Maidstone Grammar School for Girls Non sibi sed omnibus
The Newsletter March 2016
End of Term Message By Miss Stanley, Headteacher Welcome to our Spring Newsletter. As Easter is early this year, this term seems to have flown by. I am so pleased that the Sports Hall is almost complete and we are looking forward to the formal opening on 11th April when former student, and Olympic gold medallist, Lizzy Yarnold, will be opening our brand new facility. It is only four years since Buckland House was opened and we are privileged in these times of austerity to have another new building available for our students’ benefit. It is right and proper to acknowledge the key role the school governors have played in bringing both of these projects to fruition and for their continued persistence in securing the relevant funding for each of these projects. Highlights of this term have included the School Production, ‘Daisy Pulls it off’, STEM week and The Dance Showcase which have all taken place in school. There have been numerous visits, including overseas and residential trips, which have involved Languages, Geography, Art, Maths, PE to name but a few subjects. I am grateful to so many teaching and support staff who give of their time to support students with these events. I am also conscious of the numerous additional study support sessions and clubs that take place each day which staff so willingly put on for the advantage of our students. We have welcomed many visitors to the school this term including seven teachers from Norway learning about Thinking Skills and many primary school students for master classes, PE sessions, Maths and English lessons and Thinking School events. At the end of the term we say goodbye to three members of support staff: Mrs Sue Daniels, who is moving to work for the local authority; and Mr Dan Wilding and Miss Fran O’Connell who are moving onto careers outside of education. Miss Ashley Johnson also leaves us with the return of Katie Robbins from maternity leave. At the end of April Mr Andy Browne, Director of Resources, will also be retiring. We wish them all the best for the future. Next term, we welcome Mrs Christie Ransom as Assistant Headteacher for Key Stage 5 and Mrs Chell, who currently works in the main school office, will be replacing Mrs Daniels as Key Stage three Learning Mentor. In addition we look forward to welcoming Ms Amy Barron who has been appointed as our School Business Manager from May 2016. May I take this opportunity to wish all students, parents, carers and staff a restful Easter Holiday. I look forward to seeing everybody next term on Monday 11th April.
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The Newsletter Governors’ News By Angela Pilgrim (Vice Chairman) This has been another busy term for Governors and we have been delighted to attended several events in school as well as continuing to support Miss Stanley and the Leadership team at numerous meetings in school. It was wonderful to see students in Year 12 receive their GCSE certificates at their presentation in early February and to celebrate all they had achieved in the summer of 2015. The School production ‘Daisy Pulls It Off’ and the Dance Showcase were two other events that Governors attended and thoroughly enjoyed and highlighted the many talented students we have in school. I am very pleased to say that the Sports Hall will be completed very soon and will be officially opened at the beginning of term 5 by Lizzy Yarnold, a former student of the school and Olympic gold medallist. As you know we completed our annual skills audit in September last year, then invited parents and alumni with skills in education, facilities management and finance to join us as co-opted Governor. Following what was a good response, members of the Governing Body interviewed candidates and appointed two parents as co-opted Governors. We are very pleased to have these two new Governors join us and look forward to working with them as we continue to drive improvement in the school in the future. Parents, staff and students can contact the Governing Body at any time through our clerk, Mrs Hogan, at the following email address: clerk@mggs.org On behalf of the Governing Body I would like to wish you all a very Happy Easter.
Term Dates 24th March
End of term 4
Term 5 - 2016 11th April
Start of term 5
27th May
End of term 5
Term 6 - 2016 16th June Start of term 6 21st July
Inset Day (no students in school)
22nd July
Inset Day (no students in school) End of term 6
September 2015 6th September
Start of Term 1 for students
a tradition of excellence Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0SF
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The Newsletter Careers update By Miss Rhodes On Wednesday 9th March 2016 we were lucky enough to be joined by David Dein, former chairman of Arsenal and of the Football Association. David joined the Arsenal Board in 1983 and was made Vice-Chairman in the same year. During David’s reign the club won a total of 18 trophies. He also rose to Vice-Chairman of the Football Association and has served on numerous UEFA and FIFA Committees. David was also an early proponent of women’s football having been President of the hugely successful Arsenal Ladies’ Team and was a key figure when the Premier League was launched in 1992. David gave a presentation to our PE, Economics and Business students focusing on the key aspects of sports and business management and passing on tips for success. David’s talk was very engaging and highly motivating; the information and advice he gave the students will be useful for them, not only if they wish to pursue a future in sport or business, but in all aspects of their lives. The students involved found it to be a fun and informative talk with lots of them taking away valuable motivational advice to help them in their future careers and even in their exams. David left the students with a parting message of his personal mantra: Remember the motto of the Turtle: ‘you won’t get anywhere in life unless you stick your neck out’! As one student said ‘(the talk) was very informative and engaging as (David) was very enthusiastic and passionate.’ Another thought ‘Even though I am not generally that interested in football (David) made it very interesting and easy to understand. He also related it to other aspects of life e.g. school work or a job, so it was useful for both football and life skills.’ David also spoke very highly of our students, praising their maturity, enthusiasm and politeness. He was an excellent speaker and we hope to welcome him back in the future.
