Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School Newsletter Spring 2014
Message from the Headteacher At the start of any year, many of us make New Year’s Resolutions. Such traditions go back 4300 years to the time of the ancient Babylonians, who made promises to their gods at the start of each year that they would return borrowed objects and pay their debts! Over the Christmas holiday, I read an autobiography of an Old Veseyan, inscribed with the words, ‘To the Headteacher at Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School, the school that changed my life.’ As we begin a new year I can think of no better resolution for us as a school community than to re-double and renew our efforts to help change all of our students’ lives for the better. Wishing you all a happy 2014.
Headteacher
Oxbridge success
Speech Day 2013 We ended the autumn term on a high with an excellent Speech Day with our guest speaker, Professor David Eastwood FRHistS, DL (below) the Vice- Chancellor of Birmingham University and the current Chair of the Russell Group of universities. He gave an inspiring speech on the power of reading, self-knowledge and advice on how Veseyans can thrive in the 21st Century. It was, as usual, a pleasure to applaud all our returning students and celebrate their successes. We are very proud of every single one of them. Well done, in particular, to Assistant Headteacher, Dave Goodwin and Senior Office Manager, Angela Kite and her team for organising this complex event with such skill. It was a pleasure to welcome again Pat Griffin, who presented the John Griffin Memorial Award, and Anne Troman, who sponsored the Jeavon Porter-Fraser Memorial Award and, of course, Jeavon’s mother, Maureen. And it was good to see David Iddon, our former Executive Head, returning to receive the inaugural Clive Richards VC Award. We hope that David has a large sideboard for this impressive trophy!
We are delighted that six of our students have attained places at Oxbridge. From left to right pictured are Joshua Smith, Mathematics, Robinson College, Cambridge Andrew Hyslop, Engineering, St Hilda's, Oxford, Joe Davies, Philosophy, Politics and Economics, St Edmund Hall, Oxford, Lucy Mills, Chemistry, New College, Oxford, Andy Quach, Economics, King's College, Cambridge , Chris Nowek, Medicine, New College, Oxford. Well done to all these students and their families. I am particularly thrilled that two of the students above have gained places at New College, currently top of the Norrington Table (the Oxford University College league table).
Grease 2014 February saw Big School being transformed into Rydell High for our production of Grease. It was a superb performance, enjoyed by the cast and audience alike. It was a huge team effort but it was definitely worth it. Thanks especially to Ben Woodford (L6), Lighting Designer and Actor, Pippa Gleave (U6), Choreographer, Sarah Slater, Director, Maryann Dye, Musical Director and Steve Baugh, Producer.
Table toppers On 23 January 2014, the Department for Education (DFE) published school league tables. We were delighted to be ranked as the best performing state school for boys with a co-educational Sixth Form in Birmingham and Walsall. Check out the link from the front page of our website: http://www.education.gov.uk/cgi-bin/schools/performance/school.pl?urn=137988 for further details. Follow us on
The official Bishop Vesey’s Twitter account is @BVGS1527
February 2014
Juiced Out
Page 2
The Physics Big Quiz The Physics Department were in jubilant mood on Monday 27 January when our Year 9 boys defeated 85 schools in the Physics Big Quiz at Birmingham University to emerge as champions. Well done to Daniel Leyva and Daniel Quirk pictured here with the trophy and all the other Year 9 team members. Thanks to Andy Whittle, Teacher of Physics and Julie Wadeson, Physics Technician for enabling our boys to enjoy this excellent opportunity.
Our students have made it through to the West Midlands Real Business Challenge Final 2013/14 to take place at Birmingham City Football Club on Tuesday 11 February. There was a great deal of competition this year and our students deserve a huge amount of credit for qualifying. Our team’s campaign focused on promoting a drink called Juiced Out, a tantalizing blend of coconut and other fruits. At the final the students will have the opportunity of working alongside Coca-Cola business mentors on a live project and the chance of winning some exciting prizes. The winning group comprise of: Daniel Leyva, Louis Kill-Brown, Luke McIntyre, Michael Moore, Daniel Quirk, Eben Gutteridge, Tom Hooper Dominic Newcombe (all Year 9) pictured with Andrew Teviotdale (Teacher of Business Studies)
Feel the Force
The Physics Department have been making good use of our grounds this February! As part of the Year 10 curriculum, they study Forces. What better way to experience Forces in action than having a tug of war contest! L-R: Tom Eglesfield, Robin Pepper, Diren Gill, Josh Bosman, Alex Mewis
Would I Lie to You?
