Newsletter november 2015

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Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School Inspiration and Excellence

Autumn 2015

Celebrating student success

On the last Friday of November we held our annual Speech Day at Sutton Coldfield Town Hall to celebrate the successes of the Class of 2015 and the progress of the school during the last academic year. We were delighted to welcome Lord Keith Bradley OV on this occasion. There was much to celebrate. Summer 2015 saw 82% of A Level entries being graded A*-B. and a ... …

and a record-breaking year

record % of grades at A*/A : 55%. Once again there were many fantastic individual performances. Congratulations to Tom Reershemius (below far right), whose four A* grades and an A grade have won him a place to read Earth Science at Worcester College, Oxford. In total nine students are off to Oxbridge with top marks including Oliver Ayto, Economics and Management (Worcester College, Oxford), Jerry Cao, Biochemistry (Hertford College, Oxford), Thomas Cotterill, History (Jesus College, Oxford), Grace Stoddart, Physics (St Hugh's College, Oxford), Sofia Chowdry, Veterinary Science (Emmanuel College, Cambridge), Laura Dyer, English (Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge), Eloise Harrison, Geography (Jesus College, Cambridge) and Dylan Thiarya, Medicine (Magdalen College, Cambridge). Well done also to other students with three A* grades or better: Sukhpreet Dhalivaal (Law), David James (Maths, Warwick University), Leo Tsoi (Maths and Philosophy, Warwick University), and Molly Walsh (History, Durham University). The Class of 2015 also excelled in so many other areas from Music to Sport, from Debating to Drama. They were an absolute delight to work with. A new school record was also set at GCSE with just under 70% of student grades being awarded at A*/A. As usual, there were some stunning academic performances with Alexander Burden (11 A*s) following his brother’s, Dominic, excellent achievement of 5 A grades at AS. Also gaining an impressive set of 10 A* grades were Omair Quyyam, Akshay Khanna and Reece Jones. Reece also attained an impressive 100% in French and English GCSE. One notable BVGS performer this year was the Team GB gymnast, Hamish Carter (see P4). Fresh from gold and silver medal success in the European Youth Olympic Festival in Tbilisi, Georgia in July, Hamish bagged an impressive nine A*/A grades. For a more detailed breakdown of academic performance see P6. In November we were delighted to hear further excellent news. The TES published a table stating that BVGS is the ninth most popular school in the country according to DfE 2014-15 admissions data. Then in the Sunday Times Parent Power League Table of top state schools Bishop Vesey’s came in at 49th (a third year in the top 50 nationally) performing very strongly locally, regionally and nationally. There is much to celebrate. Please take the time to get a flavour of our school by reading about an exhilarating first term. Wishing you a very Happy Christmas.

Headteacher

Senior Drama Production of ‘Two’ Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School, in conjunction with Centrestage School of Speech and Drama, was proud to present their Senior School Production of ‘TWO’ on Thursday 10 December and Friday 11 December in Big School. Written by Jim Cartwright, 'TWO' invited you to join lovers, mothers and spouses in a Northern pub for a night of eighteen lives from the 1980s. Couples clashed and collided under the dim lights with boozy secrets and buried pasts. Though originally designed for two actors, 'TWO' introduced you to a full cast of characters, each with their own story to tell you for the price of a pint and a good ear. Thank you to the outstanding team at Centrestage: Simon Garrington, Ella McGrail and Rebekah O’Dowd for their wonderful leadership and support. http://www.bvgs.co.uk/ Follow us on

The official Bishop Vesey’s Twitter account is @BVGS1527


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Autumn 2015

Duncan Turner OV, A Life in Technology Many thanks to Duncan Turner OV (1989-1995) for delivering an outstanding Headteacher's lunch to GCSE and A Level Computing students. Duncan’s career thus far has spanned from working for IBM to Dunlop Aerospace, a large range of companies across the UK and abroad. He focussed the students on four key questions: 1. Why do you want to work in IT? 2. What job do you want to do? 3. Which company or industry? 4. Potential future technologies. He encouraged students to enquire and play and gave them some interesting resources to explore such as Udacity, which provides on-line nanodegrees and training, https://www.udacity.com and the on-line developers community, http://stackoverflow.com. He also recommended students to keep up to date by visiting http://www.ted.com.

