Eclectics: TWGSB School Magazine 2014-2015

Eclectics 2013-14

ECLECTICS 2014-15

Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys

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7 May 2015: TWGSB Mock General Elections

Students with their ballot papers

Senior Prefects registering voters Voting Booths

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Eclectics 2011-12

Eclectics 2014-15

Headteacher’s Foreword Head Student’s Report Awards TeenTech Mathematics Duke of Edinburgh Media Studies Science Media Studies Sixth Form Duke of Edinburgh History Drama Music English Library Geography / Geology Outlook Expedition ‘Norway’ Art Design & Technology Graphic Products Resistant Materials Electronic Products / Systems Control Food and Nutrition Physical Education World Challenge ‘Nepal’ Year 12 Philosophy and Ethics: Athens Year 12 Activities Week Year 7-9 Activities Week Year 10 and Year 12 Madrid Year 7 Paris Sports Day

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Sixth Form (anon) Eclectics 2011-12

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Eclectics 2014-15

Headteacher’s Foreword It is often said that as we get older time seems to pass more quickly. As all good scientists would point out, the time is passing exactly as it always has. It is merely our perception that is changing. A year for our youngest students is approximately 1/12 of their life experience so far, for the Sixth Form 1/18, for staff and parents – well, probably the least said the better! However quickly last year passed for you, it is staggering how much the School has managed to cram into it. The Eclectics magazine you are now reading is our celebration of our 59th year.

you will find our major prize winners listed in this magazine. I hope for them the exhilaration of victory lives on!

Throughout Eclectics you will read of our successes and triumphs and the experiences that we have lived through this year, all of which contribute to making us the people we are today. The best thing about my job is sharing my working days with enthusiastic, optimistic and talented young people. World news is full of worries and problems and it is genuinely a real pleasure to spend time with young people full of enthusiasm for the future and ready to face the challenges ahead. Although they may not be aware of them, they seem to readily live up to the words of General George S Patton: “Accept the challenges so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory.”

I mentioned a little earlier that this edition celebrates our 59th year. The School celebrates its 60th year in 2016 and will, in addition to a PTA Ball in September, also be arranging a summer celebration for alumni and “old” staff. If you are a former student of the School, please do get in touch with us so that we can add you to our contacts list and ensure you are aware of events as they occur. I also invite you to join our Facebook group where we share news from the School, from past students and staff, and will post details of the summer event.

This year we moved our awards ceremony for all students to the summer and, for the first time,

Mr J G Harrison, Headteacher

I would like to take this opportunity to thank last year’s senior students, led by Jamie Weller and the rest of his team, for all of their hard work and support for projects during the year. They also managed to talk me into a Sixth Form leavers’ ball in the summer which was an excellent evening and will, I suspect, quickly become a traditional event.

Enjoy the magazine.

Senior Prefects: Simeon Blewett, Greg hall, Austin Lovell, Joshua Knight, Amjad Natour, Tom Bardrick, Ellie Gearing, Harvey Osbourn, Jamie Weller, Katie Humphrey, Ross McCracken, James freeman, Liam Davies, Lewis Ferguson, Tom Hale, Joshua Gentry, Joe Clark and Sam Tang.

Deputy Head Students: Liam Davies, Greg Hall, Harvey Osbourn, and Tom Hale.

Eclectics 2014-15

Head Student’s Report After six years spent with a truly inspirational group of people, the opportunity to represent the year group and the school in my final year was one that I undertook with enormous pride but with great apprehension. Together with the Deputy Head Students and Senior Prefects we have enjoyed a successful year and hope to have provided the year group with memories that will last a lifetime.

Throughout my time at the school I have witnessed a wealth of successes in all year groups, and this academic year is no different. Many year groups have once again shown their sporting prowess, but what really strikes me is that the students’ achievements are not confined to the sports field.

This year I was privileged to witness the wealth of talent in the media department at the TWGSB media awards ceremony, additionally the drama production of ‘Aladdin’ and the Christmas Concert further showed the diverse range of talent that the students at TWGSB possess.

One of the major roles of the Head Student and his team is to raise money for a nominated charity.

This year has once again been no different however instead of selecting one charity I choose to divide the fundraising between two causes: Ewings Sarcoma Research Trust (ESRT) and the other half on improving the Sixth Form common room. ESRT is a charity set up by Matt Short a former student of TWGSB. Matt set up the charity in order to increase

the research and awareness of Ewings Sarcoma disease which had forced him to undergo a below the knee amputation whilst a student at the school.

Matt has served as an inspiration to me through my time at the school and I hope that the money we have raised will prove to be beneficial to the charity.

Throughout the year the Sixth Form students have enjoyed organising and participating in numerous events such as the Christmas Party, Fun Run and Inter-House football tournaments. This, combined with generous donations for the Paddock Wood half Marathon, Own Clothes days, and Collection buckets at various events has led to the Head Student’s charity raising a final figure of £4562.39.

The value has far exceed our target of £4,000 and I would like to thank all students, parents and staff for their tremendous support.

Whilst the year has proven to be a challenge, it is a year I will most definitely look back on with zero regrets. I would like to thank my team of Deputy Head Students and Senior Prefects for all the hard work that has enabled us to have a very successful year and Mr Harrison and Miss LeSeelleur for their support throughout the course of the year. I wish the best to next year’s Head Student and his team and wish the school and all the students the best for the future.

Jamie Weller, Head Student 2014-2015

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Eclectics 2014-15

Sixth Form Awards Subject

Year 12

Year 13

Art

Andrew Jackson

Liam Bedford

Biology

Marcus Pattenden

Katie Allen

Latham Cup for History

Asa Kerr-Davis

Business

Alex Bellamy

Harry Butcher

Chemistry

James Holland

Daniel Rennardson

The Norman Dodd Maths Cup for Progress during KS4

Ben Wallace

D & T Electronics

Jacob Burge

D & T Graphics

William Downard

Jack Pocock

The Mervyn Davies Cup for Service to the Community

Ben Price

D & T RMT

Reece Rooprai

Gregory Chalkin

Economics

Rob Norman

Cameron Tyler

English Literature

Daniel Allen

Tom Milson

English Lang/Lit

Paul Forster

Eden Fish

French

Asa Kerr-Davis

James Prentis

Further Maths

Llywelyn Colnet

Jannic Holzer

Geography

Paul Forster

Max Benham

Government & Politics

Llywelyn Colnet

Keir Burbidge

History

Tom Whitson

Jack Doyle

ICT

Matthew Barber

Ben Howe

Mathematics

Zhen Xie

James Pearson

Media Studies

Harry Pearson

Liam Bedford

Music

James Weatherley-Buss

William Smith

Physics

Sonny Loughran

James Pearson

Physical Education

Ben Wallace

Jack Doyle

Philosophy & Ethics

Talia Burgess

Zach Burgess

Psychology

Asa Kerr-Davis

Anna Arnold

Sociology

Harry Garside

Tom Hanham

Spanish

Ryan Weston

Rebecca Huxley

EPQ

Aaron Wye

Year 12

Year 13 The Dobbo Cup for Sporting Endeavour

William Denbigh

The Barnard Humanities Cup for Outstanding Performance in a Humanities Subject

Zach Burgess

The John Fowle Award for Dedication to the School

Kiran Ruparelia

The Best Design of the Year Award

Jamie Hitch

The Michael Reidy Cup for Senior School English

Alex Wilson

The Michelle Roberts Plate for Psychology

Rebecca Huxley

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KS3 and KS4 Awards Subject

Year 7

Year 8

Year 9

Year 10

Art

Nicholas Peters

Karl Alcayaga

Sam Barker

Alexander Quinn

D & T RMT

Oliver Clark

Callum Ewing

Thomas Bell

D&T Food & Nutrition

Harvey De Jesus

Samuel Platt

Archie King

D & T Graphics

Charlie Buxton

Tom Hinchcliffe

Oliver Manser

D & T Electronics

Alex Homard

Will Shoosmith

Remy Brooks-Johnson

Drama

Taylor O’Neil

Charlie Wild

Edward Shamwana

Thomas Sammons-Jones

English

Ben Baillache

Luke Willis

Jack Colson

Drew Forrester

French

Henry Westhorp

Axel Cornell

Seb Genest

Dylan Stickland

Charlie Wild

Will Shoosmith

Thomas James

Spanish Geography

Ethan Bagge

Jack Gallagher

Ethan Tang

Charlie Linton

History

Jacobb Farrell

Oliver Mills

Fraser Abbott

George Rutt

ICT

Sebbie Henry

Sam White

Max Marwood

Michael Ford

Mathematics

Harry Cook

Ben Stringer

Sam Barker

George Rutt

Music

Freddy Cunningham

Henry Morrell

Daniel O’Flaherty

Hamish Donald

Physical Education

Paddy Hagger

Ollie Strong

Oscar Roche-Whitechurch

Jamie Bingham

Religion Education

Ben Baillache

Archie Harding

Charlie Hyde

Gabriel Weeks

Science (core)

Zac Jones

Nat Holmes

Felix Billington

Robert Skilton

Biology

Jamie Bingham

Chemistry

Luke Davies

Physics

Anton Farmar

Year 7 John Else Football Cup

Kyle Anson

Business Studies

Ben Heath

Gill Madin Cup for Creative Writing

William Holm-Mercer

Geology

Daniel Powers

Will Carus Cup for Determination

Freddy Cunningham

Media Studies

Rowan Wright

Carnegie Cup for Teamwork

Rohan Gupta

Statistics

Anton Farmar

Andrew Wood Cup (Football)

George Griffiths

Year 9 and 10 Year 8 Andrew Wood Cup (Tennis)

Axel Cornell

Jeanette Jenkins Maths Shield

Axel Cornell

Jed Grayston Trophy for Service to the School

Jack Gallagher

Watts Spirit of Sport Cup

Henry Patient

Les Jones Cup for Geography

Fraser Abbott

Gerry Fowler Cup for DT

Dominic Heron

Judy Green Science Cup

Felix Billington

Jane Buttery Art Prize

Max Hart

Chess Cup

Matthew Sparkes

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Eclectics 2014-15

TeenTech TeenTech September 2014 A group of 10 selected Year 9 students went to the annual TeenTech event. TEENTECH was founded

by Tomorrow’s World presenter Maggie Philbin to increase students’ awareness of the wide range of career opportunities that exist in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths industries.

At the event over 300 students had opportunities to speak to companies such as Microsoft, National Grid, Southern Water and many more independent businesses. Not only were there chances to talk to the companies, but certain schools were given the opportunity to win special prizes.

One of the prizes was a trip to Thorpe Park with a two hour engineering course run by Megger.

In the challenge, schools were split into two teams who then had to race against each other to solve maths problems faster than other schools. Not only did we win the trip to Thorpe park; but we did it in record time as well.

Another main part of the event was for schools to design an original app idea and to present it to judges and 290 other students within a time limit.

We created an app where you can capture what you do on your phone in a video rather than a screen shot. Again the judges decided that our idea was the most creative, useful and innovative. Not only did we receive a certificate but it inspired some of us to enter, for the first time, the TeenTech Awards where teams of three create design ideas for different categories.

