that we could benefit from new governors with skills and experience in law, higher education work and health and safety. If there are parents or friends with these experiences, do please apply to the clerk to governors by the beginning of the next term. Best wishes to all for a Happy Christmas and a healthy New Year.
Year 7 Concert By Abigail B, Year 7
Thinking Skills By Mrs C Wood
At the concert I performed with the Year 7 choir, “Forte” and I performed a “Solo”. There was an amazing atmosphere at the concert everyone was so excited and some were a bit nervous.
On 4th October we held our first Parent Information Evening on Thinking Skills.
First the Year 7 choir sung “Scat Sing” and “Rounds”. Then the first set of “Solos” and “Groups” performed. “Forte” then came on to sing “Sing” (which they will be performing at “Young Voices”). After that the next set of “Solos” and “Groups” came on to perform. This group included me and I sung “Man In The Mirror by Michael Jackson”. To be honest, I was absolutely terrified before I performed but once I started it was an amazing feeling that I had never experienced before. It was an absolute adrenaline rush. Sadly it all had to come to a close and we ended the evening with one final song that the Year 7 choir had to sing, ”DoubleTalk”.
We are very proud of our Advanced Thinking Status and wanted to share with parents how we use thinking skills to enhance learning at MGGS. About 90 parents attended, representing students from all different year groups, to learn about the strategies we use with our students in lessons each day. The practical workshop gave our guests the chance to actually use Thinking Maps, De Bono’s 6 Hats and Thinkers Keys in relation to a variety of topics such as E-Safety and Brexit! The feedback after the event was very positive and as a result we hope to run another evening at the start of the next academic year.
All in all, the concert was an amazing night that gave the participants a lot of experience in how to perform musical pieces to an audience.
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The Newsletter Charity News By Miss A Heppeler Students at MGGS have had a busy time this term fundraising for a range of local and national charities. Students in Year 8 have held cake sales and a Christmas Fair for the RSPCA and Cancer research UK and we took part in the Dandelion Time Rowathon earlier in the term.
10N organised a Christmas Jumper Day for Save the Children
Our Christmas appeals were more successful than ever this year. Thank you to all, including students, parents, carers and staff who generously Students present donated gifts to Carol Dodd from the Salvation Army. donated gifts for children as part of the Salvation Army’s Christmas Present Appeal, and food for Homeless Care Maidstone, who have all helped to raise the spirit of Christmas to those less fortunate at this time of year. Carol Dodd, from the Salvation Army said “These presents will go to those children Jessica B, Bethya G, Maisie H, who are in need and who have been referred to us.” Fia J and Evie P
Sixth Form Form Tutors MGGS Sixth Form Form Tutors were delighted to receive their MGGS Sixth Form mugs for Christmas! Here you can see Mr Ansette and Mr Gunn christening their mugs, which were gifts from the Sixth Form Management Team to all Sixth Form Form Tutors! Mugs were designed by Mrs Ransom, Assistant Headteacher in charge of Key Stage 5.