Year 7 Scalextric Club

StemSoc

At BVGS we are always keen to encourage students to set up societies and clubs. Thanks to the initiative of Niall Keating, wouldbe engineer, and other students, as well as Mr James, Physics Department, we now have StemSoc. Niall Keating explains ‘This halfterm has seen the first meetings of the school’s new STEM society, aimed at educating students particularly in engineering. Our first speaker, ex-governor and Oxford graduate Peter Davies, gave insights into his career as an engineer and director, followed by tips on what makes a good engineer. Our second speaker, Narinder Bains, talked about his experiences as a chemical engineer, working on new methods of processing in the food industry. Most recently we have been visited by Mr Wayne GelA new initiative led by Mr Adam Belcher and Miss Rosie Stevens, Design Technology Department, is inspiring Year 7. Andy Bath (7P) dard from DTW and Max reports, ‘I like Scalextric Club because I get to build and design my own Coleman from Gonvarri car with my team mate Imad from Blue House. The Club brings out the Steel Services. We are very creative side of me, as an artist and a car designer. A key thing you have grateful to all our guests for to think about is the aerodynamics of the car. I also like this club because their support in inspiring I get to socialise with other form groups and get to know new people.’ Veseyans to be engineers. This Club looks great fun!

Coding Club “Now that software is eating the world by automating all kinds of routine jobs, the basic knowledge of how lines of code create the digital worlds we explore every day is becoming a fundamental digital literacy. Coding isn’t particularly easy to learn but that’s exactly why it’s so valuable.” Steve Jobs Each Wednesday lunchtime in TA1, pupils from all year groups have been learning to code at the BVGS Code Club. Younger pupils have been using ‘Scratch’ to make their own computer games while older pupils have been getting to grips with more advanced algorithms in Python. In the last few years, the UK has woken up to the importance of coding. Organisations like Young Rewired State, Code Club and Code Academy have led the way, helping young people learn these key skills. Most schools have yet to start offering GCSE and A-Level Computer Science but BVGS is at the cutting edge with the launch this year of our Computing Department and the development of the new STEM centre. Some of the Year 10s that attend are also studying GCSE Computer Science but coding is an important skill that all BVGS students should learn. It will sharpen your ability to troubleshoot and solve problems as well as making you much more desirable in the job market. Companies are struggling to fill positions for programmers and new graduates can expect a top starting salary.

STEM BP Challenge Encouraged by our STEM governor Bilal Ahmad OV who works for BP, Mr Lewis Graham (Biology) and Mr Craig Guy (Chemistry) are leading our students through the STEM BP Challenge. Year 7 and 8 boys are working in teams to devise and conduct different experiments to explore ways of delivering energy efficiency. Great progress has been made thus far.


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Library Update Ben Davis ‘After reading the book ‘The private Blog of Joe Cowley’ I immediately fell in love with it as it is a grown up version of ‘Diary of A Wimpy Kid’. Excitingly, I got to read the second one ‘The Return OF The Geek’. However, the ending was far from happy... I was infuriated and rushed to the internet to find when the next one would come out, only to discover it was not coming for another year. I decided to investigate. When I messaged the author of the series, Ben Davis, I did not expect much as I thought he probably didn't have time for someone like me. However, I got a reply from him with an hour. I was amazed and he himself said that he regretted writing that ending and the next book would take a while. I immediately talked to Miss Brown our librarian and she was quick to get in touch with him herself and asked him to come. and he didn’t expect it. So it was confirmed that Ben would come in September. The day arrived, Ben came into school where, after doing an amazing assembly about how embarrassing the life of Joe Cowley was, he held a few workshops. Luckily, I was invited to one of these. I had to pair up and write a story about the most embarrassing moment in my life. It was extremely fun and it helped me develop my writing skill, I learned how to show my thoughts at the time of this incident and make other people feel what I felt. This experience was one of the best in my life. I am still waiting for the next book but I would like to thank Miss Brown and Ben Davis for giving me and everyone else a once in a lifetime opportunity.’ Anas Fasih 9B

Michelle Magorian

We were delighted to welcome Michelle Magorian (right), author of ‘Goodnight Mr Tom’, and winner of the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize in 1982. She talked about her new book ‘Impossible’

