MGGS Summer Newsletter 2014

Maidstone Grammar School for Girls Non sibi sed omnibus

The Newsletter July 2014

End of Year Message

By Maureen Wolloshin, Headteacher

Here at MGGS we are enjoying the sunshine, finishing our studies for the academic year, and reflecting on the many learning experiences we have enjoyed during the course of the year.

The articles in this bulletin give a flavour of some of those experiences. What shines through every one of them is the commitment, sense of fun, and joy of learning that our students bring to everything that they do.

I am convinced that our success as individuals and as a community can be attributed to the commitment, curiosity, and determination to succeed that characterises so much of what our students and staff do.

Maureen Wolloshin Headteacher

I hope that you all enjoy a peaceful, restorative, and happily eventful summer.

Our students have worked extremely hard this year and I am very proud of their achievements. They deserve a little rest and relaxation before we see them again in September; refreshed and ready to give of their best.

School Production of Angels

See inside for full article

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The Newsletter U16 Futsal National Finalists By Miss Relph On Sunday 29th June the U16 Futsal team travelled to the Futsal Arena in Birmingham to participate in ‘The FA Futsal National Finals’. Teams from all over the country participated in local competitions, then district, then regional to have the chance to represent their region at the finals.

MGGS were representing the whole of the South East.

It was a long tiring day for the girls who left school at 6am to register by 9.15am in Birmingham. The girls played some fantastic football and showed off their skills proving that they are worthy of playing at this high standard. Katie Startup in goal was phenomenal and kept the team in the majority of matches due to her fantastic saving ability. Both Rachel Stevens and Tish Smith were solid at the back and influential in making accurate passes to Amanda Beeput who played as a lone striker. Megan Gill and Zoe Moyler played well in the middle and Megan finished a lovely move by scoring on her left foot - a great team goal. Eve Hume is a versatile player and demonstrated a good performance in defence against some tough and physical teams. Well done to all players.

Drama Workshop

By Mrs Shand Forty one of our Year 9 Drama students kicked off preparations for their GCSE course, which starts in September, with a two hour workshop with the actor Sean Jones from the cast of ‘Blood Brothers’ on 24th June 2014. The students were taken through actors’ warm up games, exercises in characterisation, status and tension and even shown how to bring to life a short extract from the script of ‘Blood Brothers’ by Willy Russell. The girls were enthralled throughout and particularly valued a Q and A session at the end of the afternoon when they could ask their own questions about training and working in theatre. Afterwards, the girls agreed it had been a really inspiring and enjoyable afternoon!

Report by Jenna Roper and Angharad Roberts On Tuesday 24th June, the Year 9 GCSE drama students had the opportunity to take part in a workshop run by professional actor ‘Sean Jones’. Sean Jones is an experienced actor who has performed the part of Mickey in the West End show

‘Blood Brothers’, and played his part on tour around the UK. It was an enriching experience for us all to meet an experienced actor who has actually taken part in a famous play. He showed us many acting techniques that will come in handy for our GCSE drama course and anything we want to do in the future. The workshop not only gave us new ways of improving our drama skills, but also boosted our confidence levels by doing things in a team. While being taught key skills needed for drama and performing, we had a lot of fun incorporating games and funny exercises. Whilst being exposed to serious techniques we had a lot of fun creating scenarios.

Sean Jones displayed a depth in character whilst playing Mickey Johnstone, a depth that was interesting to explore. While playing Mickey, Mr Jones made the character journey from a seven year old to fourteen years of age; then age twenty-one to a mature adult, in the space of a 2 hour show.

We also took part in an exercise that meant we could show emotion through our character, by only saying one word. This is a useful exercise for us as it allows us to show emotions through our actions and facial expressions, without having to actually say the words.

We are very grateful to Sean Jones for giving up his time and sharing his experiences and knowledge with us.

We would also like to thank the Drama Department for providing this opportunity for us and allowing us to strengthen our drama skills and abilities.

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The Newsletter Angels By Mrs Shand This year our school production was part of The National Theatre’s Connections Festival. The play was an original piece called ‘Angels’ written by Pauline McLynn. There were 22 actors and 24 crew members involved, ranging from Year 7 up to Year 13. There were three performances in the School Hall in February and we then transferred to The Marlowe Theatre in May. The cast and crew showed a mature dedication to developing the new play and were never afraid to work outside their comfort zones. The entire company seized the opportunity to portray their interpretation of ‘Angels’ with professionalism and passion.

Below is an extract from the Show Report we received from Richard Weinman. He is a professional director associated with The National Theatre, who watched the Thursday evening performance in February and spoke to the company after the show: “The performances were committed and truthful and there were some lovely moments where I felt the actors were really responding to each other. It is clear that the actors have really invested in their characters and the play, and in general the performances are natural and truthful.

I thought the physical discipline of the Angels was incredible and that they had a really excellent balance between being slightly stylized and natural.

The angels were affectively ghost like without being stereotypes. Overall I thought the design was really effective in its simplicity.

I really liked the simple but effective lighting design of the piece, which never felt forced and had a really natural quality to it. They were clearly able to demonstrate the time of day and the passing of time whilst also creating some beautiful images on stage through the lighting. The use of handheld LED torches and the fairy lights draped onto the angels, to light the later scenes was really clever and beautiful and effectively helped to create the atmosphere of the graveyard….. what you have is really beautiful.”

Richard Weinman, Director associated with The National Theatre

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The Newsletter Notre Voyage en Normande

By Mme Fourmy Last May Mme Fourmy, Mrs Farnham, Miss Couves, and Mr Ansette took 40 students to Normandy for 5 days. The students stayed in a comfortable French nunnery in the picturesque town of Bayeux and enjoyed taking part in lots of interesting and varied activities.