Dominic Heron, 9G

TeenTech Thorpe Park Workshops and Rides – May 2015 Mr Goddard, our Electronics teacher, took us to Thorpe Park in May. The students who went were Elliot Slough, Max Wilch, Ed Shamwana, Tim Purves, Alex Cole, Olly Beadle, Dominic Heron and myself, Travis Green. We were all looking forward to going on the rides and learning about how they worked.

Dimitar Petsov from Megger, and two of his colleagues, arrived soon after us and took us inside.

We got to go on Swarm first which was an amazing start to the day with some of us facing forwards and some, who were brave enough, facing backwards.

After that, we were guided to the Education Warehouse which was full of models of rollercoasters and old parts from a whole range of the park rides.

We were taught about the mechanics and how they prepared to build a new rollercoaster. It was very interesting to learn about as we could then take that knowledge onto the rides so we could understand more about what we were about to embark on.

After the workshop, we all left the warehouse to go on rides up until the end of the day. The best rides in my opinion were Saw and Colossus because they were probably the most extreme of them all.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable day and I feel like I learnt a great deal about the actual mechanics of rollercoasters. Thank you very much to Dimitar and all the others from Megger, as well as Mr Goddard, for a very enjoyable day out!

Travis Green, 9E

The TeenTech Awards Finals – June 2015 The journey to London seemed to take forever; one team comprised of Charlie and Tim and the other team comprised of Sam, Alex and I. We arrived at the Royal Society with much excitement and anticipation; even before we had entered the building a camera crew were on to us filming our every move.

Eclectics 2014-15

TeenTech Awards We swiftly and keenly set up exhibition stands on which we displayed the work we had been creating over the previous eight months. Charlie and Tim’s idea was named as NFC Companion and consisted of an app that used Near Field Communications to allow users to input cards or passes from their wallet and then use in the current world.

Sam, Alex and my idea was named Guardian and was based around the concept of a more permanent natural disaster homing unit created from wooden panels and I-Beams. With presentations at the ready and morale high, Maggie Philbin (CEO of Teen Tech) gave an introductory speech.

After the judging was over, we were allowed to spread out and view each other’s stands. It was interesting to see and experience other people’s ideas and working models. The competition was fierce and a newly added category meant each group had the chance to vote for another in a separate category.

The day moved by fast as we were having so much fun with not only our own stalls but the activities set up for us by TeenTech throughout the day.

Then came the onslaught of paparazzi as the VIP guests arrived including James May and Dr. Christian Jessen. They viewed the various ideas spread across forty stands before HRH Prince Andrew, Duke of York arrived to view the workings of the competition.

The awards ceremony then began. Prince Andrew gave an interesting speech on persevering with ideas, before each category’s winner was announced. We all sat biting our nails in anxiety as the various awards were given. First came NFC Companion’s category; both Charlie and Tim’s hard work over the last few months paid off when they earnt themselves a respectful second place; everyone was extremely proud of all the effort they put into their idea. Then came the Manufacturing category presented by James May. Sam, Alex and I were on the edges of our seats when they announced the school’s name; we had won the Manufacturing category. We were also nominated for the Environment category, which was next. We were in so much shock from winning the Manufacturing category that we nearly missed them calling our name again; we had won twice!

We came home with £2000 for the school and a few other prizes for us.

What an experience and a day we will never forget.

Finally, thank you for all the support the school has given and especially to Miss Zachary who was the reason we entered the Teen Tech Awards and then persevered with it for over eight months.

Will Shoosmith, 9D

TWGSB Winners of the TeenTech Awards 2015 pick up their prizes at Buckingham Palace

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Mathematics TWGSB win the Invicta Maths Challenge Competition On Friday 23 January, eight Year 11 pupils attended the Regional Finals of the Invicta Maths Challenge at Invicta Grammar School, Maidstone.

We were selected based on our overall aptitude in Mathematics and our ability to work as a team when solving maths based questions. The teams of four were: Team 1 – Tahmid Ali, Tyron Surmon, Peter Shone and Cameron Wenham. Team 2 – Toby Osbourn, Luke Packman, Joshua Smith and Adam Sturgeon. We had spent a number of lunchtime sessions preparing ourselves thoroughly for what lay ahead.

There were different rounds, and questions included code cracking, multiple choice and a Sudoku puzzle.

Other schools represented in this heat were Invicta Grammar, Judd, St Enselm’s Catholic School, Canterbury and Folkestone Grammar School, all of whom proved to be difficult opponents.

Both teams showed determination and a passion to succeed, using strategic planning at the end of each round as to how to make a headway in future rounds. The day proved to be enjoyable and we learnt so many team skills which may be vital for

the later years in our academic life. The first team came second and the second team came third. The winning team for this round was the Judd School.

Most pleasing was that we had secured two of the nine places for the final on March 12th. This made us even more determined to go one better and win the challenge.

Hence on Thursday 12 March, both teams returned, this time attending the Final of the Invicta Maths Challenge. Comprising of the same teams, we were eager to do better and hopefully win the final. Both teams gave supurb performances, working well under the timed conditions and demonstrating a real determination given some difficult questions.

With this being the first time TWGSB had entered the competition, we were easily dominating every round.

With strong competition from last year’s winners, Maidstone Grammar School, and the successful regional team of The Judd School, it was apparent that there was going to be a strong contest, however, from the outset Team 1 led the way and were not under threat of relinquishing this position, and so winning the Invicta Maths Challenge. Team 1 finished 1st and Team 2 came 8th but it was amazing to see everyone’s eagerness and drive to perform to their optimum as well as the sportsmanship shown to the others.

Tahmid Ali, 11F

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Mathematics “Many thanks for bringing along your delightful team to the 2015 inaugural maths feast … What a fantastic team you had with TWGSB team A. Brilliant problem solving round.”

Gill Buqué, SE Regional Coordinator, Further Maths Support Programme

UKMT Team Maths Challenge 2015 at Tonbridge Grammar School After a few weeks of practising for the Maths challenge, and thanks to all the preparations from Mrs Hayyeh, we felt confident in facing the full day of Maths competition held at TOGS. The day consisted of various maths challenges where we competed against thirty three other schools from the South East, London and a couple of schools from Holland. The different tasks challenged us to have to use the best of our ability. We found some challenges hard and others were easier but at the end of the day we came in 11th position. We were delighted with the outcome of all of our hard work.

Will Shoosmith and Sam Barker, 9D

TWGSB Maths in Motion at BETT Exhibition, London

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Eclectics 2014-15

Mathematics Y7 Maths Challenge – 25th June 2015 Harry Cook 7F: On the competition day, all the Year 7 houses representatives that had won the class competition came to the main hall to compete for the Maths Shield. 7F Kestrels included myself, Harry Cook, Tom West, Chad Jung-Ello, and Atticus Sears There were four activities; three in the morning: Group, Shuttle, and Relay, and in the afternoon, puzzles. In the puzzles activity, we decoded maths questions, we did some shape making and a crossword.

Also we raised lots of grains of rice for UNICEF by completing maths questions on www.freerice. com website. The whole day was fun and I am really excited about next year’s competiton and hopefully Kestrels can win twice in a row!!!

Max Walker, 7F: On Thursday the 25th of June 50 boys went in to the Main Hall. My team, Henry Tillman, Christian Barker, Rez Talukder and myself, represented Merlins.

The first event was group work and we had a Sixth Form student to help us. We next did a shuttle competition; half of the group works out a question for which the answer is needed for the other half of the group to work out their answer.

I especially liked that activity. The next activity before lunch was the relay, this also split the group in two. We would answer a question and when we got it right, we passed a new question on to the other group, hence why it is called a relay!

After lunch we did four activities, a computer game that gave 10 grains of rice to charity for every correct answer. Next my group did a maths crossword, and then a puzzle with cubes. To end the day, we did de-coding. Merlins came 4th out of 6th so not too bad, I really enjoyed myself and thought Mrs Hayyeh did a great job organising the day.

Eclectics 2014-15

Science Science Club Over the course of this year, as part of STEM, there has been a science club taken by Mr Lesquerre every Friday lunchtime. We have completed two main projects. The first one involved designing and making a marble run whilst the second challenged us to make a balloon powered car.

can test and observe to see if it will survive in Mars’ atmosphere. We obviously won’t be able to send the capsule up to Mars but capsules from different schools will be collected and propelled 30km above the Earth. They will then be allowed to drop back to Earth where we will carry out our experiments. Each group, made up of 2-3 people must come up with an idea to put it the capsule.

In term one and two, we split into groups of four and we had to make a paper run from scratch. To win, you had to make the marble go on the course for as long as possible. The run had to include going uphill twice and having one loop the loop in it.

I have really enjoyed science club this year and I hope we will do many more exciting projects.

In term three and four we created a balloon powered car. The aim was to make the car go as far as possible. In first place with an amazing 15 meters was Daniel Powers from 10H followed by Henry Morrell from 8E with 13 meters and third was Augustus Lavers also from 8E. This was a particulary impressive achivement because he started building his car later than everyone else. We all had great fun making and testing them over the two terms.

Y12 Biology trip to British Wildlife Centre

In term five, we watched the eclipse instead of going to our first lesson. We had to record the readings from the school weather station which we then sent off to the NEWEx (National Eclipse Weather Experiment) which is based at the University of Reading. It collects data from lots of schools.

We are now enjoying the next challenge called the Mars Balloon Challenge. We have to prepare a small capsule containing an experiment that we

Henry Morrell, 8E

This October the biology students had the chance to go to the British Wildlife Centre in order to take part in field work for our AS level controlled assessment task. We were given the opportunity to look around the centre, and see the different species of animals that are kept there. The animals kept there are all found in the UK so this allowed us to gain a strong understanding of the wildlife around us; species of animals ranged from grey squirrels to barn owls.

After we looked around the reserve, we completed our field work which involved using quadrats to gain an understanding of which species of plant was found in the area. The collected data was used to find the frequency that each species appeared.

Overall the trip was a great experience, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all the students.

Alex McDougall, 12F

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Media Studies

Year 12 Wilderness Woods On the 19th November 2014, Year 12 Media Studies students went to Wilderness Woods to film a practice task in preparation for their coursework project, the opening to a horror film. We arrived at the centre, divided into our separate production groups and got straight into the filming! We scouted the forest to find the most appropriate locations for our individual narratives – in what is called a “location recce”. The storylines varied from psychological mushroom horrors to axe wielding murderers.

understanding of technical excellence in the field of media production. Overall it was a great day out and our videos are now available on YouTube under TWGSB Media Studies 2015 AS Wilderness Woods.

Oliver Hurditch, 12D

After a few intense hours of creative genius we returned to the centre to receive our scrumdiddlyumptious (a word originally coined

by Roald Dahl, a kickass author of books that ruled my childhood, that means really delicious or really marvellous). This included a few rashers of bacon, some incredible homemade soup and some sausages. After this we headed back out into the field to finish the shooting, all in preparation for editing back in class. The editing took a few weeks of lessons, the hard work certainly paid off with some Oscar worthy pieces.

