Summer Newsletter 2015

Maidstone Grammar School for Girls Non sibi sed omnibus

The Newsletter July 2015

End of Year Message By Miss Stanley, Headteacher I feel highly privileged to be writing the introduction to this summer newsletter as Headteacher of MGGS. This has been a very successful term for us as a school. We started after Easter gaining both re-accreditation of our Investors in Careers status and also Advanced Thinking School status. Both of these awards recognise the outstanding work that has been, and continues to be part of MGGS. I have always been impressed by the achievements of our students, but this term we have seen a number of students who have received national and international recognition for their various talents. We are always interested to know about the achievements of our students outside of school, and are grateful to families for sharing this with us. The public examinations took place when, thankfully, the weather was not too hot and we look forward to celebrating these results with students later this summer.

The start of July also saw the start of our new sports hall, adjacent to Buckland House. We are hoping it will be completed in February 2016, and we will keep you informed of progress. This came the week after Sports Day when we had an excellent day of high quality sports. I would like to thank the house leaders and the PE department for making it such a successful day.

At this end of the year we do have to say goodbye to some staff. This year we have three colleagues retiring. Mr Paul Harris, Deputy Headteacher, retires after 25 years at MGGS. Mr Harris’s commitment and dedication to ensuring that students at MGGS have an outstanding education is well known. Older students will know how much time he has spent on making option choices work for the maximum number of students. He has led the school’s development on thinking skills and has been fundamental to the school gaining its Advanced Thinking School Status, as well as many other initiatives.

On a personal note, it has been a privilege to have worked alongside him for several years as a fellow Deputy Headteacher, and more recently as Headteacher. He will be missed from MGGS! Mrs Hilary Magee has taught at MGGS on two different occasions; from 1994 to 1999 and more recently since 2009, as Assistant Headteacher. Many students are very grateful to her for the time she has given to talk to students and listen to their needs. She will be greatly missed in the Geography department, and we know that she will be using her retirement to travel more, particularly to the USA, and I am sure will be wanting to see more of the Geography she has taught in the classroom in real life.

Mrs Jane Brooker is also retiring as our school librarian. During her time here she has seen the introduction of biometric finger print technology in 2008. She has also had a role in overseeing the school archives and more recently the primary school visits to the tunnels. We wish all three of these colleagues a very long, happy and enjoyable retirement.

We also are saying ‘Goodbye’ to Mrs Jocelyn Mahon who has gained promotion to Head of Science at Mayfield School, Mr Luis Pinto del Rio who is moving to Rainham Mark Grammar School as Head of History, Miss Sarah Jarratt moves to Tonbridge School and Mrs Julia Shand moves to Sir Joseph Williamson’s Mathematical School. Mr Caleb Fahey has decided to take some time out from school life to attend to his health. We wish him all the best for the future and hope he feels much better soon. We are grateful too to Miss Rosephine Fernandes and Miss Nikki Simpkins who having completed their maternity cover are also leaving at the end of this term. We wish them all well in their future jobs.

Finally, can I wish you all a very happy and enjoyable summer holiday and we look forward to seeing everyone again to start term on Friday 4th September.

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

T: 01622 752103

F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org

The Newsletter Careers update By Miss Rhodes It’s been a busy couple of terms for Careers at MGGS, we’ve had Year 12 and Year 11 work experience; a University Fair for Year 10 and 12; a trip to the University of Cambridge and a focus day for Year 7.

Investors in Careers Award

MGGS were delighted to receive re-accreditation of our Investors in Careers award in May 2015

Year 12 Work Shadowing Several members of Year 12 took advantage of the opportunity to undertake three days of ‘work shadowing’ between the 15th and 17th of June 2015. We saw students gaining experience in various different companies and areas including healthcare, teaching and law; this experience will hopefully prove to be of help later this term as many students start writing their personal statements for University applications.

Year 11 Work Experience Year 11 have also been out on work experience following the end of their GCSE exams between the 29 th June and the 3rd July 2015. Students had the opportunity to spend a week gaining insight and experience in an area of work, and I’m happy to say that virtually all our Year 11 students were able to make the most of this opportunity. We’ve had students commuting up to London for jobs such as banking, politics and media as well as students across Kent in areas such as engineering, education, retail, and customer services. I was able to visit some of the students on placements in Maidstone town centre and the feedback from the companies was fantastic: our students were a credit to us and highly valued by the employer, with our students actively engaging in the tasks assigned to them and working well with their colleagues. We are very proud of our students for taking this important step of independence, and I hope that the students found their experiences interesting and useful.