The high point of the visit was a guided ecological walk across the Bay of Le Mont Saint Michel. Students also visited some of the following: Bayeux and its wellknown tapestry, a working goat cheese factory, Honfleur, Arromanches and the D-Day landing beaches.

They also enjoyed the opportunity to visit smaller places of local interest independently, and tried out their knowledge of French by visiting the local markets and shops.

Quelques témoignages…

Normandy was one of the best experiences! From staying in the nunnery to completing activity full days, it was amazing. I really enjoyed seeing different parts of the French culture and history like the D-day landing and the Bayeux Cathedral. Although each day was fun my highlight of the trip has to be the walk from Mont Saint Michael to the shore, it took a whopping 7 miles but I am so glad I did it, even if I did step on a few jellyfish on the way! The market was great and I loved having the responsibility of looking round with my friends; we used our French talking skills and I improved a lot! Overall the Normandy trip was amazing and will always be a fond memory of mine and I really recommend going there, you won’t be disappointed!

Safia Rasoul

Mont Saint Michel

got to taste lots of goat cheese. I liked going to the activities centre in ‘le Châteaux de la bourdonnière’ too.

We made bread, did orienteering and even archery. I eally enjoyed myself and I think that next year’s students going will really have a great time.

Rebecca Cheeseman The Normandy trip was really great because we went to all sorts of amazing places and saw all sorts of interesting things. For instance, we saw Mont Aaint Michel which is where J.K. Rowling got inspiration for ‘Diagon Ally’. We also went to a goat farm and saw some of the cutest pigmy goats around, and we also saw the Bayeux tapestry, which is really famous. The accommodation was really good and the whole town was very inviting. I highly recommend going on future French trips; it is the experience of a lifetime.

Tori Simmonds

“I would love to go again”

Normandy 2014 was great! It was filled with fun activities and spectacular experiences with the French culture. My highlight of the trip was the bay walk; we walked from Mont Saint Michael across three rivers, to salt dunes, past islands crawling with birds all the way to the shore! It took half a day and we walked 7 miles. The food there was great. We tried some odd concoctions and my favourite by far was the snails. The goat farm experience was tremendous and we were able to pet and brush lovely little goats. It was really memorable and we

I really enjoyed the school trip to Normandy. It was such a different experience and we did lots of great activities; from archery to going to a goat farm! When we stayed in Normandy, I used the French I learnt throughout the year a lot. We visited many beautiful places including Saint Michael’s Bay. The evening entertainment was brilliant and we all put on a talent show at the end. I had such a fantastic time and would love to go again.

Kristy Maskell Normandy was an amazing experience because we did lots of different activities. We did bread making and archery. The picnics at lunchtime where delicious as

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The Newsletter well as the 7 mile walk through the Monte Saint got to stay in the nunnery together. All of it was Michael. It was tiring but so fun. The evenings where enjoyable, even the everlasting coach journeys! It was a great fun too and we played different games every night. very memorable trip that I’d love to do again.

My favourite evening was the talent show, everyone did Georgia Freeman amazing shows! Overall it was an amazing trip and I know next year’s students will have an Next years visit to Normandy will be “Every activity was taking place from the 17th of May to the amazing time too.

22th of May 2015 and is open to all of Ciel Chaussy really fun” Year 9. You should have received a letter via ParentMail. Only 40 places are When we were told about the trip to Normandy, I was available so make sure you return your form quickly. excited but didn’t quite know what to expect. Because of You would not want to miss out on such a great this it exceeded my expectations. I enjoyed all of the opportunity! activities, including the walk across the causeway back to the mainland from Mont Saint Michel as it was a very Deadline: First deposit by unique experience. I also liked the panoramic cinema as Monday the I thought that it was extremely clever and interesting.

8th of Overall, it was a great week.

September Lauren Oram 2014.

Our trip to Normandy was great. Every activity was really fun and interesting; my favourite was the trip to Mont Saint Michel as it was exciting and fun to learn about. I genuinely think my French improved vastly. I got to utilise it so much more, especially in the market.

It was brilliant to have your friends around and we all Le Chateau

Science Extravaganza By Mrs Mahon On 30th June fifteen students from Year 8 went on a Science visit to the University of Kent. We first had a lecture from a Cellular Biologist about the causes of cancer and how biologists are trying to not necessarily find a cure to the disease but a treatment that would allow sufferers to survive longer and die from a disease other than the cancer.

This would work in the same way as someone having diabetes or HIV, they have the disease, it is treated, but it will not cause them to die.

After a short break we went to our first workshop called Mini Monsters. We had to look at a variety of invertebrates and find physical features that were similar and different so that we could classify them. We had great fun photographing the mini beasts through the lenses of the microscopes.

After lunch our second workshop was on Kitchen Chemistry. This was broken up into smaller sessions. The first was given by a Pharmacist who went through a patient’s prescription and asked us all questions about what the role of each drug was. We then had to dispense the prescriptions which were Smarties really. Finally we had a quiz to identify if something was a drug or a sweet. This was very hard and showed that to children a lot of prescription drugs look like sweets.

We also looked at some small demonstrations about light, static electricity and lava lamps.

We were shown around all day by University Ambassadors. They were students on their summer holidays. They told us all about student life, courses available and what we would need to do if we wanted to go to university. We had to fill out a booklet throughout the day and may win an ipod. We all had a great day.

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The Newsletter Forte By Mrs Wood We’ve had another busy year at Forte. We hit the ground running in September auditioning new members and working towards the School Carol Concert and Young Voices at the O2. Young Voices was a fabulous concert singing a whole range of pieces with professional musicians, including Stacey Soloman. In fact, such a great time was had, we’ve already booked up for next year - so keep the 31st January free if you would like to come and watch your daughter singing again - but don’t forget your binoculars!