By taking part in this task we were able to implement a diverse range of shots which improved our

Year 12 Brighton Trip

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Media Studies

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Sixth Form TWGSB MUNGA 2014 On the 29th of November 2014 nine delegates representing three distinguished nations of the world descended upon Tunbridge Wells Town Hall to discuss and amend resolutions dealing with three key issues that impact everyone in society; the environment, international conflict and women’s rights. These delegates (and the two TWGSB students who were to help in the running of the event with the MUNGA secretariat) came prepared with only pens, paper, research as well as the expectation of fulfilling the interests of our respective countries; Serbia, Rwanda and Lithuania. The Model United Nations General Assembly (MUNGA) allows students to gain a huge insight into their respective countries as well as benefiting from the challenges that arise when discussing their specific issues, as it allows them to understand the importance of how other countries may feel about a particular topic e.g. abortion and how to come together to reach a solution which will benefit every respective nation present at a typical United

Nations committee. For example, I amended a resolution that originally called for “all member states to ensure that no woman who has been a victim of rape is ever treated as a criminal” and changed to it call upon “all member states to ensure that no women who has been the victim of sexual assault is treated as a criminal”. Changes such as this make a real difference in the quality of resolutions and is an example of how MUNGA can develop critical thinking and evaluative skills that will be invaluable later on in life. There are many lessons to be learnt doing this, as well as gaining and developing skills such as lobbying, researching and being respectful to other nations by taking into account their position on a particular matter. MUNGA is a fantastic opportunity for anyone interested in politics as well as anyone who is interested in international relations. In a world that is ever changing and needs issues addressing, MUNGA aims to inspire young individuals to open their mind to international politics so hopefully the next generation of students will be well prepared to become the decision makers of the future.

Robert Norman, 12G

Sociology: Fraud and Corruption talk An ex-member of the military who now works at RBS tackling fraud and corruption came into school in October to talk to Sociology A Level students. He had worked on the cases looking at fraud committed

by Icelandic banks during the 2008 economic crisis and was able to teach us about the various forms of the crime and its complexity from an insiders’ perspective. It was also interesting to get an indepth knowledge beyond what is provided in the A level course on the causes of, and issues that arise with pursuing, these crimes.

Nathan Davies, 13H

Students enjoying their tour of Queens College Cambridge following a seminar providing top tips on the university application process.

Eclectics 2014-15

Duke of Edinburgh - Gold During Year 12 and the first term of Year 13 I had the opportunity of completing my Gold Duke of Edinburgh award through the school. For those not familiar with the scheme it involves doing a skill, a sport and volunteering once a week plus a week residential (with people you don’t know) and two expeditions with your school team. I found participating in the award very rewarding as well as thoroughly enjoyable. I think the expeditions were the most enjoyable part of the scheme mainly because you get to spend time in the outdoors having a lot of fun but also learning new skills and learning from your experiences. Finally on completion of my award I was invited to an award ceremony at St James’s Palace in London in the presence of the Duke of Edinburgh as well as a celebrity, in my case this was Tim Henman. This Awards Day was very enjoyable and gave a great sense of achievement. To anyone of you considering doing your Gold DofE I would say go for it, as I know you will really enjoy it and get a lot out of it.

Pupils at TWGSB also have the opportunities to complete the Bronze and Silver DofE. Tim Knapp, 13A

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History Year 7 History Trip to Battle Abbey

hold a shield, which was incredibly heavy. It gave us a real appreciation of how hard it must’ve been to travel hundreds of miles while dressed in armour and carrying the swords and shields used in battle.

All in all, the day brought to life the Battle of Hastings, Harold and William and the ordinary men who created part of the history of this country.

Jude White, 7F

Year 9 Ypres Trip

On 23rd October, 7F and 7G were lucky enough to take a school trip to Battle Abbey and the site of the Battle of Hastings itself.

First, we walked around the environs of Battle Abbey. We saw some very interesting historical sites, for example, we saw the foundations of an old church which had been ransacked by peasants who wanted to use the rich stone for houses and doorways. We also saw the Dorter, an old monastic building which was almost destroyed during the dissolution of the monasteries under the reign of King Henry VIII. Nearby was a mediaeval fridge, a bunker in the ground which was filled with food, ice and then sealed, to keep the food fresh. It looked rather like a hobbit hole from the outside with a door into a grass covered bank. The highlight, was when we saw the monument and plaque erected at the site where it is believed that Harold fell in battle.

Next, we surveyed the battlefield itself. Mr Strongman explained to us how the two opposing armies were ranged across the battlefield, ranks of men over a mile long. He explained how the battle developed and the key strategic and tactical events.

At the end, as a bit of fun, he took a photo of us all forming a shield wall, just as the infantry men in Harold’s army had done.

After lunch, we watched a fascinating video which gave us considerable insight into the weaponry and armour that Harold’s knights used. We were able to

In November 2014, a group of Year 9 students went on a History trip to Ypres in Belgium for two days.

As we were learning about Ypres in history it was a very interesting and informative trip. On our first day we had to leave school at 5:45 in the morning! We took a coach to Dover and caught the ferry. After we arrived in Belgium, the first place we visited was a small war museum called ‘Hooge Crater’. It had lots of artefacts and memorabilia taken directly from the battlefields. There was also a small shop where you could buy small souvenirs, like bullets and shells. Opposite the museum was a small cemetery.

Altogether, there were 5924 graves. The feeling of this cemetery was unique and you could feel how important and well kept it was. After looking around, we went inside to have lunch. Next, we went to one of the most exciting places we visited. It was called ‘Sanctuary Wood Museum (Hill 62)’. This was another smaller museum but it had a massive, real trench system outside. We were able to walk through the trenches and see how the soldiers in WW1 felt. We certainly needed our wellington boots! The museum had a selection of authentic weapons and relics, and some slideshows of photos taken of the soldiers. It also had a whole room full of propaganda posters, which were all genuine.

Nearby was a small cemetery that we also saw before leaving. Afterwards, we visited the most well known cemetery in Ypres, Tyne Cot. This was by far the biggest cemetery we saw, with 11,954 graves in total. For me, this place was extremely touching and really made me think about the impact of the war.

We all took our time to look around the cemetery and take in it’s atmosphere and meaning. After

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History settling into our rooms at the hostel we were staying in, we enjoyed a lovely barbeque. Later in the evening, we went to the world famous Menin Gate. Every evening, Ypres has a ‘Last Post’ ceremony. This includes men from the local fire brigade closing the road and playing the ‘Last Post’ fanfare. It was a very good performance and many people came to watch, especially as it was near to Remembrance Day. The next day was also very busy!

Firstly, we visited the ‘Bayernwald Trenches’. This was another trench system that we could walk through and was very big and interesting.

These trenches were very detailed and had more features that showed how the soldiers lived and fought. We also visited one German cemetery,

‘Langemark’. However, this was very different to what we had experienced before. This cemetery was very small, with many mass graves. The tombstones were not the brilliant white structures we had seen before, but small, black squares in the ground. The mood was very different and much less well kept and loved. Next, we went to one of the most famous museums in Ypres, the ‘In Flanders Fields Museum’.

This was the biggest museum we visited, and was very modern. There were many exhibits and lots of antiques. The museum had videos, real life stories and visual displays that taught us about life in the Great War. A very interesting part was that there was a place where you could search a name and see if there were any soldiers under the same name. Many of us searched our family names to see if any of our relatives fought in the war. The last thing we did before we began our journey home was to explore a bit more of Ypres town. We were allowed an hour of free time and could visit shops and buy some souvenirs. The most popular places were the many world-famous chocolate shops! As we were a big group, the owners gave us some very good deals.

After everyone had finished, we all got back onto the coach and headed back to Tunbridge Wells.

Altogether, the Ypres trip was very enjoyable, but also very educational. We all had a great time and learnt a great deal.

Tom Hinchcliffe, 9G

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History Normandy At 8:07 on Monday morning the coaches left the school car park to embark on our five-day trip. We made our way to Dover to catch the ferry to Calais.

After arriving in France we drove for five hours before we arrived at our hotel. We were taken to our rooms to get our stuff ready before we went for dinner and then the beach.

After a beautiful first night, we woke up early to head of on our first day of activities. The first stop was the Bayeux tapestry. This is a 231 feet or 70 meters long tapestry about the Battle of Hastings. This is an amazing piece of history that tells the story of the Battle of Hastings in amazing detail. After this we were given a couple of hours in the village before we headed to our next destination.

Our next destination was Falaise Castle. This is a castle with a lot of history regarding William the Conqueror. Our final destination of the day was a museum that took us through the different stages of the Battle of Normandy using a model in the middle of the room.

The next day we made our way to Merville Gun Battery, this was one of the batteries that were setup by the Germans to defend France from Allied invasion. Whilst there we were given the opportunity to experience what it would have been like being in one of the gun emplacements. It has to be said that it was an incredibly disturbing experience, even with the more comfortable conditions and the knowledge of safety.

Our next two stops were to the Pegasus Bridge and Caen Memorial Museum. These were both incredible and offered a huge amount of knowledge of the Battle of Normandy. Our final stop of the second day was the Juno Beach Centre. This is a museum set up by the Canadians to celebrate the Canadian war effort as its often forgotten. It was an amazing experience as it gave us a first hand idea of what the actual trenches were like and some inside knowledge on how they were sabotaged as they were built.

Edward Shamwana, 9B

The next day we visited the German Cemetery, La Cambe, where the famous German Panzer commander Michael Wittmann is buried, along with his fellow tank crew members. The mass burial grave was a testament to French attitudes towards Germany after the war. This was followed by a trip to the Pointe du Nord, here we saw some of the inadequate guns that the Germans had to use. There were also massive craters left from exploding shells and the remains of many of the bunkers.

Next we went to a renowned site, the American War Cemetery. It was an amazing place with perfectly tended grounds which demonstrated the immense respect and pride that the Americans still hold to this day for their soldiers. It truly felt like a little bit of America within Normandy. We then walked down onto and along Omaha Beach famously featured in “Saving Private Ryan”. The walk gave us an opportunity to think and reflect upon all the warfare that would have taken place in what is now such a tranquil place.

Later we had the chance to explore Arromanches where most of the military equipment, used in the liberation of Europe, passed through. Finally we walked up to the 360 degree cinema where we watched a short film that summed up all the sites we had visited and also gave us a clear understanding of the conditions that existed whilst the war raged on; even though it focused on the “great people”, you also have to remember the millions who really fought the war.

We spent every evening outside on the beach playing sports and enjoying the wonderful weather we had during our time in Normandy. We liked trying the local crêpes and snacks which Mr Strongman recommended to us. We gained so many memories and experiences from this one-of-a-kind trip, we will never forget Normandy.