Universities Fair On the 23rd June 2015 we hosted the ‘Aspire’ Universities Fair in the Main hall, all students in Years 10 and 12 attended and were able to talk to representatives from the Universities of Cambridge, Kent, Sussex, Greenwich, East Anglia, Exeter, Southampton, the New College of the Humanities, Imperial College London, King’s College London, Royal Holloway University of London, Frontier (a company specialising in Gap year activities abroad) and WhatUni? (an online company specialising in helping students make the important decisions about University study). Students were able to ask questions, pick up prospectuses and leaflets and sign up with the Universities and companies for more information. Hopefully this event has helped Year 12 in making their important decisions about post-18 study, and helped to inspire the Year 10 students by showing them some of the opportunities which will be available to them in the future.

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

T: 01622 752103 F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org

The Newsletter

Universities Fair

Cambridge University Open Day On the 2nd July we took a group of Year 12 students to the University of Cambridge open day. This day is a great opportunity to explore the University, look around the colleges, attend taster lectures and find out more about studying and student life. Hopefully it was an inspiring and aspirational experience for the students which will help them in making their important UCAS decisions over the next few months.

Careers and Thinking Skills Focus Day On the 8th July 7G,N and S participated in the Careers and Thinking Skills Focus day which 7A, C and F enjoyed in January. This day aims to start students thinking about their personal and academic skills and how these relate to various different careers and job sectors so that they can recognise the importance of their skills and continue to build on their strengths over the coming years. They also designed a shield which represented their personality and presented a positive self-image to the world. These shields were presented to the rest of the class and the students who has produced the best ones, and worked well on the other tasks throughout the day, were awarded with Head Teacher awards.

Farewell By Mr Harris It has been a privilege to have been part of the MGGS community over the past twenty five years. I am now retiring to pastures new and will look back at my time at the school with very fond memories. MGGS is such a fine school with a wonderful ethos, great traditions and a really caring environment. To students, parents, staff, governors and everyone associated with MGGS my very best wishes for your future happiness and success.

Farewell By Mrs Magee I have only been at MGGS for two six year stints, although my association with the school stretches back over twenty one years, as my three daughters came to school here. I am retiring and leave MGGS with very fond memories. Thank you to you all, students, staff, parents and governors for working together to make MGGS the very unique place that it is.

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

T: 01622 752103 F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org

The Newsletter Sports Presentation Evening By Mrs Smith On Tuesday 7th July we hosted our annual Sports Presentation Evening. A wonderful night where we have the chance to reflect back on and celebrate some of the truly inspirational sporting achievements of our students over the past year. We were delighted to welcome back Felicity Gibbons a former MGGS student who has represented England in football, as our guest speaker. She delivered an inspiring speech with practical advice to the students and handed out their awards.

Sports Colours Awards were presented for students who performed to a high standard in a particular sport and have shown commitment to training and matches. This may only be three students from a large team so they are a prestigious award. These were awarded in athletics, badminton, cricket, dance, football, netball, rounders, rowing, tennis and sports outside of school.

Individual awards were presented for the following: KS3/4 Dance Performers - Eleanor M, Allanah M External Dance Achievement - Ellie D, Andi C, Eleanor M, Ebony B Outstanding Dance Performances - Eloise B, Amy T Outstanding Sports Leaders - Ella K, Rosie G and Jude S KS3/4 Sports Performers- Louise J, Katie S All Round Outstanding Performances - Madie H, Eleanor M, Grace M, Milly I Sports Personality of the Year - Maddi G Team of the Year - U14 Rowing team - Tegan G, Rhona L, Hannah R, Grace M for placing 2nd in the country in the National Indoor Rowing Competition.

Outstanding Sports Performances by: Harriet D in athletics is placed 11th Nationally in the 400m Hurdles Jasmine S in Judo as she is currently ranked 2nd in the country.

Connie L in athletics as her time for the 70m hurdles of under 12 seconds is currently unbeaten.

Rosie A for swimming as she is currently ranked Number 1 in this country for her age group following her Gold in the 200m Breaststroke at the 2014 National Swimming Championships.

External Sporting achievement – England representatives Katie S is a part of the England FA U16 team and has represented England on a number of occasions. She is also part of the Gillingham Girls Centre of Excellence U17 team.

Laura M is in her second year in the England Netball U17 National Academy. She got her first England cap playing in the Europeans in May this year. She is also in her second year with Mavericks Youth Netball who play in the National Performance League.

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

T: 01622 752103 F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org

The Newsletter Rebecca S represented England at the U19 Korfball World Cup in Holland as their youngest member. She was selected to represent England U14s when she was in Year 7 and has captained the team.

Rosie G has been selected for the England under 18 rugby squad for the 2015-16 season.