Since then we’ve been working on a wide ranging repertoire, including Happy by Pharrell Williams, Rolling in the Deep by Adele, and Viva la Vida by Coldplay. We’ve performed at Mrs Smith’s farewell assembly, and our next performances are at the two Open Mornings for perspective students and doing a workshop with the new intake of Year 7 on their Welcome Day. We would like to thank both parents and staff for their support of Forte and all the concerts we partake in. The choir would not be so successful without supervisors and an audience! Please keep an eye out for notices of concerts at the start of the new academic year - I hope to see as many of you there as possible.

Twelve Angry Men

By Eloise Ball

On 16th January 2014 Drama students from Years 10, 11 and 12 visited the West End of London to watch a performance of “Twelve Angry Men” at the Garrick Theatre. The day began with a huge buzz of excitement, as is always with trips in the Drama Department. The lively atmosphere on the coach is fantastic - people singing together, chatting, asking questions about the show and it got even more exciting as we entered London. One of the best moments was definitely as we drove through the West End, looking out of the window and spotting the different theatres and what shows they were housing. For some of us, performing in the West End is a long-term goal and something we hope to achieve later in our lives which made the trip all the more special.

We arrived early so had some spare time before our

show. This enabled us to walk down to Trafalgar Square and spend some time just enjoying the sights of London in the surprisingly sunny weather. Taking full advantage of the photo opportunities, we took pictures in front of the famous lion statues and group pictures in each of our drama classes.

The show itself was absolutely fantastic. Set entirely in a single set of a New York City court jury room, the play was a legal drama on the theme of justice, showing how 12 individuals on a jury can have such a dramatic impact on one person’s life. The performance was extremely engaging, leaving us all on the edgesof our seat. There was light comic relief at times, predominantly coming from the oldest juror’s charming wit, yet there were also very emotional moments when jurors had to face a change in verdict.

After the show a few of us were even lucky enough to meet the actor Edward Franklin who played the youngest juror which was extremely exciting!

A huge thank you must go to Mrs Shand and Miss J of course for all of their hard work in organising such a fantastic trip which everyone thoroughly enjoyed! And also a thank you to all the staff who accompanied us as without them it would not have been possible!

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The Newsletter MGGS Film and Media Awards

By Mrs H Smith The first MGGS Film and Media Awards ceremony took place in April and was a huge success! This red-carpet event showcased film, television and media production work by our students and was judged by industry professionals.

There was an extremely high standard of work on display and the judges had a tough job deciding the winners.

Students won prizes in the following categories: Best Crime Drama - Holly Cowan, Sienna Foreman and Mollie McKenzie; Best Short Film - Jasmine Allam; Best Music Promotion - Elle Hays; Best Viral Campaign - Eloise Ball; Best Drama - Molly Shuter; Best Mystery - Alex Carter and Matthew Lamb; Best Advertising Campaign - Sophie Teakle; People’s Choice Most Effective Magazine - Amy Filmer.

The event also revealed the winner of the ‘Spirit of MGGS’ film competition launched by Mr Horstrup at the start of the year. Students from across the school were invited to take part in a challenge to produce a film which sums up why they love MGGS. The winning film created by Emilie Bartlett and Phoebe Brookes, was an excellent stop motion animation which showed a great deal of skill and artistic flair.

ICT Update By Mr Walker Although we are nearing the end of the academic year, the Computing Department is still as proactive as ever.

Between lessons, school trips and extra-curricular activities, Computing students are still working hard and taking an active interest in this subject.

On Friday the 6th June, 50 Year 9 GCSE Computing students attended a trip to the National Museum of Computers at Bletchley Park. These students are the latest addition to the Department, having no background in this specific subject area, and they are settling into their chosen subject comfortably. This school trip not only allowed the students to learn a broader history of the evolution of consumer technology, but it also helped them to understand technology’s place in society today. Ceilidh Monaghan, 9G, expressed she was excited to learn about and interact with a robot, and enjoyed

Bletchley Park

learning about ciphers, one of the fundamental concepts behind computer programming. She summed her experience up by saying, “Seeing all the older generations of computers made me realise how lucky I am to live in a generation when we are able to have access to things like internet practically immediately.”

Outside Microsoft Headquarters

Thursday the 26th of June saw a group of Year 10 and 12 ICT & Computing students travel to the Microsoft UK Headquarters in Thames Valley Park, Reading. This was a fantastic opportunity to get away from the classroom and learn about how computer science is used in one of the largest producers of consumer technology. The students learnt that women can still be scarce in the technology industry, but that there are many opportunities out there for us to have rewarding, successful, creative careers.

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The Newsletter Geography Trip to Dorset

By Jude Shorter

In March 2014, the Year 12 geography AS group went on a school field trip to Dorset. We went for three days and the aim of the trip was to collect geographical information from the area to help us in our upcoming AS exam.

On arrival, we went straight to Durdle Door and began our fieldwork. While we were there, we collected data on the number of tourists and pedestrians, the amount of litter in the area and the number of cars which were in the car parks. We also had set questionnaires which we asked the locals. Once we had collected all our data from Durdle Door, we went on to Lulworth Cove. Here we did some of the same activities, but we also completed a beach profile. For this, we had to measure the size of rocks, the distance and gradient of the beach, count how many waves there were in a minute and also measure the distance of long shore drift. We did this in 8 or 9 different groups at different points on the beach so that we all had our own individual data that we could then share as a group later. In addition, we wanted to evaluate the success of the World Heritage Jurassic coast rebranding at Lulworth Cove.