Will Shoosmith, Sam Barker and Max Foley-Kemp, 9D

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Drama ‘The Caucasian Chalk Circle’ Reviews During this the silhouette of a woman giving birth could be seen through the curtain. Personally, I found this distracted from what the singer had to say and was quite annoyed when I realised that he had stopped talking and I had missed most of what he said. Shortly after, when Grusha was carrying the baby through an icy wasteland, clean white sheets were erected by one point, signifying trees that had been heavily snowed on. The colouring of the play was very odd. Most of the time it was gloomy and dim, and if there were any colour changes they would be slow and subtle. However, in the occasional scene of din and rioting the lights would violently flash different red, implying large fires or bloodshed.

Asher Melville, 10F Some costumes were period while others were modern, as it was set in modern times, and mimicked modern issues. Colours were varied amongst characters, but one thing I noticed was that Azdak and his ‘chauffeur’ wore rich red robes, and a luminescent green jacket (like that of a construction worker) respectively. I believe this to be a metaphor for morality, as their lighter and more colourful clothes represent their fighting for justice in Georgia.

This is especially visible in the scene with Grusha’s trial, when Grusha donned dark blue jeans with a dark green jumper, and Natella in particular (played

by Emily Wachter), wore monochromic clothes, in a white jacket over a black shirt and black trousers with white high heels, as well as sunglasses and a white ushanka. This showed the class-divide, as the wealthy wore expensive clothes compared to the poverty-stricken such as the farmer and his wife.

Freddie Lewis, 10O The sound effects used in this performance were live sounds, sometimes they would have been made by the actors or other times the musician. The sound effects created by the actors were made on the side of the stage by various equipment. One actor to show water being tipped into a bath used a jug and

poured water into a container near a microphone whilst it was being mimed on stage by another actor.

The sound effects created by the musician were created using musical instruments such as using a guitar to make the creaking sound when Grusha goes across the bridge. This type of sound effects and playing them live is a technique of Brecht’s.

Not only did the musician make sound effects he also sang and played songs, the song adding new lyrics made up for this play by the narrator. The music was used to create the atmosphere of what was happening. When it was the rebellion scene the music was fast with few lyrics. When it was the scene with Azdak and his court trials the music was more upbeat and contained more lyrics. The music was used to create more tension when it was necessary and also to give a feeling of peace and harmony when it was needed. For example at the end of the performance when Grusha has won the child in the chalk circle.

Oliver Hill, 10M The lighting was used to represent various moods within the play associating colours with emotions.

For example in the scene when the rebellion was breaking out and there was lots of shouting and screaming, it was accompanied by a piercing red light which was used to symbolise the rage and chaos of the scene. Another scene where similar effects were used was when Michael was taken away from Grusha and she was crying and curled up in a ball, a blue light appeared to represent the sadness of the situation. This use of lighting for the mood of certain scenes is effective as it gives the audience a small sense of what the characters are represented to be feeling, by associating certain colours with certain feelings. Another significant use of lighting was when the Governor’s brother, who is perceived as the main antagonist in the first half of the play, pops the balloon he is holding. A large flash of light flashed on the stage as if to put an end to the previously remotely happy events leading to that scene. This was a key point as it notified the audience that things were only going to go downhill from that point.

Oliver Wixen, 10H

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Music and Drama Aladdin The whole experience started with the auditions.

As a huge group of nervous students ranging from Sixth Form down to Year 7 gathered themselves into a semi-circle, Mr Lorentzen and Mrs Rose prepared to begin the auditions. Many nervous and some very entertaining auditions later, they were over.

The next round was callbacks. Once we had finally got our parts for the play we were able to begin the rehearsals. This meant staying behind every Tuesday after school. The after school rehearsals consisted mainly of singing and some acting whereas the Friday rehearsals were more for the dance numbers. Soon everyone knew each other so things got more natural.

After countless weeks of rehearsals we finally came to the last week or two before the final performances. This triggered a frantic effort to learn your lines, (if you didn’t already know them) before the dress rehearsal came along! On the weekend before the big performance the cast were required to come in

on Saturday for another rehearsal although Sunday was the first day we were able to practice alongside our amazing orchestra. Although there were some issues, they were promptly ironed out and we were ready to go.

By now the songs had been burnt into everyone’s minds and most people began to feel like they were ready to go. Although the pressure was still on during the dress rehearsals as we had the media in taking photos.

Finally the first day came, as we all clambered into our costumes in the changing rooms, the bustling noise from the audience grew louder as the seats begun to fill. As we all rushed backstage, tripping over each other, the announcement came on to tell the audience that the show was about to begin.

Everyone fell silent as the music (played by our wonderful orchestra) began. Slowly we made our way onstage and all was well.

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Music

Christmas Concert

We made it to the interval. The second half began as Jasmine and the Sultan burst onstage beginning their argument…As the first performance came to an end it finally dawned on us that we had done it!

We just had to do it again once more and we had finished!

The second night came along and was just as good if not better than the first night! But before you could say flying carpet, it was over! As we took our bows, Mr Harrison got up to say a few words before we all left the stage for the last time.

We all said our goodbyes and went home for a well earned nights’ sleep. Although it was sad I’m pretty sure that most of us were happy not to have to sing the songs over and over again!

Ed Shamwana, 9B

Lodge Hill Last October around 40 students ranging from Year 7 to 9 went on a two night music school trip to Lodge Hill. It was the second time that the school had ever been but my first. We did quizzes and music compositions where we had to copy a piece of music and perform it to everyone else for this we were put into groups and all performed different songs; the songs were quite current pop songs.

Each night we watched a movie which was great fun and after we had hot chocolate. We even had a day where we played football and other outdoor games.

Three teachers came on the trip: Mr Lorentzen, Mr Pearce and Mr Jorris. We even had to create a piece of scary music to go along with a video that we were shown. The whole point of this music trip was for the Orchestra to practise their two songs for the Christmas Concert, the songs we performed were ‘Treasure’ and ‘Do They Know Its Christmas?’.

We had a fire drill on the first night which was very unpleasant because it was raining outside. The only unpleasant thing about having musical instruments was that in the morning Henry played his violin to wake everyone else up. The food was very nice each day but the best part was dessert. It was a great trip because you got to make friends who are not in your year but in other years. There were so many different instruments that made it that whole lot better, like: singers, guitars, keyboards, drums and many more. The two songs were great in the Christmas Concert and we even performed Treasure in a Year 7 and 8 assembly. Everyone really enjoyed the whole trip and at the end on the bus journey back there were awards for the best of things like the best joker and the best helper and the most caring. I enjoyed it so much that I hope the teachers organise it again. Thank you Mr Lorentzen, Mr Pearce and Mr Jorris for such a great trip.

Charlie Carey, 7A

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English Peter Pan Review On a hot sunny day, Year 7 went to see Peter Pan at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre.

I really liked the outline of the stage, for example, it said ‘Neverland’, and the detail was realistic. The costumes for the characters were effective. Also the story was very entertaining but totally different because it was set in World War 1 and the lost boys

were the soldiers; the pirates were also very realistic.

The sound effects were great because there was the crocodile’s roar and the sinking ships sound, also there was the Nanny that was occasionally singing from time to time. The props were unique because they used recycled material to make the mermaids and Tinkerbell and the ropes that were used to fly. I also liked how they used people to act as the water.

Rezuan Talukder, 7F

Mario Petrucci on Poetry of WW1 Mario Petrucci began by discussing early WW1 poetry and its common themes and messages.

The early poetry, he summed up as having the purpose of ‘alleviating stress’ both on the front line and at home. From this I got the sense that there was a small gap between the ‘positive thinking’ and ‘blind foolishness’ of both writer and reader.

This led to Petrucci speaking about the links between poetry and propaganda posters from the war. An example was the ‘women of Britain say – “go!”’ poster, linking to an extract from ‘a volunteer’

by Helen Parry Eden. The use of a female context creates pressure not only in itself for me to enlist, but also questions the masculine qualities of the potential soldier. The idea of female dependency and young family hints at the concept of soldiers ‘safeguarding’ the futures of their decendants. The three soldiers appearing in the poster, as Petrucci mentioned, appear to be ‘cloned’, suggesting to

me perhaps that they are needed as cogs in this great war ‘machine’. The women appear looking out of the window, linking to the extract ‘You did not shield us! … across his window’. This conjures a metaphor of the dependants at home ‘looking out’ onto war yet unable to experience it as soldiers did.

Petrucci moved on to speak of how certain poets such as Wilfred Owen’s poetry style changed before and after the war. He then discussed the fundamental reasons for this. For example, that poetry was merely ‘art’ ‘created in an attempt to transcribe ones’ experiences, so we must take this fully into consideration when analysing it, detaching ourselves from its emotions in order to perceive the context clearly. This helped my understanding as it reminded me that all poetry and art are variations of human perception.

Anna Jennings, 12E

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English ‘Success in Drama’ On Monday 17th November 2014 the Year 10 and 11 GCSE Drama students embarked on an adventure to London to The Piccadilly Theatre, for the attendance of a conference ensuring success in GCSE Drama.

On arrival at the theatre we were met and shown to our seats with several other schools from across the South East.

The conference had a unique opening with an introduction by a theatre group who explained the different drama techniques through an improvisation.

They then invited the audience to give their own suggestions using the technique of Forum Theatre which is when the audience assume the role of a director. We enjoyed this technique because of the humorous approach and it allowed the audience to collaborate with the actors and each other: there was a feeling of unity as we all agreed on the outcome and it broke the ice.

The next activity that we took part in was to develop a script extract from The Trail by Steven Berkoff with members from our own and other schools. We had to explore the way the character could be shown emphasising their personalities. We shared these

A2 Trip to the Institute of Education Last November, we headed up into Central London to visit the Institute of Education, where a series of talks had been organised specifically to support students studying A2 English Literature.

Stella Canwell, the ex-Chief Examiner for AQA A, led the majority of the day, drawing on her wealth of experience to advise us on, and navigate us through, the challenging exam layout. Straightforward tips included: approach extracts with an open mind, plan thoroughly, always read closely and carefully. Less straightforward guidance – such as on the balance of Assessment Objectives, or the rules on which wider reading to use for each question – initially seemed more confusing, but we’re now in a far more confident position after studying several examiner reports in class.

with other small groups and some students from other schools went on the stage and showed their work to the whole audience.

After lunch and some speeches outlining the expectations of the written coursework we watched an A* performance by a group of students who completed their GCSE last year. It was a devised piece about the effect of bullying and abuse on a young boy and the impact it had on his mental health. All the students in this group achieved an A or A* for their GCSE performance exam so it helped us recognise what we need to do to achieve this grade.

Personally we thought it was an original piece using theatrical elements to show modern day life and the experiences that some people are subjected to. It had an impact on us as the audience creating an emotional empathy proving the power of theatre as a learning tool.

Overall the trip was a new experience and for most of us the first time at an educational conference and we would recommend this for all students studying GCSE Drama.

James Ward, 10F and Tom Sammons-Jones, 10H

In the afternoon, the politically-impassioned Jeanette Winterson, author of the bestselling novel ‘Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit’, took to the stage. Tension had clearly been building, because her entrance was met with the most energetic applause of the day.

Winterson gave us a rare glimpse into the writer’s world: she outlined her struggles growing up, her life-long passion for reading and writing, and her hopes for the next generation as she looks towards the future.