Sports Day By Mrs Robbins This year’s Sports Day took place on Thursday 25th July, in the glorious sunshine; once again everything ran very smoothly thanks to the efforts of all the staff, the Heads of Houses, the PE Department and the outstanding contributions and behaviour of all the students.

This was one of the closest battles that we have ever had, with three houses coming joint third and only 7 points separating first and second place. Student participation was excellent and the atmosphere and excitement surrounding the event was fantastic. We had four school records broken: the Year 7 High jump record was broken by Chloe A, the Senior Girls 200m was broken by Harriet D and the Senior Boys 200m was broken by Matt D. The outstanding performance of the day must be handed to Madie H, who not only broke the Year 7 Girls Javelin record by a phenomenal 9m, but in doing so also broke all the school records for Year 8, 9, 10 and Year 12 Girls javelin.

The students’ support throughout the day was exceptional and the Heads of House did an outstanding job organising their teams and encouraging them all the way. Every student who took part should be proud of what they achieved. Even though the final scores were close, there did, of course, have to be a winner: the shield this year went to the ecstatic Britons House.

1st = Britons 2nd = Normans 3rd = Romans, Saxons, Vikings 6th = Danes

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

T: 01622 752103 F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org

The Newsletter Year 10 Rounders District Winners By Miss Relph This year the standard of rounders play has been phenomenal making decisions into team selection extremely difficult. All players have excelled this year batting consistently and fielding accurately. There have been several rounders friendly matches against local schools before the Maidstone District Rounders Tournament. The date of this was unfortunate as it was the same as our school Sports Day therefore the team had been physically active all day in the heat then had to travel to Valley Park to participate. However, it was definitely worth it as the girls beat St.Simon Stock 8-3 and Invicta 6-5 ½ to win the tournament. It was thoroughly deserved as all players were fantastic; special mention must go to Brooke J who despite having an injury scored the winning rounder with a wonderful shot deep into the field between 3rd and 4th post. Well done to all players for an outstanding afternoon of rounders. Winning team: Eleanor D, Rosie W, Ella K, Emily B, Milly I, Emily N, Bethany W, Danielle A, Brooke J and captain Brooke P. Thank-you for all Year 10 students who have attended rounders club this year.

Interhouse Rounders By Mrs Smith On Friday 10th July our annual Interhouse Rounders Competition took place. The house leaders organised, coached and encouraged their teams brilliantly and all of the players were fantastic. The winning teams were as follows:

Year 7 - Normans Year 8 - Vikings Year 9 - Britons Year 10 - Normans Year 12 - Saxons Overall winners were Britons with Vikings 2nd and Danes 3rd.

Well done to all involved for making this such a great event.

Year 10 NormansTeam

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

T: 01622 752103 F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org

The Newsletter 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 have so much dedication to learning and perfecting their routines and their focus and expression when performing was brilliant. The evening was a celebration of students’ dancing ability and allowed 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 A-level Physical Education students who were assessed in Dance and performed their assessment routines. Also included were improvised pieces where our students dance to music they have not heard before, which is always exciting to watch. A huge thank you to our dance leaders for all the time and effort they have put into choreographing and leading dance clubs. And thank you to all eighty students from Year 7 to Year 13 who performed at the event.

Chance to Dance By Mrs Smith On Tuesday 30th June two MGGS dance companies – Spectrum and Intermediate Academy – along with solo performer Isabelle S travelled to the STAG theatre, Sevenoaks to participate in the 30th anniversary of Chance to Dance. The group routines were taught to the groups as part of their extra-curricular dance opportunities at MGGS and the solo performance was choreographed by Isabelle for her Year 9 final dance performance in PE. This event allowed students in Years 7-9 the fantastic opportunity to perform at a professional dance venue.

Intermediate Academy

Spectrum Academy

The Great Big Dance Off By Mrs Smith The Great Big Dance Off is a national dance competition for schools. This year we entered two of our dance groups, Spectrum and Intermediate Academy consisting of students in Years 7-9. Both groups submitted video evidence of their dance routines as part of the audition process and happily both groups got accepted through to the South East Regional Heats. On Wednesday 29th April we travelled to Lea’s Cliff Hall in Folkestone to compete. It was a fantastic event with a very high standard of dancing and our groups performed and finished 4th and 5th in the South East Senior category narrowly missing out on a place in the National Finals. We are very proud of you all.

Comments from the organisers included “your pupils were fantastic”!

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

T: 01622 752103 F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org

The Newsletter Bower Grove Sports Day By Mrs Shave On Thursday 2nd July a group of Year 12 leaders assisted with the running of Bower Grove’s Sports Day. The leaders were given a variety of roles to complete which they did with the upmost professionalism. The leaders were Rosie G, Emily B, Sophie A, Becca P, Kate M, Nicola G, Maddie G and Harriet D. The girls were a real credit to themselves and the school and we look forward to working with Bower Grove again in the future.