Well done to Daniel Phillips, Luke McIntyre and Louis Kill-Brown all from Year 9 who organised an excellent 'Would I Lie to You' staff special. It was compèred by two Year 8 boys, Archie Sansome and Harry West, and starred Messrs Doughty, Egan, Götschel, Harper, Storey and Teviotdale. It was very entertaining and importantly raised £114.22 for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Our busy charity committee also organised a 'Onesie Day' for the Teenage Cancer Trust on Friday 24 January, which raised £256.16. Two big events for student diaries: Sport Relief on Friday 21 March, when we are doing a 12 hour Sportathon and the Great Midlands Fun Run on Sunday 1 June.
Murder in the Cathedral Students in Year 7 have been recreating the final moments in the life of Thomas Becket in model form this term. Pictured are Alex Bailey, Erik Brown and Aiden Croghan with their models. The abbey in the foreground belongs to Fraser Chapman also of Year 7. Some of the students even went as far as to create a computer game based on Thomas and his dealings with King Henry. The standard of the student’s work surpassed the very high standards set the previous year. The History department has been very impressed with all the efforts made by the students across the year group. Well done model makers!
Page 3
BVGS Newsletter
Christmas Concerts We were delighted to hold two Christmas concerts this year. 440 people attended and were very proud of the outstanding commitment and quality of every single one of the 130 students performing on stage. The range and quality of musical items was breathtaking: choral singing, big band pieces, orchestral works, ensembles and a very innovative series of compositions by our outstanding new Lower 6th AS musicians: Xhosa Cole, Rupert Daniels, Zoe Le Maistre, James Nesbitt, Ellen Rhodes and Jessica Ridout. Thanks in particular to Maryann Dye, Director of Music, who set a warm, relaxed, encouraging, friendly and very professional tone for the concerts, and Ciaran O’Donnell, newly appointed Head of the Birmingham Music Service for his continued support for Vesey Music.
Debating
Time to Change Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School is one of the few schools in the country to sign up to the Time to Change campaign to end mental health discrimination. Following assemblies led by our student mental health ambassadors, members of the School were invited to make personal pledges of positive behaviour to support this campaign. We were touched and overwhelmed by the large number of students and staff who have made a pledge. Thank you everyone. Pictured left is Leighton PalmerWhyte (8B) with his pledge.
The Debating Society for boys from Years 7-9 goes from strength to strength, with 40+ boys meeting weekly in Old Big School with Dominic Robson, Headteacher. We have debated the merits of Scottish independence and Android versus Apple. Our latest motion: ‘This House believes the school day is long enough’ was strongly carried. Pictured is Mohammed Hashim (Year 8) forcibly making his point.
Medical Society Since starting last term, the new Medical Society has really hit the ground running. Chris Nowek, who has been offered a place to study Medicine at New College, Oxford, has led this Society jointly with Dave Goodwin, Assistant Headteacher. They have organised various activities, including talks from doctors, admissions test preparation, ethical debates and interview feedback from the current Upper Sixth. Our main aim has been to give students a realistic idea of what applying for medical courses involves, and what to expect when studying at university. We are extremely grateful towards those parents and friends of the school such as Dr David Hobin, Consultant Paediatric Oncologist at The Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Dr Rachel Upthegrove, Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist from The University of Birmingham who have volunteered to give their time to come and talk to us. Their knowledge and experiences will make a great difference to our UCAS applications for medicine and student understanding of the medical profession.
Poetry Live
Ben Thompson (8R) recently went to Paris as a chorister with Birmingham Cathedral Choir. Ben has been singing with the choir for three and a half years. Whilst in Paris the Choir sang at concerts and masses at Notre Dame and Chartres Cathedrals. The Sunday morning mass at Notre Dame was attended by over 2,000 people!