When Winterson had finished, Canwell rounded off the day with some closing statements and we were finally free to leave. One girl plucked up the courage to dart across the stage and ask for her book to be signed by Winterson herself. Her beaming face, as she reunited with her friends seconds later, revealed her attempt had proved worthwhile.

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English English is by no means a clear-cut subject: unlike Maths or the Sciences, arts subjects are notorious for controversial marking, unpredictable moderation, and perplexing mark schemes. However, behind all the box-ticking, behind all that red-pen circling, lies a subject which not only gives you the freedom to explore your own interests, but also maturely develop your own individual identity and originality.

As I prepare to study English Literature at universitylevel this September, I encourage others to think seriously about taking the subject for A-Level.

It is certainly a fascinating subject, and it has a department committed to ensuring students achieve their potential.

Matthew Nolan, 13H

Volpone Having spent the last two days in Stratford-UponAvon - the town that lives and breathes Shakespeare - I was excited to see a play by his would-be rival Ben Jonson. Set in Venice, Volpone follows the story of its money-worshipping, insanely wealthy title character as he attempts to pull off another scam and become even richer. By pretending to be on his death bed, he lures three Venetian business men, Voltore, Corbaccio, and Corvino, into thinking that they’re in line to inherit his great wealth. With the help of his servant Mosca, nicknamed ‘the Parasite’, Volpone manages to fool all of them into vying and fighting for his riches, with disastrous consequences.

Alongside the main storyline, there are also side plots involving Sir Politic, his wife, Lady Would-be and young American traveller Peregrine, Volpone’s three companions (Nano the dwarf, Androgyno the hermaphrodite and Castrone the Eunuch) and the love story of Corbaccio’s disowned son Bonario and Corvino’s wife Ceilia.

This particular production utilised a modern setting, with many lighting effects and excellent use of digital displays. The crisp, white stage design conveyed the sheer wealth of Volpone and its Venetian setting fantastically, and was used to full effect; for example, the use of lighting to define different rooms within

Volpone’s home, which was one of my favourite effects.

The majority of the cast gave excellent performances, with some particular characters really defining the whole performance for me. Volpone himself was wonderful to watch on stage; played

by Henry Goodman, he was consistently funny, especially with his disguises. His servant, Mosca, was also enjoyable to watch on stage; although he didn’t have the same comedic element, the role he played was one of the real drivers of the story, especially in the last half of the play as he secretly turns against Volpone for his own self gain.

Lady Politic was one of the more surprisingly entertaining characters. The use of her little entourage and film crew created the impression of a reality-TV show, which was shown live on the displays to the sides of the stage. It added an extra comedic aspect that didn’t get in the way of the story itself, as I feared it might have.

Volpone’s companions made for great comic relief, while the stereotypes of the three business men provided the majority of the comedic element, which worked very well, particularly with the partially deaf Corbaccio. As far as criticisms go, they mainly fall on Bonario, who was a little flat and one sided, only really being there as a plot convenience to aid Celia’s storyline and not as well played as some of the other characters. It would have also been nice to see Mosca’s attempted takeover of Volpone’s wealth a little more fleshed out, rather than just being mentioned by his companions.

At the end of the day, however, the play was genuinely very funny in many parts, and certainly didn’t drag along or get boring. Perhaps its biggest strength is that it is so applicable to our times; the themes of wealth and greed have kept their meaning, hence allowing for more focus on modernising other aspects of the play rather than its core foundations. In all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable performance with an excellent cast and great attention to detail.

Munro Page, 12G

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English Othello

The Merchant of Venice

During Activities Week, 16 of the Year 12 English Literature students dragged themselves into school at 5am for a short, but busy, trip to Stratford-uponAvon. In amongst three theatre performances and visits to historic sites was the main event – a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Othello.

Making history before an actor set foot on stage, this play was the first ever to cast a black actor as the classic antagonist, Iago. This changed the whole dynamic of the text as we knew it from our studies in class, as director Iqbal Khan tested the relationships, purism and racial boundaries of the original text. As the assistant director presented to us in a workshop prior to the performance – why not have a black Iago when we now have female actors cast in female roles, unlike in Shakespeare’s time? This concept turned Iago’s racist comments about Othello on their head, suggesting a new root for his sense of betrayal and bringing Iago to the centre of the piece.

As a class we found a mutual agreement in the attention to detail in the set, which portrayed a crumbling cathedral with its tall arched windows right down to the bullet holes in the walls which foreshadowed the play’s tragic ending. We also found the symbolic use of water on stage a unique and diverse prop, with platforms that could be raised or lowered above or below the pool of water to depict a number of scenarios – from Venetian canals, to baths, to some simple stairs.

In particular, Joanna Vanderham in the role of Desdemona stood out to us as a class, for her compelling interpretation of the classically demure character. Instead, Vanderham skillfully changed the tone of the script, also using her powerful acting skills to turn Desdemona into a strong, flirty and intelligent woman, who ‘saw through’ Iago from the start, rather than an obedient little girl. Iago’s chilling and sardonic laughter gave the play’s tragic ending a malicious twist, leaving the audience stunned by the gripping story they had just witnessed. Overall, a worthwhile and thought-provoking trip for the whole class.

On 23rd of June, Year 10 watched the “The Merchant Of Venice” matinee at the Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford Upon Avon, which was unexpectedly an understudy performance.

The themes explored in the play were racism, homosexuality, revenge and stereotypes, but this particular version also included sexism and disability.

Francesca Bloor and Hannah Bennett, 12H

The stage was an apron/thrust style in order to make the audience feel involved in the play, as there was no member of the audience further than three rows from the stage. The stage was made up of mirrors in order to make the audience reflect on their actions, compare them to the play and witness the consequences awaiting them. Throughout the play, there was a pendulum constantly swinging at the back left of the stage, in order to represent the world we live in and to show that events as shown in the play occur all over this world all the time. Near the end of the play, 40 candles were placed on the ground in order to recreate the night sky of the time, with the 40 recognised and named stars, which was to create a romantic atmosphere for the final scene between Jessica and Lorenzo.

Personally, I did not think that the modern costumes had any great effect upon the performance other than at the court scene as the formal attire and dark atmosphere limited it to either a court scene or a funeral before any dialogue occurred. The main downfall of the costumes was that when one actor played two or more characters their characters were not clearly defined by costume or by mannerisms.

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English One of the best-portrayed characters in the production was Gratiano, as he played a very good servant by coming across as of lower class than Bassanio in both mannerisms and accent, but especially on accent as he used an East London accent in contrast to his master’s far more upper class accent. The second best performance was that of Portia as she showed the much stronger side of women that was not shown often in the time as she cheated her father’s system to find her a groom by giving hints to Bassanio about what casket to choose. She also played the lawyer as herself very well hinting to the audience that it was Portia in disguise.

The worst performance by far was Antonio, as he often stood around being very unemotional, at times when strong emotion was required such as when his ships were sunk, and when he did show emotion it was very false and exaggerated as shown when he and Bassanio embrace at the court.

Overall the performance did not live up to expectations, as we were unaware that we were going to see an understudy performance, which therefore caused us to have very different expectations. The priority of characters was also flawed, as Shylock did not play a primary role during the performance and his stage time was far exceeded by Portia’s servant, Nerissa. In addition, the pendulum’s reference was not very clear as I initially though it would be a representation of time, and the candles were a bit ‘overkill’ especially as they were brought out two at a time causing the scene to run on for much longer than necessary.

However there were some very good references and hidden meanings scattered throughout the play and considering the actors were understudies their acting was exemplary.

Toby Russell, 10K

The Muddy Choir War. War never changes.

‘The Muddy Choir’ is a play primarily about friendship, but with it come myriad connotations, both negative and positive: morals, death, and

war amongst others. The piece centres around the characters of Will, Robbie, and Jumbo, as they attempt to find some sort of solace from war in the form of song. It feels relatable. Of course, the majority of people nowadays haven’t been to war, but the very human actions of these men evoke a feeling of closeness and solidarity with the audience and the characters.

The strong synergy between harmonious melodies and wartime blues translates into a tale that triumphs in its purpose: to commemorate a hundred years since the beginning of World War One. The story itself is great, albeit saddening, but reflects and consolidates upon the knowledge harboured by civilians that war kills good men; at the time however, it was advertised as ‘just a bit of fun’.

As the play progresses, so does the atmosphere.

The music which sporadically played to signal a scene change began to distort with a vicious white noise and inevitably, there was death. It managed to capture the disenfranchised environment of the trenches with the pure power of relationships: the almost familial bond between the three men transfers into our everyday lives, and makes us appreciate what we have more.

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English My personal favourite moment was when the three men recited their oath that they would ‘all go home together’. It was very poignant and plucked several heartstrings.

I admit: when the play first began, my expectations were low, but it seemed I had decided too early. The performance was grand, and I would recommend it dearly.

James Ward, 10F

Library Carnegie Shadowing Carnegie Shadowing is an occasion where pupils from schools across England take part in a club run by their school Library. Eight books are shortlisted and read over a period of about eleven weeks. Once a book is read, we can write a review and post it on the Carnegie Shadowing website.

We meet once a week to discuss the books we have read. Each week there is a prize for the best review posted, usually a packet of Haribos!

At the end of the eleven weeks a Balloon Debate takes place with other local schools and this year was hosted at TWGGS. The four schools that attended the debate were: TWGSB, TWGGS, Skinners’ Kent Academy and Skinners’.

A Balloon Debate is where we imagine that a hot air balloon is sinking, and in order to survive you must throw out seven of the eight books that have been shortlisted. The one that remains at the end is the winner. To win, the teams had to present a short speech (3 minutes) about the book they were given and why it should remain in the balloon. I was given Apple and Rain by Sarah Crossan. This year the group that won was the team that spoke about Buffalo Soldier by Tanya Landeman, which also won the Carnegie Medal; I didn’t think that this book should have won because I found the book was dull. The people who won the debate spoke well about it and I think they deserved to win.

This year I won awards for my reviews. I was delighted to have been awarded the Carnegie Cup with my name engraved as well as a £10 book token. This Cup is only awarded at TWGSB and I was proud to have been awarded it. This is the first Cup that I have won this year and I am delighted with it. Carnegie Shadowing is an amazing event for anyone who loves reading like me! I am glad that I had the opportunity to participate in the Carnegie Shadowing. I would recommend Shadowing for everyone; it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

Special thanks to Mrs. Musselwhite Steel and Mrs Bolland.

Rohan Gupta 7C

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Geography Year 7 Visit Romshed Farm All Year 7 forms visit Romshed Farm, near Sevenoaks, as a part of their Geography ‘Farming’ topic. Here, students from 7C share some of their favourite parts of the day: Rohan Gupta: My favourite part of the day was when we all got to stroke a piglet. He felt like a puppy!

Kieran Fry: My favourite part was when we got to stroke the piglets’ mother. We fed her apples and her coat felt very wiry.

Edward Davy: My favourite part was learning about organic farming. Romshed farm is a family run organic farm, which means that they only use natural fertilisers and no chemicals. The farm believes in rearing happy, stress-free animals.