On arrival at our accommodation, Harrow House, we were allocated our rooms where we unpacked and then went down to the communal area where to our joy we found the Wi-Fi and the pool tables! That evening we had dinner and then went to the lecture theatre to share

our findings from the day. Following this we had some free time until lights out at 11pm.

The next morning, we were informed that there would be a small alarm to wake us up nicely for breakfast, so at 7:45, the alarm sounded. It played ‘Wake up Boo’ full volume from every speaker located directly opposite everyone’s doors!

Straight after breakfast we headed off to Weymouth.

Here we were again split into our groups and all sent to locations to complete some surveys. After Weymouth, we went to Chesil Beach. This was without a doubt the windiest place we could possibly have gone to. Here we had to do another beach profile, however due to the wind and the wild waves, we struggled. Paper was flying everywhere, hair in our faces, the loss of hats, and trying to measure the distance of the beach and its gradient, while dodging the waves, well, it was a challenge. However, being the wonderful Year 12 group we are, we pulled through, getting the data which we needed for our exams. Here we had to do similar activities as those we did at Weymouth, however, Mr Messenger gave my group the task Trevor the Monkey of looking after Trevor, the enjoying a ride monkey who accompanied us on our entire trip to Dorset. For this, we had to get as many photos of him in unusual places.

This too turned into a challenge for us as we had to get the best photo of him.

After we had done our fieldwork and photographed Trevor in a variety of places, we got back on the coach and made our way back to the accommodation.

On the final morning of our trip to Dorset we boarded the coach and headed straight for Studland Bay where we did a sand dune transect. This was very interesting as due to the earlier storms throughout the year and the amount of tourists it attracts, many of the embryo sand dunes had been destroyed and blown out. This then gave us a variety of results as we were then separated into our groups and did different areas.

We finally boarded the bus one last time and set off for Maidstone. The trip was a huge success and the entire group of 50 students all had a great time, we only wish we could have stayed there longer.

“The trip was a huge success”

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The Newsletter to students to ‘enjoy’ their rights and freedoms and his insistence on the empowering effect of education forced

By Mrs Crozier us to examine our own lives and consider our aspirations in the light of the fortune of our location. Excellent The History Department was honoured to host a talk by questions were put to Zack by many students and he was Zack Sabella, a Christian Palestinian and expert in especially impressed with the quality of Sophie Nelson’s humanitarian aid policy. Zack is currently in Britain questioning. studying a Masters in Public Policy at the extremely Perhaps the most moving part of the talk came at its end, prestigious Blavatnik School of Public Policy, Oxford when a student asked Zack whether, through gaining University. qualifications, Palestinians sought to leave the Occupied The scope of Zack’s talk spanned Territories. Zack replied that 60% “I think my people need me. I am to 70% of his peers had either left his experiences growing up as a Palestinian Christian in East willing to make that sacrifice” or intended to do so. When pressed Jerusalem, the origins of the Arabon his own aspirations, he replied Israeli conflict and his perspective that he intended to return to the West Bank despite the on what factors were preventing peace in the region. His reduction in quality of life that would entail. He said, “I talk was made all the more poignant as it coincided with think my people need me. I am willing to make that the finding of the bodies of three Israeli teenagers and sacrifice.” the murder of a Palestinian youth in Zack’s The History Department hopes to hear the testimony of neighbourhood.

Zack’s Israeli course mate, Neta Gruber, on her return Sociology and English teachers and students joined us from Mexico in order to hear her views on how far and the discussions that the talk generated have western interference is the main factor responsible for resonated around the Sixth Form. Zack’s measured tone the conflict. This testimony will be used and evaluated and clear analysis, despite relating events that have by students in their A-Level coursework. caused personal tragedy, was inspiring. His exhortation

Talk by Zack Sabella

Visit to Cambridge University

By Miriam Aziz Cambridge University; Chemical Laboratories and Churchill College, 16th June 2014 At the start of the day at Cambridge University, we visited Churchill College and had an admissions talk on Oxbridge, especially Cambridge, from the Admissions Tutor, Dr Sally Boss. This was very useful for those looking to apply to Oxbridge as they also provided us with useful statistics. This was followed by a tour of the college.

We then headed over to the other side of the Cambridge City where we explored the Chemical Laboratories including the library and the largest lecture hall of the University. As we went past the laboratories we saw different examples of analytical Churchill College equipment including mass spectrometer apparatus of various sizes, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Infrared Spectrometers. We went past a working laboratory where we met some PhD students who were in their final years with various projects and a large PhD thesis to write up. Much of this work was of an air sensitive nature and we saw many glove boxes and air sensitive equipment.

Overall, it was a very enriching experiment and allowed us to see how chemical apparatus and synthetic Chemistry is used in real life. A few pupils were able to see if they would enjoy a future in Chemistry and were able to see themselves as future Chemists.

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The Newsletter Sports Day Reports

By House Leaders After being elected as one of the Normans House Leaders, the first job was to sort out Sports Day. This was far harder then it seemed, we had to go round looking for willing people to take part in over 20 events for each year. However, due to the greatness of the Normans, only very few needed some persuasion. Sports Day arrived and we were all ready, we had all our Normans with face paint on and wearing our house colour, ready for the events of the day. The three house leaders split up across the field events to make sure every Norman had one there to support them. As the morning went on we were doing quite well with the many of our Normans finishing in the top three. Unaware of this, we went out to the field in the afternoon to watch the track events and just before they started, the results from the field events were announced. To our surprise, we were in first place! From this excitement, we continued to do well in all our track events throughout the afternoon. Once the events had finished, we all gathered together to see who had won Sports Day. After announcing 6th to 3rd place, all that was left to hear was who had won the trophy, and due to the hard work of all our Normans, we finished in first place and won Sports Day. This was such a great moment as all the Normans put so much effort into winning their events for their house, we couldn’t be more proud of them!