AQA’s annual event, Poetry Live! made a return visit to Birmingham’s Symphony Hall on the 29 January. Ruth Haywood (Head of English) and Kate Steadman (Senior Teacher) accompanied 29 Year 11 boys to the event. Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy and Gillian Clarke opened the event with poetry readings, and an opportunity for the students to ask questions. A firm favourite, Simon Armitage entertained a full house with his amusing poetry readings and a question and answer session. In the afternoon, the students heard from Imtiaz Dharker, Daljit Nagra and the very memorable John Agard. In addition, chief examiner Peter Buckroyd led two sessions with extremely helpful advice on how to tackle the unseen poetry exam. A very different learning experience, the boys greatly benefited from hearing poetry read by the poets they are studying for the Literature GCSE examination. If you missed out, Mrs Haywood will be using the examiner’s sessions as part of Tuesday lunch time revision next half term.
February 2014
Page 4
Vesey’s got ……...
Our annual 'Vesey's got Talent' show was led by our two outstanding Upper Sixth presenters Will Curwen and Dan Casserley. They were highly professional and outstanding representatives of our school. Thanks also to the Sixth Form Officer Team with particular thanks to Anna Robson, Kate D'Aubney and Vibi Bhatia our Charity Officers for their dedicated work in organising this event. Together, we raised £267.43 for Breakthrough Breast Cancer as well as having a great time. Our judges, Goodwin, Bowen and Egan were joined by Old Veseyan Gabriella Jones who is the Local Patron of Breakthrough Breast Cancer and a highly professional musician.
Attain Travel is a proud sponsor of Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School Sports
Rowing continues to be a growth sport at BVGS. At Northampton Head in January, it was great to see the first competitive outing for our Year 8 team. Well done boys. Weather conditions on this occasion were particularly atrocious with strong wind, hail and lightning. One of our boats capsized. Our rowing teachers, Min Egan and Ian Bousfield, did a superb job in looking after the students in difficult circumstances. Despite some races being abandoned, we did have an excellent victory with one of our female teams, the J18 quad (Morgan Hope, Anna Robson, Aimee Stratford and Kayleigh Reardon, pictured above) winning their race.
Netball training session with England player To round off an exciting term of netball at Vesey, we had the pleasure of a training session with Ebony BeckfordChambers (West Coast Fever and England). After a quick warm up Ebony had the girls working through drills to focus on hand-eye coordination with various different passes. At the end of the session Ebony held a question and answer session and players asked about her netball career and training schedule. Playing professionally in Australia, Ebony lives there for six months of the year and trains for six days per week. It was interesting to hear about her training schedule using bleep tests, yoga, swimming, weights and netball. Ebony also talked about her hopes that netball will become more high profile and encouraged us to watch the Superleague which will be televised for the first time in February.
Page 5
BVGS Newsletter
………. Talent!
As usual the quality of acts was fantastic. Well done to Goon inspired comedian, Benedict Lawrence Pietroni (Year 7), singing superstar, Ben Thompson (Year 8), pianist Pippa Gleave (L6), mime artist Hamdan Arifeen (L6) and singer-songwriter Vibi Bhatia (U6). The audience loved it and well done to Vibi who narrowly pipped Ben to the top spot.
Athletics
Pictured are seven of our outstanding Year 7 team of eight who have won the Sutton Schools Indoor Athletics and Birmingham Schools Indoor Athletics Championships in style and with an impeccable attitude. Well done to : Harrison Casey, Matt Freer, Luke O’Brien, Jack Horton, Warwick Pallister, Dan Porter, Malachi Searchwell-Snape and Ben Ellis. Luke also participates in the Midlands County Athletics League, coming fourth in an U13 Quadrathlon (60m sprint, shot put, long jump and high jump). He is also competing for prize money in the mixed age sprint relay at the Birmingham Grand Prix at the NIA. Fantastic achievement Luke and well done to all the team!
Mountain biking
Students have developed their technical skills this term and experienced ‘single track’, ‘manuals’, ‘drop offs’, ‘berms’ as well as the better known ‘wheelies’! In January the group visited the purpose built mountain bike trail at Sandwell Valley Park and progressed through the different challenged routes - rated much like ski runs as Green, Blue, Red and Black. Thanks must go to the continued contribution that Bike North Birmingham make as it has encouraged many students to get involved in cycling as part of games programme.