Norwegian Visitors by Mrs Harris On 10th March, MGGS was visited by 7 senior leaders from the Oslo Adult Education Centre in Norway. They spent the day observing lessons and speaking to 6th form students who lead the primary school thinking skills days and staff from the Thinking Skills Drive Team. They came to observe and understand how we use thinking skills in lessons with a view to using our methods in their own classrooms. The day was so successful that staff from MGGS have been invited to collaborate on a project with the Norwegian School which would result in a reciprocal visit to Norway!
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The Newsletter Our Annual Dance Show by Mrs Smith Our annual Dance Show was a huge success with a fantastic standard of dancing shown by all involved. Our dancers and leaders are so committed and their hard work rehearsing throughout the year really paid off. The evening was a celebration of students’ dancing ability allowing parents and friends to celebrate students’ excellent work. The showcase consisted of routines from talented and committed performers who regularly attend the school’s dance clubs along with GCSE and A-level Physical Education students who were assessed in Dance and performed their assessment routines. A huge thank you to our dance leaders, Miss Johnson and Miss Burgum for all the time and effort they have put into choreographing and leading dance clubs. Thank you to Mr Hilson for fantastic lighting and sound and thank you and well done to the 97 students from Year 7 to Year 13 who performed at the event.
a tradition of excellence Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0SF
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The Newsletter Our Annual Dance Show (cont’d)
a tradition of excellence Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0SF
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The Newsletter Netball by Mrs Smith U19 team – Kent champions We are hugely proud of our U19 team which achieved huge success winning the U19 Kent netball tournament and representing Kent at the South East Regional Competition in January. They are very talented individuals who work brilliantly as a team. They are an inspiration to our younger students and should be very proud of what they have achieved.
U12 & U14 Netball team – District Champions Our U12 and U14 teams both won their Maidstone district netball tournaments. All team members played brilliantly and we are very proud of our students.
a tradition of excellence Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0SF
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The Newsletter Kent School Games Rowing Finals by Mrs Smith On Thursday 4th February the MGGS rowing teams made their way to Medway Park to compete in the Kent School Games Finals. The morning started well with Isobel Munro winning a bronze medal in the individuals and the Year 7 team also achieved a bronze in the relay. Next up it was the Year 10 team consisting of Tegan G-R, Rhona L, Hannah R and Grace M. An extremely competitive race followed with Hannah and Tegan coming joint second and Grace a close third. In the relay, Rhona sprinted the team home finishing in gold medal position. The Year 11 team consisted of Ella K, Katie LL, Rosie Wand Alice M. The individual race was a closely fought contest with only 5m separting first and third place which was awarded to Katie. The relay was going to be tough, but with outstanding performances from all four rowers the team finished first. The Year 12 and 13 team being the conscientious students that they are did not want to miss a whole morning of lessons so arrived at Medway Park with minutes to spare before their race. However, this did not affect their performance with personal bests (PB) from both Rachael K and Sophie W. More medals followed with Sophie T taking the gold and Sophie W the silver. Then came the team relay and with their outstanding levels of fitness and determination the girls achieved gold.
What a fantastic day! Lots of medals, a couple of PB’s and a great bunch of girls. Well done all of you; it was a pleasure to spend the day with you.
a tradition of excellence Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0SF
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The Newsletter Chinese New Year by Cliona F To celebrate Chinese New Year this year the MGGS mandarin club has written Happy New Year cards with very special recipients. Instead of writing the cards to send to our family we have sent them to an international school in China. Being an international school the cards written could go to anyone from anywhere. The after school club (mandarin club is run at both lunch and after school) was paired with students from the international school so we were able to write their names in the cards. Both the lunch and after school clubs are hoping that by writing these cards to celebrate Chinese New Year we will be able to create a link between our two schools and have a Chinese pen pal with whom we can continue to exchange letters throughout the year.
MGGS to grow seeds from space! by Mr O’Sullivan Students at MGGS are preparing to become space biologists and embark on a voyage of discovery by growing seeds that have been into space. In September, 2kg of rocket seeds were flown to the International Space Station (ISS) on Soyuz 44S where they will spend several months in microgravity before returning to Earth in March 2016. The seeds have been sent as part of Rocket Science, an educational project launched by the RHS Campaign for School Gardening and the UK Space Agency. Mr O’Sullivan, Head of Key Stage 3 Science, and Mrs Sherwood-Farnfield, Biology Technician, comment: “We are very excited to be taking part in Rocket Science. This experiment is a fantastic way of teaching our students to think more scientifically and share their findings with the whole school. Primarily it will be the Key Stage 3 Science club members who will write the report but all students will be able to contribute to the project.” Follow the project on Twitter: @RHSSchools #RocketScience. The seeds are back! We received this message from the Royal Horticultural Society. “At 04:26am on Tuesday 2nd March, Commander Scott Kelly of NASA and Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov of Roscosmos landed safely back on Earth in Kazakhstan. The seeds then travelled with Scott Kelly to NASA in Houston on a charter flight from Moscow, Russia and returned to the UK on Thursday. We are now getting ready to pack them up so they can be sent to you with your Rocket Science experiment pack in April!” Science club will plant the seeds but anyone is welcome to help.
