MGGS Christmas Newsletter 2013

NEWS@MGGS Christmas Newsletter

December 2013

Term 3 - 2014

YEAR 10 BAKE CHRISTMAS CAKES Read more on Page 32

Term 3

Term 4

Monday 6th January 2014 - Start of Term 3 Friday 14th February 2014 - End Of Term 3

Monday 24th February 2014 - Start Of Term 4 Friday 4th April 2014 - End Of Term 4

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Welcome

Dear Students, Parents, Carers and Friends We were very pleased to welcome our new students into Years 7 and 12 in September, with the sixth form growing to a record size. We have been very pleased indeed with how well our new students have settled in and how quickly they have become a valued part of the school community. In particular, many of the newest students joined others to make a significant contribution to the House Arts competition, to sporting events, to the Year 7 music concert and to the our annual Carol Service in the church.

Students have been working hard since the start of term 1 and this follows a superb set of results in the public examinations. We were delighted to find ourselves placed (and the only Maidstone school to be so) in both The Daily Telegraph list of the top 100 state schools for A level results, and in The Times Parent Power top 100 schools nationally. 72% of all the grades awarded at A level were grades A*-B and there was a 100% pass rate for A level for the third year running.

GCSE results were the very best in the school’s history, with 62% of all grades awarded being A*-A. Very many congratulations to all our students.

This month sees the end of our 125th anniversary year.

It has involved a number of events and we have thoroughly enjoyed gaining a stronger sense of this school’s place in the history of Maidstone. Tracing that history gives in microcosm a fascinating impression of social and political change nationally since 1888. This anniversary year has included a highly successful 125 th anniversary afternoon, attended by over 1,000 past students, a whole school photo, an anniversary mug and a booklet outlining the history of the school being given to all students and staff, and the setting up of an online alumni network.

One of the most successful activities has been the opening up of our World War Two air-raid shelters. We

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have already welcomed 6 primary schools who have visited, learned about the school in wartime and experienced what it is like to have a lesson underground. This has been followed with a WW2 lunch! They have been fascinated to learn that sometimes the girls were underground for 7 hours and had to spend break and lunch time in the narrow tunnels as well as having lessons with their work balanced on their knees. We are looking forward to welcoming more primary schools in the new year, and it is also our intention to make sure that all of our own students have a chance to see what MGGS students experienced in wartime. Visiting the shelters is a genuinely moving experience, and makes us realise how lucky we are not to have had to work in those conditions.

Students from Madginford Park Finally, thank Junior School visiting the WW2 airyou to all staff, raid shelters students, parents and governors for your continued and valued support of the school. I hope you have a very peaceful, restful and enjoyable holiday. Merry Christmas!

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Design And Technology Year 13 Textiles Workshop With Designer Alex Nichols On Friday 20th September Year 13 Textiles students had the fantastic opportunity to work with junior fashion designer Alex Nichols. The students have designed a range of garments, from fancy dress ‘onesies’ for children to glamorous Edwardianinspired stage costumes as part of their A2 level coursework projects.

Alex was able to give expert help and hands on guidance for students as they developed their own patterns from blocks. The students found this invaluable, commenting very positively in their evaluations. The workshop has given the girls the skills needed to make a brilliant

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start to their projects and has really boosted their confidence.

We are lucky to be in the position to continue to support the fantastic creative talent at MGGS. The specialist status support allows us to provide this one-to-one assistance and encourage individual expression through direct exposure to industry experts. We look forward to working with Alex again in the future. Pupils, parents and friends of the school will have the opportunity to see the finished work of our textiles students at the annual Art & Technology exhibition next summer.

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Outstanding Geography Student Earlier this year, I won The Outstanding hydroelectric power stations in Europe; Geography Student Award, which is an canoeing on a fjord; and finally, essay competition hosted by the tour exploring Bergen, the second largest company Discover the World and the city in Norway. One goal I achieved Geography Association. The prize was during our trip was climbing to the top a study trip to Norway for five people. of the mountain, which may have I couldn’t believe it when I found out I seemed like an easy task for the locals, had won, as I had never imagined my but for us was a real challenge. essay would be good enough to win Many of the things we learnt whilst in such an amazing prize. To collect the Norway will help us with our GCSE prize, I attended the Geographical geography course. For example, we Association conference in Derby, where saw real life examples of how glaciers I met former yachtswoman Dame Ellen created fjords millions of years ago.

MacArthur who gave a speech on the We also learnt about the local way of Circular Economy, life and farming which I found very practices. We inspirational. The were surprised to “I met former Circular Economy Is find that the area yachtswoman a model for future was famous for Dame Ellen MacArthur economies where growing apples when I collected nothing is wasted, and plums due to my prize” leading to a more the climate of sustainable world. warm wet The early morning of summers and cold th Friday 13 September 2013 saw us winters. We discovered several starting our journey to Norway as we examples of globalisation as we took up a wonderful opportunity to explored Norway. For example we saw visit a country which none of us had transnational corporations such as visited before. We stayed on the McDonalds and Spar which we also have shores of Hardanger Fjord in holiday at home. Our tour guide pointed out cabins at the Hardangertun Centre, local businesses that have become which is a beautiful holiday park globalised, as they now sell to surrounded by impressive mountains. countries all over the word, exporting Whilst in Norway, we experienced the goods such as hand crafted furniture, following activities: exploring the cutlery and clothes. We also saw many beautiful scenery of Hardanger on a examples of areas that are increasingly tour named “Norway in a Nutshell” reliant on tourism to support the local including some impressive waterfalls; economy. I was most interested to visit hiking up a challenging but stunning the Sima Power Plant and learn about mountain; visiting one of the largest how hydroelectricity is generated in

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Jessica Mead Year 10 Norway. This is because I feel renewable energy is becoming more and more important for the UK and will become an essential part of the production of energy in our lifetime, as fossil fuel reserves are running low.

Therefore, I believe that students of my age need to take a bigger interest in these alternative energy sources, because in future we will need more experts in these fields to ensure there are enough renewable energy plants to sustain our growing demand for energy.

I would like to encourage school years 9, 10 and 11 to consider entering this competition next year because the questions are engaging and will challenge you to consider geography in a new way. Also, the competition provides you with an opportunity to learn about real life case studies and the effects they have had. The prize next year will be a trip to North Iceland for five people for four nights, which will be an amazing adventure.

I would like to thank the Geographical Association, our tour company Discover the World, the Norwegian Tourist Board and my geography teachers for providing me with an opportunity of a lifetime.

Jessica Mead.