Wimbledon Trip By Mrs Shave On Tuesday 7th July, a group of MGGS students were lucky enough to travel to SW19 to attend The Wimbledon Tennis Championships. We enjoyed watching the final set between Djokovic and Anderson, before watching the ladies quarter final matches between Muguruza and Bacsinszky. We managed to catch the start of the match between Radwanska and Keys before having to depart to return on time for Sports Presentation Evening. It was a very enjoyable day.

Charity Events Update By Mrs Magee Each year individuals, forms and year groups choose which charities to support, many of which are close to their hearts. The students organise the events themselves, working in groups or with friends to do so. We have had fairs at lunchtimes, sponsored events for learning times tables, obstacle courses for teachers; together with cake sales and non school uniform days which are always guaranteed to bring in the big totals. Year 9 raised over £2000 from their Oxjam concert in May which was a huge success. 10G excelled themselves yet again by raising over £1100 with their Christmas fair and raffle split between Cancer Research and Help for Heroes. 7G raised nearly £400 for the RSPCA and Cancer Research – this is a fantastic total for a Year 7 form – well done 7G! Year 8 deserve congratulations for raising the highest total ever in school for LEPRA with their annual sponsored workout – over £2800. Hannah Wallace in 11F spearheaded an Auction of signed photos & books from celebrities raising £441 for Christian Aid and Y13 organised a magnificent Rag Week in the week before Christmas, raising nearly £5300, split between our partner schools in Nepal and a local charity, Make a Wish.

The school has many connections with Nepal – we have several Nepali girls in school and have sponsored two schools in Nepal for several years. MGGS employs the Kent Ghurkha Company with mainly Nepali staff, to clean the school too. With all these connections, it seemed only right to respond to the Nepal earthquake in April – the school raised nearly £2000 for the Nepal Disaster Relief fund .

This term, a former parent and local primary school teacher Mrs Turner, who has been working for a charity in Nepal, came into school to deliver assemblies on the earthquake disaster and tell us how the people are coping and how our money is being used. It was a very moving assembly.

I would like to thank all students, staff and parents personally for supporting all our fundraising activities this year.

This is the best total ever for MGGS I think - keep it up next year everyone!

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

T: 01622 752103 F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org

The Newsletter Trip to Mandhir Temple By Fern D On Tuesday 16th June, the whole of Year 8 went to the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir (Hindu temple) in Neasden, London as part of our RS learning on Hinduism. When we arrived the first thing we did was observe the Arti ceremony which was very relaxing and engaged all of the five senses. We learnt about how Hindus worship and the reasoning behind Hindu beliefs. During the trip we got the chance to have a thorough look around the temple and its elaborate and detailed features. Parts of the temple were made of marble and carved stone and others wood and ornate carpet. We found out that it is one of the world’s biggest Hindu temples! Following the Arti ceremony, we visited the exhibition which was full of facts on the origins and practices of Hinduism. We ended with a question and answer session with a very experienced Hindu man and we gained the answers to some of the questions we had written in class and learned what it takes to be a Hindu. Last of all we went to the shop where we brought incense sticks, candles and herbal treats for ourselves or as presents. It was a great day and we enjoyed getting the chance to learn what Hindu worship is really like in a different way.

Why I Love Languages By Nicole G Languages are the means by which everyone communicates with one another. Every different culture is a branch from the tree of knowledge and through learning a new language, you broaden your mind as well as broadening your horizons.

Regular family holidays to France have inspired me to learn French. It can be difficult to practice in France as the French seem to detect that you are from the UK and immediately launch into fluent English, but this shouldn't stop you. I ask you to persevere: learning languages is a valuable life skill with real life application at your finger tips. Once you have grasped the basic concept; the foundation or platform with your grammar, the sky is the limit and there are endless possibilities. It is never to late to start to learn a language, although determination and motivation are keys to becoming a linguist. Being able to form your first sentence or paragraph on your own is one of the most rewarding feelings in the world.

I find languages fascinating. Even in countries separated just by a border, the language and culture can be completely different. I studied both German and French at GCSE which was confusing but I loved the idea of learning two languages and comparing the definitions of different words as well as drawing similarities from them both.

There are millions of resources to help you to learn languages. Not only are there books and the Internet but you can watch films and tv to gain a cultural understanding of the world around you as well as being able to pick out key vocabulary. Remember you don't need to understand every word in a passage to understand the basic idea. I aspire to be a chef one day and hope that I will be able to train in France, which is, of course, famous for its wonderful cuisine. I hope to go to university and would love to spend a year abroad to experience what it is really like to live in France and not just to visit as a tourist.