Lichfield Literature Festival : Guy Bass and Bryony Pearce In October, BVGS hosted The Lichfield Literature Festival for the first time. It was a very successful event with both year 8 and 9 attending an author visit Guy Bass, Bryony Pearce and also an after school workshop for writing for TV. There was also a book swap where many people exchanged books during break time and lunch time which went down very well with students. Behind the scenes there was a lot of work put it including meeting and greeting authors and a meeting with librarians from King Edward VI School in Lichfield to discuss arrangements for Lichfield Literature. Ciaran Weir 9W. Pictured Jennifer Mears (far left) and Guy Bass (centre) Thank you to Ciaran and all the student and staff librarians for their outstanding work. Jennifer Smith from the Lichfield Festival (left) with Guy Bass (centre)

Bryony Pearce (right) reads to Y7 and our visitors from Whitehouse Common Primary School.

Charity Book Sale On 1 December the Library and the English Department collaborated to produce a book sale in aid of the charity CLIC-Sargent which is England's leading cancer charity for children and young people. Personally, I am a keen reader with a love for English, so I was delighted to promote reading and raise money for a worthy cause. Selected librarians were tasked with the role of liaising with Mrs Haywood (Head of English) to discuss preparation for this event, and then advertise the upcoming book sale through the creation of attractive posters and verbal messages to raise awareness for students. The aim was to clear certain texts from the English store cupboard - a dusty, small room aptly filled with a utopia of books! With assistance from my helpful and enthusiastic English teacher, Mr Clay-Croome, some librarians spent one lunchtime boxing ‘leaps and bounds’ of literature, followed by transportation to the library. From dramatic plays, to fictional classics; a wide variety of texts were for available to purchase. The book sale was a fantastic success, with over a hundred books and magazines being sold during break time and lunch time. £20.10 was raised, an intriguingly impressive amount considering the low price of 10 pence per book. Kindly, the Library Resource Centre is happy to increase the amount to £30 from their fund. The remaining stock of books will be gladly donated to Oxfam Books & Music, in Lichfield, where I truly hope that a growing passion for reading literature can be developed further… Jaden Lo-Watson, Senior Librarian


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Autumn 2015

Medal Success for Hamish Carter! It has been a hectic last few months for Hamish Carter (left), our Vesey gymnast, who continues to perform at such a high level. In July, Hamish was one of three gymnasts in a 40-strong Team GB participating in the European Youth Olympics Festival in a swelteringly hot Tblisi, Georgia. For Hamish and his fellow gymnasts, Giarmi Regini-Moran and Joe Fraser, this was the biggest competition yet. Hamish acquitted himself very well indeed coming first in the Team Final, second in the Floor Final and fourth in the Vault Final. Quite a medal haul. After commencing Sixth Form study, Hamish then took part in the London Open coming joint first on the High Bar with an outstanding Personal Best. Hamish followed this with a contest in the Czech Republic for the Olympic Hopes Camp. This saw Hamish come 1st in the High Bar, with another Personal Best, beating gymnasts from China and America. At the same contest, Hamish achieved a Personal Best on rings and Team GB came in second overall behind the Chinese. Finally, Hamish took part in the Senior British Team Championship in Leicester. Hamish’s Birmingham team topped the country. Meanwhile, Hamish came second nationally, just behind his colleague, Joe Fraser. Well done Hamish for all his gymnastics success, which has been founded on exceptional levels of hard work and commitment. This coupled with the rigours of GCSE and A level studies has meant that Hamish has had to balance his life carefully. A big thank you to all Hamish’s teachers for all they do every day to help Hamish manage that balance.

The future looks bright for Cricket The West Midlands Cup is a knock out competition played between 16 West Midlands sides. Walmley Eagles U11 played West Bromwich Dartmouth in the final of the cup on 6 September and won by 25 runs.. This side were unbeaten in the Warwickshire Premier League and consists of three new Veseyans from Year 7: l-r Umair Choudhry, Oliver Gray-Nimmo and Sachin Dubb. I’m sure we will hear more about these boys over the coming years.