Jessica, her friend, her sister, and her Mum in Norway

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125th Anniversary Update Following our very successful and enjoyable 125th Anniversary Celebration afternoon held during the summer, we have had many former students young and old contact us with information to help ‘Fill in the Gaps’.

Over the next four pages are some of the questions we asked followed by some very interesting answers.

Did you ever sing the school song “Land of my birth” and, if so, on what occasion(s)?

The song was sung at the beginning and end of term, speech day (prize giving) and at the annual service at All Saints Church until the late 1980s. Many exstudents who were here during the 1940s also recall that it was sung on Empire Day. There was some discrepancy surrounding whether it was only sung at the start and end of the year or every term. What remains undisputed, however, is the fondness that remains for the song. It is still sung at reunions and many students remember all the words.

The song was phased out in the early 1990s. One student present between 1986 and 1990 wrote “They tried to scrap it for being sexist in our final year and we all protested and sang it anyway.” The most recent student to remember singing the school song attended from 19911996, and from inference she is likely to have only sung it at the start of her school career, if at all, with her peers not remembering the song.

It seems that the school song was phased out in 1990-1991, but the effect may not have been immediate.

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There used to be red chairs in reception where misbehaving girls were sent to sit. Were they here and used for punishment in your time?

Students of MGGS up until the early 1980s remembered the “terrifying” red chairs, with many saying there was one red chair in addition to red bench seats. In the 1940s you could leave when a bell rang, but by the 1970s a traffic light system was used. During the 1980s there seems to have been a move away from the red chairs being used for punishment, with most students after 1985 not remembering them having this use. There seemed to be a transitional period beforehand with fewer students remembering them, perhaps as the red

chair did not have a fear-inducing status.

Many students were able to remember the reasons for which they were sent to the red chair, one student recalled that, “on one occasion a P.E. teacher lost the Christmas Newsletter - December 2013 | Page 6

125th Anniversary Update plot and sent our entire form to sit on it. Miss Barnes was not amused.”

Were ties part of the uniform in your time?

boxes’ (storage boxes with a padded seat). The majority of students had lift -up desks until summer 1998, when they were sold to students.

Ties were a compulsory part of the uniform until September 1974, after which they were optional and by the late 1980s very few students wore them. Trousers were also introduced in 1974.

Did you have a locker or a lift-up desk in which to keep your books?

Were berets worn?

In the 1940s all students had a lift up desk. From the early 1950s lockers were used by those who had a science or cookery room as a form room, but the vast majority still used desks. In the early 1960s sixth-formers used lockers in the sixth-form block, referred to as the “orchard,” and some sixth-form students during the 1970s commented that they had ‘bum Maidstone Grammar School for Girls

Berets were worn “all the time,” with the angle being checked by the Headteacher and later by prefects until around 1970. In the 1960s there was a tradition that the beret was thrown in the river on the day you left MGGS or ceased to wear the uniform. There seems to be a transitional period where berets were only worn to events such as church services, rather than to and from school every day. The only reason given for the move away from berets is that they decided to set up brownies for Ugandan Asians, no further explanation was given, but it could have been that the berets were donated to Uganda.

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125th Anniversary Update The windows in corridors in the main building were originally open to the elements. When were they glazed?

Were they open or glazed in your time?

The windows were not all glazed at the same time. There was no glazing at all in the corridors in the 1940s and 1950s, but interestingly many students commented that windows had to be covered during wartime. The upstairs windows were the first to be glazed in the early 1960s.

Conflicting dates were given, but this is likely to have been around 1962. One side of the hall was then glazed around 1975 with the other being glazed by the early 1980s.

We know that the House Arts competition is very old, but don’t know when it began. Did it happen every year in your time, and was it an important event?

An arts competition seemed to have evolved into the annual house-based event that we know today by the mid-

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1960s. From this point onwards the competition rotated between singing, dance and drama. One student here between 1960 and 1967 thought it began in her time here. Although it is likely that the competition changed format and grew in importance during this time, there were definitely precursors. Most students in the 1940s and 1950s did not recall a house-based arts competition,

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125th Anniversary Update

probably highlighting its lack of importance rather than its inexistence, since a few students could recall a competition of sorts.

Was the magnolia tree there in your day? And do you know if there was a particular reason it was planted?

There is somewhat of an enigma surrounding why the magnolia tree was planted. The tree was planted not long after the move to the Buckland Road site, with the oldest ex-student to have remembered the tree attended MGGS between 1944 and 1948.

With Thanks to Carolyn Rogers Yr 13 for collating the answers.

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Music School Concert A very successful school concert was given during November. This was our annual concert featuring our new Year 7 students. Most of Year 7 were able to perform as one massed choir singing rounds, songs and performing a unique piece called ‘doubletalk’ where the performers were separated into two groups on opposite sides of the hall producing a unique spatial effect known as ‘cori spezzati’. We were also entertained by some very talented Year 7 soloists and the double bass group who performed an enjoyable blues piece. The evening also raised over £200.00 for the Music Department, so thank you very much to everyone who attended.

OXJAM In November we also had a visit from a representative from Oxjam who came to receive a cheque, and talk to the Year 10 students about the money raised last May when they organised and presented their own evening of music in aid of Oxfam. This was our third

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Oxjam event, which has now become a regular event for Year 9 classes as part of their music course. Every year we have succeeded in raising more money for Oxfam and this was no exception, with the evening raising a recordbreaking £1,570!

Christmas Carol Service At the time of writing rehearsals are progressing full steam ahead for our annual Carol Service at All Saints’ Church on 11th December where many of the school’s choirs, ensembles and soloists will be performing Christmas items. This is one of the main school and music events in the calendar involving a very large number of performers.

These include a Year 7 choir, forte and the popular staff/ student choir. The service also raises money for the rag week charities.

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News Eco Club by Ahsen Ustaoglu The aim of eco club this year is to recycle unwanted materials from the home or school to use in arts and crafts activities. This is open to all Year 7s and 8s. After meeting the girls from last year who were keen to carry on with eco club in a "jam and scones" session, we discussed with them the range of activities we had planned for them. The jam was actually made from the berries the girls had planted last year! At the end of last term, we picked the pumpkins the girls had planted last year and carved them in time for Halloween! In addition to this, we have so far recycled unused jars to make candle holders by decorating the jars using small decorations kindly given to us. We then placed tea lights inside the jars so that when the candle is lit, all the flowers, stars, butterflies and various other objects on the jars will glow! Coming up this term we have many other exciting craft activities planned, including: mosaic flowerpots, basket buddies, glossy paper flowers, carton wallets, and penguin craft when it gets closer to Christmas.