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House News As Christmas approaches we would love to say another massive thank you to all the students who took part in this years House Arts dance performance. We could not be happier or prouder of all the students that took part, not only in the performance but in the backstage, lighting and tech crew as well. Without all of you putting in the amount of hard work, energy and determination you did the performance would never of happened. All 40 of you put 110% into all of the 7 dances which all paid off when we were given the award for the best spatial awareness! You have all made this year's House Arts truly unforgettable and we will always look back on this event with pure joy knowing that all the stress was worth it in the end for that 15 minute performance. The Danes House is full of such wonderful, lovely and talented people and we could not be more honoured to be your House Leaders. Hopefully with the events coming up in the new year we can do as well as we did in House Arts, if not better and remember to ‘Never look down on anybody unless you’re helping him up.’ Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Danies!!! Izzy, Morgan and Ethan x House Arts 2016, what a blast you’ve been! As House Leaders, we decided to focus our piece on corruption of government and abuse of political power. All of our dances were inspired by recent news articles, such as the rebels in Syria and protests in Egypt. We believe this helped MGGS to really grasp our message of questioning their government's power and control over not only them as individuals, but the UK as a whole. Our lovely, talented, sparkly house drew third and we are extremely proud of each and every one of them! GO NORMANS! Bring on the rest of year and all those house points. Lucy, Jack, Maddie and Gina x
From the start of this academic year, Vikings have continued to keep pushing themselves to the limit. At the end of our October half term House Arts took place. We are extremely proud of every single one of our Vikings for their hard work and determination and for making the whole experience extremely enjoyable. We would like to say a special thank you to the backstage and lighting team for sticking with us throughout, and of course our excellent dancers! We would have been lost without their effort and amazing choreography skills. It was a great experience for the house to bond, especially with years they may not usually talk to. As Christmas term is coming to an end, we are looking forward to future house events approaching, to show that Vikings house are together and willing to work as a team. We hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Libby, Tish, Lauren and Katie
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House News Romans are on a high! In term 3 a large school event called House arts took place, the girls who were involved from doing the lighting, sound, backstage, performing and doing the programme did extremely well. When it came to the award ceremony we received two awards; one for the best programme which we were ecstatic about as our two year twelves; Emma N and Jenna R put a lot of hard work into it. Alongside this we won the award for best costume choices. We wanted to especially thank Mel P who danced a solo in the performance as she used emotion and danced impeccably! The girls’ enthusiasm to partake and learn the dances was incredible and we are so proud of the girls that partook and after all the hard work and dedication it all paid off as we came Second!! We were so happy with the result and we just wanted to thank the girls who partook so we gave out small appreciation presents to reward the girls for their hard work. We are currently looking good in the running for house cup as we are currently second place, which is a huge achievement. We can’t wait for the rest of the year for the last of the inter house events such as netball and hope to keep our winning streak going. Well done Girls! Keep up the good work and team spirit! Summer, Abbie and Chelsea :)
After a tiring and stressful month of rehearsals for House Arts, we are so proud to say that we won! Our preparation for the competition began with the House Leaders in the summer holidays, and it was incredible to see our piece go through the process; from ideas on paper, to rehearsal, to a fantastic winning performance. We would also like to give a huge thanks to our new deputy Amelia K and to Andi C, Tia F and Emily G for all their help in choreography, winning us the prize for best choreography overall. Also thanks to Lydia K, for being the most fantastic lead we could have asked for! We have amazing dancers in Saxons, without whom we would never have been able to create such an expressive and moving performance. Another big thank you to all those who helped with make-up, lighting, programme and set design - it really added to the impact of our final performance. As House Leaders, we could not be more proud to lead a group of such talented, enthusiastic and dedicated individuals; thank you all so much for everything you’ve contributed, and for making this the best last House Arts that we could have asked for! Here’s to the continued Saxons spirit, and a second year of House Arts victory - keep it up Saxons! Emily, Aiden and Charlie :) Britons have continued to show team spirt, persistence and loads of hard work this academic year. Britons have excelled in events such as Sports Day placing second and House Rounder’s winning the event, we are extremely proud of Briton’s successes! Through resilience and determination Britons produced an outstanding House arts performance, a massive thank you to Esme D and Alannah M-J without you House arts would not have been the success it was. As house leaders we would like to say well done to everyone who got involved! We are so proud to be the house leaders of such an amazing house! We appreciate all the amazing hard work you have put into house events. Good luck in all the other events to come this year! We look forward to events such as inter house netball and the science quiz! We hope as many Britons as possible get involved in future events, it will be great to see you there! Eve, Emily, Beth and Allanah
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The Newsletter BICE News By Mr S Hamilton Beaver Computing Challenge Students from MGGS has taken part in the Beaver Computing Challenge run by the UK Bebras organisation in partnership with University of Oxford and Google. We have been running the challenge since its inception in 2013 with some students every year reaching outstanding scores. The challenge is a problem solving contest with a focus on computational and logical thinking. The challenge consists of multiple choice questions ranging in difficulty. The answers are negatively marked so students have to pick the right question the first time round, so they have to think about the answer before entering their response. The challenges have some connection to computing however it is styled in a way that it can be accessible by any student, not just those who are interested in computing. Every year we have students who obtain full marks and is entered onto the hall of fame nationally. This year our winners from across all year groups were, Jessica P, Crystal L, Jasmine H, Tayla H, Emily L, Matilda C and Oliver W. Further congratulations to Oliver of whom has not only been entered onto the hall of fame nationally but will be attending the University of Oxford for a further competition and celebratory event. Well done to all those who participated this year!
