Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School Inspiration and Excellence
Summer 2016
We have come to the end of an exhilarating term and a momentous one for our country (see our story on the European Referendum). We continue to focus as a school on delivering a high quality and well-rounded education and I am pleased to see a range of exciting new initiatives (alongside old favourites) in evidence throughout this newsletter, from our charity and community outreach work to our newly improved performance evenings and involvement in the Lichfield Festival. We say goodbye to a number of staff this summer: Ms Gunter, German Department, Mrs Gregory, Fundraising Manager, Mrs Dandha, Biology Department, Mr Lal, Chemistry Department (2015), Mr Clay-Croome, English Department, Mr Willis, Maths Department, Mr Phillips, Biology Department (retiring after 35 years) and Mr Brown, Groundsman (retiring after 44 years). They have all made very valuable contributions to the well-being and development of our young people and we are incredibly grateful to them for their generosity, kindness and service. We will miss them. Wishing you all a much-deserved and relaxing summer, Headteacher
Poppies The Game by Jessie Pope Who’s for the game, the biggest that’s played, The red crashing game of a fight? Who’ll grip and tackle the job unafraid? And who thinks he’d rather sit tight? Who’ll toe the line for the signal to ‘Go!’? Who’ll give his country a hand? Who wants a turn to himself in the show? And who wants a seat in the stand? Who knows it won’t be a picnic – not muchYet eagerly shoulders a gun? Who would much rather come back with a crutch Than lie low and be out of the fun? Come along, lads – But you’ll come on all right – For there’s only one course to pursue, Your country is up to her neck in a fight, And she’s looking and calling for you.
On Monday 4 July, Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School had the privilege of taking part in a Lichfield Festival concert in Lichfield Cathedral marking the 100th anniversary of the tragic Battle of the Somme. The concert was held in conjunction with many primary schools from Sutton Coldfield, Walsall and Lichfield. Our students played a key role in the event. A choir of 30 boys joined the massed ranks in singing a number of World War One songs from the obscure 'King and Country' to the rousing 'Keep the Home Fires Burning. 'In addition, our drama group, who have been working with Centrestage School of Speech and Drama since January, produced an outstanding devised piece entitled, 'The Game.' The acting was superb, as was some beautiful solo singing by Ellis McKenzie. A stunning effort from all the students who were there. It was very much appreciated by the 350 or so strong audience in attendance in a very atmospheric Lichfield Cathedral. We look forward to playing our part in the 2017 Lichfield Festival next year.
Unicef - Day for Change - Friday 13 May 2016 Thank you to everyone who dressed in blue and donated a pound. Thank you to all forms, students, staff and parents who raised money for this excellent cause. Here are some of the ideas forms came up with to support Unicef (as you can see guess the number of sweets was popular!): 7B—selling their own cartoons, 7G—guess the number of sweets, 7R—’Sponge the Teacher’ competition, 7P—sponsored silence, 7W—raffle with lots of prizes including gift cards that students brought in, 8B—some students undertook sponsored silences, 8G—arranged a loose change competition across the Y8 forms which 8B, 8R and 8W took part in. 8W did the ‘Running Man’ dance and paid to participate, plus a guess the number of blue sweets in the jar competition and a crossbar challenge. 9B had a ‘keepy-uppy’ competition and ‘get the 20p in the cup and win’ 9R—selling sweets and spraying hair blue, 9W—guess the sweets, 10B — guess the correct amount of quality sweets and win it , they have brought in their loose change plus a computer game tournament arranged in their own time, 10G - guess the number of sweets and win, 10R - sold samosas (over 100!) and one student had his hair cut off bit by bit! Very brave! Miss Hearn, Miss Steadman and Mrs Storey painted nails in the canteen! Mrs Wadeson sprayed hair blue! Students also completed pledges and the Canteen had blue cakes! It was a lovely day. Thank you to everyone. Winning Form - 7P (£296), Winning House - Red (£484.82). A huge thank you to Miss Hearn (Deputy Headteacher and Miss Steadman who masterminded this event.