Karate success
Philip Reader, Jacob Wilkes and Oliver Bardsley (Y 9) successfully passed their 2nd Dan black belt Karate grading. This represents a lot of hard work over the past 7 years, and in particular additional training over the past 12 months.
Congratulations to the 2014 World Challenge team who spent 2 mornings bag packing at Marks and Spencer and Tesco over Christmas. They raised over £1000 towards their World Challenge adventure to Norway this July. Many thanks to Ralph Brocklebank, Cara Lawson-Tafe and Alex Davis who helped supervise the bag packing and to all parents that supported the event. We appreciate any support of future World Challenge fundraising events in the New Year. Well done to all students involved!
World Challenge Fundraising
February 2014
Page 6
Meet the Governors Dr John Craggs DL PhD FCMA I have been a Governor since 2009 and my younger son attended the School in the 1990’s. I have been Chairman of Governors (since 2012) and am also an ex-officio member of Finance and Estates, Learning and Teaching, and HR Committees After gaining a doctorate in Chemistry (University of Birmingham), my career stages have been Industrial Development Chemist, Finance Director in industry and finally Managing Director of the largest independent passenger transport company in the region, which was successfully developed and then sold to a PLC. I also gained diverse interests such as Member of Council at the University of Birmingham (2000-2008), where I am currently chairman of two University companies and pension scheme, and Member of University Court. I have also been a non-executive director of Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust since 2009, where I am chairman of the audit committee. This wide experience at board level in the private sector (manufacturing and service) and public sector (health and education) is helpful in my role on the Governing Body as I am passionate about ensuring that the School continues to provide an outstanding education which produces pupils equipped both academically, and with the wider life-skills necessary for successful and happy lives. I am a Deputy Lord Lieutenant for the West Midlands. Married with three children and one young and lively grandson, I play tennis regularly with enthusiasm but indifferently! I am a member of The Lunar Society and Birmingham Civic Society. I have been a Governor for approximately five years. Both my sons attended BVGS and my youngest is now in the Upper Sixth. I currently chair the Learning and Teaching Committee and the Head Teacher’s Performance Review Committee, and I am a member of the Audit Committee. I have Master’s degrees in Engineering Science and Business Administration, am a Chartered Engineer, and have been in general management roles in international engineering and manufacturing companies for more than 25 years. Currently I am Chief Executive and joint owner of a 140 year old Midlands based family business involved in engineering and distribution, and I am also a Tutor/Associate Lecturer for the Open University. My main areas of experience lie in general business management covering marketing, finance, improvement and HR/people management, all of which are important aspects of a modern school. In my spare time I enjoy archery and hiking.
Peter Davies
Peter Dines I have been a Governor since 2006 and am Deputy Chairman and Chair of Finance and Estates Committee. I was a student at BVGS from 85-91 and since leaving have enjoyed a successful business career in the health and technology sectors. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at BVGS and believe it gave me an excellent grounding for my future career. I am delighted to support the school to continue to improve and meet its future objectives and targets. I am very keen on endurance sports - I have completed the Marathon Des Sables, Ironman Triathlon and this year’s challenge is the Vasaloppet 55 mile cross country ski challenge in Sweden. I also enjoy family time, football and all sports, reading and cooking.
Bilal Ahmad I have been a Governor of BVGS for six months and I sit on the Learning and Teaching Committee, the Health and Safety Committee and I am also the Link Governor for Science. I am currently in my final year of studying for a Masters in Civil Engineering. Having finished BVGS Sixth Form in 2010, I am relishing the opportunity to play a role in developing the school that helped shaped me as a person. I am an avid cricket fan and enjoy playing squash. I am also making amateur progress in the sport of Olympic weightlifting.
Natalie Lloyd I have been a Governor since September 2013 and sit on the Finance and Estates Committee and attend Vesey Foundation meetings.Following graduating in French and Spanish from the University of Southampton, I worked in marketing and communications at the University of Southampton. On re-locating to the University of Birmingham, I began my career in fundraising that seven years later sees me as Head of Development for the Circles of Influence Campaign at the University. I joined the Governing Body to broaden the skills of the Governing Body to include fundraising and marketing, and to contribute my experience of working for two Russell Group universities. I enjoy supporting the growing hobbies and interests of my children, and attending classes at the gym. I am also a fan of West Bromwich Albion, by marriage!