Teen Tech Festival 2013 by Matilda Collins Recently I attended the ‘Teen Tech Festival 2013’ along with other students from my school. Throughout the day we did a range of activities including a smart phone app design and powering a light house. We looked at different businesses and saw how to make our own speakers. There were professionals from all aspects of science and engineering, including wind turbines, robots and microbiology. At the end of the day they announced the results of the competitions that we had participated in. MGGS won two awards, the app design and the Cummins light house challenge.

Following the day my views and ideas about science and engineering have changed and I am now considering a career in engineering.

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MGGS Thinking School News

By Mr Harris As an accredited Thinking School with the University of Exeter, MGGS continues to develop its thinking skills programme. Whilst continuing to encourage our own students to use a range of thinking tools such as thinking maps, De Bono’s six hats and developing good Habits of Mind, we have also linked up with some primary schools as well to work on some thinking skills related projects. We hope to report later on in the year about the outcome of this work with primary schools.

Our new Year 7 students have experienced their Big Questions lessons where during the course of the year they will study six big questions, one question every term. The idea of the Big Questions lessons is to encourage students to be able think widely, deeply and creatively about a whole spectrum of ideas and concepts. A recent ‘on line’ questionnaire completed by the students confirmed that many are developing a number of different thinking skills such as being able to analyse, evaluate and create. Over 77% of students said for example that in their Big Question lessons the higher order thinking skill ‘creating’ had helped with their learning ‘a great deal’ or ‘ a lot’.

Universities are also promoting the need for students to develop their

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thinking skills in advance of their undergraduate studies. For example, King’s College London has a web link called 3 Minute Thinking http:// www.kcl.ac.uk/3Mint/Schedule.aspx which has a range of short videos on a variety of subjects all designed to make you think! Another website to look at is FutureLearn https:// www.futurelearn.com/ which is a private company wholly owned by the Open University and working with partners from several different universities and other institutions such as the British Museum.

FutureLearn offers free on line courses on a variety of topics and points the way forward in the coming years as to how a lot of learning across the world is going to happen. If you haven’t heard of MOOCS (Massive Open Online Courses) you soon will as they are beginning to take off in this country and are likely to play a key part in the education of the next generation- see Southampton University’s web link http:// www.southampton.ac.uk/moocs/ for example.

All of this means that it is even more important for students to be prepared as well as they can be for the future by being flexible learners and having the thinking tools that will allow them to adjust and become familiar with new ideas and technologies - some of which have not even been invented yet!

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Careers

By Miss Rhodes I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Miss Rhodes and I joined MGGS at the end of September as the new Careers and Higher Education Co-ordinator. I’ve already been busy conducting the one-to-one Year 11 careers interviews to help the students through the difficult decisions of what to do after their GCSEs. I shall shortly be starting to carry out one-to-one careers interviews for students in Year 9 to try and help them in choosing their GCSEs and get them focusing on their futures. But I am always available to give help, advice or guidance to girls in any year group at any time.

Alongside the careers interviews, we also have various focus days for each year group focusing on careers and their future to help inform and prepare the students for the life-choices they will need to be making in the future.

I am available five days a week in the Careers Office (at the top of Buckland House) for students to pop in or arrange a meeting about any problems, or questions they might have relating to careers, work experience, GCSEs, A Levels (or equivalent), apprenticeships, University or anything else!

Students also have online access 24/7 to the Careers page on Fronter.

I have updated this to include detailed current advice and information including links to suitable external sites, on all areas of Careers and Higher Education Guidance for all age groups.

I very much look forward to getting to know all of the students here at MGGS and helping support them in their Careers and Educational (both further and higher) needs.

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Houses Girls! (and boys) House Arts is something we are so so proud of and a memory that we are sure to cherish for years to come.

We are so glad to have met so many lovely people to exchange smiles with in the corridors and our Normans House Arts team has really come to feel like a family.

Winning a prize for best team performance is something we think perfectly reflects our rehearsals and performance.

We’re looking forward to the upcoming house badminton competition and the science quiz so we can see you lovely bunch again soon.

Merry Christmas! Betony, Courtney and Rachel xxx

A massive thank you to all the Britons who took part in House Arts! All the dancers, choreographers, makeup artists, and generally anyone who helped in the process.

As House Leaders you made our job so enjoyable, and without you we would not have had such a great experience or made new friendships. Thank you for all your hard work, commitment and the dedication you put into the performances and rehearsals, without you we would not have been able to win House Arts. We are so grateful and cannot put in to words how much we genuinely enjoyed, and are missing all our House members. Thanks again!

Beth, Grace and Esme.

Hello our lovely Vikings!

All three of us are extremely proud of all of you that took part in House Arts, whether you were involved in backstage and lighting or the performance itself. You have all been absolutely fantastic and a pleasure to work with over the last term. We want to take this opportunity to thank you all for giving up your time to attend rehearsals and for your fantastic positivity throughout! It has been a privilege to spend the time getting to know you guys and we couldn’t have asked for a better House. We hope that the rest of you Vikings feel the same about those who took part and we look forward to spending more time with you all in the upcoming house events!

Abbie, Luke and Jess.

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Houses What an amazing first term back. We got second place at House Arts! We are so thankful to all Danes and so proud of all the effort everyone put in. We couldn't have asked for a more enthusiastic and committed house; you guys ensured that our stress levels were at a minimum and you all put in so much effort! We just want to thank everyone who took part for that second place, because without you we could never have even come close to second.

We're very proud. Thank you of course also to the PE department and all the other teachers who gave up their time to help us. We look forward to the rest of the year! GO DANES! Love Kyle, Jess and Rachel xxx Firstly, we would like to congratulate all the girls that took part in our House Arts. It was a lovely day and we especially enjoyed performing with all of you.

We came third on the day and all three of us were extremely proud of the amazing performances our girls put on. Winning best production was such an achievement and we had two special mentions from the adjudicator, so especially well done to Andi Clough and Amelia Kelly.

We would personally like to thank Amy Thomas for all her help during House Arts; she made us very proud House leaders. We hope all of our House have a wonderful Christmas and take a well-earned rest.

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Hi guys, we know it has been a while but we just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who took part and supported us in House Arts.

We had a “sick” time and hope you all did too. As you may know we won best production and that’s all thanks to you guys. We want to say thank you for making our rehearsals as enjoyable as they were, even if we were a little stressed at times. Secondly, another big thank you to Harriet, Laura, Anna, Lucy and Amy for contributing to the choreography and removing some of the weight from our shoulders. Other than House Arts, we want to say a massive well done to the Year 7’s who came second overall in the InterHouse cross-country. Hope you all have a good Christmas, keep your eyes open for other house events as we want to see all your lovely faces again.