STEM Block
Progress with the building work has been held up thanks to some very inclement weather through June. However, I toured the site this morning (21 July) and found much progress has been made. It is amazing what a difference the installation of windows has made to the look of the site. All work should be completed by the end of September. The moving of departments to our new Richards-Randon block will take place in a structured manner across the autumn term with a proposed opening ceremony taking place at the end of November 2016. We hope to have an Old Veseyan scientist opening the building. Watch this space. More details and invitations are set to go out later this summer. http://www.bvgs.co.uk/ Follow us on
The official Bishop Vesey’s Twitter account is @BVGS1527
Summer 2016 Performance Evenings 27 and 28 June
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Lads and Dads Singing Workshop 9 July On a wet Saturday morning of 9 July, a rather nervous group of students, Dads and Granddads gathered in Big School for a singing workshop led by Mr Richard Jeffries. Right from the initial ice-breaking exercises, Mr Jeffries put the 26 participants (including the Headteacher) at ease. Soon the assembled throng were singing spirituals such as ‘Deep Down In My Soul’ and classics by Queen such as ‘We Will Rock You.’ Later that day, the choir went down to Wyndley to perform at the Sutton Games. They made a great sound and were very wellreceived by the audience there. Look out for more Lads and Dads singing workshops next academic year.
We have enjoyed two superb performance evenings this term, showcasing the work of KS3 students in the Arts : creative writing, singing, brass playing, art and DT work, as well as dramatic performances of Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes, Ayckbourns Ernie's Incredible Illucinations and a devised piece on World War I marking the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme entitled 'The Game'. The quality and enthusiasm shown at the Performance Evenings was very encouraging, and I would like to thank all staff and students for making it happen. A big thank you to Miss Colder, Mrs Dye, Mrs Heer, Mrs Masterson-Lemin and to all the staff from Centrestage School of Speech and Drama: Mrs O’Dowd, Miss McGrail and Mr Garrington. There are more exciting drama opportunities available for 2016-2017. I have sent a letter out regarding this matter. Please don’t hesitate to sign up for this brilliant offer.
Sutton Games For the second year running our Vesey Volunteers were 'Games Makers' for the Sutton Games. Dr Reilly organised over 60 Lower 6th students to work over the two days of the games in support of the 10,000 visitors. Dr Reilly, with the assistance of Miss Steadman, also helped organise an inter-school sports tournament in conjunction with The Scouts, involving teams from BVGS, Fairfax and Plantsbrook - to take part in Dodge Ball, Football and a raft building exercise with the Scouts.
Art and DT Exhibition 13 July On the evening of 13 July, parents, staff, governors and Old Veseyans were highly impressed by the wonderful display of Art and DT work in this year’s exhibition at the new venue of Big School . A big thank you to Mrs Heer, Mrs Rowlands, Mr Belcher and Miss Stevens for all their hard work in organising this annual event.
Summer 2016
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New Student Leadership Team We are delighted to announce the new student leadership team for 2016-2017, led by Reiss Chahal (School Captain), Angalea Varma (Deputy School Captain) and Brett Waldron (Deputy School Captain). They are an enthusiastic team and have already thrown themselves into the job:
They have led a training session on Mental Health for local Headteachers
They have led an inspirational assembly at Little Sutton Primary School
They have supported SLT duties before school and welcomed students to daily assembly, undertaking uniform checks.
BVGS Outreach The school was involved in a number of outreach activities in June. Aside from senior leaders visiting local primary schools, we held a STEM Outreach Day attended by 32 Year 4 and 5 students. They enjoyed a day of using microscopes, coding, design work and sport. A big thank you to Dave Phillips and Saffira Dhanda, (Biology Department), Doug Semple, and Thomas Lintern (Computing Department), Adam Belcher (Design and Technology), Kevin Doughty and Chris Howell (PE Department). We received some lovely feedback letters from students at New Oscott School 'To Mr Robson, thank you so much for inviting and showing me around your amazing school. The hours I was at your school were really fun and exciting, especially the Biology lesson. The teachers and students I met were very polite and intelligent. My visit to your school made me want to attend Bishop Vesey's. You have boosted my confidence to take the 11+ grammar exam. Thank you very much.' In addition on Saturday 11 June we held an outreach morning focussed on test familiarisation. A big thank you to our new student leadership team as well as our Year 10 helpers Oliver Tedstone, Tom Froggatt, Simon Underwood, Aaran Sandhu, Shoaib Sheraz, Ali Lakhanpal, Harry West and Simba Mutsanga as well as Aine Parize, Dave Goodwin, Russell Bowen and Dave Phillips. Collectively we gave a good welcome to over 100 students and a further 150 parents. Our student helpers showed great maturity and organisation. Feedback suggested that our visitors thought it was a worthwhile experience. If you know a boy going into Year 5 in September, who would benefit from a similar opportunity, please let us know and we will put you on our mailing list.