The Play’s the Thing! By Mr G Pidgeon Year 12 and 13 English students were entertained by a riveting new performance of ‘Hamlet’ screened live by the Royal Shakespeare Company. 120 students of English Language & Literature and English Literature packed into the main hall to watch a 4 hour screening of the famous tragedy. The event was organised by Mrs Marsh to give all of our students the experience of seeing a full Shakespearean play, performed by leading actors, without the cost of having to travel to London or Stratford. The event was a great success (despite some initial moments of panic when the live broadcast kept freezing!) and our students were very positive about the production. My thanks to Mrs Marsh for her hardwork and patience in organising the screening. We hope to offer more such events to other key stages in the future.
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The Newsletter Media Studies By Mrs H Smith In November, 43 media students attended the Medway Media Conference at the Central Theatre in Chatham. Four students, presented at the event on the topic of ‘Gender in Nordic Noir’. Ellie F, Lucy R, Holly D and Aiden P gave a really interesting overview of the construction of gender representations in The Bridge and their presentation was very well received by the other schools in attendance at the event. Aiden P also contributed an article to the event’s programme entitled ‘The Female Villain - Does she exist?’. Aiden’s expertise in film and television led to him coming second in the conference quiz and winning a selection of film posters. Since then all media students have been busy working on their media coursework productions which include everything from pop music videos to horror film trailers. To ensure this work gets the exposure that it deserves, this will be uploaded to the school’s Youtube channel next summer. The channel currently showcases a wide range of previous Media Studies coursework as well as videos from other school subjects. The Media department has recently launched a competition to redesign the Youtube channel’s banner and we would love students from across the year groups to have a go. Prizes for the winning designs include free tickets to the MGGS Film and Media Awards and some cinema vouchers. Students can find out more information by going on the Youtube competition classroom: gg6jq6x.
What it means to be one of MGGS’s Student Leaders Being an Ambassador is one of the most enriching and rewarding roles we have taken on. The position as a student leader is an excellent opportunity to enhance leadership skills, working both as a team and independently. The role is challenging but does not come without its benefits, giving us the chance to give back to a school which has served us for the duration of our time here. Therefore, you can personally see your hard work paying off as it directly affects your peers along with the smooth running of internal school events. House Arts is an internal event thoroughly looked forward to by both students and teachers, the role of Ambassador allows us to actively take part and contribute to the event, which is not only gratifying but a pleasure to do so. The members of staff are always fully appreciative of the work student leaders do and understand the extra commitments you have as part of this role. Taking on the responsibilities required by the nature of a student leader position enhances your employability, automatically fulfilling the requirements for a niche category of people who can balance work with demands of the role. Another reason we love being student ambassadors is because as a part of the role we have contact with all members of the school. Allowing us to interact with lots of people at school, from staff to the Head Students, lower school to upper school, and everyone inbetween. Enabling us to work with everyone and make a positive impact on individual tasks and jobs.