BVGS Newsletter
Page 7
Veseyans RFC
Great things are happening at Veseyans RFC right now. The 1st XV are sitting proudly top of the league undefeated after 14 games looking to secure promotion for the second time in three years. The 2nd XV are fighting it out with Harborne for top spot in the Greater Birmingham Merit Table having enjoyed one of their most successful seasons for many years.. In three months time the club redevelopment programme commences with new changing facilities, weights conditioning room and floodlighting forming a part of the main project. The Junior section continues to flourish and all interested players would be most welcome to come along on a Sunday morning to join in the fun.
History in the Making It has been a historic month for rugby with an excellent win by the U18 First XV in the NatWest Vase, 17-3, against Nottingham High School. The Old Veseyan Barmy Army were very impressed by the quality and commitment of our boys. Next stop is a quarter-final (we have never got this far before in a national competition) home tie against Trent College. Pictured left is the Saracens Ground where the semi-finals will be played.
Chess Champions In February Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School boys triumphed at the KES, Birmingham Lightning Chess Championships. We had a strong team including Louis Fellows, Alex Garton, Joshua Norris, Matthew Burrows, Benjamin Heppenstall, Benedict Lawrence-Pietroni, Cornel Buck-Beason (Y7) Neddy Tsoi, Vivek Gohil, Tobey Yu (Y8) George Bailey (Y11) Leo Tsoi (L6). Pictured right are the Tsoi brothers, Leo and Neddy, in action. Congratulations to Leo Tsoi and Louis Fellows who both won individual prizes against tough opposition.
Winter Games Success February saw a strong performance by BVGS in the Winter Games with a Gold for our Indoor Athletics Team, Silver for our KS 4 Badminton players. See Ali Mirza, Nick Lee, Charlie Fellows and Kelvin Li (pictured left). We also gained a bronze for our KS3 Badminton team of Chris Mason, Jon Jon Tian, Naushed Hussain, Daniel Black and Arjun Bains.
February 2014
Page 8
The Vesey Foundation The Big Switch On
On a rather damp evening at the end of January, there was a gathering for The Big Switch On - the official opening of our floodlights. After afternoon tea and short speeches from the Headteacher and School Captain, Tom Jones, we assembled by the magnificent all weather pitches. Our Guest of Honour, Clive Richards OBE DL, used a well known Apple product to turn on the lights. It worked well, at the third attempt, with Clive apologising for his inability to even switch on his mobile phone! A closely fought game of hockey ensued with the School First XI taking on the Old Boys XI. Despite the concerning feature that one of the old boys team admitted to playing rugby for Aston Old Edwardians, the Old Boys team were triumphant winning 3 goals to 1. Thanks to all who supported and participated in this event, especially the organisers of the day: Chris Howell, Director of Sport, Graham Swindells, School Business Manager, Lesley Overton, Examinations and Business Support Officer, Linda Pryor, Language Admin Assistant, Jon Holden, School Facilities Officer and of course Malcolm Flanagan who maintains Middle Field so well.
School First XI: Daniel Betty, Jeevon Garcha, Ben Moore, Emily Peers, Tevraj Aujla, Alfie McBrien, Will Sheffield (capt), Peter Davie, James Brown, Oliver Gassy, Joseph Hartigan, Javaughan Campbell, Ali Mirza, Sunny Aujla and Harry Pitt. Old Boys XI: Richard Burnell, Oliver Westbrook, Jon Lucas, Ralph Brocklebank, Peter Trickey, Andrew Millman, Navraj Degun, Matthew Heller, Tom Beasley, Dan Harris, Miles Millington, Richard Baker, Dr Peter Ingham, Ali Smith and Michael Gannon.
New Computers The Music Department is delighted to have installed a new suite of computers courtesy of a generous donation. Not only do they look fantastic, they’re extremely fast and have already had a positive impact on the work produced by the students. The latest Sibelius software installed on them is much appreciated by staff and students alike. Our hockey coach David Beckett (above), who is sponsored by a benefactor, playing in‐ door hockey for England
Thank you for your support