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

T: 01622 752103 F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org

The Newsletter We believe that we speak for all of the houses when we say that Term 6 has been an amazing start to our time as House Leaders, and we’re thrilled to have been successful in our applications for the role. Our last Sports Day at MGGS was more fun than we could ever have imagined, and it was a privilege to organise and support all of the incredible athletes in our house. Special congratulations go to Matt D for breaking the Year 12 Boys 200m record, earning us an extra 50 house points! We are so proud of and grateful to everyone who took part, securing us second place, and earning a lot of points for the league straight off the bat. Speaking of bats, House Rounders was also a huge success for all involved - well done especially to our winning Year 7 and Year 10 teams! All three of us cannot wait to start working on our House Arts production over the summer holidays, and we hope to make House Arts 2015 the best yet. It’s been a fantastic term, and we’d like to thank everyone who has taken part in House events so far, and we look forward to seeing all of you again in September.

Maddy, Sophie and Katie So far we have all loved being House Leaders this term and we are so excited to continue this role through the next year! We kicked off our year with sports day, which was great fun for all those involved and spectating and we are so proud of each and every one of you that participated! In the last few weeks of term we’ve also taken part in Inter-house Rounders. The weather was lovely and all our teams played extremely well, particularly our year 8 team who came 2nd! Already we’ve made so many new friendships with students and our journey has only just begun, so we are extremely excited about the prospect of meeting even more of you and bringing our house to even more success! All that’s left to say is that we hope we do Danes proud and we hope as many of you will get involved in all the amazing inter-house events this school has to offer, including the upcoming House Arts!!

Sophie, Billy and Katie J

Our time as Britons House leaders has already kicked off to a great start with a triumphant win on Sports Day and a great Inter-House Rounders with the year 9’s doing exceptionally well!

We’ve already had so much fun and cannot wait to get started with House Arts this year! We are planning to complete the hat-trick making it Britons’ third House Arts win in a row. It will show that we can dominate in dancing, singing and acting.

We would like to thank you all for your contributions to Sports Day and Inter-House Rounders and hope we can have similar success in the upcoming house events and in particularly House Arts.

Cameron, Ellie, Becca

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

T: 01622 752103 F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org

The Newsletter The three of us have attended MGGS since Year 7 and every year we have participated in multiple house events. Each of us knew very early on that we wanted to assume the position of house leader, and so when the time came we jumped at the chance. We were beyond ecstatic when we found out that we had been given the opportunity to be one of three Vikings house leaders and were even more excited that we got to do it together. Our first job as house leaders was to organise sports day. We were overjoyed to find that so many people wanted to be a part of representing the Vikings and we are extremely proud of everyone who participated. Not only did everyone do a fantastic job, but we also came third, which is an extraordinary achievement for us, especially as Vikings house leaders. Our most recent task has been to put together a team from each year to compete in inter-house rounders. We were so pleased with everyone's performance and are so proud to be associated with the Vikings house.

Rachel, Diana and Maddi

After being elected as Saxons house leaders at the end of last term, we were all incredibly excited for our first official event this term; Sports Day! After we had gathered all our teams for our events, the day began. Both track and field events were very successful for us with a number of Saxons walking away with a pink first place ribbon. Coming overall joint third place was a massive achievement for us as a house and we want to say thank you and well done to everyone in our house, whether they were competing, spectating, cheering on or even just holding the banner.

Inter house rounders was a very close competition for us this term, although we did not place as highly as we were hoping to in the lower school competitions, every game that we lost only came down to a difference of one rounder and sometimes even just a half. However, our Year 12 team were victorious in their competition later in the day and took first place by winning every game. We would like to give a special thank you to all of our star players in the tournament, as well as every other player in the teams and thank you to the other houses for making the competition so exciting!

Henry, Sinead and Maddi

Thank you for electing us your house leaders, so far we have thoroughly enjoyed leading our house.

We have incredibly impressed by our house, they have put loads of effort into the events so far, especially the students who broke the school records on sports day. On sports day we have managed to move out of our normal last position to (joint) third, we were very pleased with this result and would like to thank you all again for working so hard on sports day to get those vital points. We were also particularly impressed by the rounder’s teams, they were all very talented and a pleasure to watch, the Year 8 team was particularly good and we were delighted by your performance, well done! Like everyone else we are looking forward to house arts this year and eager to get started on the theme. We cannot wait to start working with you all to create a winning performance! Thank you everyone who has taken part so far, we can’t wait to work with more of you on house arts!

Aaron, Harriet, Cilian

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

T: 01622 752103 F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org

The Newsletter Ski Trip to Austria

By Brooke J and Lucy F We arrived after a long 16 hour coach journey through England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and finally terminating in Austria. After sorting out our ski equipment as a group we walked up to a spectacular waterfall in the mountains which was next to the Olympic ski jump. It featured amazing views of the surrounding mountains.