Sebastian Davies: My favourite part of the day was finding out that although Romshed Farm was once a dairy, now it produces organic meat that it sells to the public. I also liked the massive set of solar panels which gives the farm extra energy.

Kyle Cavill: My favourite part was learning about the history and geology of Underriver village, where Romshed Farm is. The funny thing about the name ‘Underriver’ is that there is not actually a river there!

The name is Anglo-Saxon and means ‘under the hill’.

Alex Fromeyer: My favourite part was seeing the sheep and learning about how they prevent inbreeding, by bringing in rams from another farm.

Oliver Lawton: My favourite part was drawing a sketch map of the rolling hills. The class knelt on the grass, absorbed in what they were doing.

Joseph Gillhouley: My favourite part was seeing the turkeys – they were great! Every time we made a noise, they would start going wild!

Matthew Walkington: My favourite part was seeing the turkeys. They were very big compared to the ones in Sainsburys’!

Year 8 Field Trip to Eastbourne and Pevensey After a short coach journey we arrived in Easbourne.

We were divided up into small groups and our first activity was measuring the different slopes and distances of the beach. We found that the west side of the beach was higher due to long-shore drift.

For this activity we used a clinometer and a tape measure.

Our second activity was recording pebble size.

Eastbourne’s pebbles were bigger at the top of the beach as the pebbles near the sea were being

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Geography / Geology Geology: Eastbourne / Pett Level When we arrived at Pett Level, we conducted a field sketch of the area. We studied each visible bed of the area to learn about its construction and the history surrounding it. During this trip I learnt how to use a variety of different geological techniques used to identify the dip of the bed and the size of the bed without measuring it. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. Mr Ash was extremely kind and always willing to help if you didn’t understand something.

Harry Cassell, 11M

Year 10 Brighton Field Trip I enjoyed the Brighton Field Trip because it showed us up close what we had been studying in class and we could put what we had learnt into practice. The best bit was exploring Brighton and taking different sets of results which we could use in the future for our course work.

I learnt that pre-planning is vital for going on large trips to find results for school work.

What surprised me about our trip was the lack of residential areas as Brighton is obviously a popular

constantly affected by the sea and eroding away.

After this we recorded pebble shapes using a tally chart.

After a chat on beach replenishment, we had lunch and went to Pevensey. At Pevensey, many of the results were the same although the groynes were better at Eastbourne.

Overall it was a fun trip and I learnt a lot.

Alfie Dollimore, 8M

place to be; and also the number of shops of the same kind in one area surprised me as I thought they would want to be spread out.

We followed this trip up with more course work which we based around the results which we found in Brighton.

Billy Domeney, 10O

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‘Outlook Expedition’: Norway 13th July: Students and teachers from Year 11 and Year 12 set off from Heathrow accompanied by Outlook Expeditions leaders, leaving behind home comforts, and finally fulfilling Jamie Strong’s dream of flying with his friends. All arrived safely in Norway after a quick two hour flight, which most used to catch up on the sleep they missed in order to meet at 4am. However there was one critical part of the expedition still in England…the luggage. After hours of negotiation, and game after game of ‘go fish’, the decision was finally made that we would be staying in a hotel rather than the planned campsite, fortunately paid for by BA. We used our extended time in the city of Bergen to divvy up the team budget of 22,000 Norweigan kroner, and shop for our meals for the next ten days. As you can imagine, it was a difficult load to carry.

14th July: Finally departing Bergen, we caught the bus to Gudwangen, where we camped for the night, keeping ourselves busy by trying to fish, and watching Oscar wade into 2 degree water to prove his manliness. We were also able to enjoy our first home cooked meal (a chicken jalfrezi if I recall) which set the bar high for the rest of the trip.

15th July: The day we had been looking forward to. After receiving our paddling kit and meeting our guide we took a two hour bus ride through endless tunnels before eventually arriving at our launch spot. We packed our kayaks with our kit and then left the land behind, for 15km at least. A three hour paddle later and we arrived at our first ‘campsite’. a steep garden of an elderly couple surrounded by treacherous rocks which needed navigating around.

We overcame our obstacles though and had a great

evening which involved washing up in a waterfall, a new experience for all.

16-18th July: These next few days were mainly spent on the water, enjoying the incredible views, and covering up to 27km a day (around six hours of paddling). The weather held out on the whole despite some torrential downpours, and we mostly enjoyed each other’s company, save a few arguments about poor steering abilities. It was physically tough, and getting up in the mornings was an issue, but there was a great deal of camaraderie and it was worth it just for the fact that we drank directly from waterfallslet alone everything else. Despite the calm water, Jamie still managed to fall in, but thankfully “Gordo”, the Outlook leader, came to his rescue.

19th July: The highlight of the trip for many. We had a break from paddling and instead climbed a mountain. An arduous eight hour round trip led us to 1189m where the views were quite simply breathtaking. We were all half asleep by the time we had reached the foot again but watching me fall head first down the mountain into a pile of snow, and Adam Champion having to request toilet roll on the side of a mountain path made it a very memorable day.

20th July: The final straight. A quick 10km paddle brought us back into Gudwangen. To end the trip we played a game of piano keys, resulting in all but one falling into the icy water. A final goodbye to Cody, our guide who entertained us with many a story, and we hit the road, heading for Voss.

21st/22nd July: We had one last night in our tents, this time in a proper campsite, where our teachers finally cooked us the meal they had been promising after a serious match of football. The final night was spent in a YMCA hostel, after a day exploring Bergen. We had a fabulous last evening, eating at an expensive restaurant using our remaining funds that we had carefully budgeted for.

23rd July: We returned to home soil, this time with luggage, and were greeted warmly by our parents.

All in all a fantastic trip, but we were certainly glad to have access to proper showers and toilets.

Adam Sturgeon, 11O

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‘Outlook Expedition’: Norway

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Art

Eden Miller, 7E

Jude White, 7F

Eric Parker, 10C

Max Hart, 9D

Jack Stevens, 13F

Sophie Shrubb, 12J

Tom Waugh, 8H Jerick Seruelas, 12J

Ben Bawtree, 9G

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Art GCSE Art Trip to Tate Britain On Tuesday 20th January Year 10 and Year 11 art students went to visit the Tate Modern to research Artists and Artworks for both their coursework and GCSE exam, which took place later on in the year.

The Year 10 students took part in a workshop which was run by the Artist in Residence.

The John Downton Awards The John Downton Award for Young Artists is an annual exhibition which encourages and celebrates the creativity of Kent’s young artists. It is open to students, aged 11-18, from schools and colleges across Kent. Rowan and I were both selected to show our work at this year’s exhibition at Maidstone’s County Hall.

It was a great opportunity and having now been in a competition it makes me want to enter more.

We may not have won, but looking at all of the pieces that were chosen to be displayed was enough for me, all of them had such variety and depth. In the end I may not have agreed with some of the judges decisions, however it is art, so there will always be opposing opinions.

Josh Treadgold, 11O Being at The John Downton Awards was a great eye-opener for me as I got to see other young artists work and the different styles they have. It was really interesting being able to wander around the exhibition and take in some of the best artwork for under 18s Kent has to offer. I especially enjoyed getting to Rowan Crouch, 11E meet and interact with the other people my age and talk to them about their work. Finding out that some of these students’ work was simply done during their spare time surprised me but also made me want to try things I usually wouldn’t get to do in school. Once the awards started there was a real sense of exhilaration in the air, I was unsure who was more deserving to win so finding out there was more than one category was almost a relief. As the young artists went up to collect their awards it was clear that they were all the most deserving. After the awards were over I went to look around the exhibition one last time so I could look at the chosen artwork which was going on tour to the Turner Contemporary as well as meeting the selected artists. Overall it was a great experience seeing all the work as well as the young artists who made them.

Rowan Crouch, 11E

Joshua Treadgold, 11O

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Design and Technology Smallpeice Trust - Nottingham On the 30th of March we went on a three day Introduction to Engineering course at Nottingham University. The course was set up by a charity called the Smallpeice Trust whose aim is to promote engineering as a career to young people. They organise and run engineering courses for secondary school students throughout the year.

When we arrived we were gathered into a hall and briefed about what we would be doing over the three days. We were introduced to the companies that we would work with; these companies were Aston Martin, Land-Rover Jaguar, First Trains and RollsRoyce engines. We were able to work with two of the companies depending on the groups we were in.

We were in separate groups, however we both worked with the same companies, Land-Rover Jaguar (JLR) and Rolls-Royce engines.

With JLR we had to create a working model of a new Land Rover designed for the Born Free Foundation, a charity JLR work closely with. The Born Free Foundation protects wildlife worldwide. The car had to be able to pass three tests that JLR set for us.

The first was an off road course with a variety of obstacles to simulate the job it would have to do.

The second was a hill climb to test the power of the car. Finally the car had to do a wading test to check it’s waterproofing. To make the cars we used small gearboxes and motors and a variety of materials.

However we had to buy these materials and make the car affordable. We had no set budget but extra points were given for affordability.

With Rolls Royce we had to first make a dart from a kit. This design would then be incorporated into the later challenges. A dart is a small model plane designed for minimum drag; it is powered by an elastic band. Secondly we had to design and make an airofoil. We learnt about how lift and gravity affect the flight of the plane. The aerofoil was tested by being placed on a swing arm – the airofoil that lifted at the minimum RPM (revolutions per minute) was the winning design. This was tested by a special

sensor. For the final task we had to incorporate the dart and the airfoil into a glider. Whoever’s went the furthest would win. We built the body similar to the dart then we had to design the wings using the rules we had learnt in the airofoil task.

We really enjoyed the course as it allowed us to talk to people actually working within the engineering industry and gave us an insight into future careers and jobs.

Max Wilch, 9A and Felix Billington, 9E

Student Robotics Student robotics is a post-graduate run competition for 16-18 year olds from all over the world. It is held annually, and this year our TWGSB “Brobotics” team was lucky enough to compete in a 4 player free for all “Capture the flag” game.

We started with seven months of gruelling preparation, once a week in school time and as many hours as the team could muster outside of school. In late October we were invited to Facebook’s headquarters in London to get a briefing on the rules of this year’s competition, as well as to retrieve the electronic modules we would need to run Brobot, to which we would add much of our own hardware in an attempt to get the upper hand. After gaining some experience with the blue shirts (a name given to the event managers) at Facebook HQ, we headed home to start constructing Brobot to hopefully win the competition in April!

The progress was slow, but with Brobot being taken to programmers’ houses in the holidays, we started to make progress. The custom hardware which was installed should have given us a very large advantage over the other competitors (allowing us to drive in a straight line as opposed to an arcing line) and as our confidence blossomed, so did Brobot.

The competition grew closer, unfortunately so did our…exams *gasp*. As our programmers, CADers, Designs, and Fabricators all started to focus more on their studies than Brobot, we didn’t realise just how close we were to being pitted against our opponents.

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Design and Technology Competition day hit us, we had a professional, functional robot, with state of the art 3D printing!