Love Amy, Joe and Georgia.

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Science

By Lauren Wenborn 7C Science at MGGS has really inspired me to work hard and achieve in the scientific world. Why is Science so great at MGGS? Let’s find out…

What have I learnt so far in Year 7?

In term 1 we have learnt about the Bunsen burner. Also MGGS has helped me come to terms with diffusion and the differences between solids, liquids and gases. Then we went onto density and floating and sinking materials. DID YOU KNOW: To float in a liquid an object has to be less dense than the liquid itself.

Experiments in Year 7 so far: 1. In the first ever science lesson we were shown how to light a Bunsen burner and got to have a go ourselves. I must confess walking across the Lab with a splint that was alight was slightly scary!

2. For a next experiment we looked at diffusion between air and bromine gas. In the fume cupboard our teacher put a jar full of bromine gas on a jar of air, the teacher then removed the partitioning paper and we then watched as the air and bromine mixes causing a brown cluster in the middle of the jars.

3. Next came a dissolving activity, we had to keep putting salt in water until it dissolved no more. After that was the collapsing can. Our teacher heated up an aluminium can over a Bunsen burner.

Then he put it in a container of water where it collapsed in on itself.

4. We also did an experiment using a strip of magnesium and a Bunsen burner.

We had to place a piece of acrylic over our eyes as our teacher heated the strip of magnesium. As it heated up it blazed

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white, although when we finished with the magnesium it crumbled into a dull powder.

5. Then came the hexadeconal cooling curves. We took a boiling tube full of hot hexadeconal and every 30 seconds we measured the temperature of the hexadeconal for 12 minutes.

6. Our next experiment was making a lump of plasticine float. Here we had to make a wad of plasticine into a shape so that it would float in a container of water.

7. After that we used Eureka cans to find the density of irregular objects.

8. Our last experiment was the sticky solutions. We had to record how high a hydrometer floated above the surface of a solution (that consisted of water and sugar) as the density increased.

My favourite experiment so far.

My favourite experiment so far (there has been a lot to choose from) has to be the Bunsen burner activity because there was an air of danger about it.

How have the experiments helped me learn?

The experiments have helped me learn because I think a practical lesson is remembered more by a pupil then just theory lessons. You can use the theory on a real life problem to help you come up with the solution. I think experiments are GREAT! Conclusion.

I think Science should be fun for everyone.

MGGS has helped me develop my scientific skills and supported me throughout my first term. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else and can’t wait for what is to come where Science is concerned!

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Science

Biology Lecture by Lord Robert Winston

by Meredith Ainsworth On the 29th of November 2013, the MGGS biology Year 12 students were honoured to have the opportunity to attend a lecture by Lord Robert Winston, Britain's most famous biologist. The 2 hour lecture took place at the Bloomsbury Central Baptist church in London.

The topic of the lecture was reproductive biology, which is the area in which he specialises. It was extremely interesting and we were kept engaged throughout. It was an area we hadn't previously heard about in much depth and

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so it was a great opportunity to absorb all the knowledge he was offering. He showed us slides of zygotes on the end of needles and an amazing video of human ovulation taking place.

The second lecture taught us about the wealth of life on earth and how it came about by natural selection.

The lecture came with some really interesting slides of unusual organisms from the sea.

The final lecture discussed whether doctors could really predict the chances of someone getting heart disease and prevent it using statins. Scientists are trying to look at markers

on the chromosomes of people who have heart disease and see if there are any which are in common. It turns out that it is both environmental factors and inherited factors which lead to the disease and it is far too difficult at the moment to make any real predictions about a person’s likelihood to have a heart attack.

We really enjoyed our day and would highly recommend anyone who has the chance to attend one of his lectures to do so. Once the lecture had finished, some of us were even lucky enough to have our photo taken with Lord Winston.

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Duke Of Edinburgh’s Award

By Michelle Starns

success of the award is, of course, entirely due to you participating in the DofE award through the training, Congratulations to all students who took activities; volunteering, physical and part in the Bronze, Silver or Gold Duke skills elements, and the expeditions but of Edinburgh’s Award during the last also submitting books for approval and academic year. Through your own getting the award confirmed. If you endeavours you have all achieved so have not already done so, much, so well done. The please come to see me school is very proud of for advice about you all. submitting your book, or “MGGS collected as many of you already More participants than 20 Gold awards know, I shall contact you ever attended the recent 53 Silver awards to ensure books are Maidstone area DofE and 89 Bronze awards” submitted. presentation evening in December and MGGS had This academic year is the largest number of proving to be a bumper students collecting badges year with 114 Bronze participants and certificates this year by far; in total enrolled, 43 Silvers and 36 Golds 162 DofE awards went to MGGS including three male students from the students. This is an amazing Sixth Form. Bronze participants will be achievement! One of the Bronze groups out on expeditions in Snodland, from last year are sending their project; Cranbrook and Canterbury, Silvers in a delightful story of DofE to the Queen Sevenoaks and Canterbury and Gold herself. I am not sure what the Duke participants will be venturing to will think about this... perhaps best to Finland, Snowdonia, send it addressed to the Lake District, them both. They will Brecon Beacons and be composing their the Black Mountains to letter in liaison with name but a few.

Mrs Smith.

Expeditions will take place in 2014 during In summary, MGGS the spring and collected 20 Gold summer. awards, 53 Silver awards and 89 Bronze The DofE experience is awards. Mrs Smith demanding and and Mr Browne adventurous; it has changed many attended the presentation along with students’ outlook about the world Mrs Richards, an MGGS Governor. around them and highlights what is possible through effort and I would like to encourage any students determination. Well done to everyone, who still have books to be submitted to I am sure you will have fond memories contact me directly; it’s still not too of your DofE experience for the rest of late to do so. If you have lost your book your lives. still come to see me as I can help. The

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News English Literature By Beth Thomas The first term of this year has proved to be a very busy and successful one for the English department, welcoming many prospective students to the department on two open evenings. With the lower school reading club continuing from previous years receiving a warm reception, the English Literature prefects are planning to also commence a film club in the New Year in which students can come and watch adaptations of the texts they are studying, from areas such as the Gothic, Shakespeare and science fiction.

We feel this added support will help students to form a greater understanding of the texts they are studying, and to make works by the likes of Shakespeare and the BrontĂŤs more accessible to all. A mentoring service open to any willing students for English Literature is also currently being established, in which students can sign up to receive help in any aspect of their English

Literature courses they may be struggling with. It is our aim to help other students with all areas of their learning in English, providing wider reading and even help with organisational skills and revision techniques in the run up to exams. All are welcome!