Day 1... It was a foggy and snowy morning which instructor then took us mainly on red slopes in the was followed by a chilling afternoon as many of us had advanced. In the evening blizzard. We met our ski we had some coach karaoke fun and then a DVD night instructor, Lisa, and began in at the hotel. to ski on the nursery slopes in order for Day 3... The sun came out. Personally, this was our confidence to be gained favourite day out of the whole week. Once we got to the within all groups. After slopes, we went down the usual blue our first “the week was an amazing slope which enabled us to get the two gondolas up to the main splitting experience” hours point. We completed a very hard we had slalom race, which was on a very steep slope. It was a lunch on the mountain challenging run however we both did not fall over. restaurant using our daily After we did this we took a chair lift to a new side of the voucher of €8. For the mountain which we had not done before. These runs afternoon, we skied on the consisted of black, red and a few blues. Lisa led us down slopes in Alpendorf practicing on mainly blue and red a black run, which for many of us, was the first black slopes as our group was intermediate level. During run we had ever completed and we skied to the 'Fun run'. dinner, the book for 'Doughnut of the day' was passed For both of us, the fun run was our favourite run which around where people could nominate someone for doing gave us a stream of adrenaline rush. The fun run something silly. If they were chosen by the teachers, consisted of jumps, tunnels, flat and curved metal plates, then the following day, a fluorescent yellow high corners, half pipes, steep areas and lumpy areas. The visibility jacket with 'Doughnut of the day' engraved on second time we completed the fun run, Dilys W lost the back was to be worn. control of her skis and decided that the net at the end of the run would catch her and help her to stop.

Our evening activity for tonight was a quiz. The quiz Unfortunately, that wasn't the case and so she dragged contained questions on sport, skiing, common the net with her down the rest of the slope and managed knowledge and music. The group called the 'warrior to snap it in half, this was undoubtedly the highlight of children' won, winning sweets and chocolate. our day. Austrian bowling followed dinner, it was a very competitive evening for us all. It was very intriguing Day 2... This was especially foggy. It was hard to see the finding out how Austrians bowl compared to the English mountains around us and the snow was falling heavily. version and very fun to experience it for ourselves. We We went on a wider variety of slopes as we gained more even managed to get a couple of strikes within our confidence, especially with parallel turns. Our group group. went down a particular route which was called the 'Witches route''. The narrow run required strength and skill as it was very steep, challenging and uneven. Our

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

T: 01622 752103 F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org

The Newsletter Day 4... In the morning of our ski session, all the groups were allocated a time slot to complete the slalom race on a blue route. By the fourth day, I was able to do parallel turns a lot better than before as I have gained a lot of confidence over the week. At the award presentation, there was a winner from each group: beginner group 1, beginner group 2, intermediate and advanced. From the intermediate group, Lucy won for the fastest time from the slalom with 22.35 seconds and Bella Hanley won for the advanced group with the fastest time in the school: 20.03 seconds. This slalom was an extremely good experience along with the whole week; it is definitely a week to remember for the rest of my life. During this day the advanced group had also been shown their instructors (Lorenz') 360 jump, which the whole group were very impressed with.

Day 5... Lucy and I had been in a double room just to ourselves all week and on the last night, Lucy decided to fall asleep whilst watching the stars by not shutting the curtains. I was not pleased when the sun awoke me before my alarm which was set for 7:00am. Everyone was sad as it was our last day of skiing. After a long, tiring week, I think it is fair to say that everyone had made the most of this ski trip and I think all of the students would agree that it was the best school trip we had ever been on.

Overall the week was an amazing experience. For two girls who have only ever skied once, we have both progressed immensely over this short but exciting period of time. It is a memory that we will never forget and will treasure forever. Thank-you MGGS for allowing us this opportunity.

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

T: 01622 752103 F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org

The Newsletter Trip to Andalucia By Katie E we decided to take a visit to a very small bullring that they had there. It was very interesting to see how it was all set out, we also got to see behind the bullring, to see where the bulls are kept when not fighting. Mijas was definitely one of my favourite places we visited.

Whilst on the trip every day was amazing however, I particularly enjoyed trying the tapas. We got the chance to visit two different tapas restaurants in Málaga.

