SCHOOL TALKS

RGS EARTHSHOT LAUNCHES LECTURE SERIES WITH SIMON VIRLEY (RGS 1979-1987)

On Wednesday 11 May we welcomed back to the school Reigatian and ex-Head Boy, Simon Virley, to deliver a talk on ‘Climate Change, COP 26 and how we get to Net Zero’.

Simon is Vice-Chair and Head of Energy and Natural Resources at KPMG. He advises some of the world’s largest companies on the energy transition and the shift to Net Zero, and represented KPMG at the COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November 2021. Before joining KPMG, he spent twenty-five years in the UK Government, including at 10 Downing Street where he was Private Secretary to Tony Blair for three years, HM Treasury and latterly as Director General for Energy in the Department of Energy and Climate Change between 2009-15.

After RGS, he went to Oxford University, where he achieved a First in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. He also holds a Masters in Economics from LSE. RGS Earthshot is a series of initiatives to encourage our RGS students and the wider community to live more sustainably. This lecture is the first in our RGS Earthshot Lecture series. The event was incredibly well attended by pupils, parents, staff and members of the local community and neighbouring schools.

A huge congratulations to Jasmine F and Thomas D, Heads of School, for launching this exciting new RGS sustainable movement whose vision was inspired by The Earthshot Prize and knew it could be the foundations of our own environmental movement. Moreover focusing on the negatives and the challenges associated with becoming more sustainable and work out what we can do as a community to make a change.

SIMON BASSETT (RGS 1989-1996)

In April, Sixth Formers were treated to some industry insights into personal branding and building a show-stopping LinkedIn profile, courtesy of marketing recruitment expert Simon Bassett.

TIM CRITCHLEY (CURRENT PARENT)

On Tuesday 28 June Tim Critchely, CEO, Squared UP, came in as key note speaker at the TEDx Youth @ RGS (an independently organsised TED event). Tim presented ‘An accidental entrepreneur: 4 lessons from a career in start-ups’

ART, PHOTOGRAPHY AND DESIGN TECHNOLOGY

The First Form has focused on the artist Michael Craig-Martin’s use of colour and line. They have been busy developing their drawing skills and experimented with printmaking, creating a variety of colourful compositions inspired by the artist’s work.

Second Formers have been focusing on the architectural designs of Antonio Gaudi for their art project this term. They have created mixed media drawings of Gaudi’s towers and recorded their observations of natural forms producing colourful wax resist paintings of seashells.

In Photography the Third Form students have been introduced to light sensitive paper. They have used a contact method to create lumen prints and cyanotype and they have been looking at an early form on photography with pinhole cameras made out of biscuit tins.

Designing and creating a lamp is a practical task in the Third Form curriculum which helps students to embed GCSE-level skills and knowledge such as 3D CAD, computer-aided manufacturing, electronics and making skills.

Our students have displayed an exceptional amount of talent this past year, some of the art produced can be seen here.

Drama

It was all swash and buckle in the Concert Hall in December as the Christmas Drama production of Treasure Island played to sell-out crowds. The company was led by Emma B as Jim Hawkins, Liberty T as Long John Silver and Annie J as Grandma, in their final performances after seven years of appearing on the RGS stage. A particular highlight was a rapt audience of local Year 5 and Year 6 pupils, who cheered for every sword fight and cowered at the pirates.

In April, RGS Drama presented Monstrous Stories, a storytelling project based on the novel by Patrick Ness. It was a powerful, impressive and moving tale, whilst challenging to watch. The students and staff clearly worked hard, with great dedication, passion and skill to produce another incredible RGS production.

Music

RGS put on a most spectacular performance for their annual concert at Dorking Halls. The concert involved all of the First Form and many musical groups ranging from their Symphony Orchestra to their Swing Bands and choirs. Hundreds of students participated. The tickets to the concert sold out in a record-breaking 24 hours.

School Photo

In September, the whole school turned out for our photo with Tempest Photography. Our first since 2016!

ReiMUN

“October saw the largest take up in places at our annual ReiMUN Conference for five years! With over 350 students in attendance, the day was full of fun and fruitful debate on a myriad of topical, complex international issues.” Ms Fullalove, MUN Director.