The English Literature prefects are committed to encouraging students to broaden their horizons in literature, offering a selection of book and poetry recommendations and information about upcoming plays and film adaptations on our noticeboard in the English corridor. We would like to highly recommend the National Theatre screenings available at the Odeon in Maidstone including many Shakespeare performances and stage adaptations of texts such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

If you have any questions or suggestions regarding anything about English Literature feel free to speak to your English Literature prefects: Beth Thomas, Betony DuBock and Melissa Cooke. Please see our noticeboard for Christmas reading inspiration!

Religious Studies Department On November 26th Year 12 students attended a day of stimulating lectures on aspects of the philosophy of religion and ethics at Canterbury College. The lecturer was Dr Peter Vardy, formerly Vice-Principal of Heythrop College in the University of

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London. Dr Vardy is renowned for combining academic vigour with pace and energy and this was no exception.

Students gained a great deal from these lectures and this has inspired them further in their thinking about complex philosophical issues.

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Computing Computing: Where Python isn’t just a snake; it can be a camel too…

By Emily Hall 12I In September 2013 AS Level Computing was first introduced at MGGS. Thirteen students joined the course, with varying ability levels and knowledge banks, but all were keen and eager to learn about the vast and interesting world of computers. The general consensus on the subject was this: A Level computing isn’t all 1’s and 0’s.

Entering my first computing lesson I had no idea what to expect. I had only taken the short course in GCSE ICT, and so was worried I would not be adequately prepared for what was in store. However, my mind was soon settled as we began the course with a debate as to which was more important: hardware or software. We had covered different types of hardware devices and classification of software as well as basic programming skills all within a term.

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In such a short space of time I have discovered so much about the computing world, been engaged by the topic and I am now interested in what else I can learn in this technologically dependant age.

The course is extremely enjoyable, so much so that quite a few students are writing their own programs outside of lesson time both to check they understand programming and as a leisure activity. The decision to introduce a computing AS Level was a decision well made, and an excellent subject choice for me.

The Beaver Computing Challenge

By Emily Hall 12I This year at MGGS all students from KS3, Year 12 Computing and Year 13 ICT were required to take part in the Beaver Computing Challenge.

The aforementioned challenge is a national multiple choice exam that tests students’ logical, computational and problem-solving

skills. It was taken online during lessons.

Some students have called it ‘computing without a computer’ due to its complex questions allowing students to face computing style problems without the use of a computer.

The overall view of the challenge was that it was exacting, as clear paths to solutions were not obvious and so students had to think through the problem rather than dive in at the deep end.

The test was negatively marked, and so students had to think through the questions rather than simply guessing. The questions were split into three difficulty levels; the most difficult questions were worth the most marks, but also carried

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Computing the biggest penalty, and so decisions had to be made as to whether the potential for greater success was worth risking precious marks.

Congratulations go to Tayla Hardy (Year 7), Martha Lloyd (Year 8), Katie Gunner (Year 9), Kim Lowe, Ibtihal Lutfi and Jessica Mead (Year 10), Eryn Hadrill and Tiffany Tripp (Year 11) and Dylan Chadwick (Year 13) for scoring the top mark in their year group. Additional congratulations to Tayla Hardy who came 2nd nationally in the junior category of the competition.

Computing Trip To Bletchley Park by Emily Hall 12I On 25th November, Mr Walker, Mr Hamilton and Mrs Hamilton took the AS level Computing students and the Year 10 GCSE Computing students to the National Museum of Computing in Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes. When we arrived, we were given a brief but informative history on Bletchley Park and its role in the Second World War. During the war,

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Bletchley Park was the site of the United Kingdom's main decryption establishment, where ciphers were decrypted, most importantly the ones generated by the German Enigma and Lorenz machines that were used by the Germans to cipher messages between bases.

The most interesting computers we were shown were “The Tunny Machine” and “Colossus”, the world's first electronic computer. Colossus was used to work out how the Lorenz machine, (used by the Germans to cipher messages) was set up. Then when Colossus found out how it was set up, “The Tunny Machine” unscrambled messages sent between Hitler and his guards, intercepted by the English. The machines were so big they took up a room each! It is

said that these machines shortened the war by two to four years and that the outcome of the war would have been uncertain without it.

We also saw the world's oldest original working digital computer known as the WITCH (Wolverhampton Instrument for Teaching Computation from Harwell). This was a massive calculator, the size of a van! Our guide told us that it would take this computer around 17 days to work out 1000 calculations. We were shown so many different computers from across the years and it was amazing to see how technology has developed and improved since the war.

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ICT The Big Hitters Conference: Transforming Business and Society On Friday 29th November, A group of ICT GCSE and A-Level students visited the University of London to attend the annual ‘Big Hitters’ conference.

Students gathered in the University’s lecture hall to hear presentations by a number of speakers including Nick Bletzer (IBM) on the pitfalls of Open Source software, James McDonald (Barclaycard) on the recent innovation

Business Studies This academic year has been busy so far for the Business Studies Department, with the introduction of A Level Economics.

We have also continued to develop links with the wider business environment. This includes offering students the opportunity to take part in the IFS ‘Student Investor’ challenge.

Groups of students are given a virtual £100,000 to invest on the stock market in the hope of making a return. This is a national competition that offers the Maidstone Grammar School for Girls

in touch payments. Olivia Needham spoke about how technology is helping the London Zoo with the protection of Wildlife and Paul Long led a debate on whether government control of the Internet is a good thing. All of the speakers spoke with a lot of passion and gave a real insight into how technology is transforming all areas of our lives. The coach journey home was full of interesting debate and chatter about some of the more controversial points that were raised through the day.

overall winners an all-expenses paid trip to New York and prizes for the winning school.

Year 10 and 12 students also were given the opportunity to attend the ‘4 Entrepreneurs’ conference in London.

Here they were able to learn about the real experiences of four entrepreneurs.

The students were able to put questions to the entrepreneurs after each of their presentations. This was a great day, which really brought to life the early parts of the GCSE and A level courses.

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PE Cross Country MGGS achieved fantastic results at the Maidstone schools district cross-country championships with all three teams winning their category. Congratulations to all those who took part and ran incredibly well.

The winning Year 7 girls team consisted of Summer Reeves, Lexi Gentry-Potter, Fern Devonport, Beatrice Fury, Millie Gibbs, Eleanor McGrath, Rebecca Westby, Ebony Fleet, Francesca Molloy.