DofE Buckingham Palace Mr Robson and Mr Greenwood (DofE Co-ordinator) were at Buckingham Palace at a garden party to celebrate the Diamond Anniversary of the amazing Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. We received our plaque from the presenter Steve Backshll of wildlife show 'Deadly 60' (and erstwhile start of 'Strictly'!) We even met one of our Duke of Edinburgh Gold winners from yesteryear Jon Cotgreave (OV 02-09). It was a lovely celebration of a very good scheme for young people. Jon Cotgreave (left) and Harry Porter (right) who have both celebrated success with the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.
Success in Mathematics throughout the year! This year has seen some excellent success in our mathematics department through the UKMT Maths Challenges and other competitions. The number of pupils receiving Bronze, Silver and Gold certificates has continued to grow. In the Junior Challenge, the top 1200 entrants from across the country sit the follow-up Olympiad and Kangaroo papers. We had 18 pupils make the Kangaroo (top 5000) and 2 pupils reach the Olympiad round. Mithun Panamnabhan from Year 8 achieving a merit from the Olympiad, while Moonis Haider in Year 7 was awarded a Bronze Medal; this puts him with in the top 210 pupils of the country! We also had 12 pupils make the Kangaroo rounds from the intermediate challenge and 3 from the senior challenge. These are all fantastic achievements and considerably improved from previous years.
Summer 2016
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BVGS at MFL Spelling Bee National Finals Well done Dylan Linford and Harkirpa Takhar who out of 75,200 contestants nationally secured a place in the top 30 in the German Spelling Bee Final. It is hard to describe this contest. Suffice to say the key linguistic challenge of this contest is thinking and speaking at break-neck speed whilst maintaining an impeccable accuracy in enunciation and pronunciation of every single letter. Hopefully, this contest will spark in Dylan and Harkirpa a life-long love of learning languages.
EU Referendum 2016 It has been a momentous period for our country. New leaders, new policies and an emerging new relationship with the European Union. Here at BVGS, our students have shown a keen appreciation of the issues. On Tuesday 21 June we held an excellent European Referendum debate. Well done to all our speakers Angalea, Isaac, Hannah and Jack. It was a high quality debate, and our mock vote on referendum day proved to be very much out of kilter with the national picture with a huge win for 'Remain'. Here at BVGS, we continue to be committed to our internationalist outlook. Just take a look at page 6 for an insight into some of our trips. Elsewhere, there has also been some impressive debating by Year 10 at a big Solihull School hosted competition. BVGS (Shoaib Sheraz, Ali Lakanpal, Harry West and Angus Carter) came in 5th out of 28 behind Camp Hill Girls and Solihull School. Well done boys.
Leaver's Day May 2016 What a lovely year group the leavers of 2016 are. We are sad to see them go. Pictured below are an array of images from Leaving Day. We wish all the students the very best for Results Day on 18 August . A level results will be handed out from 8am-10am in the dining hall.
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Summer 2016
PAC BVGS PAC held their summer ball at Aston Wood Golf Club on 1 July. The night was hosted by Karl Ward and was packed full with heads and tails, auctions, lucky draws and a live band – The Junos. The event was attended by over 100 guests and was a tremendous success – raising over £5,000 towards the STEM block IT and Infrastructure fit out. Many thanks to all the PAC members - especially Helen Green and Vicky Brown – who worked tirelessly to organise and ensure the event was a success. A huge thank you also to Daniel and Izzy for their assistance on the evening together with Louis Kill-Brown for his wonderful solo pianist performance – greeting guests on their arrival. Thank you all for those who attended or supported the event. we will be looking forward to a fun packed schedule of PAC events for the new 2016/17 academic year.