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The Newsletter BBC News Report by Mrs Smith On the 10th March 2016, 14 Year 8 students took part in the BBC School Report News Day. It was a huge success and students produced some excellent TV and online news bulletins. Students were supported throughout the day by former MGGS student Frankie Ward who now works for the BBC as a Senior Content Producer. The students’ stories included, ‘Are phones bad for your health?’, ‘Should students be allowed to take texts into their English exams?’, ‘Why aren’t more girls getting involved in sport?’ and ‘Why are more students suffering from anxiety?’ Students spent the weeks leading up to the day interviewing staff and other students. On the news report day itself, one group interviewed Gold Medal Olympian and former MGGS student Lizzy Yarnold as well as Helen Purves who runs the BBC BodyPositive website. Another group interviewed a representative from our local Mind charity. This was a hugely valuable experience for the students and they thoroughly enjoyed the day and learnt first-hand what it is like to work to deadlines! Please take a look at the finished news reports on the school website: http:// www.mggs.org/connected-community/bbc-school-report
Teagan E, Hannah K, Lucy A and Juliet DB interviewing James Walker from Mind
Lucy A, Freya E, Teagan E, Mae M, Surma S, Madison C, Juliet DB, Neve P
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The Newsletter Library News by Mrs Hewett It has been a short but busy two terms for the school library. In January, we started our reading for the Maidstone Area Book Awards. This is a collaboration between several secondary schools in the area. The librarians meet and set a list of books to be read by the students, who can then vote on their favourite. The theme set this year was ‘Diaries and Blogs’; there are 6 books to read.
This is open to students in Years 7-10 and finishes 5th May when we will be attending the award ceremony at Maidstone Grammar School. The guest speaker at this event will be Steven Camden, author of Tape, which is one of our chosen books for the diary theme. Steven Camden is a performing poet, so the afternoon should be very enjoyable and as Steven will be signing it will be a great opportunity to get a signed book! If anyone still wants to join in, please see Mrs Hewett in the library. On Wednesday 10th February a class of Year 10 students was treated to a visit by performing poet Miss Jess Arthur. Jess who performed in the Hammer and Tongue UK Poetry Slam Final at the Royal Albert Hall, in January, shared some of her poetry and heaps of inspiration with the students.
World Book Day was on 3rd March this year and on 4th March we enjoyed seeing the Year 7-9 students dressing up as their favourite science fiction characters. Here are just a couple of pictures from the day.
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The Newsletter Library News by Mrs Hewett (cont’d) Year 7 Students were joined for a reading and writing workshop by fifteen Year 6 Students from West Borough Primary School on Tuesday 8th March. The work they created at the literacy workshop was fabulous and the session was enjoyed by everyone. In order to celebrate World Poetry Day on 21st March, we have been running a nature poetry recital competition for Years 7 and 8. The finals will take place, at lunch times, in the library during the last week of term 4. We are also finishing our term 4 with a World Book Day Scholastic Book Fair, where students can visit the library to purchase books. They will be able to use their World Book Day tokens here if they wish to and purchase a new book for the Easter holidays!
A Day at the Globe Theatre by Shaelei P, 13C On the 7th March 2016, twenty Year 12 and 13 drama students went to Shakespeare’s Globe to experience and be immersed in the theatre of the 16th/17th century. We were taken on a tour of The Globe by one of its very own actors, sat in the balcony and stood where the “penny stinkards” would have, all the while learning many interesting facts about the actors and audience of The Globe in the 1600s (the first Globe burnt down after a canon was set off as part of the special effects during a performance of Henry V!) After the tour of The Globe itself, our tour guide, Jack, spoke to us about acting techniques used in rehearsal for Shakespeare’s original plays. The lecture was very informative and extremely helpful in preparing the year 13s for their A2 Theatre Studies exams this summer.
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The Newsletter A Day at the Globe Theatre by Shaelei P, 13C (cont’d) Later in the day we had the pleasure of participating in a workshop run by Jack and looked further at rehearsal techniques used by actors at The Globe today in order to prepare for a performance – something invaluable for the Year 12 students as they approach their practical exam next month. During the workshop, we also looked at what is often thought to be the terrifying iambic pentameter and, surprisingly, it was easier and more entertaining than we had initially thought.
A part of the exhibition
The Globe also has an extensive and very informative exhibition which taught us about Shakespeare’s life, the lives of Londoners in the 1600s and how the theatres worked as the cultural hub of the rapidly expanding city.
Year 12 and 13 attendees
The workshop in action!