As ever, the event focused on collaboration, support and sharing: “Be the catalyst”, this year’s theme, was expounded by our Secretary General Maame O, who linked the idea of chemical change with social change for her own recipe of international cooperation and mutual respect.

and it is a wonderful experience for them.”

Students from twenty other UK schools, both state and independent, ensured a diverse range of backgrounds and ideas.

Younger students from schools such as Bishop Thomas Grant in London were enthralled by the atmosphere. “I love bringing my younger delegates to this conference,” said Miss Gray, MUN Advisor, “as their ideas will always be well received

RGS was allocated the United Kingdom and Afghanistan – clearly, two vastly different regimes! Students had to spend time researching political policies on topics such as the illegal drug trade, mandatory vaccination, and international laws on punitive justice.

“MUN is a great training ground for law and politics at university,” said Maame O. “I came to this school to do MUN and it has been brilliant.” Maame hopes to study law next year.

A Level Results 2022

Best exam results in the School’s history

Following record breaking outcomes last year, Reigate Grammar School students achieved the best exam results in the school’s history, resulting in a record year for offers to selective and world class universities.

Sport

Sport continues to evolve at RGS with increasing emphasis on our vision to develop great people through sport. The stories from sport this year have been increasingly rooted in a values-based and behaviours-driven approach, where sport is about being part of something bigger than yourself. While we want individuals to shine, we also want students to embrace the Team Reigate spirit.

Our intention is to create an environment where every student on the pitch has a great experience, both RGS students and our opposition. This means we want competitive games where the result hangs in the balance until as late as possible in the game. This keeps students engaged and enjoying sport as the perception of competence is important to all. We put collaboration with opposition above competition against opposition. We love watching students succeed and often winning a narrowly contested game brings smiles and excitement. But we need to remember that sport is not a zero-sum game where there must always be a winner and a loser. Cricket at RGS was once again recognised in the Top 100 Cricket Schools in the country by the Cricketer Magazine, whilst rugby is continuing to thrive, with more than 150 fixtures played since September alone.

• 47% of grades were A* and 4 out of 5 grades were either A or A*

• Students achieved 94% A*-B grades

• The typical grade profile is A*AA

• 96% of A Level students received Russell Group, Top Universities, Oxbridge or medical school offers

• Impeccable BTEC results (100% receiving the top grade: Starred Distinction) demonstrating the diversity of the school’s new curriculum.

“We have made a concerted effort to empower students by encouraging them to take more ownership of how they train and play. Teams have been running their own pre-match routines and we have even incorporated parental post-match feedback with the seniors. This has allowed us to develop the students’ independence, leadership potential and problem-solving abilities.”

In netball, we’ve had more students than ever participate and over twenty-five teams represented RGS in competitive fixtures.

Our autumn hockey term started with a warm pre-season with the focus on team values as well as improving our skills on the pitch ready for the season ahead. We have a number of successes among our own students who have gained selection at a higher level in hockey. This is a process that for many of them started in the summer with a lengthy process of trialling. Football at RGS has been on an exciting trajectory this year for both the girls’ and boys’ programmes. With continued and increased involvement from all our students, we consistently provide weekly football for over 300 students a week.

The golf programme at RGS continues to grow with eight single figure players in the school and many more learning the sport for the first time in First and Second Form. Cross country club continues to be popular, particularly with the Lower School students, and an increasing number of students have competed in team and individual events. There have been notable successes for many of our students throughout the year including the November Whitgift Biathlon with excellent times produced in the pool.

RGS continues to go from strength to strength in providing further sporting opportunities to all its students and there has been huge steps this year to include an array of new sports such as equestrian, dance, ballet, judo, trampolining and fencing in addition to the new Specialist Sports Programme which includes squash and ski racing.

“Cricket is very much part of the sporting offering for boys and girls here at RGS. We have excellent facilities at Hartswood, including three grass pitches, one artificial wicket, six artificial nets and grass practice wickets. The standard of coaching is high, and we cater for players of all abilities.”

James Leck, Head of Cricket