World Karate Championships 2015 In the October half-term holiday, I travelled to Alicante, Spain to perform in the WKU, World Karate Championships 2015 where over 2000 competitors from 36 countries took part. I had an amazing experience during my time there and I took great pride in taking part in the parade with Team England at the Opening Ceremony where we carried our flags through the streets of Albir! For me it was an eye opener seeing the amount of martial arts talent on display. I enjoyed immensely competing against competitors from other countries. The highlight for me was when we stood on the podium to receive our medals! Upraaj Bains 8R

Tennis Triumph Alex Dixon 7R (below, far left) one of 20 national finalists in Richard Branson’s Junior Necker Cup Tennis Tournament

Vesey Trampolining

Following news from our Speech Day Guest Speaker, Lord Bradley, that trampolining in Big School was a key part of the PE curriculum in the 1960s under the leadership of Rex Wallbank, it is good to hear that Vesey trampolining is alive and well. Luke Butcher (Y7, left)) has been trampolining from the age of 5 and for the last 4 years, he has entered a competition for anyone of school age. Luke has made it through to the finals of the U11 for three years and is currently the U11 Boys Elite Schools Champion after winning last year. He has since moved up into the U14 Elite Boys group and is through to the next round on 23 January in Cardiff. As well as this he competes in the DMT (double mini trampoline) event and has qualified at Super League Level 3 to the finals this year. We wish Luke every success with his trampolining. By the way, he is not the only trampolining star at BVGS. Miss Naima Field, Head of Psychology, competed in the National League finals at the Copper Box, London, last month and did very well indeed.

World Youth Chess

I am Chirag Guha, 7W. I recently moved with my family from Wales when I got a chance to attend BVGS. As a hobby and pastime activity, I have been playing chess for 4 years, and have improved my skills at the game over this period. This year I was invited to represent Wales in the World Youth Chess Championship. It is a matter of great privilege to participate at this level for my federation (Wales), and the competition is fierce all the way. However, I was up for it having participated twice in other international tournaments. The event was held in Greece over 2 weeks, starting 25 October and there were 11 games to be played with the best chess talents from every corner of the world. I tried to put up a good fight in all of the games, however, was unlucky not to be winning a few of those. I managed to win 4 games and drew 1, scoring a decent 4.5 points. The greatest learning for me was to understand my own standard and make a commitment to improve further and faster. I have already made a plan for this and working with my coach Tim Kett from Wales for the next major tournament.

Chirag and the Welsh Chess Team


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Autumn 2015

Some of the work produced in the Art Department this term.

Junior Soloists’ Concert October saw our Junior Soloists’ Concert and the first public performance for a couple of our new Year 7 boys. We interviewed them about their first Vesey musical performance of hopefully many.

Art Trip to London 4 November 2015

Mrs Heer and Mrs Rowlands took students from AS and A2 Level Art to gallieries in London where they gained inspiration from contemporary and traditional exhibits. Students were fascinated by the opportunity to think ‘outside the box’, looking at many installations, and deeper concepts in the world of Art today.

Harkirpa Takhar ‘I chose to play Allegro by Mozart, one of my recent Grade 4 piano pieces. To be honest I was a bit scared about it because I didn’t want to let anyone down. Also, there was a really big audience. I have played at music festivals in Birmingham, Dudley and Solihull but nothing as big as this. I really tried my best and I was really happy that it went so well.’

‘Being able to visit several galleries during our trip to London was enriching. Experiencing such unique works has influenced the way in which I approach themes within my own work as I have learned to consider deeper contexts.’Jasmine Lawrence, 13CW It was a delight to see an outstanding CBSE Young Voices Workshop here in School on Monday 12 October. Excellent singing and dancing from Year 7!

Matthew Lakin ‘I chose to sing the Peter Seeger song, ‘Last night I dreamed the strangest dream.’ I was a bit nervous. However, I was really proud of what I produced. I would be keen to perform another song in the future on the Vesey stage.’

Soul Boats at Birmingham Cathedral

Natural High We are lucky, once again, to receive our annual visit from David Graham to deliver his Natural High presentation. The Year 7 students involved behaved in an exemplary and engaged manner. I’m sure they will have taken on board the very positive advice that David shared about living life to the full and being empathetic towards others.