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The Newsletter Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards by Ms Starns, DofE Unit Leader This academic year is proving to be a bumper year for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award at MGGS. We have 92 Bronze participants, 32 Silver and 21 Gold participants all going forward to the expedition stage of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Bronze expeditions will take place in Canterbury and Ashford during April/May and July. A Bronze Day Walk is planned for 19th March and will have taken place by the time you are reading this. Information for all Bronze and Silver expeditions has been issued to parents/carers via ParentMail and is also available to students in their DofE Google classrooms. This information should be kept as it contains dates and times and, most important, directions to drop-off and collection locations. Any new medical conditions should be advised via email to me at mstarns@mggs.org as soon as possible. Silver participants have already completed their Day Walk in Sevenoaks, marching some 16kms. All five groups successfully completed the expeditions to a very high standard. They faced all weather conditions: sun, wind (although only 11mph but a north easterly), rain, hail and even brief snow! They will go on expedition during the Easter holiday period around the Elham Valley area of Kent and their assessed expedition takes place in Folkestone and Canterbury. Students have been working exceptionally hard on their route and expedition planning and have produced some outstanding work. Gold participants this year are going on expeditions in the Brecon Beacons, Snowdonia and the French Pyrenees. Participants have already completed a weekend of training and are now working on their routes for expeditions. Expeditions take place at Easter and August this year. Good luck to you all on your expeditions! The success of the award is, of course, entirely due to students fully participating in the DofE award through the training, activities, volunteering, physical and skills elements, and also the group expeditions. Submitting evidence for approval via eDofE and getting the award confirmed is a high priority for both participants and me as a Unit Leader. If participants have not already done so, please see me for advice about submitting information and assessors reports. The DofE experience is demanding and adventurous; it has changed many students’ outlook about the world around them and highlights what is possible through effort and determination. Well done to everyone, I am sure you will have fond memories of your DofE experience for the rest of your lives. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the DofE Team for their support of students through the award. There are many staff involved in delivering DofE at MGGS: Mr Hamilton, Assistant Unit Leader for Bronze, Mrs Harding, Assistant Unit Leader for Silver and our volunteer staff: Mrs Alcorn, Mr Bishop, Mr Crothers, Mrs Ferguson, Mr Hilson, Mrs Ryan, Mrs Wright and former staff and students of MGGS: Mrs Cocker, Mr Cocker and Miss Hyland.
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The Newsletter King Digital Entertainment and Industrial Light & Magic Trip by Chloe F and Colette I
On Thursday the 3rd of March, Year 12 and 13 Computing and ICT students went on a trip to visit King Digital Entertainment and Industrial Light & Magic in London. King is a very well known company, as they are behind extremely popular games such as Candy Crush. They were very welcoming and put on a series of talks from employees in various departments, including data engineering, human resources, management and programming.
“The trip was a lot more interesting than I expected. The King section was very educational, with a great insight into the world of a games development company. All of the employees were very helpful, and they answered questions with great depth.� - Oliver W
The talks gave a sense of what it would be like to work in the creative digital industry and showed us that what we are learning now will help us in our careers. They then gave us a lovely lunch during which we had the opportunity to network with some of the employees. In the afternoon we visited Industrial Light & Magic which is a special effects company initially set up by George Lucas to provide innovative visual effects for the first Star Wars series. Since then the company has expanded and has recently provided effects for Spectre, Avengers: Age of Ultron, The Martian, Jurassic World and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. We were shown an informative video telling the story of ILM right through from its origins in a warehouse in California to the multinational company it is today. Then we had the chance to speak to people from 2D and 3D design editing to find out about what their jobs entail and how to get into the industry. We all had a fantastic day, as we were able to experience what we could do with our qualifications and have a chance to enter into the industry. Many thanks to Chris the coach driver (who provided the entertainment on the journey), Miss Rhodes and Mr Hamilton for organising the trip.
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The Newsletter King Digital Entertainment and Industrial Light & Magic Trip (cont’d) “Learning about the variety of roles within Computer Science enabled me to think about the different careers within this subject. I would highly recommend this trip to anybody who is interested in this field.” - Rebecca U
“It is important for students to be able to see what they can do with the qualifications they gain once they finish full-time education. In the BICE department, we pride ourselves on making sure students have opportunities to talk with, visit and engage with organisations so that they can see what it is like in the world of work.” - Mr Hamilton
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The Newsletter School Production “Daisy Pulls It Off” by Miss A-M Stanley On February 10th and 11th MGGS was transported back in time to 1927 and re-named Grangewood School for Girls – the private school setting for Denise Deegan’s classic play. As audience members arrived in reception they were greeted by Grangewood students wishing them a ‘jolly good time’ and members of the PFA in 1920’s costume selling refreshments.
Daisy Pulls It Off tells the story of Daisy Meredith who is a self-professed “daredevil and tomboy” who is desperate to secure a place at the renowned Grangewood School for Girls. When she arrives she immediately makes friends with Trixie Martin and Violet Peterson but unfortunately in true ‘Mean Girls’ style she also makes some unwanted enemies in Sybil Burlington, Monica Smithers and Felicity Marchant. Daisy finds herself caught up in a series of irresistible adventures including the search for missing treasure and a cliff top rescue.