Fundraising for Vesey Sport - Golf Day Our inaugural Golf Day Fundraiser for Vesey Sport was held at Walmley Golf Club. We are very grateful to the vast array of business sponsors for this event, especially Old Veseyan, Clive Poole's X2Print, Igloo and Bracebridge Finance. In total the event raised an incredible £7,500 for Vesey Sport and brought parents and Old Veseyans from all age groups together for a fun day. A big thank you to Brian Davies, Deputy Director of Sport, who managed this event with considerable skill and determination. Put next year's Golf Day in your diary - Friday 9 June 2017.
Leaving Assembly This has been an important week for the school. Our 2016 leaving assembly for the Upper Sixth followed the normal pattern of the last thirteen years. The students arrived in fancy dress and had photographs taken on the Quad. They then changed into full uniform for the leaving assembly led this year by Adam Smith, Matt Cooney and Umar Khan. There were a couple of musical interludes with the percussion ensemble's rendition of 'Hey Ya' being enhanced by the dulcet tones of Mr Dave Goodwin, Assistant Headteacher and Leo Morton's Upper Sixth Geography revision song on the Trafford Centre sung to the tune of Bohemian Rhapsody. The students then changed back into fancy dress for more photos in the Quad. Mr Simon James who left us at the end of May to take up the post of Head of Physics at Cheslyn Hay got fully into the spirit of the occasion by dressing up in a homemade Iron Man costume! A big thank you to all who have supported and nurtured the Class of 2016. They are a lovely year group and we wish them a calm, collected and conscientious examination season.
Paella Afternoon The Spanish Department were so impressed with the commitment and enthusiasm of our Year 8 students to their first year of Spanish studies that they decided to hold a rewards event for them on 20 July. They were treated to a paella (from Your Paella) and a Spanish film in the afternoon ¡Enhorabuena Year 8!
Sports Dinner We had an excellent annual Sports Dinner and Awards Ceremony in May at Villa Park with over 300 students and parents in attendance. The food was great and there were lots of excellent speeches - a big thank you to Mr Howell, Director of Sport, Mr Davies, Deputy Director of Sport, Mr Goodwin our compere, Mrs Clarke, Mrs Brocklebank, Mr Doughty, Mr Davis, Mr Bousfield, Miss Egan and Mr Whiting as well as all those who made the evening possible: Miss Williams, Mrs Pryor and Mrs Foster. There was also some excellent singing by Jemima Richardson-Jones. Thank you to all who bought raffle tickets and participated in the auction. Our Guest Speaker on the night was Rob Oliver, a Paralympian Canoeist, who spoke very well and was very encouraging to all the students. It was a fitting celebration for an amazing year for Vesey sport. It also has to be the first time that one of our students was slightly delayed to the dinner because they themselves were giving out the prizes at an another sports event - well done Lucy Parize who was giving out the prizes at the South Staffordshire Netball Awards.
Summer 2016
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Year 7 Trip to Kenilworth Castle
The Year 7 enjoyed their trip to Kenilworth Castle in July. The weather was wonderful and our students showed a great deal of commitment and historical curiosity and imagination. I know the History Department led by Hannah Storey thought it was one of the best trips ever. Well done everybody.
Joanna Millan - Holocaust Survivor We were privileged to receive a visit from Joanna Millan, courtesy of the Holocaust Educational Trust. Joanna was born Bela Rosenthal in August 1942 in Berlin. At the beginning of March 1943 Bela’s father was taken from the streets of Berlin and sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau where he was killed on arrival. Later that year in June, Bela and her mother were taken from their home and sent to Theresienstadt, a concentration camp 50 miles outside of Prague. In 1944, when Bela was 18 months old, her mother died of TB leaving Bela orphaned. Bela was one of 140,936 Jews deported to Theresienstadt, which saw up to 50,000 Jews present at one time, seven times the amount the camp was designed for. They lived in filthy and cramped conditions. Surviving on a meagre diet of watery soup, potatoes and bread, one in four died. Perhaps the darkest picture was how 190 bodies were cremated daily in four ovens, which were originally designed for one body, but could fit four due to how thin they had become. For the past 25 years, Joanna has told her family’s story throughout schools and universities in the UK and latterly in China. Mr Everett, History Department
Barcelona Trip In March the Spanish Department took 40 pupils from Years 9 + 10 to Barcelona for a 5 day break to the Catalan capital where they were accompanied by Señoritas Slater and Egan and Señores Götschel, Baugh and Clay-Croome. The students saw some of Antoni Gaudì’s masterpieces such as the Sagrada Familia and Casas Milà and Battlò as well as spending a relaxing hour soaking up the sun in Parc Güell. They wandered down the Ramblas and tried some authentic Spanish Tapas as well as spending some time on the beach where they braved the cold and rain in a typically British fashion! For many the highlights of the trip were the day spent at Port Aventura Theme Park and the visit to the awe-inspiring Camp Nou-home to the Barcelona Football Team. Our students did us proud and we hope to run the trip again in 2018.