Millie, Beatrice and Fern all finished in the top ten and special mention goes to

Lexi who achieved a silver medal running 2km in 8 minutes and Summer who came in first achieving a gold medal in a fantastic time of 7 minutes 55 seconds.

The entire MGGS Year 7 team have been selected to represent Maidstone in the Kent schools championships.

Charlotte Smith, Emily Etheridge, Freya Pearce, Rosie Westhrop, Alex Ferdinando, Stephanie Gunner and Jasmine Stringer.

Special mention goes to Katharine and Charlotte who finished in the top ten. The entire MGGS Junior team have been

selected to represent Maidstone in the Kent schools championships. The winning Intermediate girls consisted of Emily Hale, Rebecca Rootes, Laura Morton, Amanda Norman, Rachael Knatchbull, Charlotte Wright and Hannah Wallace. Special mention goes to Rebecca, Laura and Amanda who finished in the top ten and Emily who achieved a bronze medal with a fantastic 4km time of 17 minutes. The entire MGGS Intermediate team have been selected to represent Maidstone in the Kent schools championships.

The winning Junior girl’s team consisted of Katharine Brenton,

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Football

U13 v West Point Grey Academy friendly match On Tuesday 8th October the U13’s had the opportunity to play against West Point Grey Academy who were on tour in the UK from Canada. The girls thoroughly enjoyed the experience of playing against International opponents. West Point Grey started off positively scoring 2 goals from the start. MGGS

then started to play more attacking football which paid off by them scoring a goal. It was evident that the Canadians were physically fit and played a lot of regular football. The final score was 5-2 to West Point Grey. The girls enjoyed talking to the players after the game and discussing different words they use for

boots and food! The girls exchanged email addresses and mobile numbers with each other in the hope of becoming pen pals. It was a fantastic afternoon.

Team: G Smith, R Westhrop, N Hynes, L Jones, C Alner, J Lock, K Higgins, L Lefevre, G Hussey, T Baughurst, H Jeffery, F Mumby, G LlufrioElliott.

won 1-0. In the final they faced Highworth and unfortunately lost 2-0. Overall for their first competition as a team to be finalists was very impressive.

Well done to all girls.

Team: H Jeffery, G Hussey, F Mumby, G Pilcher, T Baughurst, L Gentry-Potter.

U12 Football The U12s participated in the Futsal competition held at Pent Valley in Folkestone.

Their first match saw some impressive play to a comfortable win 4-0 against Marsh Academy. The next two matches were closer but they beat Folkestone Academy 2-1 and North School 1-0. They met Wye School in the semi-final and Maidstone Grammar School for Girls

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Football clock to secure the win 3-2.

The girls won the group and progressed through to the quarter finals to play against st On 21 November the U13’s St Catherine’s School. This participated in the annual proved to be an easier match Npower tournament held at and they sailed through to the Play Football in Rainham. semi-finals with a 5-0 win. In Even though the weather the semi-finals they faced was awful with continuous Highworth, where some rain the girls started strong attacking positively beating play in the first Westlands 3-0.

“It was a very close 4 minutes saw The girls then us up 2-0; played Rainham match with goals however, loss School for Girls at both ends” of and won 2-1. Next concentration in the group at the back stages was Rainham Mark meant that Highworth School where the girls regained control and went successfully won 2-1 thanks ahead 3-2. That soon became to a well worked goal by 4-2. Grace pulled a goal back Grace Smith. The last group but it was too late. Final stage match was against The score 4-3 to Highworth. Well Priory school, it was a very played to all girls. close match with goals at Team: F Mumby, C Alner, L both ends but again Grace Jones, N Hynes, G Smith, G Smith scored with 30 Pilcher, G Hussey, C Brough. seconds left on the

U13 Npower Football Tournament

The U16’s participated in the Futsal competition held at the North School, Ashford. From the start they were outstanding as a team, comfortable on the ball in all areas of the court. The format of the competition was a round robin therefore they played all other 5 participating schools. They won all their matches.

Scores were as followsFolkestone Academy 4-0, Highworth 2-1, Swadelands 3 -0, North School 6-0, John Wallis 2-0. The girls scored a total of 17 goals and only conceded one goal throughout the whole tournament. All players were fantastic however special mention must go to Amanda Beeput for scoring the majority of goals. Well done to all players.

Team: L Howard, R Stevens, K Startup, A Beeput, M Gill, E Hume, Z Moyler.

U19 Football The U19s had a very short lived campaign as unfortunately they lost in the first round to a very strong Priory team that consisted of several Charlton Ladies players.

The Under 16s Fustal Team

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Football U15 Football The U15s also entered the ESFA cup. Round 1 saw them play against Bexleyheath School. It was a very close fought match which could have gone to either team.

However MGGS were determined to win and with great team work and exceptional play on the wing from Danielle Arney they secured the win 2-1 to take them through to the next round.

Unfortunately in round 2 Chelsea Academy could not fulfil the fixture therefore MGGS went through to round 3. In this round they played against Helenswood School in East Sussex. After a long journey the girls had to get focussed and prepared for the match

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ahead. The first half saw solid defending from all especially Beth Wood and Abi Thirkell. Megan Gill saw a lot of the action and used the ball well to feed Milly Isaac to score a fantastic goal. Katie Startup pulled off some brilliant saves to keep the score to 1-0 at half time.

In the second half Helenswood had majority of the possession but fortunately they could not convert due to the outstanding back line commanded by Tish Smith.

Daisy Kavanagh-Spall then picked up the ball in midfield and kicked it to Milly Isaac on the left wing. Millie ran with the ball to the corner then demonstrated some excellent tricks to get past

one defender then from the smallest of angles slotted it home past the keeper to extend the lead to 2-0. A slight loss of concentration at the back then allowed the Helenswood’s striker a shot at goal which they scored. However there was only one minute left on the clock which wasn’t enough time for them to get back into the game.

MGGS won 2-1. Well done to all players who are now through to the 5th round, a very impressive game of football.

Team: R Wallace, M Gill, A Thirkell, K Startup, E Hume, S Osmond, B Wood, T Smith, D Kavanagh-Spall, D Arney, M Isaac.

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Football Year 9 &10 District Football League The girls have played some flowing football in the league this year to see some brilliant results by beating Cornwallis 60, beating Holmesdale 70 and beating St. Augustines 5-0. They drew against St Simon Stock 0-0. All matches have been played at Maplesden Noakes School 3G pitch on Tuesdays after school. The finals are on 10th December 2013 where they will play the winners of pool B to decide the overall district winners.

U16 Football The U16s entered the Kent Cup competition. In the first round they successfully beat Mascalls 8-1 with some exceptional attacking play by Amanda Beeput.