World Challenge Croatia Well done to this year’s World Challengers from Year 9, who enjoyed a fantastic week in Croatia engaged in trekking and sea kayaking, accompanied by Messrs Hutchieson and Greenwood.

The Soul Boats installation at Birmingham Cathedral, that students from BVGS contributed to, consists of 2,000 boats made by individuals of all faith perspectives and world views from across the city and region. All the boats have been purposely mixed up; the first three boats at the very front of the flotilla, for instance, are made by young people from three different faith backgrounds to highlight connection, and what unites us all on our human journey. Soul Boats is open every day from 9 am to 5 pm until 17 March 2016.


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Autumn 2015

Attain Travel is a proud sponsor of Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School Sports

Rugby Tour Round-Up Senior Tour Two years of planning and preparation saw 44 students and 4 staff visit the Republic of South Africa during July and August for our biannual Senior Rugby Tour. In the Johannesburg area students were quickly engaged in cultural, educational and sporting activities to enhance and develop their life skills and prepare them for a global future. Rural South Africa provided a fantastic opportunity to witness majestic animals in their natural habitat, whilst the city allowed students to experience the political origins and domestic experiences of the apartheid era. Moving on to Cape Town students were able to study coastal geographical features and marine life at close quarter, whilst on the rugby front the tour proved successful with a final record of P12, W6, D1, L5; a series win to complete a trip students will remember for life. Julian Whiting, Teacher of Rugby and Senior Tour Leader ‘In all honesty, it’s hard to summarise the experience we shared as a collective touring party in South Africa this summer. Across a three week tour of Johannesburg and Cape Town, we covered everything you’d expect. Recreational days out such as surfing and shark cage diving were accompanied by visits to the Langa Township and the Apartheid Museum. Perhaps the most moving moment came with a visit to a local charity responsible for bringing up and educating young children aged from birth to 18. As a squad we gave the charity of 50 pairs of shoes. Aside from touring, we managed time for some rugby. Twelve highly contested games played across our two touring teams saw us win six and draw one. As players we are eager to express our gratefulness to the teachers who accompanied us on tour and particularly Mr W for the organisation involved.’ Brett Waldron, L6

Junior Tour

Our annual junior rugby tour saw 40 of our Y8 and 9 students visit the Dublin area as a reward for their early rugby endeavours. Some very kind weather and a gentle Irish Sea ensured the boys arrived in good condition for two good games against Dublin High School. Students were treated to a trip around the Aviva Stadium, a bowling night and a second game of rugby against a powerful President College, Bray. Continued unseasonal weather allowed the party to witness the beauty of the coastline and complete a variety of testing outdoor activities before finally returning home tired but happy students.

GCSE Results

A Level Results


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OVA Annual Dinner 19 September 2015 Our Old Veseyan Association Annual Dinner, presided over by our new Chairman Paul Wallis OV, was held on 19 September. Fomer students travelled from far and wide including John Aspley-Davis OV from Australia and Peter Hicken from Florida USA. Jon Ratledge (Pictured right with his friends) persuaded 25 students from his era to attend the dinner. A brilliant speech was made by John Clarke, School Captain. Forthcoming events for Old Veseyans: Sunday 26 June 2016 Annual OVA Sports’ Day with cricket, hockey, netball and rowing competitions. Sunday 24 September - OVA Annual dinner.

Y7 LEPRA Workout Great moves from Year 7 were in evidence as they engaged in a workout for charity in the Sp ort s H all . Well done boys!

Netball Success Congratulations to our amazing netball girls who won the County Tournament for the third year running. Our B team also entered and were narrowly beaten into third place. Well done to all the girls and coaches for this magnificent achievement. We look forward to hearing of your progress in the Regionals (and beyond hopefully) in January

Huskisson ERG Room The Huskisson ERG Room opened in September as an indoor rowing facility for the students. It has been very well used, especially when wind and storms have pushed our crew off the water.

Charity News We marked ‘Children in Need’ in November. We held ‘A Question of Sport’ on Tuesday with the Sixth Form narrowly winning. There was also our customary non-uniform day and an extremely competitive Sixth Form Boys v Girls Netball match (see pictured). Thanks to everyone’s generosity we raised around £2,000.