Rhineland Mr Götschel's annual Rhineland extravaganza was once again a resounding success. The boys had great fun and returned evenmore confident in their German speaking ability. A very useful trip.
German exchange to Bayreuth 27 June to 3 July 2016 16 Vesey pupils accompanied by Messrs Götschel & Keeble spent an exciting week with their German exchange partners in Bayreuth. This was the 19th exchange to date. Highlights included a visit to the Nazi Documentation Centre and the Imperial Castle in Nürnberg, a day in the world heritage city of Bamberg and a hike up the Ochsenkopf (Bull’s Head) in the Fichtelgebirge (Pine mountains) with their German friends. Our pupils also experienced some lessons, discussing the Brexit amongst other things. The German host families were very friendly and generous and enjoyed our boys’ company, who in return proved very popular and keen to learn the language, sample the food and thoroughly enjoy the German way of life.
Summer 2016
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Attain Travel is a proud sponsor of Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School Sports
Connor Smith - Downhill Mountain Biker So after racing road bikes and track bikes, last year I decided to make a big change and race downhill mountain bikes, much to my family’s surprise. Living on the edge of Cannock Chase I have the perfect training area for my new sport. This is my second year competing, and after great results in the first couple of events of the year, I was invited to ride for a sponsored team, NX2mtb.com which I accepted gratefully. Being part of a team has really given me that extra boost to perform professionally when I’m racing and training, which in turn has shown further improvement in my results. Recently, I unexpectedly received a new bike, which was presented to me by my racing hero Greg Minnaar. This was a complete surprise and will go down as one of the most amazing experiences I have had.
Connor taking 1st place at DHfest
Connor Smith 8W PS Connor came fourth in the National Championships on 17 July, which is an amazing result. He is only a first year juvenile, so he will be competing in the same age group next year, hopefully bringing home the National Title, as first to third were all one year above him.
England Caps!
Here is a great photo taken showing the full range of Vesey sport on offer. Hope you like it.
We are so proud of Ben Jesson and Oliver Wem's achievement in being selected for England for Rugby. Here they are in their traditional caps
China 2017 Look out for this brilliant opportunity in September
Congratulations to Lucy Parize, who has been selected fro the England netball tour to Jamaica this summer
My Walk across the West Highland Way for Cancer Research by Archie Brooks 7B
Between 10 and 16 July I walked across the West Highland Way for Cancer Research. It goes from the edge of Glasgow to Fort William, which is just past the foot of the highest mountain in the UK. We started off walking around the east side of Loch Lomond, before ranching out into the wilderness. We camped most nights and had a minibus delivering our luggage to each destination. We stayed in eight different villages along the way. So far we have raised £500 for our chosen charity.
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Summer 2016
Shaggy Dogs Visit It was a pleasure to welcome the Shaggy Dogs to BVGS in July. This annual visit of Senior Old Veseyans, led by John Whittaker, is always wonderful. Our Officers were, as usual, fantastic hosts.
Class of 1991 Reunion This July we held a Class of 1991 Reunion under the leadership of Peter Dines (OV) and Rob Sheldon. We toured the school, enjoyed a glass of beer or two and were treated to the BBQ culinary skills of Peter Dines
Year 7 Residential
We had an excellent Year 7 residential. Here are some lovely images.
Dave Shrubbs This year we lost a great Vesey legend, Dave Shrubbs. Now we have planted a beautiful beech tree in his memory and a plaque bears his name. RIP Mr Shrubbs.
http://www.bvgs.co.uk/alumni/alumni-community