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The Newsletter The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award By Ms M Starns It has been another exciting year for the participants undertaking the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award at MGGS, with 116 of our students obtaining their award! These students attended the Maidstone area DofE presentation evening this week where they received their certificate and celebrated their successes. These awards consisted of 76 Bronze, 29 Silver and 11 Gold Awards. A selection of photo’s are on the next page. It has also been an important year for the DofE Award, as it celebrated its 60th year in service! As part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, participants both past and present, leaders, assessors and all those involved with the DofE have been competing in the Diamond Challenge. This involved setting a challenge and raising money for the scheme. The fantastic year finished with a service of thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey, with guests being handpicked to attend. Mr Hamilton and Mrs Smith were very fortunate to represent the school’s DofE team at this prestigious event of which was attended by HM The Queen, HRH Duke of Edinburgh, HRH Earl of Wessex, HRH Countess of Wessex and other patrons of the scheme. A rather amusing address was given by Earl of Wessex and there were reflections on the successes of the award and how it has changed young people’s lives for the better. Readings were given by Jon Culshaw and Phillip Schofield as well as the endearing young people of whom have undertaken the award. Reflecting on the day, Mr Hamilton comments, “It was a great to be celebrating the successes of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award at the Service of Thanksgiving. We were sitting only a few seats behind the Royal patrons and to be able to be a part of the 60th anniversary celebrations was great! As a Bronze, Silver and Gold award holder as well as the Bronze Assistant Leader at MGGS, I am humbled by the number of participants that the award has reached and how it has opened doors for so many young people. If you have ever thought about doing the Award or perhaps don’t think it could be for you, then why not have a go and participate; you never know what doors it can open!” Mrs Smith comments “It was fantastic to attend this event in such a beautiful venue, and it was brilliant to hear how far-reaching and life enriching the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is with programmes running all over the World.” This year we have enrolled 91 Year 10 students on the Bronze Award, 19 Year 11 students on the Silver Award and 27 Year 12 and 13 students on the Gold Award. There are also 18 Gold students from last year that are nearing completion of their awards during 2017. All in all this makes an amazing number of students at MGGS involved in DofE. Here you can see an outstanding example of a Bronze DofE project. The film was produced by Bronze DofE group Dora’s Explorers entitle An A-Z of DofE. Students produced this as part of their project following their expedition https://youtu.be/bK6mELhOqOA
The DofE Team wish all our participants good luck in their preparations this winter in readiness for their challenging expeditions next year.
You can to do it!!
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The Newsletter MGGS DofE Students collecting their Awards at the Maidstone Presentation Evening
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The Newsletter Exchange Year at MGGS By Marietta SH About a year ago five girls from Germany decided to make a change in their lives and leave their country to come to England and study here for a while. Hi there! Yes, those five girls are us.
(left to right) Anna, Victoria, Marietta, Henriette, Rilana
We applied to AEC (Anglo European Connections) for the exchange year and, with a bit of luck, got accepted. In our application we were able to choose what kind of area we wanted to live in, what subjects we were interested in and were also able to make suggestions about what kind of host family we wanted to live with, for example if we preferred older siblings or younger ones, if we liked families with or without pets, that sort of thing. That’s how we ended up here in Maidstone and at MGGS. About three months ago we said our good-byes to our friends and family and headed off to our adventure. The 6th September 2016 was our first school day here in England. We were shown around the building by our buddies from Year 13. During the first week there was a lot of information to take in as Sixth Form was new for everyone, not only for us Germans. We got to know our subjects and teachers who were all very welcoming. After two weeks we had all made our first friends and going to school became more and more exciting. The five of us are all from different parts of Germany and we hadn’t known each other before coming here. We therefore have had different experiences regarding school but we can all agree that MGGS is far more technologically advanced than our schools back at Germany, which makes it all more interesting to study.
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The Newsletter Exchange Year at MGGS cont’d Compared to Germany we take far less subjects in Sixth Form, however, they are taught all the more in depth and detail. The teachers seem far more enthusiastic about their subject than what we’re used to from German teachers. They are happy to help us out whenever we are stuck and they really make sure that everyone in class understands what they are talking about. The same can be said about our fellow students. They were all very open-minded and welcoming towards us and we quickly made friends with quite a few of them. Living away from our families has been proven to be different for each of us but on the whole we can say it has already taught us a lot of independence and -we daresay- a bit of maturity as well. We are all staying for different amounts of time. Some for a few months, some for a whole year. Some of us have been homesick a lot, some not at all. Not all of us are used to staying away from their family for so long and it is not always easy. But then again, who said it would be easy? Other than our obvious goal to improve our English skills we are here to gain life experience, get to know different people, make friends, experience a different culture -Long live the Queen!- to have fun, and maybe to find a new self within us, a more confident, independent, open-minded and mature self. We hope we were able to give a little insight into an exchange student’s life and mind through this article and we hope that whoever is considering to do an exchange year, no matter where in the world, will go for it. It is probably one of the most significant experiences you will ever make in your life. With all that said, Merry Christmas and Frohe Weihnachten! from the German exchange students.