Jude Shorter, Ethan Quinn and Georgia Heath

We would like to start by saying just how proud we were of Danes on Sports Day. Every single student and teacher put in 100% effort to help with the running of the day. There were people that had never done their particular event before, but everyone did an amazing job and we hope everyone enjoyed the day as much as we did. We managed to come second behind Normans and one point ahead of Britons, so no one can feel disappointed and you can all go home believing that you helped to achieve that one extra point that made the difference. Not only the people that participated and gave it their all, but also the huge amount of support from everyone else in the house. The spirit that you all have shown was fantastic and we hope that we can keep this up, if not improve, for the upcoming events. We are extremely proud to have the role of Danes House Leaders and promise to help get as many people involved next term for House Arts. We are sure many of you are as competitive as we are, so lets win this for our house!

Matt Cornwell, Danni Bills and Amy Prime

What a Sports Day it has been for the Britons this year! As always Britons were super loud and supportive of one another; our team spirit is definitely what makes us Britons special! Not only that but we were so impressed with the huge talent we had participating this year. Throughout the day we continually ran at a close 2nd, winning events such as Year 8 shot put and Year 12 800m where Cicely Rice-Wilson broke the record! Although in the end we came 3rd place by just one point we were all absolutely thrilled as the day had been so enjoyable. As our first big event as House Leaders it was fantastic to be able to get to know our house and lead the team spirit that we are renowned for! A huge thank you to everyone who took part; you all did so well and we couldn’t be prouder! Here’s to our next year together.

Eloise Ball, Molly Shuter and Tilly Pollock

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The Newsletter A sea of navy blue was all you could see in our area for Sports Day, amongst support, cheering and lots of food. As house leaders we are extremely proud of all those who participated in the events on Sports Day and everyone who supported their team mates throughout the afternoon, a lot of voices must have been lost by the end of the day. Between the injuries, breathing struggles and spur of the moment rallying for people to run in the track events, we still managed to come fourth, which was an improvement on last year! Sports Day was great fun with more to look forward to such as Interhouse Rounders on the last week of term and House Arts in October. We are so thankful for everyone electing us as House Leaders and it is great that we are now getting to know more of you. During Sports Day we developed so much pride for Vikings, even more than we had before and we can't wait for the rest of Viking's to demonstrate their many talents throughout the up and coming year. Thank you to you all!

Charley Parker, Clare Court and Charli Weston.

Although for the Saxons Sports Day this year may not have made us 1st place champions, we still feel like victors in our own right. We are incredibly impressed with the dedication, level of performance and enthusiasm for House spirit that many of our House has given and are immensely grateful to everyone who took part in some way, whether that meant sprinting the 100m or making us a Saxons flag. Having been voted for by the people that make up Saxons, we felt a responsibility to lead our House well and do them proud. We hope that our support for the Saxons throughout this Sports Day has earned their trust that we will continue to do the best we can to lead our House in the coming year.

Alex Hodgkinson, Kate Moshanova and Amy Thomas

Firstly, we would like to say how immensely proud we are of everyone who competed for our house. Although we didn't win, it is safe to say that everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and all the people who entered, both in the morning field events and afternoon track events, definitely tried their hardest. We found the experience very valuable as it gave us an insight into trying to organise a large group of people and keeping morale up. We would especially like to thank Lauren Lefevre, Ruby Savill and Antonia Matthew for being so willing to get involved and help us out when we were short of competitors. We think it was a tremendously successful day and we all thoroughly enjoyed it, and we are hoping that everyone will bring the same positive attitude and willingness to get involved in other House events throughout the next year. Thank you again.

Phoebe Freeman, Feaya Conway and Tom Murphy

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The Newsletter Mandir Temple Trip

By Willow Hall I remember stepping off the coach. I have visited the Mandir before, but yet again, the sight of this miraculous building blew me away. It was unrealistic, almost dreamlike, to see such a beautiful place amongst the vast city of London.

The inside was even more elegant. Most noticeable were the Murtis and shrines with their rich colours of gold and silver. Furthermore, the ceilings and walls were immaculately carved, telling stories of the lives of Hindu Gods.

I felt so small in such a grand place; I find it amazing how the walls were all hand carved. How long did it take to create the pillars and building structure? How many people were involved?

Moreover, I find it incredible how many people visit the temple each year. After watching the ceremony, I feel that I now respect Hindu beliefs more than I did before. I have always accepted the fact that all religions have different beliefs about our world, but now, I feel inspired by the beauty of the way that Hindus worship.

The Mandir complex is also very helpful and provides

an exhibition to explain further the beliefs of Hindus.

For example, there was a section which explained the Hindu symbol ‘Aum’, and another which explained many Hindu stories.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed the visit to the Mandir, it has opened my eyes to the beliefs of Hinduism and I would love to visit again.

Trip to Noel Coel Theatre

By Miss Shand In January 2014 the A2 Theatre Studies class of fifteen students went to the Noel Coward Theatre to see the Micheal Grandage production of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ starring David Walliams and Sheridan Smith. This visually stunning production provided our most senior drama students with a rich variety of comparisons to make with their study of original Elizabethan performance conditions; as well as a hugely enjoyable opportunity to visit the heart of London’s West End. David Walliams was typically attention seeking as the character Bottom, interacting with the audience at times and using excellent comic timing; Sheridan Smith led a cohort of hippy type fairies on stage in a clever director’s concept inspired by the counter-cultural event of Burning Man in San Francisco. It was a truly memorable trip and we all, staff and students alike relished this opportunity to see a performance by a renowned national company featuring accomplished and successful British actors.