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The Newsletter School Production “Daisy Pulls It Off” by Miss A-M Stanley (cont’d) Auditions took place in October 2015 with a large number of students from Years 7 to 13 attending. Rehearsals then started in earnest and we were rehearsing at every possible opportunity. With these things it is always a worry that the production won’t come together in time, but in the few days running up to the performance nights it did. As soon as the cast were in costume and the set was in place we were transported back in time. The cast performed with such enthusiasm and energy, it was a delight to watch and be part of.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Miss Lewis for all her hard work, creativity and dedication, Mr Hilson for giving up his time to help support the technical team and taking some wonderful photographs and the PFA for their continued support, and of course all the students who were involved. MGGS has some extremely talented students; I better get my thinking cap on for next year’s production…
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The Newsletter STEM Week by Dr Doyle MGGS STEM Week 2016 has been incredibly busy. The week began with the inter-house Science Big Question Video Competition in assembly with Romans claiming first place with their answer to 'Is there Life elsewhere in the Universe?' This was followed by the first round of the annual inter-house Science quiz. The finalists, Danes and Vikings, battled it out a few days later, with Danes being the victors by just 1 point! On Monday and Tuesday, the Maths Faculty held their annual Maths for all of Year 8, as well as a day for Year 7 on Wednesday. These involved Year 8 modelling the stretchiness of sweets and Year 7 designing and building different structures with marshmallows and spaghetti. The inter-school Maths feast for Year 10 was held on Friday. On Tuesday BAE presented an inspiring lecture on engineering which all students could attend. Also on Monday and Tuesday, Year 8 visited the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. They were able to research the adaptations of plants from different habitats and they made links between their learning in Science and Geography. On Wednesday, several of Year 11 and 12 competed in a Forensic Chemistry Challenge and spent the day gathering and analysing evidence of a crime scene. The winners, Olivia G, Chloe G and Isobel M, included detail in their presentation which the leaders had never heard before! They have been invited to compete in a County Final on 17th March. Year 10 experienced the ‘Big Reptile Show’ with Martin Rapley, The Bug Man, on Thursday, with the chance to find out about the lives of many different animals and interact with them. The focus was on reptiles and very popular was a young chameleon called Tripod (named as such because she was born with three legs), which most of the students agreed was the cutest reptile they had ever seen. After a discussion on reptiles, and what makes them uniquely adapted to their environments, there were lots of opportunities to get up close with many of the creatures. Thursday also saw local primary school, Roseacre, visit MGGS to take part in their own Science quiz and meet the reptiles. They made up part of the audience of our inter-house Science quiz and enjoyed the audience participation! Meanwhile, the A level Computing and IT students visited the Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) company. Here they experienced the use of computing in designing visual effects for a variety of productions currently in development including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2! They also visited King Games Developers, inventors of Candy Crush, where they got some insight into some new games about to be released. Our final day on Friday was a celebration of both Science Fiction and World Book Day with Year 7-9 coming dressed up as their favourite Science Fiction book characters. A fun end to a very entertaining and inspiring week in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
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The Newsletter BAE Engineering Talk by Sammi N, Year 12 On Tuesday 1st March, two representatives from BAE systems visited the school to give a talk to students from all years about the merits of engineering. The talk informed us about a range of topics to do with engineering including the many different types of jobs you can get and how we can enter a career in the field. The talk also gave us an insight into how an engineering career can allow you to work in many different places around the world and also how it does not require a high degree of academic skill but a logical thought process and good problem solving skills. They also talked to us about their taster week and possible apprenticeship schemes at their Rochester branch. We enjoyed the talk as it gave us a new found interest in engineering. Going to the talk really helped us understand different options for after A-levels and possible new career paths to take.
Forensics Challenge Who did it? That’s what we had to find out. Using all the evidence we could, we had to piece the story together to find Eva’s murderer. It was a day of analysis, questions, dilemmas and puzzle solving. By foot casting, fingerprint dusting, and the analysis of hair, blood and documents the murder was solved. 30 Year 11 and 12 students took part in the MEBP forensics challenge investigation. We learnt about the science of forensics and how evidence can be used in criminal prosecutions. We also learnt the different techniques involved such as taking a footprint imprint using Plaster of Paris. We also learnt about how to pick up fingerprints off of the ‘murder weapon’ by using fingerprint powders and then comparing them to the prints of suspects. We were also taught how blood patterns can suggest the type of attack which took place. After collecting all the evidence it was time to convict the murderer. Each group had to make a presentation to display their findings supported by the evidence. All groups made a convincing case with many correctly identifying that the murderer was Nina, the wife of the Steve who was having an affair with Eva. The murder was an act of jealousy which was shown in the violent attack. The two judges then voted for the winning team. They were Olivia, Chloe and Isabel in Year 12 who found evidence that the judges had never heard before. Due to their detailed investigation they have been put forward to the final of the challenge on the 17th March at Detling. Everyone involved had a great day and enjoyed every aspect ,and one thing that everyone will remember is: “Every contact leaves a trace”.