Aspire Careers Fair By Miss A Rhodes On Tuesday 8th November we hosted our annual ‘Aspire’ careers fair at MGGS. We had representatives from a range of career areas including finance, law, the police, aeronautics, translation services, EDF energy, Kent County Council, Engineering, the NHS and entrepreneurship. They were joined by various universities including Cambridge, Exeter, Kent, Canterbury Christchurch, York, Newcastle, King’s College London, Imperial College London, UCL, East Anglia, Sussex, Loughborough, and the University of Law. Students and parents were able to ask questions and find out more information about the careers and institutions and hopefully it was an informative and inspiring experience for students!
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The Newsletter World War II Air Raid Shelter Visits by Mrs H Bracey This has been another busy year with many Primary schools taking the opportunity to visit the unique MGGS air raid shelter, or ‘tunnels’ as they are known. The latest group were Hollingbourne Primary School who entered into the spirit of things by dressing up and giving a resounding rendition of the wartime favourite ‘Run Rabbit Run’ as they entered the school grounds!
In September we held our ‘Tunnels and Tea’ event when visitors of all ages enjoyed an informative tour of the tunnels complex followed by a sumptuous vintage tea. A visit to the tunnels presents the chance to step back into a bygone age. Evidence of lessons taught during the War remain chalked on the walls, and remnants of the daily necessities of life still exist. It is a real opportunity to imagine students’ life in the 1940s as they spent up to seven hours underground.
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The Newsletter Drama Trips, Visits & Events By Miss A-M Stanley It has been a busy two terms down in Drama. On September 28th a small group of year 11 GCSE Drama students and year 12 and 13 Drama and Theatre Studies students went to see Things I Know to be True at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. It was directed by the renowned physical theatre company Frantic Assembly. Described in The Independent as ‘a beautiful and painfully perceptive portrait of a family and the frictions that arise when grown-up children try to push beyond the confines of their loving parents' expectations,’ Things I Know to be True moved many of our students to tears. Frantic Assembly’s use of lifts, embraces and fleeting touches helped to physicalize each character’s subtext at different points, while the naturalistic characterisation helped the audience to become emotionally involved with each of the characters. Our students then took part in a question and answer session with one of the directors, this proved to be very interesting and insightful. Students definitely came away inspired and a little emotional. In November year 11 GCSE Drama students travelled to the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury to see The Woman in Black. I have seen the play a number of times but it never fails to make me (and most of our students) jump. It is a good old fashioned ghost story, staged simply but effectively with just two actors playing all the different parts. Simple costume changes, a wicker hamper that becomes many different things and sounds that definitely go bump in the night all helped to make an evening full of tension, suspense and chills. During our walk back to the coach a number of students took great pleasure in making their friends jump. The last few months have also been a busy time for practical examinations. Year 11 GCSE Drama students completed their second controlled assessment in November and year 13 will have performed their final practical exam pieces on Friday December 2nd. The Drama Studios are never quite places, but that is how we like it. Well done to all those students involved. Finally I would like to shamelessly plug the school production of Oliver! We have over 60 students involved from year 7-13 on stage and behind the scenes. Performances will take place on Wednesday February 8th and Thursday February 9th. Tickets will go on sale in the New Year. We hope to see you there!
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The Newsletter Library News By Mrs C Hewett It has been a busy start to the academic year for the library. All of the new year 7 students have had an induction to how the library works and I am pleased to say that many of them are already regular visitors! A few of them have joined the Maidstone Area Book Awards Reading Group and the reading for this challenge is already well underway. The Award Ceremony will be held in May at MGGS and so far the books are proving to be a great read, so which one will be the favourite is anyone's guess! These are the books that are being read:
We have held a very successful Scholastic Book Club order leading up to Christmas and have raised a massive £75 to spend on new books for the library. Thank you to everyone who purchased books from the Scholastic book club. I hope you enjoy your purchases! West Borough Primary School visited the library for a ‘Christmas Carol’ themed literacy workshop on 29th November. A number of the year 7 students and the English Prefects helped them to benefit from the session led by Mr Pidgeon in the library. We look forward to welcoming them back for another session at the end of term 4.