STEM Building Update This Autumn term has seen the commencement of our STEM Block building. Key achievements so far have included:

Site preliminaries and set up including health and safety requirements

Preparation works for the new retaining wall

Installation of the crib wall along the Sports Hall, west-facing boundary

Concreting foundations

On Wednesday 16 December we will be holding a ‘Breaking Ground’ Ceremony here at school. It will be a good point to reflect on the progress evidently made this term and thank once again our Campaign Board for their support.

How to become a Patron of Vesey Music Music plays a very important part in school life. In our purpose-built Clive Richards’ Centre, we run a weekly wind band, sax ensemble, orchestra, percussion ensemble, clarinet ensemble and choir, as well as the celebrated Funky Bishops. In addition 19 different instrumental teachers visit the school every week. With the school only having one full-time Music Teacher, Mrs Dye, you can imagine this is a huge operation, especially as we have big ambitions for the future, including the introduction of a Music Tour. In difficult financial times, many schools are cutting back on their Music provision. We cannot let that happen here. By becoming a Patron or Friend of Vesey Music you can help sustain, strengthen and widen our extra-curricular offer and ensure a long term future for our much-loved Vesey Music. Contact Sharon Weblin, s.weblin@bishopveseys.bham.sch.uk. Please support us, in any way you can.


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We will remember them As usual, Mr Robson, the School Captain, John Clarke, and Deputy Captains, Kellie Brooke and Adam Smith, represented the School at the Sutton Coldfield Remembrance Sunday Service. There was a huge turnout, as ever, and it was good to see so many Vesey students present amongst the cadets and uniformed organisations present.

This year’s Remembrance Day commemorations, in School, saw our cadets wearing their uniforms proudly for the three simultaneous services across the school on Wednesday 11 November. This year we also had the privilege of using Karl HamiltonCox’s beautiful painting, ‘Solitude’, (left) on the front of our service programme.

Unusually, the following Monday saw the School fall silent at 11am as we pondered the terrible atrocities committed in Paris. During the next few days, we spent time reflecting in assemblies and listened carefully to the words of Antoine Leiris, ‘You will not have my hatred. I will not give you the satisfaction of hating you. You want it, but to respond to hatred with anger would be give in to the same ignorance that made you what you are.’

Founder’s Day Our annual Founder’s Day Service in October was held at Holy Trinity Church, which is the site of the tomb of Bishop John Vesey. The theme this year was ‘Refugees’, and our guest speaker was the Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP, who is a former Secretary of State for International Development. The service was of a multi-faith nature including prayers and readings from a range of religious traditions. There was also some beautiful music with Jemima RichardsonJones singing ‘L'âme évaporée by Debussy and a very fine reading of Benjamin Zephaniah poems by Arun Ladhar, Ben Heppenstall and Joshua Russell. We were delighted to welcome Ann O’Rourke from St Chad’s Sanctuary to the service. St Chad’s Sanctuary is a voluntary project to provide a place of welcome and hospitality for asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants. We hope that some of our students will be able to help there in the New Year. We also did a collection for the Kirambi Health Centre which is a Medical Missionaries of Mary sponsored project in Rwanda and raised £525.20.

Oxbridge/Early Entry Interview Afternoon This year has seen a particularly large number of applicants for Oxbridge and Medical School : 58 in total. One of the ways in which we help prepare students for the rigours of admissions interviews is our annual Early Entry Interview Afternoon. We are so very lucky to have such an excellent range of parents, friends and Old Veseyans who are sufficiently well-qualified to engage with our students in an afternoon of intellectual jousting!

D.Univ for Dr Craggs Congratulations to our Chair of Governors Dr John Craggs DL PhD FCMA who is being awarded an honorary doctorate D.Univ for his ‘outstanding contribution to the University, The City of Birmingham and the West Midlands’. He is joining the ranks of distinguished, and sometimes famous, academics, scientists, politicians, economists, ambassadors, musicians, bishops, medics, historians and business people. Others honoured have included Marie Curie (in 1913), more recently Jasper Carrot, Kenneth Branagh and Benjamin Zephaniah. This is obviously a great honour for our school too! http://www.bvgs.co.uk/alumni/alumni-community


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