ACADEMIC Tonbridge among the honours in the British Physics Olympiad Boys celebrated winning Gold, Silver and Bronze awards in the First Round of the British Physics Olympiad. This national competition encourages the study of the subject and recognises excellence in young physicists. Two Upper Sixth Formers, Kenneth Lee (MH5) and Yury Balabin (CH5), claimed the highest ranking on offer with a Top Gold placing, which puts them among the very best students in the country (the top 7 per cent nationally). Those with Top Golds can also go on to compete in Round 2. Chris Powell, Head of Physics, said: “This was an extremely challenging paper and so all students who gained awards should be very proud of their performance.”
Our Sixth Form language pioneers! Fifteen Sixth Formers have become the ‘première cohorte’ from the School to gain a new French language qualification. The boys have all passed the DELF, which can be sat by Years 12 and 13 as an alternative to a full A-level as part of Tonbridge’s Sixth Form Curriculum. Having put their skills to the test, the boys did the School proud with a 100 per cent pass rate. French Teacher Jean-Patrick Vieu said: “What started as a journey into unknown territory has now turned into a great success for these boys. All demonstrated perseverance, determination, patience and good humour during their studies, and I am overjoyed at the outcome.” Studying a Modern Language in the Sixth Form is a popular choice for Tonbridgians. Approximately one third of the current Upper Sixth opt to study at least one, either to A-level or as an additional language qualification. Modern Languages on offer are French, German, Mandarin and Spanish.
l The International Maths Olympiad sees countries from across the world sending their best six school-aged mathematicians to take part. Contestants have to solve six fiendishly difficult problems over two four-and-a-half hour papers. Tonbridge’s first representative on this international stage was Sherman Yip in 2020.
In the most recent competition, no fewer than three current Tonbridgians were involved: a level of participation which is a record for any UK school. Alex Chui (CH1) represented Hong Kong and achieved a Gold Medal. Isaac King (CH3) represented the UK and achieved a Silver Medal. Catalin Botezat (Sc4) represented Moldova.