The Micheal Grandage company subsequently sent to us at school a free set of special editions of the play illustrated with photographs of the production as part of their outreach and education work; these provided invaluable support for our students’ analysis of the production.

a tradition of excellence Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0SF

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F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org

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The Newsletter Year 10 Masterclass

By Mrs Meek Earlier in the year, our Year 10 Food Technology students were lucky enough to take part in a day long ‘masterclass’ with a local chef and PFA member, Mr Peter Chapman. This was an exciting opportunity for the students to work alongside a highly experienced chef, learn “It was a very valuable learning of what is required to be a new skills and experience a little professional chef. The day was supported by our Specialist experience” Science Status and also the generosity of a local supplier, Steve Hazzard from Booker who provided the whole chickens that the students boned and portioned for their main course. The PFA also very kindly paid for the other ingredients we used apart from the garlic which Peter himself had foraged the day before!

The students had a great day and learnt some really high level skills. They also really enjoyed sitting down together to eat what they had made. A comment from Peter about the day was “It was a great day and amusing to see the girls squirm at the thought of having to handle a raw piece of meat! I am sure it was a very valuable learning experience.”

Menu Smoked Haddock, Apple & Potato Brawn with Horseradish cream Chick Pea Bread Rolls ∞∞∞ Chicken Breast with a Black Olive, Tarragon & Cream Cheese Stuffing Gratin Dauphinoise, Green Beans wrapped in Black Forest Ham

Vegetarian alternative - Chickpea and Chestnut Burgers

Year 11 Active Revision Session

By Mrs Meek The context for this year’s GCSE Food Technology exam was ‘decorated cakes’ and in order to help the students with their revision, we organised for Sarah Farrell from Confection Perfection Cake School in Maidstone to spend the afternoon with them.

The students used a variety of cake decorating techniques including moulding, piping, using cutters painting and adding decorations such as edible glitter.

The students learnt a great deal about cake decorating in a short space of time and used the experience to start thinking about designs that they could sketch in their exam paper. We also looked at ingredients, materials and equipment used by professional cake decorators and compared them with those we might use at home.

It was a really enjoyable and worthwhile afternoon and a number of the students announced at the end that they had found their future career!

a tradition of excellence Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0SF

T: 01622 752103

F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org

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The Newsletter Year 13 Cooking Club

By Kyle Davies Over four weeks, a group of Year 13 students took part in Cooking Club! Each week had a different theme, we would split into pairs and each pair would cook a different delicious dish. We cooked all sorts! From soup, to bread, to curries, to lasagne and even finished off with making celebratory cakes!

It was a lot of fun making all the food and was extremely useful preparation for university and living on our own.

We learnt valuable skills and had a great time whilst doing it. Furthermore, all the meals were inexpensive and easy to make which is even better for uni preparation!

Thank you to Mrs Meek and Mrs Seabrook. It was a brilliant four weeks and so much fun!

Farewell

By Mrs Meek As I am writing this, the students are preparing to go onto the field for Sports Day. This will be my last Sports Day at MGGS and I will be experiencing many ‘lasts’ over the next few weeks. I have been responsible for Food Technology at MGGS for ten years and have taught almost every student in the School over that time. It has been a wonderful experience and I will greatly miss the students, my colleagues and the School. I hope that some of the recipes that the students have made are still being cooked in homes and student accommodation around the country.

I still remember and use recipes that I made when I was at school!

Thank you to all the parents and carers who have provided ingredients (often at very short notice!) and a big thank you to all the students who have worked so hard to make Food Technology, and particularly GCSE Food Technology, such a successful subject in the school. Keep cooking!

Wimbledon Trip

By Erin Brady

On the 26th of June 2014, 11 students had the opportunity to go to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships with Miss Relph. On arriving at the prestigious grounds, we gathered on Murray Mount to work out our court rotations as we had 10 Court 2 tickets and 2 Centre Court tickets.

At Wimbledon, there are 4 shows courts that require tickets and 14 outside courts with free seating where you can watch tennis played at the highest level. We were all eager to watch matches on both of the courts, especially the World Number 1, Rafael Nadal on Centre Court. As well as watching Nadal beat Lukas Rosol, making a comeback after losing the first set, we saw a mammoth match between Frenchman Richard Gasquet and

Australian Nick Kygrois. This match was incredibly entertaining with Kyrgois taking it after 3 hours and 53 minutes, saving nine match points in the process. After, we were able to witness the final set of Jo-Wilfred Tsonga vs Sam Querrey due to it being suspended the day before. Tsonga won the match, with the final score being 4-6, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, 14-12. Allez Jo-Wilfred!

British Heather Watson and Roger Federer also played on Centre Court with Watson losing but Federer winning after only an hour and a half.

Due to the unique way that Wimbledon is laid out, you have ample opportunity to meet players and visit the practice courts where the elite athletes prepare for their matches. Whilst walking around, we met James Ward (British Number 3), Jamie Murray, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, Venus Williams, Radek Stepanek, Nick Kygrois, Richard Gasquet and Eugenie Bouchard. We left the Championships at around 5.30pm after an amazing day watching some incredible tennis. I would like to thank the PE staff for giving the chance to visit the hallowed grounds.

a tradition of excellence Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0SF

T: 01622 752103

F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org

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The Newsletter Andalucia Trip

By Nicole Hallett

By Isabel Miller On the 31st March 2014, some students who were studying Spanish went to Andalucía on a school trip. We stayed there for five days. On the morning we went, we had to get up very early to leave for the coach to the airport! When we got to Málaga it was really hot but it was still quite early. We then had a short coach journey to the

The 5 days I spent in Andalucía with my school were definitely days I will remember for a very long time!