We were encouraged to use as little English as possible and use as much Spanish as possible. Examples of when our Spanish was put into good use was when we were ordering food and drink. Whilst on one of our day trips to Ronda we had a tour guide that spoke to us in just Spanish, so we had to listen carefully to understand her and the interesting information on Ronda's history and On Monday the 30th of April, we travelled by aeroplane to Andalucía, Spain. I was extremely excited to make memories and experience the culture of Spain. Our Spanish experience started on Monday night where we got the opportunity to visit the local Marina (Benalmádena Marina). We got the chance to go off in our own groups and wander round the shops, maybe buying gifts. It was on Tuesday when the adventures began, we woke up bright and early to travel to Mijas. I was particularly excited to visit here because my Nan had previously told me about the amazing views Mijas had of Andalucía. When we visited there I wasn't disappointed. The views were spectacular, also, having clear blue skies made it even better. Whilst we were in Mijas culture. Whilst also on the trip we participated in a Spanish lesson where we were taught how to express our opinions in Spanish and show our point of view, this was very complex topic that most of us had not learnt before.

Overall, I really enjoyed our trip to Andalucía. It has inspired me to travel more and learn more about the Spanish culture. I loved the trip and would love to go back to Spain.

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

T: 01622 752103 F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org

The Newsletter Trip to Normandy by Mme Fourmy Last May Mme Fourmy, Mrs Farnham, Miss Brown, and Mr Ansette took 40 students to Normandy for 5 days. The students stayed in the little village of Gouville-sur-mer in Basse-Normandie and enjoyed taking part in lots of interesting and varied activities. The high point of the visit certainly was an amazing 3 hour guided walk across the famous bay of Le Mont Saint Michel. Students also visited some of the following: Bayeux and its well-known tapestry, a working goat cheese farm, the D-Day landing beaches of Arromanche, and the little harbour of Honfleur. They also enjoyed the opportunity to visit smaller places of local interest independently, and tried out their knowledge of French by visiting the local markets and shops.

Quelques témoignages

By Anna and Lydia On the last week of term 5 we had to get up really early to be at the school for 6am on a Sunday! After a long journey by coach we arrived at Château de Forges, a self-contained mansion where we stayed for the week. On the first evening we met with Seb, our “moniteur” (who spoke French to us the entire week), played games, and ate our first French meal in a relaxed atmosphere.

The next day it was “une journée au château de la Baudonniaire” where we did lots of interesting and fun activities: bread making (we all ate our own little loaf at dinner that day), archery, and group games. Across the week we visited a goat farm (what an experience! So many cute goats and we learnt a lot about cheese making. We all tried out a bit of fresh goat cheese, even if it was not to everyone’s taste), a French market (not surprisingly lots of food and sweets were bought), and did some orienteering games at the Chateau. We also visited the D-day beaches of Arromanche and watched a very moving war film in the 360 degrees cinema about the allied landing. We also drove to Bayeux to see the historic Bayeux tapestry and its town. What an active week, no time to get bored!

The highlight of the week though was the 4 mile walk across a large saltmarsh to the famous Mont Saint Michel. We had to do this barefoot due to the water and quicksand found fun by all. Luckily for us the weather was the best it had ever been on the Normandy trip! The view of the Mont was also fantastic and even after such a long walk we were all taken by the special atmosphere and view of our surrounding.

Finally, on the journey home we stopped off at Honfleur, a picturesque, postcard harbour which was a nice break from the coach!

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

T: 01622 752103 F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org

The Newsletter

By Fleur The accommodation was very nice, as well as the location. Seb was amazing! The activities were really fun, even in the rain! The facilities in the annex (where I stayed) were extremely fun, such as the table football and scrabble. I liked the idea of the activities in the evening that Seb did with us. We had lots of freedom, so we could go and visit our friends that we made before lights out. It was a good way to meet new people that I am now in GCSE classes with. It was an excellent bonding experience, and we have so many great memories.

By Imogen My time in Normandy was fun! It was good to go somewhere I have never been and learn new things. The best day was the day that we walked across the quicksand to Mont Saint Michel. It was a great experience!

Cambridge University Trip By Molly H On Wednesday 1st July, Anu, Bryony and I were lucky enough to be invited to a ‘Pathways to Success’ two day conference at Cambridge University. The conference was held at the Murray Edwards College, and we stayed in first year rooms within the college, which were surprisingly spacious and our stay was a great insight into what university life could be like. There were workshops and talks during the first day regarding ‘success’, how it is interpreted and how to study without limits. Our favourite session of the day was a talk by invited alumnae speakers, Misbah Arif and Kate Stevens. They gave very inspirational speeches about their achievements in their career after graduating and how they overcame ‘failures’ and challenges which sometimes arose due to the fact that they were women in their particular field. A particular quote from the speech that stood out for us was: “be a woman, unapologetically”.

In the evening we were provided with a celebratory hot buffet dinner with a rising servery! During the remainder of our stay, we attended talks regarding ‘Academic Risk’, how taking risks builds resilience, applying to Cambridge University and good interview tips. Overall it was a brilliant trip, which was very inspirational and provided us with great advice for applying to University. We would like to say a big thank you to Dr Doyle for taking us there.