However our programming was somewhat lacking, so from the start of dawn on competition day, our programmers were programming in beds, in buses, on floors and while eating.

“Tinker time” had ended. Our bottles were empty.

And Brobot was rearing to go. The first day and a half was the seeding rounds, where we would compete for points, and no one would get knocked out, doing well now would help us in the long run. At the end of this slightly traumatic experience we had come out 5th of 47 teams, with good standing for the knock-outs.

We were placed into our first knockout being a judges favourite…. When disaster STRUCK! Our robot performed just as it should have and just as it had the previous 20 or so games, except, through no fault of our own, our robot failed to drop (as we relied on friction to place down our flag) our flag, meaning we ended up pushing it out of our score zone, leaving us in last place, and ultimately taking us out of the competition. Suddenly. And abruptly.

With our spirits at an all-time low, we were hopefuls for a technology prize, however with that being snatched out of our hands at the last second too we left empty handed…

However, after accepting our defeat we finally recovered from our down fall, and we all felt that the overall experience, in all of its highs and lows (of which there where many), was amazing. We have decided to continue for next year, and with the experience we gained from the 2015 event, I should be writing to you this time next year with an image of a 1st place trophy right next to this text!

George Tattersall, 12G

ISSET Mission Discovery Week July 2015 King’s College London Xander Effingham and Matthew Franklin both in Year 11 were part of the winning team that will have their science experiment taken to the International Space Station. They are pictured here with Mike Foale, astronaut.

Year 10 and 11 Bloodhound Supersonic Car Workshop Pupils had the chance to design, create and race their own car at the Bloodhound Supersonic Car Workshop held at the Abbey School in Faversham.

They saw a full-size model of the car and discussed the design and science that goes into building a car that will travel in a straight line at 1,000mph. They also saw a model of a hybrid rocket and had a go in a driving simulator.

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Design and Technology Graphics

Book Cover and Stand, Alex Jackson,11M

Stage Set, Harry Cozens, 13E

Chocolate Packaging and display stand, Franco Di Nola, 11M

American Diner ‘Cup o’ Joe’, Jack Day, 12C

Clock and Packaging, Niall Greenstreet, 11F

Wind-up radio, William Downard, 12C

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Design and Technology Resistant Materials

Art Decco Samsung Docking Station, James Baker, 11H Art Decco Apple Docking Station, Charlie Smythe, 11G

Garden aid for the mature market, George Smith, 13G A modernism book shelving and storage unit, Tim Rowe, 11H

Tool box to store a socket set, Liam draper, 12C

Hurdle for training purposes, Lewis Church, 13A

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Design and Technology Electronic Products

Road crossing system, Jon Bourne,11E

Systems and Control

Musical cycle training aid, Jacob Burge, 12B

Scalextric start gate, David Robson, 11A Temperature and Heart Rate Monitor, Ben Styles, 12H

Scalextric start gate, Kieran Armstrong, 11O

Metronome, Nathan Schneider, 12H

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Design and Technology Food and Nutrition GCSE Food and Nutrition

William Hawksfield, 7C

James White, 7F

Theo Hamilton, 7B Year 7 Easter Cakes

Year 7 Christmas Cakes

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Physical Education Football 1st XI Football The 1st XI football squad enjoyed another successful season winning the Kent League and the Kent Cup. This year’s squad was predominantly made up of Year 13 players including three players who had been part of the double winning team the 2012-13 season. The season started with an away league fixture against Simon Langton GS. We knew this would be one of the toughest matches and it ended 1-1. The squad travelled to Ardingly College and Bede’s for two prestigious friendlies. These enabled the boys to play on the highest quality pitches against two of the most recognised sporting schools in the area. With a slightly weakened team we lost 2-0 to Ardingly, who finished the season as National Independent Schools champions. With a very young 1st XI we outplayed Bede’s for long spells but lost 2-1 to a breakaway goal in the last minute.

These games motivated the squad gaining maximum points from the next five league games including a 10-2 win against Rochester Maths. The winning run continued in the cups with a 7-1 win against Wilmington Grammar in the Kent cup and an emphatic 18-0 victory against Strood Academy in the national cup with Jack Stevens scoring six goals.

The next three games in the league saw TWGSB bring home the maximum points having conceded 0 and scoring 14 goals. A 2-0 away win at Kemnal in the Kent Cup meant that TWGSB were into the last 16. The squad travelled to Beths GS and came

away with fine a 2-0 victory in what was arguably the team’s best performance of the season. The squad travelled to Barking Abbey in the national cup losing 2-0 to a team which went on to reach the final.

The team continued its unbeaten run in the league, winning the remainder of the games to finish the league as champions having won 10, drawn 1 and lost 0.

With the league title secured the squad focused on completing the double. A 4-0 win against Folkestone in the Quarter-Final followed by a 6-0 victory against Hayes in the Semi-Final meant the team had the chance to lift more silverware.

The Final was played at Maidstone United FC’s Gallagher Stadium against Harvey Grammar School.

The score was 3-3 at full time and after extra time.

The trophy was shared. A special thanks has to be given to Mr Menzies for giving up so much of his time to us.

Jamie Weller (1st XI Captain) Kent Schools Representatives U14: Luca Nwanosike U15: Dan Flint U16: Lucas Murrain, Max Borland U18: Jamie Weller, Nick Roberts,

Harry Osborne

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Physical Education Year 7 Football

Football Results

99 students attended the first training session and 80 students came every week after that.

U19 1st XI Kent Premier League Champions and Kent Cup Champions shared with Harvey G.S after a 3-3 draw in the final.

U19 2nd XI Kent Cup winners defeating Maidstone G.S 2-0 in the final.

U16 Semi-finalists of Kent Cup Year 7 B team reached the last 8 of England in the National Cup. This is the furthest any of our B teams have gone in a National competition.

Here are some of the A football team results: • • • •

(away) v Hurstmere lost 7-4 against a very strong side in the national cup (away) v Bexleyheath lost 3-2 in Kent cup (away) v Herne won 4-6 (away) v St Greggory’s which we won 0-1

TWGSB A football team didn’t have a very strong start to the season, although we did play against some very good sides, e.g. Hurstmere. Also we were quite unlucky against Bexleyheath as they scored in the last minute of the game. But towards the end of the season we played an amazing performance against St Gregg’s which was a tremendous way to end the season.

Futsal Year 9 runners up in Kent Year 11 won Kent Cup and runners up in South East England.

Tyler Copping, 7F

Swimming

The school also had its best ever achievement in swimming this year at the Kent Schools Swimming Champs in Gillingham. A summary of the highlights from the three age ranges over the two weekends are included below: • • • • • • • •

Michael Davidson: Gold in the Intermediate 200m IM, Silver in the 100m butterfly Matthew Chapman, Harry Maw, Michael Davidson and Aidan Crewe: Bronze in the 100m Intermediate freestyle relay.

Thomas Leman: 2nd in Junior boys 100m Breastroke, 4th in 100m Freestyle.

George Blair: 4th in 100m backstroke Thomas Leman, Freddie Cunningham, Ewan Livingston, George Blair: Gold in Junior Boys 200m Medley relay Thomas Leman, Freddie Cunningham, Ewan Livingston, George Blair: Gold in Junior Boys 200m Freestyle relay.

Hamish Wyatt: Gold in Senior Boys 100m breastroke.

Callum Brophy: 4th in Senior Boys 100m butterfly.

These were TWGSB’s first ever shield wins in swimming, which is an outstanding achievement. Again thank you to the parents who supported the boys on the day, and particular thanks to Mr Crewe, Mr Leman and Hamish Wyatt the swimming captain who organised the team and looked after the swimmers on the day.

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Physical Education Athletics

Cricket • Year 7, 8, 9 and 10: West Kent Year 7- Kent Cup Athletics League Champions for the quarter-finalists fourth year running.

Tennis Year 9 Kent Cup Semi-finalists Individual Honours Basketball • Lewis Church (Year 13) GB Year 11 West Kent Finalists.

Junior International. Lewis won • Year 8,9,10 play offs. the South East Schools Decathlon Champs, topping the UK ranking lists.

Lewis also finished fifth in the final of the English Schools Senior Boys 400m hurdles.

• Lewis Swaby U12 Kent Athletics squad. Lewis Year 7 Rugby excels in High Jump, Hurdles and 100m.

• Chris Cohen (Year 12) 2nd place in the Senior We are very lucky to have a large number of Boys Kent Schools Cross Country Champs. 21st enthusiastic rugby players, and our results have place in English Schools Cross Country Champs reflected this. We started the year on a high with an in Blackburn, as part of a victorious Kent Schools impressive 54-0 win over Bennett with Max Walker team. and Luke Wilks both having impressive games. Then after one false start due to an icy pitch we took an Our next fixture was against Rochester Maths where A and B team to Beth’s Grammar. The A’s played a we fielded three teams. The As had a hard game very tight and nerve wracking game, in which Seb as Rochester Maths had a couple of very large and Feakes made a game saving tackle in the final few fast players, who if not caught in the first 10 metres, moments. The B team also won their game. were off! However one try was scored by Freddy Cunningham, set up by Monty McDonald and Paddy Our 3rd fixture against Judd was not so successful.

Hagger who took the ball down the blind side, giving We took an early lead in the first few minutes with a a delayed pass to Freddy leaving clear space for him try out of the back of the ruck, passed swiftly through to run it in to the corner. The Bs lost but the C team the hands and scored in the far corner of the pitch. had a very well deserved victory.

From then on small errors meant we gave away a few tries and Judd finally came out comfortable Our last games against Sackville were won winners. The B team also came unstuck against a comfortably. Jamie Philips played an astonishing very strong Judd team. game, finding gaps and blasting his way through.

The backs also played impressively as some tactical The Y7 inter house rugby tournament followed. It dummies and switches here and there led us to was very close with only last minute tries separating eventually break away. The Bs won their game easily, 1st and 4th. 1 Ospreys, 2 Merlins, 3 Eagles, 4 with Jordan Banbrook scoring almost at will.

Falcons, 5 Hawks, 6 Kestrels.

Freddy Cunningham, 7A •

TWGSB came 4th in the U13 Bracken Cup Cross Country at Somerhill Schools, with Ewan Livingston coming 5th in the race.

Year 7: 5th out 14 teams in the Kent Schools games, partnering TWGGS as the Tunbridge Wells district representatives.

Table Tennis

U13 Table Tennis Squad:Tim Walters, Thomas Arnott, Richard Holmes and Joe Gillhouley. The boys are U13 Kent Champions, U13 South East Champions and 4th in National Championships. This was an incredible achievement by the four boys and by far our best racket sports achievement to date. Many thanks to the parents and organisers of the tournaments who have made the boys’ fantastic achievements possible..

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Nepal Our image of Nepal was obscure before we left and this was one of the main reasons we as a group were so eager to go, to experience a culture so different from ours and see a side of the world previously unseen.

The idea of the challenge was exciting for many different reasons. The experience gave us an opportunity to prove independence and show that we were capable of looking after ourselves; three aspects of the expedition catered for this: managing a budget, booking accommodation and food and immersing ourselves in the local communities.