They were full of memories and meeting new people! It was a great way to get to know the other people in my year group who I don’t usually mix with. The days out were always exciting, and we saw at least two new places every day! I visited places I didn’t think I ever would, like a historical mosque in Córdoba, the Alhambra palace in Granada and the amazing shops of Puerto Banús! There wasn’t a day that didn’t fly by and I was always excited to talk to my parents at the end of the day and tell them about the memorable day I had just experienced. Not only did I speak to my parents at the end of the day but the chatty hotel hotel named Palmasol; it was a “This was an excellent way of staff and guests at the hotel. This three star hotel. The staff and expanding my Spanish vocabulary” was an excellent way of guests in the hotel were very expanding my Spanish vocabulary kind and friendly and made our and being confident in the language. The guests were so stay in Palmasol even better! friendly and they always wanted to talk about our day After that, we had a great time! When we were there, trips! The week went so quickly and I didn’t want it to most of the time, it was very sunny, but on one of the end! I think that going on a trip abroad with the school days we went to Granada it poured it down with rain! was a great experience that taught me how to be We also spent a lot of time on the coach, at one point it independent and responsible. took three hours to get to Ronda (a beautiful place in the mountains). Nearly everyone on the trip slept for most of the coach journey.

While we were in Spain, we visited lots of places including, the Alhambra Palace, Puerto Banús, Plaza Bib-Rambla, Alcázar de los Reyes Católicos. The Alhambra Palace was very pretty with many different historical features. Also, we went to Puerto Banús, we saw lots of very large boats, they were amazing!

The time in Spain was amazing; I really enjoyed and will remember it forever. I had lots of fun with my school and loved walking around the towns and cities.

This trip was also very educational and I learnt a lot more Spanish words and can now speak more fluently in Spanish than before.

a tradition of excellence Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0SF

T: 01622 752103

F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org

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The Newsletter Oxjam

By Mrs Wood We wanted to say a massive well done to all of Year 9 for their fabulous Oxjam concert this May. Also a huge thank you for everyone who supported the effort, from buying tickets and baking cakes, to running around back stage helping arrange 180 performers into the right places – it could not happen, or be so successful without you. As Hannah has written below we raised a lot of money this year, in fact in the 4 years we have run Oxjam we have raised a whopping total of £5,492.86.

This is a real tribute to the hard work the girls put in.

Oxjam is about giving Year 9 students opportunities. A chance to use all the skills that they have developed in Key Stage 3 Music, arranging the songs, evaluating their success and building strong performances. They take their own lessons, arrange their staging and have ownership of the entire project. It also gives a realistic viewpoint of the many careers that are amalgamated into creating professional concerts, from advertising and ticket sales, to choreographers and sound/lighting technicians. It allows all the students to use their personal strengths towards a common goal. The aim has always been to put on the best show possible, involving the entire year group.

As part of the module the girls get a sobering look at the lives of others and what we take for granted. They begin to realise how lucky we are, and how little it takes to make such a profound difference to another individual’s life. Through this project we are always amazed and

humbled by the compassion shown by our students and their willingness to take themselves outside of their comfort zone for others. This has been particularly evident this year. Year 8 you have a lot to live up to we’re already looking forward to Oxjam 2015!

So thank you, Year 9 - you have been an honour to work with and have made us so very proud of you.

By Hannah Morris Oxjam 2014 - where do I start? I think the whole of Year 9 were passionate and dedicated to raising as much as we could for such an amazing cause. Each form performed 3 songs and we all performed together as a finale. The atmosphere was electric. We raised £1,247.71 and we are proud to say we helped save lives.

I’ll never forget Oxjam 2014 and I hope MGGS carry on this tradition.

Samba

By Lydia Watson I am one of the students who participates in the enjoyable MGGS samba band “Baterias Not Included.” This extracurricular club takes place on Thursday lunchtime and in it I, and the rest of the group, learn the techniques in order to be able to play effective Brazilian samba music. We even have T-shirts with our own logo printed on it ‘Baterias Not Included’. We are taught by Cheryl Hooker-Blake who plays professionally with the band “Bloco Fogo.” Through her excellent teaching we have been able to perform in our KS3 assemblies as well as also having the amazing opportunity to perform in the Maidstone Mela, our local carnival to celebrate all different cultures and music. Our latest gig was on Saturday 5th July where we took part in the Maidstone Arts Carnival parade through Maidstone. We were right at the end of the parade line, bringing some rhythm and noise. It was pretty tiring as the parade lasted for nearly one hour, but great fun! Overall, samba is a delightful experience which I am proud to be a part of.

a tradition of excellence Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0SF

T: 01622 752103

F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org

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The Newsletter Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

By Ms Starns, Unit Leader Ms Starns, Unit Leader for the Duke of Edingburgh’s Award at Maidstone Grammar School for Girls commented, “Our students were outstanding in every way. They dug deep and achieved their goals to complete an exceptional Silver DofE assessed expedition. It is a joy to work with such determined and talented young students.”

Silver Duke of Edinburgh’s Award - Expedition 2014 Now Going for Gold on Royal Duty!

Thirty five of our students are now aiming for Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award following their successful Silver assessed expedition in June. One group in particular sent the Queen their Bronze Award project and now plan to send their Silver Award project for Royal approval also!

All our groups, despite what can only be described as varied weather conditions, on 27th to 29th June successfully completed their Silver Duke of Edinburgh’s assessed expedition. Day one was a pleasant sunny day and all our students shone. On day two, the girls endured torrential rain and thunderstorms with great humour and stoicism. Day three of the Silver expedition gave fine weather and perfect walking conditions. Students completed their expedition with great enthusiasm and determination. All groups succeeded through this expedition element of the award.