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The Newsletter Year 7 STEM Day by Isabel T Year 7 STEM day was absolutely amazing. The staff organised many thrilling activities. We started our day in the Main Hall where we all numbered in our form registration groups. Mr Ansette called out Maths questions and if the answer was our number we would run up to our Maths teacher and tell them the answer. The first form group to get the answer gained a point. After that, we went to our Maths rooms and made a cone using coordinates. We created an inside and an outside image for our cones. All in all they looked fantastic. After break, we completed the spaghetti and marshmallow challenge. We had about 150g of spaghetti and 6 marshmallows. We had to see who could make the tallest tower that could hold a chocolate egg for at least 30 seconds. After lunch, we were in the Main Hall again. Three Sixth Formers held up cards. One of the cards was an answer to a question that a Maths teacher read. If you got the right answer you stayed in the game. However, if you got the wrong answer, you would be out of the game. This took us right up to the end of the day. Year 7 STEM day was phenomenal.
Sophie C., Emily G, Isabel T. and Anna S
Roseacre visit and Big Reptile Show by Mr Cook On Thursday 3rd March, a class of students from Roseacre School visited MGGS for an afternoon of STEM week related activities. After being met by me, Mr Cook, we began the afternoon with a quiz, the class being split into three groups so that everyone was fully involved. After a lunch break the class then watched the final of the annual MGGS Inter-House Science Quiz, proving to be a very well behaved and very knowledgeable audience. After a nail-biting tie break question, Vikings beat Danes to be the winners this year. Then there was the final and most exciting part of the day – the Big Reptile Show! Martin, our annual visitor now, showed the students a wide range of insects, spiders, amphibians and reptiles. All of the students had a chance for a hands-on experience with most of them bravely allowing him to place a tarantula on their shoulder! Again, the class from Roseacre were so well behaved but full of enthusiasm. Lots of very good questions were asked and the students gained a great deal from the experience
a tradition of excellence Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0SF
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The Newsletter Year 8 STEM Week by Gemma C and Grace, 8F Stem Week is dedicated to encouraging students to enjoy and discover more about science, technology, engineering and mathematics so that in the future we may have useful, well paid jobs that help in our everyday lives. For example, some jobs in this field include: doctors, nurses, mathematicians, architects, engineers, designers and many more! These jobs will be important in the near future/now as without them technology will not advance and also global warming could increase drastically. We have had a couple of trips and in-school events to show us what the world of STEM is really like. Year 8 took part in 2 STEM activities including a Kew Gardens trip and a Maths Morning. There were also opportunities to take part in an Inter House Science Quiz, an engineering lecture and a chance to dress up as your favourite sci-fi book character! Also, KS3 had two science themed assemblies trying to answer the question ‘Is there Life elsewhere in the Universe?’ and another Inter House competition. At Kew Gardens we had to fill out a booklet as we went round so we had notes for the project we are doing in lessons. We had to make a leaflet on our trip and the four parts of the Garden that we visited: the museum, treetop walkway, the Princess of Wales Conservatory and the Palm house are the exhibitions we wrote about. On the maths morning Year 8 were planning an investigation for stretching sweets. The task was to find how much certain types of sweets stretch and some of the factors that may change the outcome. After we had planned and investigated we then made a poster on what we found and presented it to the class. Non-school uniform days are always fun, but this one in particular was to celebrate STEM week and World Book Day. We paid one pound to dress up as our favourite Sci-Fi book character. Around school, there were a lot of Katniss’ and aliens. In the library you also had to write down your favourite book and who it was by. Overall, it was a very fun week and most students enjoyed it. Our form at least can’t wait to see what fun activities we will be taking part in next year! Also a big thank you to all teachers involved in making it very successful and such an amazing week.
a tradition of excellence Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0SF
T: 01622 752103 F: 01622 681947
E: central @mggs.org
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The Newsletter The Reptile Show On Thursday 4th March we were given the opportunity to go to a Reptile Show. We got to look at all of the animals and Martin who ran the session gave us lots of interesting facts and information on the different animals. The animals we saw included several varieties of stick insect, a tarantula, a frog, a lizard, a snake and a chameleon.
We really enjoyed the snake named Snakey.
This Iguana is pretty cool! It was much too big to hold so Martin let it wander around!
All the animals were really friendly and interesting to see up close
I liked the chameleon named tripod, she was born with only three legs!
a tradition of excellence Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0SF
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The Newsletter The Reptile Show
Symposium by Mrs Crozier On Friday 4th March history students in Year 12 were given the opportunity to attend a Symposium on the Third Crusade at the Royal Institute for Historical Research. Among the many esteemed scholars was Thomas Asbridge, a key historian in our studies which offered us an unprecedented view of a key component to our course, enriching our knowledge of the Third Crusade. Throughout the day, we were granted the privilege of listening to a multitude of fascinating scholarly papers that were inspiring, offering a valuable depth to our A-Level course. Not only did we get to experience a new perspective to our course, but we were also able to experience the level of academia at university levelsomething that I think possibly came as a shock. Although the content of the day was somewhat a challenge, I can safely say on behalf of Year 12 that we were all very grateful for the opportunity to meet such esteemed scholars who really opened our eyes to the relevance of History and the depth at which it needs to be studied.
a tradition of excellence Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0SF
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E: central @mggs.org
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The Newsletter News from our Head Students by May A, Aiden H,
Emma R and Anna W.
