ACADEMIC

Boys commended for ‘character and achievement’ after GCSE results

Third Year boys achieved excellent results in their GCSEs, with 96 per cent of all grades awarded being at 9/8/7, equivalent to A*/A. Nearly two thirds of the boys’ results overall are at Grade 9, with 39 students receiving 9s in all subjects.

Winning team has the right chemistry!

A Tonbridge team has been awarded first place in the South East following a prestigious national science competition. Lower Sixth boys Bosco Lee (PS4), Victor Wong (HS4) and Gabriel Day (CH4) took part in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Schools’ Analyst Competition, where they had to pit their skills and knowledge against teams from many other schools in the region.

The annual contest puts Year 12 students’ understanding of chemical analysis to the test via a series of hands-on experiments and problem-solving, theory-based questions, to be tackled by teams of three.

Tonbridge entered ten teams into this year’s contest, with Bosco, Victor and Gabriel winning in the South East section after papers were marked by the judging panel. In total there were nine regional winning teams across the country.

James Priory, Tonbridge’s Headmaster, congratulated the Year 11 cohort (a few of whom are pictured on GCSE results day). “I am so proud of the conscientiousness and creativity the boys have shown. Their results are a tremendous achievement, especially given the challenging circumstances of the last 18 months,” he said.

“They have shown great character and resilience, remaining fully involved in the co-curricular and community life of the School as well as achieving excellent academic results.”

Mr Priory added he was looking forward to welcoming the boys back in September: “Our new Sixth Form Curriculum, now in its second year, provides what we believe is the best preparation possible for university and future careers.”

* Upper Sixth secure top university places: Page 5

Prize pens for academic excellence

Each year three beautifully crafted quill pens are awarded to Upper Sixth boys judged to be the top three all-round academic performers.

There were many impressive contenders, with the academic performance of the current Upper Sixth thought to be among the strongest at Tonbridge in recent memory.

1st prize

Silver whole gilt pen: Sherman Yip (HS5)

2nd prize

Silver parcel gilt pen: James Craggs (PS5)

3rd prize

Silver pen: Thomas Masding (OH5)

The following boys were commended for extraordinary academic achievement: Ben Gardner (CH5), Tom Roxburgh (WH5), Victor Lin (MH5), Paddy Davies Jones (Sc5)

God, soul, free will: Inaugural Chadwick Essay Competition

Second Year Religious Studies pupils were given the opportunity to write an extended essay for the inaugural Chadwick Essay Competition. They were asked to respond to a question on God’s existence, the soul or free will. Pupils independently researched and wrote their essays over the course of two weeks, with shortlisted candidates being put forward to Julian Dobson (Head of Divinity) for adjudication.

The quality of work was impressive, with essays by Oscar McIlwham (PS2), Nicholas Laidlaw (WW2), Tim Laurencin (Sc2), Andrey Popov (HS2) and Johnnie Averdieck (WW2) standing out. They all received a ‘Guide to Philosophy’ at a prize-giving ceremony.

The overall winner was Johnnie Averdieck , whose essay was chosen by Julian Dobson for its “rigorous analysis of free will, inclusion of complex scientific arguments and beautifully engaging style”.

Isaac King (CH2) represented the UK as part of a team of six in the International Maths Olympiad. The competition, which had to take place remotely this year, was hosted by Russia in the summer. Isaac qualified by performing consistently well over many qualifying rounds, competing mostly against students in the Sixth Form.

He is only the second Tonbridgian to qualify for the International Maths Olympiad, and the first to qualify for any International Team below the Sixth Form.