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The Newsletter Library News cont’d By Mrs C Hewett Mary Smith visited the library on the 8th December at Lunchtime, where she gave an introduction to her book, ‘A Schoolgirl’s War’. This was a fantastic opportunity for your daughter/son to hear how the book was written, to meet Mrs Smith and to purchase and get signed their very own copy of the book. I do hope that they enjoyed the book signing! A selection of Year 10 students were being treated to a visit from Jess Arthur, a performing poet on the 15th December. This was Jess’ second visit to MGGS. Last year she visited with a group of year 10 students and was very inspirational, and this year was just as sensational. A huge thank you to Jess for visiting and helping to inspire our creative writers! We have had two wonderful book review displays so far this year. An autumnal themed display, where each leaf was a book review:
And a winter themed display, where each snowball was a book review. It is so nice to have a board of book reviews that the students can look at for inspiration, if they don’t know what to read! Thank you to everyone that contributed a book review! During the Christmas break, I will be setting the KS3 students a reading challenge! We will be encouraging the students to take part in a sponsored readathon. Any monies raised will be used to buy books from Usborne Books for the Library. It is important that our students keep reading, so I do hope that they will take part! Finally, I would like to wish all of the MGGS students and parents a very Happy Christmas! I hope you all have a wonderful, happy and healthy Christmas break!
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The Newsletter Food Technology: Olivia L’s Winning Recipes We have previously reported on Olivia L's successes in this respect of the Kent Cooks 2016 competition. Olivia wowed the judges with her signature dishes of 'Salmon and Watercress Tartlets' and 'Plum Cobbler'. Olivia was selected as the overall winner for the competition, making her the Kent Cooks 'Champion' 2016! Olivia now shares with you her winning recipes... Smoked salmon and Watercress Tartlets Ingredients: 175g plain flour, plus extra for dusting 8p Large pinch of salt 70g cold butter, cut into cubes 23p 2-3 tbsp. very cold water 2 tbsp. of grated parmesan (Curd and Cure - Cranbrook, Kent) 11p 4 tbsp. chopped dill For the filling: 25g John Hurds Traditional watercress (from Dorset), roughly chopped 20p 50g locally hot smoked salmon, torn (The Weald Smokery, Flimwell £1.70 1 tbsp. homegrown chopped dill 3 local farm eggs (Fairseat Farm, Kent) 21p 50ml milk (Northium Dairy) 9p 125ml double cream (Northium Dairy) 13p Local Baby Leaf Salad (from Betts Farm, Offham, Kent) 7p Homemade vinaigrette (3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, pinch of salt, dash of sugar, 1 tbsp. white wine vinegar, 1 clove of crushed garlic 54p) Homemade horseradish cream (1 tsp. horseradish cream, 20g crème fraiche, seasoning, chopped dill) 7p Total Price of Quiches = £3.43 (price per portion 85p) Method: 1. First, make the pastry. Sift the flour and salt together into a large bowl. Rub in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add few strands of well chopped dill to the breadcrumbs. Add enough water to make the dough come together, then wrap well and chill in the fridge for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Whisk the eggs, dill, milk, cream and season well. 2. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface until quite thin then line 4 small tart tins – don’t trim off the excess pastry just yet though, as it will shrink a little when it cooks. Put the pastry cases in the fridge, for 5 minutes. 3. Remove the pastry cases from the fridge and line with baking parchment. Fill with baking beans, then bake blind for 20 minutes. 4. Make the garnishes – horseradish cream (whisk all ingredients together and SEASON well), tomatoes cut into the shape of a flower (be creative!), wash the salad and whisk all the ingredients together for the dressing. 5. Turn the oven down to 160C/140c fan/gas mark 3 and take out tart cases. Remove beans and paper. Roll the edges of the pastry case off with a rolling pin. Sprinkle the grated parmesan over the bases, then cook at the reduced temperature for 5 minutes more until pale golden.