In the second round they played against Walderslade Girls School and won 4-1. In this match there was some fantastic defensive play

by Rosie Galligan. In the third round they were due to play Highsted but unfortunately due to work, other commitments and injury they could not raise a full team to play and had to concede the match.

This was a real shame as Maidstone Grammar School for Girls

the team had the potential to go all the way.

The U16s also entered the ESFA cup where they played against Bexleyheath Academy in the first round.

The girls really put on a football performance here without a full squad due to other commitments. There was outstanding play from Zoe Moyler and Laura Howard to secure the victory 5-0 at full time. In the second round we were drawn against St.Simon Stock however they could not field a team therefore we went through to round 3. Warden Park Academy were the next opponents who were National finalists last year as they have been playing together as a school team and outside for five years.

The girls played well but unfortunately it was not enough to secure the win.

Katie Startup made some fantastic saves to keep the score down however the U16s lost and are now out of the cup.

U14 Football

goals. The second round was against Tonbridge Grammar School but unfortunately they could not field a team therefore MGGS automatically went through to the next round.

Round 3 saw MGGS drawn away to Rainham School for Girls. It was always going to be a tough and physical match due to some of Rainham’s players representing England at a school girl level.

Unfortunately MGGS lost the match even after an outstanding goal scored by Milly Isaac in the second half.

The U14s also entered the English Schools Football Association cup. In round one they got a bye therefore their first match was in round 2 against St Georges School. The girls were on top form scoring 6 goals in the first half, Milly Isaac converting many of these. In the second half all players continued to work extremely hard and deserved the 10-1 win at full time. Round 3 is being played on Friday 29th November against Petchey Academy-good luck to all players.

The U14s entered into the Kent Cup again this season.

It started extremely well for them with them winning their first match 50 against Walderslade Girls School. Milly Isaac being on top form in attack scored some fantastic individual

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Sport Center Parcs National Schools Badminton Championships 2013 -14 by Natania Varshney, Katie Startup, Emily Saunders and Hannah Wallace On Tuesday 26th October, MGGS badminton U16s team attended the Maidstone games. Two teams were selected.

MGGS A and MGGS B. MGGS A consisted of Year 11 students, and MGGS B consisted of Year 10 students. As part of MGGS B team, I felt we worked very well together. Last year my team and I were placed overall second in Kent and were awarded silver medals after winning the district games.

However, this was the U14 games and this year we were placed in the U16 games. This was both

U16 Netball On 30th November the U16 Netball Squad went back to Rainham School for Girls to compete in the County Championship finals which they qualified for in October. As soon as the girls arrived they knew that the opposition were going to be tough as although we had won all our games in the qualifiers, so had they!

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exciting and nerve racking for us. Not only were we one member short (Katie Masters), but also we had never played against the Year 11s of our own school.

We managed to get round this by using our reserve (Hannah Wallace) from last year and practising every Friday lunch time. By the 26th we were more than prepared, boosting each other’s confidence and sharing tactics.

We arrived at St Augustine academy at 4pm and were guided into the sports hall.

Our emotions were bouncing all over the walls, from excited to anxious to confidant. We were determined to win this year; just as we won last year, however we knew this was going to be a tough fight. Our first match was against Cornwallis and we comfortably won all of our games. We then played

The group consisted of teams from Benenden, Bromley, Hillview, Invicta, Rainham, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge Grammar, Tunbridge Wells Grammar and MGGS. The team were unfortunately beaten in their first match against Tonbridge Grammar by one goal in the final minute of the game. However, the girls were not defeated as they then went on to win

Invicta, and they surprised us with their shots and smashes. This didn’t hold us down though as we played well and won four of the five matches against them, even though they were really close. After this, we were immediately placed in the final against St Simon Stock. This meant that their team had beaten our MGGS A team. This was good, because we were not in the final with them, but also bad as it meant that St Simon Stock’s team must have been strong. To our own surprise we won against them, winning all our matches.

Overall, it was a great experience for all of us, and we are very lucky to represent MGGS in the Kent finals. We hope to be just as successful as we were last year, or possibly even more!

all of their other games, with scores such as 10-4 against Invicta and 12-5 against Rainham. The team even beat Tunbridge Wells Grammar who are the reigning champions of this tournament. Even though the girls had lost to TOGS at the start of the day, it did not affect their chances of winning. As the rest of the games were played, TOGS and TWIGGS

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Sport were tied at 2nd place in the table as they had the same number of points whereas we were top as the number of goals scored in the game we lost meant we still had one extra point than the other two teams.

This meant that MGGS had won the U16 County Championships and the girls enjoyed having the title of the No.1 ranked U16 school team in Kent

for the first time in nearly 10 years of the school’s history. Throughout the day, the team performed to the highest standard that has been seen from the teachers there and received some excellent feedback from other coaches, players and umpires and played admirably. Their win meant that they will then go on, along with the 2nd

placed school, to represent Kent in the Regional Championship. The team have all agreed that they hope they have set a target for the netball players in the lower years to try to improve their play and represent the school in County, Regional and possibly even National competitions.

Great Britain Ranked No. 1 Volleyball Player At MGGS

As part of the Sky Sports for Living project a group of gifted and talented PE students took part in a series of workshops delivered by GB Beach Volleyball player Jake Sheaf.

It was an amazing day where the students learnt what it takes to become an International athlete. They were put through various

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mental toughness challenges in the morning then completed a practical volleyball session in the afternoon where students developed their skills. All students thoroughly enjoyed the whole day and really understood what dedication and commitment is needed to become an elite performer.

Jake was extremely impressed with the girls’

skills and motivation. They have been invited to a coaching session at Crystal Palace next year. Well done girls!

All Stars: H Bradford, Z Moyler, H Day, A Fearon, M Syers, T Smith, C Wright, M Palmer-Pilc, S Osmond, M Gibbons, A Thirkell, R. Stone, E Brady, D Bartlett, K Startup, L Morton and R Galligan.

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Sports Results Badminton On Tuesday 19th November the U14 badminton squad competed in the District Badminton Championships and won all of their games to be crowned District Champions.

Congratulations go to Emma Fearon, Milly Isaac, Daisy Kavanagh-Spall and Brooke Palmer.

The students will now represent Maidstone in the Kent County Finals. The results were as follows: MGGS v St Simon Stock – MGGS won 9-7, 9-3, 9-2, 9-1, 9-3 MGGS v Invicta Grammar – MGGS won 9-3, 9-1, 9-3, 9-7, 9-0

Netball U19 Netball Kent tournament MGGS were drawn into a really tough pool, but played well against the following teams: Highworth Grammar Weald of Kent Grammar St Olave’s and St Saviour’s Grammar Benenden School Simon Langton Grammar Sir Joseph Williamson’s Mathematical School The Folkestone Academy Highsted Grammar MGGS were placed 8th overall in their pool.