Religious Studies Update By Mr Tomkins Congratulations to Samicha G of 8F who was a runner-up in the National TrueTube online competition entitled ‘Jesus Christ Voiceover Star’. Students were required to produce a voice-over for a video clip of an event in the last week in the life of Jesus Christ. Scripts had to comment and reflect on the action, or be an emotional response, demonstrating a clear knowledge of the events. The voice-over had to match and creatively respond to the images in the video clip and to use imaginative language in conveying the meaning of these events for Christians today.

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

T: 01622 752103 F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org

The Newsletter The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Update By Ms Starns, Unit Leader

Firstly, a huge thank you to my DofE Team, Mrs Harding, Mr Hamilton and Mrs Smith and the staff volunteers for all their hard work in training the DofE students and accompanying them on expedition this year.

Bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Well done to the 12 groups in Year 10 for successfully completing their Bronze DofE assessed expedition last weekend in Canterbury. Bronze DofE is often the hardest of the awards as students learn navigation skills, camp craft and surviving the great out doors with often none, or very little prior experience.

Students will be working hard on their projects over the summer holiday period and present them to staff, parents/ carers on Monday, 14th September 2015 at an after school celebration at MGGS. Please ensure you save the date!

Invitations will be sent out nearer the time. Hopefully many of you will consider the Silver DofE Award in Year 11.

Silver Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Congratulations to the successful groups that completed their Silver DofE expedition early in July. Many of these students are now looking forward to enrolling for Gold DofE in September.

Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Year 12 and 13 students have taken part in expeditions in Brecon Beacons, Snowdonia, Finland and in August 2 groups will be taking part in their assessed expedition in the French Pyrenees and Snowdonia. Good luck to all participants.

Completing the DofE Award The expedition phase of the award is often the most exciting for participants, however, the DofE award also consists of the activities sections (volunteering, physical and skill) as well as an expedition project and at Gold a residential. It is vitally important that all elements are completed and entered on eDofE in order to complete the award.

The deadline for Bronze and Silver information to be entered on eDofE is 30th August 2015 and all projects to be given to Ms Starns week commencing 7th September 2015.

Interested in Enrolling for DofE? Year 10 Students An information evening for students and parents/carers will take place on Monday, 21st September 2015 from 6.30pm in the Main Hall.

Year 11 Students Student information and enrolment will take place at 3.30pm-4.30pm on Wednesday, 16th September 2015 in the Engine Room.

Year 12 and 13 Students Information on enrolling for Gold DofE will be advised in September.

Important Dates for 2015/16 Training and Expeditions Weekly sessions will commence week commencing 5th October 2015.

Bronze Weekly Training Sessions: Monday 3.40pm - 4.30pm Day Walk: Saturday, 19th March 2016 Practice Expedition: Saturday 30th April - Sunday, 1st May 2016 Assessed Expedition: Saturday, 2nd July - Sunday, 3rd July 2016 Silver Weekly Training Sessions: Wednesdays 3.40pm - 4.30pm Day Walk: Saturday, 5th March 2016 Practice Expedition: Friday, 8th April - Sunday, 10th April 2016 Assessed Expedition: Friday 15th July - Sunday, 17th July 2016 Gold Information on various Open expeditions will be given to students once available. These include expeditions to Wales, France and Finland.

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

T: 01622 752103 F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org

The Newsletter Bronze DofE Expedition

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

T: 01622 752103 F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org

Maidstone Grammar School for Girls Non sibi sed omnibus

The Newsletter Examination Results - Main Hall 13th August A level results as follows: A2 results 9.00am -10.00am AS results 10.00am -11.00am 20th August GCSE results as follows: Yr11 9.00am -10.00am Yr10 10.00am -11.00am

Term Dates 2015 -2016 Term 1 - 2015 3rd September 4th September 14th October 23rd October

Term 4 - 2016 INSET Day (no students in school) Start of Term 1 for students INSET Day (no Students in school) Last Day of Term 1

22nd February 24th March

Start of Term 4 INSET DAY (no students in school) Last Day of Term 4

Term 5 - 2016 Term 2 - 2015 2nd November 18th December

11th April 27th May

Start of Term 2 Last Day of Term 2

Start of Term 5 Last Day of Term 5

Term 6 - 2016 Term 3 - 2016 4th January 12th February

6th June 21st July 22nd July

Start of Term 3 Last Day of Term 3

Start of Term 6 INSET Day ( no students in school) INSET Day ( no students in school) Last Day of Term 6

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

T: 01622 752103

F: 01622 681947

E: central @mggs.org

www.mggs.org