Whilst for the majority of our friends, the spring term solely signifies the impending prospect of A-Level examinations, for us as head students, it means only one thing: that our time fulfilling this prestigious role is almost at an end. But as the saying goes, so must all good things, and despite our sadness in moving on, this fantastic opportunity is certainly something that we reflect on with a great fondness, marvelling at how lucky we have been to have spent our final year giving back to such a remarkable school. The Christmas term definitely proved to be the most challenging term for us, with regards to balancing everyday school life and the responsibilities of head studentship. Without doubt the greatest highlight of the year was, of course, RAG Week, a long standing tradition at MGGS and an event which we wanted to do justice. The week long spectacular included performances at lunchtime (thank you teachers‌!), a plethora of fabulous fancy dress costumes and RAG Ball, a Great Gatsby themed party in order to end 2015 in style. The organisation period was not without its fair share of stressful moments and we spent many a lunchtime running around the school or glued to our computers, panicking over spreadsheets, script writing and sound effects. To say the final result was worth it is a monumental understatement, however, and we can all agree we would do it again in a heartbeat. It really illustrated to us the strong bonds within the school and its willingness to help raise money for a worthy cause. To have the privilege of being in charge of such a prestigious event is something we will never forget and we enter 2016 with memories we are sure will last a lifetime. Our only hope is that, in the end, everyone enjoyed the week as much as we did, and we must also extend our gratitude to everyone that took part: from the fearless teachers who participated within the shows (your dance moves were pretty spectacular), to the technicians who worked tirelessly behind the scenes, and finally to everyone who donated, helping us raise thousands for our partner school in Nepal and really bringing the spirit of RAG Week to life. Alongside RAG Week, 2015 also marked the addition of a new role within school; the Student Leadership Team, a group of carefully selected students from each year. They continue to work relentlessly to help improve the school still further and a major project we have undertaken this year was the renewal of the school courtyard. After some ingenious suggestions from both the Student Leadership Team and the student body, we are very pleased to say that plans for a new courtyard are well and truly underway and we look forward to seeing its completion in the next year.
a tradition of excellence Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0SF
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The Newsletter News from our Head Students (cont’d) There are also several smaller tasks that have fallen under our responsibility as head students since January, each allowing us to exercise our creativity and fully immerse ourselves in the role of representing the school to outside organisations. From making yearbooks, arranging leavers’ hoodies and organising the prom for the summer of 2016, the emails have been as often as the meetings, but there has never been a moment we did not feel proud of the job we were doing. We are now eagerly awaiting the delivery of the Leavers’ hoodies and hope that for the Year 13s, they offer a touching souvenir of their time at the school and something to be cherished for years to come. Organising the yearbook similarly brings with it a strong sense of nostalgia, an increasingly familiar feeling as we reach the end of our time at this school. It goes without saying that we are thoroughly looking forward to collating seven years’ worth of memories, as well as appreciating some of the more unconventional year 7 hairstyles we were all guilty of! There were definitely moments last year where we didn’t believe that it would be possible for us to handle the responsibility of being head students. However, whenever we have struggled, one fact still remained, that we were all in it together. The four of us have now become a tight knit team and are infinitely sad to be going our separate ways next year, but know we will remain friends for a very, very long time. We feel honoured to have been chosen as head students and experience a different side to life at school, for as much as we have given ourselves to this role, we have gained invaluable skills that will stay with us for the rest of our lives.
All that remains is for us to wish our successors the best of luck in beginning their journey as head students. It is an experience like no other, one we hope you will look back upon with as much happiness as we do: we hope we have done you proud.