U16 Netball Kent Tournament by Maddie Gibbons (Captain) On 17th October the U16 netball team went to Rainham School for Girls to compete in the U16 Kent Schools netball tournament. The girls got off to an exceptional start, beating Chatham Grammar 18-1, followed by beating St George's CE Foundation 21-2. The next two matches were more of a challenge for the girls but they pulled ahead early in both matches with the scores ending in a 7-3 win against Benenden and a 12-7 win against Bromley High. Maidstone won all of their matches in this first round and were excited to begin the second round of play.

In the afternoon session the girls beat Newstead 8-5, Rainham 14-9, Kent College Canterbury 14-3, and Highworth 14-4.

The team finally faced Benenden again in the last stage of the day. Both Maidstone and Benenden had won all of their matches up to this point and so were both out for the win. Benenden were our most

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Sports Results challenging competitors of the day by far but our girls dug deep to find it in them to finish the day with a win. The final score was 9-6 to Maidstone meaning we had finished top of our pool and automatically qualified for the County Finals on Sat 30 th November.

U14 Kent Netball Tournament

Maidstone Netball League

U14 v U14 v U14 v U14 v U14 v

U14 v U14 v U13 v U13 v U12 v U12 v U12 v

Benenden – MGGS lost 0-10 Cobham Hall – MGGS lost 1-3 Darrick Wood – MGGS lost 3-4 Sydenham High – MGGS lost 0-5 Trinity – MGGS won 6-4

MGGS came 4th in their pool In the next pool the results were: U14 v U14 v U14 v U14 v

Homewood – MGGS lost 5-7 Farringtons – MGGS lost 3-5 Hillview – MGGS drew 5-5 Babington – MGGS lost 2-7

The scores do not reflect how well the girls actually played and many of the games were extremely close matches. Well done to all who took part.

St Augustine – MGGS won 13-0 Cornwallis – MGGS won 10-1 Maplesden A – MGGS won 4-0 Maplesden B – MGGS won 7-0 Cornwallis A – MGGS won 7-1 Cornwallis B – MGGS won 6-0 Maplesden – MGGS won 4-0

Friendlies U19 v U16 v U16 v U16 v

Invicta – MGGS lost 19-25 Invicta – MGGS lost 22-27 Maplesden – MGGS won Cornwallis – MGGS won

The PE Department would like to congratulate the students for their achievements and thank them for their hard work and commitment.

Inter House Cross Country On Thursday 7th November 139 Year 7 students all competed in an Inter House Cross Country competition. The conditions were perfect for cross country running and the students worked hard to gain points for their respective Houses. A special mention should go to the top 10 students who all gain 10 House points towards their House total. These students were: Name Reeves, Summer Gibbs, Millie Gentry-Potter, Lexi Mcgrath, Eleanor Devonport, Fern Farrow, Zara Fleet, Ebony Fury, Beatrice Westby, Rebecca Molloy, Francesca

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Time 7.46.80 7.49.13 7.49.15 8.10.12 8.10.45 8.16.54 8.36.88 8.43.94 8.47.36 9.05.60

The overall results were: 1 – Saxons (100 House Points) 2 – Romans (75 House Points) 3rd – Danes (50 House Points) 4th – Normans (25 House Points) 5th – Vikings (25 House Points) 6th – Britons (25 House Points) st

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nd

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Food Technology

By Mrs Meek This term has once again been very busy in Food Technology.

The Year 7 students have been developing their basic skills focusing on knife skills, use of kitchen equipment and food hygiene. They have made a number of recipes using fruit and vegetables and will be using their newly acquired skills (or further developed skills) to make more complex recipes such as bread and soup.

Year 8 students have been focusing on making a variety of recipes that might be suitable for a packed lunch and have embarked on a major primary research project to find out about the packed lunches of primary school children. The aim of this is to use the information gathered to design and make a sweet and a savoury product which would be suitable for a packed lunch and would appeal

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to their target market.

Year 9 are looking at ‘foods from around the world’ and have made a number of dishes which have developed their skills, for example making macaroni cheese using the traditional roux sauce method.

The aim of Year 9 is to equip the students with the skills and confidence to make a variety of recipes which they can cook at home for their families or when they eventually leave home. This includes the safe handling and cooking of meat and fish.

Year 10 students have enjoyed making cakes this term and will eventually be making their own design for a large cake that could be served at a special occasion, themed party or represent a time of year or season. The students have also made and decorated miniChristmas cakes. See the pictures on the next page.

Year 11 students are now developing their

final products for their Controlled Assessment.

This entails developing each component or layer of a product (e.g. a lemon meringue pie) to eventually produce a new and innovative product that would be suitable to be sold in a supermarket, restaurant, coffee shop or farmers market.

They will be making their final products in January 2014.

Thank you to all parents and carers who support the students Food Technology studies through providing ingredients etc.

However, we would be very grateful if the students themselves could prepare their ingredients at home rather than parents doing this for them.

This would ensure that the students are aware of the ingredients that they will need for a lesson and will give them an opportunity to read the recipe beforehand which is essential for a smooth running lesson.

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Food Technology

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School Notices Moving House? New Phone?

Let Us Know!

Don’t forget to inform the school office if you move house or change your telephone numbers, including your mobile phone number or your email address. It is important that we have up to date contact details for all students of the school.

Please make use of our Fax machine facility or the school office email to update information if these methods are easier for you to use.

We can be faxed on 01622 681947 at any time and our email address is: central@mggs.org

Term Dates Term 3 - 2014 6.1.14 - Start of Term 3 14.2.14 - End of Term 3 Term 4 - 2014 24.2.14 - Start of Term 4 4.4.14 - End of Term 4

School Admissions We regularly hold In Year Admissions testing days for students wishing to join the school from Years 8 to 10.

We also cater for late access into Year 7.

To make an application for a place into the school please complete the In Year Casual Application Form (IYCAF). This can be found on the school website at www.mggs.org/ about-mggs/admissions and once completed should be returned to Mrs Hogan at the school.

If you have any interest in future testing dates for siblings, or have friends or relatives moving into the area, please telephone the school for further information and advice.

MAIDSTONE GRAMMAR SCHOOL FOR GIRLS Buckland Road Maidstone Kent ME16 0SF Tel: 01622 752103 Email: central@mggs.org Fax: 01622 681947 Website: www.mggs.org

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