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The Newsletter Food Technology: Olivia L’s Winning Recipes 6. Take the pastry cases back out of the oven. Turn the temperature back up to 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6. Carefully flake the salmon fillet. Then arrange the watercress and salmon in the bottom of the pastry cases. Ladle the filling over the salmon and watercress, adding a few more strands of dill on the top, then bake for 10 – 15 minutes, or until set with a slight wobble in the centre. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes before removing the tartlets from the tins. 7. Arrange salad on the plate with the tartlet and tomato garnish, dressing the salad at the very last minute. Serve tartlet warm, with a spoon of horseradish cream, salmon flake and dill sprig to taste.
Plum Cobbler Recipe – makes 2- 3 portions Ingredients: 1 punnet of ripe local plums (about 400g), halved and destoned (Teston Farmers Farmshop) £1.60 ½ orange – the juice and zest 23p 20g light brown sugar 15p 1 star anise 24p 1 vanilla pod 38p ½ tbsp. water 100g self-raising flour 8p 50g caster sugar 5p 100g chilled, chopped butter 34p Pinch of salt Pinch of nutmeg 5p 1 scoop of Simply Kentish Vanilla Ice Cream (Spadework Farmshop, Offham) 74p Total Price of Cobbler = £3.86 (price per portion £1.28) Method: 1. Preheat oven to 190 C/gas mark 5. 2. Put the flour, caster sugar, butter and a pinch of salt and nutmeg into a large mixing bowl and rub together with your fingertips until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Add 3 table spoons of cold water and gently knead to form a soft, slightly wet dough. Chill for about 10 minutes. 3. Add the plums, orange, sugar, anise, vanilla and water to a pan and cook gently for 5 minutes, or until the fruit softens, and then tip, minus the star anise and pod, into an ovenproof dish. 4. Remove pastry from fridge and roll into 6 balls and place on fruit. Sprinkle with caster sugar and flaked almonds. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden. 5. Serve with a scoop of Kentish ice cream in a pretty bowl.
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The Newsletter The Haskell Cup Relay On the 9th of November Luke J, Jake B, Dan B and Alex R were invited to participate as a 4 man cross country relay team in the Haskell Cup in Guildford. The course was a 3.5K run for each leg, where each runner would run one lap of the course before passing onto the next runner in their team. The course itself was on rough terrain with rocks and mud, together making it very hazardous underfoot. They were the only girls school team, competing against a variety of private and comprehensive boys schools who all had experienced squads. We achieved 5th place out of 42 teams. Not bad for two Kent runners, a rower and a footballer! Alex Rose led the team off completing the lap in a time of 12:41 to put us in 25th place. This was a real gutsy effort considering, as a rower, running is not a sport he focuses on. He handed over to Dan Blades who ran one of his best races to catapult the team into 8th place running 10:45 the 8th fastest lap of the day. On third leg was Jake Berry who had an outstanding run to further move MGGS up into 4th place. His time of 10:13 was the fastest leg of the day earning him a medal for his efforts. Jake has had a great last few years running, most notable placing 4th at the National Championships earlier this year. Anchoring the team was Luke J, who like Alex is not a runner, primarily playing football. He ran incredibly well in a time of 12:19 (followed by a manic sprint with the 6th and 7th placed runners hot on his heels in the final 150 meters) to carry the team home in 5th. Finishing 5th was a fantastic achievement by the whole team, which has given us immense pride in our capabilities. The lads aim to compete in more of these events throughout the year and push on for a podium finish and a medal places.