a tradition of excellence Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0SF
T: 01622 752103 F: 01622 681947
E: central @mggs.org
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The Newsletter In the New Year, we’ve participated in lots of house events, including several activities as part of Science Week. One event was an inter-house video competition, in which our task was to answer the question ‘Is there life elsewhere in the Universe?’. We had lots of help from people in all year groups, and would like to say a massive thank you as you helped us secure 3rd place! We also took part in the inter-house Science Quiz and, although we didn’t make it through to the final, we are really proud and grateful to those who took part. Finally, inter-house netball which was an enjoyable (but very chilly!) day. Particular congratulations to our Year 11 team, who slaughtered all the competition to land us first in their year group, and also thanks to those who helped us achieve second place in Sixth Form. We would also like to thank everyone who took part and won us 3rd place overall! Since our time as House Leaders is coming to an end, we would just like to take the time to thank everyone who has taken part in house events throughout the year; you’ve made the role such a rewarding experience and we couldn’t have done it without your support. Although we are gutted we can’t be House Leaders forever, we wish all the best to our successors! Love Katie, Maddy and Kira :)
Since Christmas, despite House Arts being long past, the house has still been very busy! STEM week brought new challenges for us, and got us thinking scientifically. We competed in creating a video to answer the big question “Is there life elsewhere in the universe?” with the help of our Year 7s and Year 13s, and also took part in Mr Cook’s Science Quiz. We are very proud of our members who came in a very honourable second to the Vikings in the final round, after successfully making it through the preliminary round against the other houses. The team was made up of Danes from all years of the school, with a member from each Key Stage, as well as a member of staff for the final round (Thank you Mr Walker!). From science to sport, with inter-house netball coming up the Danes are as active as ever, and we’d like to thank everyone who’s got involved and helped us along the way. We love you Daneys! Billy E, Katie R and Sophie A
It has been another exciting term for Romans! We would like to say thank you to our science quiz team who worked very hard, as well as anyone who starred in the STEM week video. We can’t believe we came first in the video competition, well done! We hope that you enjoyed STEM week, but are also looking forward to Interhouse netball. Please keep working extra hard in your lessons to get us those house points! Good luck in netball and have a lovely Easter break. Love Aaron, Harriet and Cilian
a tradition of excellence Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0SF
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The Newsletter As House leaders, we have very much enjoyed the array of house events we had the pleasure of partaking in this term. These events included the science competition, put together as a part of STEM week, in which we placed 1st with a team of fantastic Vikings house members: Jess W (Year 7), Rihannon M (Year 10), Laura M (Year 13) and Mathematics teacher, Mr Ansette. As a part of STEM week, we were also asked to create a video assessing whether we felt there was life elsewhere in the universe; we placed 2nd out of all houses for this task. Most recently, all houses took part in an inter-house netball competition, in which we also placed 2nd. After excelling in each of these events, we would like to say a huge thank you! To all students and staff who took the time to participate and represent the Vikings house. We would also like to express our profound appreciation for all Vikings house members, who have been ever so loyal and have allowed us to be proud members as well as leaders of the Vikings house. We hope every Vikings member has enjoyed their time with us this year and the Vikings house will continue to stand proud of its achievements once we have departed from Maidstone Grammar School for Girls! Rachel O, Daniella R-S and Madison W Saxons have had a fantastic start to the new year! We started by taking part in STEM Week; with the yearly inter-house science quiz and a new task set this year, which involved creating a video answer the big question: “Do you think there is life elsewhere in the universe?” Sadly, we didn’t place in the top 3 for the video or the quiz, but our quiz team (Sophie Horan, Victoria Watts and Gwen Waterman) gave a fantastic effort making us very proud! To cap this year off, one of our last sporting events has just gone by… NETBALLLLL! Not only did our sixth form team and our Year 10 team win their respective competitions, but they helped Saxons lead the way to a hard-fought, overall netball victory! We want to congratulate everyone who took part for their true verve and desire for victory; many of the games were truly exciting to watch as well as be involved in, making for an utterly enjoyable experience for the house leaders. Henry B, Sinead F and Maddie G Britons have recently participated in the annual Inter-House science quiz for STEM week in which we were able to involve all years of the school to come together and compete for the title as winners. Unfortunately we did not make it to the second round; however it is the team spirit that counts as always!!!! Science week also consisted of creating a video to probe the question of life elsewhere in the universe which was great fun! We would like to offer a big thank you to Jamie Bird for being our star character and helping us along the way! Recently we participated in the Inter-house Netball competition which involved all years of the school in teams of seven playing against each house group. The day started off a little rocky; however by lunchtime we managed to bring it back and were placing third and second. We can truly say we all had a great day competing; Britons has been blessed with numerous talented netball players such as Zara F, Olivia L, Mollie W, Christabelle A, Fern D, Jamie B, Alexandra F and Allanah M-J. We have an incredible house who put so much time into helping us do as well as we do and we have thoroughly enjoyed our time working with such talented, positive, fun-filled individuals!! We love you all very much Britons! Keep the legacy going!! Ellie D, Cameron G and Rebecca S
a tradition of excellence Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0SF
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The Newsletter MGGS New Sports Hall - Opening 11th April 2016 by Mr Browne I am pleased to report that our new sports hall is progressing in leaps and bounds. Although a closely run thing it has been a tremendous team effort in ensuring that the sports hall is up and running for the start of Term 5. The external work is all but complete and the focus has now shifted to the interior. Physical and electrical gadgets are springing up all over the place, paint has been liberally applied to everything not moving and sometimes even to things that are!
We are waiting for the dividing and side nets to arrive so we can slow the rate of progress slightly as the electricians are sprinting ahead of the painters who are covering a lot of ground trying to keep pace with the carpenters who are carving out a trail of sawdust and wood chips.
It definitely is a race to the finish. With the end in sight students and staff alike are getting very excited and becoming even more competitive and eager to show off their sporting skills and prowess in this new found facility. Definitely a cut above the previous sports hall!
a tradition of excellence Buckland Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0SF
T: 01622 752103 F: 01622 681947
E: central @mggs.org
www.mggs.org