Mr Cocker, one of our assessors commented, “Along with all the assessors, we were very impressed not only with the performance of the groups; their enthusiasm and good humour but also the way they presented themselves and the public image they projected to the wider community. Supporting this were the fabulous staff who not only gave up their precious free time but also gave the girls tremendous support and guidance, whilst enduring torrential rain and living in a tent. All of them were a credit to themselves but also the School.

Well done to everyone involved with this event.”

Mrs Harding, Assistant Unit Leader for the Silver award at MGGS said, “The girls were an absolute credit to the School and completed their Silver award with exceptional humour having to endure quite extreme weather conditions.”

Bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Update Well done also to our 95 students in Year 10 for completing a successful Bronze practice expedition in May. We now wish you every success with your assessed expedition at the end of term!

a tradition of excellence Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0SF

T: 01622 752103

F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org

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The Newsletter Trips and Visits

By Miss Brown 127 trips and visits took place this academic year, and 2014/2015 is looking to be just as busy! The new Year 7 and new Year 12 students will be attending bonding trips at the start of next term, and oversees visits to Madrid, Milan, Austria, Normandy, Krakow and AndalucĂ­a have been added to the School calendar. Other trips planned for next year include a GCSE/A Level visit to the Gulbenkian Theatre to see Antigone, a Year 13 visit to the Lyric Hammersmith theatre to see Othello, and a Business Studies trip to the 4Entrepreneurs Conference in London.

All trips, visits and orders will be added to your +Pay account so that you can make payment using your debit or credit card. We will, of course, still accept cheques or cash which we will enter onto +Pay for you, but card payment using +Pay is our preferred method. You can access ParentMail/+Pay by visiting www.parentmail2.co.uk or by clicking on the link on the school website.

The Outlet is open every break time so that students can return permission slips, order forms and payments, and also collect any revision guides or pre ordered equipment.

There are still a large number of Mary Glasgow MFL Magazines that are yet to be collected from the Outlet. If you purchased a subscription for your daughter, and she is yet to collect her publications, please ask her to do so as soon as possible.

Attendance Update

By Mrs Hart, Attendance Officer The reason for any absence should be given by letter or telephone, preferably in advance or on the first day of absence. Absences will only be authorised in exceptional circumstances. Sickness absence should be notified by 10am on the first day of absence and then every morning for each day thereafter in the case of continuing sickness. As you are aware, regular attendance at school is extremely important. If your daughter or son is unavoidably absent from school would you please provide a letter of explanation upon their return.

If a medical or dental appointment must be made during school time, a letter requesting authorisation for the absence must be addressed to the Attendance Officer and given in at Reception. Again, if this is not possible please contact the Attendance Officer, Mrs Shannon Hart (stshart@mggs.org), as early as possible on the day of absence to notify of this appointment and the expected time required out of school.

Requests for leave of absence for any other reason should be addressed to the Attendance Officer, Mrs Hart.

Any student authorised to leave school during the day should report to the Reception, taking their authorised letter with them. They will be issued with a pupil pass. Without a letter or prior notification the student will not be allowed to leave the school premises.

Lateness Any student who is not in registration at 8.40am or 2.25pm will be marked as absent.

Any student who arrives between 8.40am and 9.00am should enter through the Main School Entrance, collect a late slip from Reception and complete this. They should then report immediately to their Form Tutor who will mark them in the register as late.

a tradition of excellence Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0SF

T: 01622 752103

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E: central @mggs.org

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The Newsletter Annual Holiday In relation to the new government guidelines from 1st September 2013, no holiday in term time is authorised. Any parent taking a student out of school on holiday in term time could be subject to a referral to the Attendance and Behaviour Service, and Penalty Notice Action could be issued. Holiday requests in term time will only be authorised in exceptional circumstances which are set out by the Government and the School has no authority to override these. All requests must meet the criteria in order for MGGS to agree the annual leave.

Admissions Update

Term Dates

By Mrs Hogan, Admissions Manager Your daughter or son may have siblings, cousins, friends or neighbours wondering how they can join the school into Years 7 – 11. Please inform anyone who asks that they are entitled to test for a place at the school once a year for each year group from Year 7 - 11. So, if a student in Year 6 at primary school is unsuccessful in the Kent test (11+) they can test in the summer term when they are in Year 7 for a place into Year 8 that September.

Other students wishing to test for a place into Year 8, 9, 10 or 11 are welcome to submit an application at anytime during the academic year.

To apply for a place at the school, complete an In Year Casual Application Form (IYCAF) and return this to the Admissions Manager in school, Mrs Hogan. Arrangements will then be made for your daughter to sit the in year test at a mutually convenient time in school.

External Applications to the sixth form should be made online at www.kentchoices4u.com There is no closing date for applications, but to ensure the best possibility of obtaining your subject choices we strongly recommend that you return your application form as early as possible and by Friday 7th February 2014 for the September 2014 intake.

Visits and tours of the school are available on request. For further information or to request a tour of the school please email jhogan@mggs.org or visit the admissions pages of the school website at the following link http://www.mggs.org/about-mggs/admissions#

Term 1 – 2014 3rd September Development day (no students in school) 4th September Start of term 1 15th October Development day (no students in school) 24th October End of term 1 Term 2 – 2014 3rd November 19th December

Start of term 2 End of term 2

Term 3 – 2015 5th January 13th February

Start of term 3 End of term 3

Term 4 – 2015 23rd February Start of term 4 18th March Development day (no students in school) 1st April End of term 4 Term 5 – 2015 20th April Start of term 5 22nd May End of term 5 Term 6 – 2015 1st June Start of term 6 23rd July Development day (no students in school) 24th July Development day (no students in school)

a tradition of excellence Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0SF

T: 01622 752103

F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org