We developed many skills, most noticeably our perseverance, trekking for 8 hours a day and challenging ourselves in the tasks that were set, aiming for a contented team. Team skills were a necessity in being able to cope in such a place, to make sure that every member of the team was happy, comfortable and felt safe. We worked together and supported each other to make sure that we enjoyed every aspect of the trip. The extreme conditions meant that without such skills the trip would be difficult, our team spirit played a major part in our everyday plans.

The character and skills that we developed in Nepal will serve us well in the future.

Despite the challenges, there were major rewards.

The sights and activities that we encountered are unique to that nation and admired worldwide and we got to experience them. The country is mostly known for the Himalayas, Kathmandu, and the Buddhist heritage. We experienced all of them.

Our trek to Poon Hill was challenging and our hard work was rewarded through the views we saw, stunning mountain ranges and sunsets which are so admired and so desperate to be seen by so many. Kathmandu itself was a major part of our trip, the capital being our main point of rest and an opportunity to catch our breath. The unique buildings and markets maintain a traditional feel and reintroduce the country’s heritage. We learned about the religious background through the many temples that we experienced. We learnt that there was so much more that meets the eye to this place such as whitewater rafting! We got to experience the vibrant culture of the people that made our stay so welcoming, we all experienced people that made us feel humble and this was a pivotal part as to why we enjoyed our stay so much.

Our experience, whilst being a challenge, was unique and the highs points overwhelmingly made up for the low points. We learnt more about the nation, our team and ourselves than we ever imagined we would.

Harry Marples, 10H

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Y12 Activities Week ATHENS 2015: Walking in the footsteps of the world’s greatest philosophical thinkers During Activities Week, a group of Year 12 Philosophy & Ethics students descended on Greece to ‘walk in the footsteps’ of the great Ancient Greek philosophers. After a rocky 3:00 am meet time at school, we headed to Heathrow, catching a flight which left at the break of dawn. We met our tour guide for the week, Babis, at the airport in Athens, and went straight to the Temple of Poseidon, on the coast of the Aegean Sea. The view from the ruins was stunning, looking out across the shimmering water under a blazing sun.

The week was full of sites from Ancient Historyfrom the old Olympic Stadium, the Acropolis and Parthenon to the ruins of Mycenae and Epidaurus.

The sensation of standing in the Agora, within a few feet of where Aristotle pondered the very foundations of reality, was a truly incredible experience. Visiting Delphi, the beautiful holy town up in the hills, gave an unparalleled idea of the past, as far back as 2500 years ago. Visiting ancient places like these makes

you wonder what will be left of our civilisation in a few thousand years.

The evenings were generally left for us to explore independently the surrounding area in Athens, and everyone enjoyed the breaks from the very enthusiastic Babis commentary. On one evening, we went to an outdoor cinema within view of the Parthenon.

It’s only by visiting and experiencing places such as Athens that we can really gain an affinity to the origins of epistemology, the birthplace of democracy, and the most famous and influential philosophers to ever exist.

Asa Kerr-Davis, 12E

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Y12 Activities Week Year 12s in School The focus of the week for Year 12 students in school was ‘Future Planning’: preparing students for their university applications and for the world of work.

Students took part in a number of activities throughout the week to prepare for practice interviews as well as teambuilding exercises.

These included two workshops One delivered by charity BLESMA (Enabling limbless veterans to lead independent and fulfilling lives) on motivation and life-goals, the other by the Engineering Development Trust (EDT). The latter ran a day of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) activities.

On ‘Careers Day’, students attended both subject and careers talks and spent time developing and refining their UCAS personal statements .

Every student had the opportunity to take part in a practice interview. Over 50 volunteers (including parents, grandparents and governors) came into school to interview Year 12 students providing invaluable preparation for both university and employment interviews.

Students were able to spend the final two days of the week either doing work experience, volunteering or attending university open days.

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Y7–Y9 Activities Week KS3 STEM Activities Electricity Light and Motion Phil Moffitt, School’s Liaison Officer for the Insitution of Engineering and Technology delivered a Electromagnets and torch activity.

Phil who spent 22 years as a military infrastructure engineer is now a consultant and a lecturer at the Royal School of Military Engineering.

Magic of Water

This was an interactive workshop presented by STEM volunteer, Sandy Elsworth whose expertise is in Water management, hydrogeology, boreholes, groundwater modelling, international development.

The Engineering Development Trust (EDT)

Year 9 boys spent a lively day exploring various aspects of engineering, including: • Building rockets and testing them - aiming to build the one that travelled furthest.

• Designing and building a machine to offload cargo at dockside from a ship. The winner was judged as the one which was both most effective and most aesthetically pleasing.

Mrs Tull’s Retro-Biscuits

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Y7–Y9 Activities Week Wakehurst Place, Ardingly The day at Wakehurst was made up of two science focused activities for Year 9.The workshops were led by specialist teachers from Kew Gardens and linked directly to the GCSE Science syllabus.

All students spent half a day taking part in a Wild Weald workshop. They learnt about the plants and animals of the woodland or meadow habitat through sampling and observation. Students also had the chance to learn about the important conservation work done by Kew, including the Millennium Seed Bank.

The other half of the day was spent doing a labbased activity: either Green DNA (Customs officials have stopped a timber consignment at Southampton Docks which they suspect has been cut from protected rainforest. Use DNA gel electrophoresis to decide whether the wood has been illegally imported or not.) or Feeding on Light (Life on this planet depends on photosynthesis. Find out more about it by suspending microscopic algae in spheres. Investigate the effect of light intensity on photosynthesis).

Year 9 returning from Sporting Activities

Mr Brady’s Rocket Launchers Mr Ash and Mr Roberts’ Airfix

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Y7–Y9 Activities Week Ms Kublik’s Wire Sculpting Students from Year 9 who have opted to take Art at GCSE were invited to attend a workshop day. They spent the day focussing on bones and anatomy in a drawing and wire-sculpting workshop. The morning sessions were focussed on drawing in a variety of media such as chalks and charcoal – their work referenced still life set ups of bones. In the afternoon they used these drawings to inform simple wire sculptures based on the shapes and forms they had recorded.

Mr Stevens’ Ice-Cream Vans (Graphic Products)

Year 7 at Knockhatch

Bedgebury Pinetum Boys took part in a range of activities including team building challenges, orienteering and shelter building.

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Y10 and Y12 Madrid During Activities week a group of Year 10s and Year 12s went to Madrid, Spain. We travelled by plane from Heathrow Airport which in itself was a great laugh!

This trip was definitely my favourite trip so far at the school. We went to the Santiago Bernabèu Stadium as well as visiting a theme park, not forgetting the great opportunities we had to sample spanish food by eating tapas at local restaurants. On one of the days we were taken for a Spanish speaking lesson which was much more diverse than our usual lessons due to the fact that the lesson was carried out almost entirely in Spanish!

I would definitely recommend this trip to everyone not just because there was something for everyone but because it was a great first-hand experience of life in Spain!

Alex Snuggs, 10E

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Year 7 Paris On a week where temperatures reached record levels in Paris, we set off for Dover at 06:15 in the morning. Everyone was so excited. We arrived at Dover and boarded our huge ferry heading for Calais. The ferry docked in France and then we set off for our main destination. The journey from Calais to Paris was long, however exciting as we entered the city and saw amazing sights like the Stade de France stadium which is the home of the French national rugby and football teams. As we entered Paris our first destination was the Eiffel Tower. After many traffic jams we arrived at the enormous steel Eiffel Tower. We walked up to the top seeing an amazing view of the whole of Paris. We set of for ‘Flunch’ which is a fast food restaurant which served really good food. After that the coach headed to

our hotel where we checked in and went to sleep after a long day.

The next day we woke up and had breakfast. After getting ready for the scorching hot weather we got on board our coach and set off for The Notre Dame.

We went up the cathedral tower which was very interesting looking at various statues of gargoyles.

After going round the impressive Notre Dame we went to the Chateau de Versailles. When we arrived there everyone was dazzled by the palace which was, in some places, covered with gold. We entered the massive building seeing impressive statues and pieces of art. After that we went outside to the great garden with gold fountains and bright green grass.

We explored the gigantic garden and then went to a smaller palace which was for the queen and her friends which was less grand however still amazing to see. After that we had our usual Flunch meal and then went back to our hotel for some well earned sleep.

Gus Sears, 7F On a boiling hot Wednesday, we travelled to L’Arc de Triomphe and

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Year 7 Paris visited the museum inside and saw the models of architecture and French history lining the walls and ceilings.The group went to the top of the Arc and saw all along the Champs Elysées and the adjacent roads. Soon after, we went on a boat trip along the Seine, and saw many attractions such as Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower along the way. We caught sight of many shops and cafés and the old French apartments built along the riverbank in medieval times.

We then visited the Louvre, the final part of the day. We took in many famous paintings such as the Mona Lisa and the Birth of Baby Jesus. We soon left, as it had been a long day, and returned, exhausted, to the hotel at about 10.00pm.

Charlie Ramos, 7F On Thursday we went to Disneyland Paris for the day. I think it was the day everyone was looking forward to all

week. When we arrived at Disneyland, everyone’s excitement doubled as we saw how many cars were there, barely any! Once we were off the hot sticky coach (the air conditioning was struggling in the heat), everyone raced to the best rides, only just remembering to grab the tickets!

After the first few rides everyone felt a little bit sick, we went onto the laser tags and the tea cups for some fun (little rides). But time passes fast and it was lunch already, before eating we had to register in case we had been ‘abducted by aliens’ or simply lost. For lunch we had a lovely pizza, coke, chips followed by ice cream or the heathy option salad, apple crumble, water and potatoes, I think you know what option hungry boys went for. Later that day, after merchandise buying and some more amazing rides, we went back to our hotels, exhausted.

Sadly Friday was our last day so we packed up and left to go to Calais. It was a day day where we felt like we travelled forever, but we did get to have lunch in a restaurant. Afterwards we were allowed to go shopping for half an hour in a hypermarket - we brought some French goodies for our families. After shopping, we loaded on to the coach once again for the final drive to Calais and the ferry to Dover.

Arriving back at TWGSB we were all very happy to see our waiting parents.

Max Walker, 7F

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Sports Day Sports Day 2015 was as ever, another memorable event, with the weather perfect for the second year in a row It was fantastic again to see the colourful array of House T-shirts on show and also the general relaxed atmosphere and excellent behaviour shown by the pupils. There were some outstanding performances, some comedy moments and fervent house rivalry as always mixed with sportsmanship and respect for the endeavour of all the athletes.

Winners for each Year group are below, with Eagles claiming the overall ‘House Cup’.

Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Year 12

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Eagles Eagles Falcons Hawks Merlins

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Sports Day Records Year 7 100m – Lewis Swaby 12.59s Year 8 100m – Tristan Stocker 11.90s Year 8 Javelin – Jack Gallager 34.15m

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TWGSB Open Evening

thegrammarschool@twgsboys.kent.sch.uk www.twgsb.org.uk