Term Dates 2016 -2017 Term 3 - 2017
Term 5 - 2017
3rd January
Start of Term 3 for Students
18th April
Start of Term 5 for Students
10th February
Last Day of Term 3
26th May
Last Day of Term 5
Term 4 - 2017
Term 6 - 2017
20th February
Start of Term 4 for Students
5th June
Start of Term 6
31st March
Last Day of Term 4
21st July
Last Day of Term 6
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The Development Trust News What’s in a name….? I am amassing names and information about our alumni. The database now numbers nearly 1,500 ex-students and staff and makes fascinating reading as names come into and go out of popularity. Bearing in mind my list is by no means complete, the top 5 most popular girls names at MGGS are Hannah, Emma, Laura, Rebecca and Sarah. Rebecca crosses the largest time span from 1975 through to 2016. ….and a date? And our oldest old girl (who is still active on email), was here from 1936 until 1942. She came into school for a visit in October 2016! Read about Val below!
Breaking News…..The William Oldham Charitable Trust, a Maidstone based trust has come forward with some wonderful funding. We are thrilled to announce that due to their generosity and sponsorship, we are able to replace the grotty old gym windows that overlook one of the quads AND give that quad a complete facelift. You can see clearly the desperate need for these works and we will be thrilled to show you “after” pictures - hopefully by the time the next newsletter comes out.
We are looking forward to seeing our newest alumni in January 2017 at Speech Day. 174 year 13 students left us following their A’ level exams last June and we hope to see as many as possible in January to celebrate their excellent achievements and find out how life after MGGS is treating them! 81% of our Years 13’s achieved 3 or more A* - C grades and over 83% of our students went on to University. Sue Threader from the Rochester Bridge Trust is the speaker for the occasion. The Rochester Bridge Trust were instrumental in funding the building of MGGS back in 1888 their grant of £6,500 enabled a school which accommodated 50 pupils and 3 mistresses to be opened.
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Maidstone Grammar School for Girls Non sibi sed omnibus
The Development Trust News Your News So you can see the Development Trust Office has plenty on its “TO DO” list. But, it isn’t all about financial support, it is not just your money the DTO is after. We also want your news. We are like proud parents of our ex students, keen to brag about your achievements and enjoying basking in your reflected glory. Alys Earl who left us in 2003 has just had a novel accepted for publication. Time’s Fool is a novel of atmosphere and tension, of secret struggles and undisclosed desires…what begins as a coming of age soon descends in to murder, madness and betrayal. It is available for pre-order as a limited edition hardback through https:// unbound.com/books/times-fool, where it is crowd-funding its initial production costs, and the names of everyone who orders it at this stage will be printed in every edition of the book . Aayushi Pandya who left in 2012 came in recently and spoke to our sixth form about her work with an organisation called Marrow, the student representation group of the charity Anthony Nolan. They aim to recruit healthy prospective individuals between 16-30 onto the National Stem Cell register, to see if they are a match for individuals with leukaemia or other blood cancers/disorders. If you would like more information about this contact Aayushi at kings@ukmarrow.org
Development Trust Fund – MGGS (charity number 1141948) Standing Order Mandate To: Bank name Bank address Please pay Sort code Account no Reference The sum of Starting on
___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ MGGS Development Trust Fund HSBC PLC 1-5 Week Street, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1QW 40-31-06 32495813 MGGS DTF £ ______________ ______________ then: monthly/quarterly/annually for __________ years OR until further notice _______________ _______________ Signed _______________ _____________________________
Account no Sort code Account name Gift Aid Declaration By signing below, MGGS can claim an additional 25p for each £1 you donate at no extra cost to you, provided that you pay income tax at least equal to the tax reclaimed. If your circumstances change, you must notify MGGS. Signed ____________________________ Date ____________________________ Address of signatory
Print name ____________________
_______________________ _______________________ _______________________
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Maidstone Grammar School for Girls Non sibi sed omnibus
RAG Week Costume Themes 2016 USA vs GB
Head Students and Sixth Form Ambassadors
A Tradition of Excellence Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0SF
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Maidstone Grammar School for Girls Non sibi sed omnibus
RAG Week Costume Themes 2016 On the Screen vs In the Charts
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Maidstone Grammar School for Girls Non sibi sed omnibus
RAG Week Costume Themes 2016 Through the Decades Students and Staff
A Tradition of Excellence Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0SF
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Maidstone Grammar School for Girls Non sibi sed omnibus
RAG Week Costume Themes 2016
A Tradition of Excellence Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0SF
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