BOURNE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BULLETIN Week ending Friday 19 October 2018 From Jonathan Maddox, Headteacher YEAR 11 GEOGRAPHY TRIP TO SICILY - Report by Gemma Parker and Abbie Stubbs (Year 11) At 03:15 on Monday 8 October, 45 students and staff met at School to start the long-awaited Geography trip to Sicily. After our flight from Luton airport, we landed in Catania to bright sunshine and 24 degrees. We met our guides and went straight to Giardini Naxos for lunch and to explore the archaeological site. Giardini Naxos has some beautiful scenery, with magnificent views of the sea. We then boarded the coach and headed to our hotel in Letojanni, a small town on the east coast of the island. We found our rooms and after unpacking headed down to dinner, which was a full four-course meal. On Tuesday morning, we headed out on our first full day excursion to Mount Etna. On arriving at the base, we couldn t see the peak as it was so cloudy. We then drove up to the cable-car station at 1,000m - the cable-car took us further up Mount Etna and we then boarded specially-designed minibuses that took us to an altitude of almost 2,000m. We then walked for forty minutes to the summit of one of the four main craters where at one point everybody got wet because of the water vapour from the volcano. We collected samples of volcanic rock along the way - some of it was still warm when we picked it up.!1
At the summit, it was very cold but the view was amazing and we took lots of photos despite the cloud around us. We travelled back down where we had an hour for lunch and souvenir shopping, before heading off on foot to another crater. On the journey back down Mount Etna, we stopped at a house where you could see the lava that had nearly destroyed it after the 1991 super-eruption. After a long and very interesting day, we headed back to the hotel for dinner and had time to explore the local town. On Wednesday we had a very early start - breakfast at 06:00, before catching the hydrofoil from Milazzo Harbour to visit Mount Vulcano. The sea was reasonably calm, thankfully, so nobody suffered from sea sickness! Our ferry-guide around the island told us about the mythology behind some of the rock faces, with one looking like a lion. After the ferry journey, we trekked 500m up the crater in the heat, with all of us making it to the top. Upon reaching the crater, there were visible sulphur clouds and it smelled like rotten eggs. As it was a beautiful clear day though and the views around the island were spectacular. We could see an active volcano in the distance. Although some chose at this point to walk back down, the rest carried on trekking to the summit. After lunch, we had the option of visiting the naturally-heated mud baths or going to the beach. On Thursday, we went to Taormina for a tour of the Greek Theatre. The tour guide spoke about the history of the theatre and compared it to Roman amphitheatres, as the Romans had taken over this theatre in the second century. Later, we headed off for the much-anticipated Alcantara Gorge for the river walk, in the hope we might cool down a little. We went in wearing shorts, but we had bare feet so you could feel the rocks digging in and the freezing water. The caves were fascinating, with their unique geometric structures, created by a historic lava flow that had cooled and condensed. On Friday we had time in the morning to finish packing and to visit the town for our final souvenir shopping - and one final gelato! We left Letojanni and arrived at Catania Airport for lunch and for our flight home to Gatwick. We landed around 18:40 and drove straight back to School, singing on the way. We were met by our parents; we were tired after a busy week, but what a fascinating week it was. Thank you to all the staff involved in organising such a fantastic Geography trip.!2
BEST IN COUNTY - PROGRESS 8 SCORE PUBLISHED A few weeks ago I wrote about our provisional Progress 8 score. I explained that it was impressively high and that I anticipated that we would feature prominently when School Performance Tables were published. These appeared on Wednesday and I can confirm that progress made by our students was the best of all the secondary schools in Lincolnshire. Only about 14% of all schools achieve a Progress 8 score which is regarded to be well above average. The national average is -0.02 and for Lincolnshire the average is -0.15. Progress 8 is the Government s measure of how much progress students at this School made between the end of Key Stage 2 (i.e. the end of their Primary education) and the end of Key Stage 4 (i.e. their GCSE results), compared to pupils across England who achieved similar results at the end of Key Stage 2. Calculation of the measure is based on results in up to 8 qualifications, which include English, Maths, three English Baccalaureate qualifications including the sciences, computer science, history, geography and languages, and three other additional approved qualifications. SOUTH LINCS SCHOOLS CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS - Friday 12 October Report by Mr C Ray, Director of PE & Sport Almost 80 athletes travelled to the Cross-Country Championships last Friday, held in Boston on another windy but relatively dry day, with high expectations of teams and individuals in all competitions - the first 16 would automatically be selected for the County Championships in January. As always, our students did not disappoint. In the Senior Boys Team (Years 12 and 13), Aaron Hunt led from start to finish with Robert McAndrew, Matt Dowling, Toby Everist and Alfie Clarke all running well and securing a place in the South Lincolnshire team for the County Championships. They also claimed the team title in this age group. With just those 5 students in the race however, a Bourne Grammar 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 was guaranteed! A similar position was also the case with the three Senior Girls, as Abi Cooper, Shannon Woodfine and Hana Ray claimed a 1, 2, 3 finish, all gaining their place in the South Lincolnshire team and claiming the team title too. Whilst other races had in some cases more than 100 athletes, a not-too-dissimilar picture evolved in most age groups. Greater competition emerged for the Inter Boys (Years 10 and 11) but another exceptional team performance this time saw Connor Ely (2nd) lead the team home, with Max James in 3rd, Sam Oakley in 4th and Jake Jungmann in 5th. Oliver Lee (7th) and Tom Bodily (8th) completed the team score.!3
The Inter Girls age group lost the services of Elin James, but a strong group of athletes still placed all 8 Bourne Grammar students in the top 16 places. Flo Brill (3rd) led the way and a string of red shirts followed, with Maisie Brownlow (4th), Holly Moore (8th), Cora Downing (11th), Anita Wong (12th), Beth Eagle-Brown (13th), Libby Friel (14th) and Fran Fenwick (16th) all securing a place in the South Lincs team and claiming a fourth team title in the process. In the Junior events (Years 8 and 9), a third 1, 2, 3 was achieved as Hugo Brill led the team home with Harry Hewitt and Alex Galpin claiming the other podium places. Joe Garner, Dan Galpin and Seb Beedell all finished in the top 10 and completed the six scoring members for the team score, adding a fifth team title. Owen James and Barnaby Sykes have also guaranteed places in the South Lincs team, in a race with more than 100 starters. Not to be outdone, the Girls almost matched these positions, led home on this occasion by Charlotte Cullen (1st), very closely followed by Aoife Glasswell (2nd) and Erin Cox (3rd). These three continue to challenge each other and push the boundaries in one of the most intriguing age groups we have had for years. The backbone of our National Cup team, these three continue to swap positions in almost every race. Hannah Taylor, Tilly Manning and Lauren Stuart finished in 7th, 8th and 9th respectively. To complete a clean sweep of the titles, the Year 7 teams and individuals impressed hugely. Our 5th 1, 2, 3 finish was secured in the Boys event, as Johan Coughlan added to impressive runs in the Fenland and English Schools races to claim the title, with Thomas Preston and Harry Brear close behind. Sammy Harriss (7th), Ben Fahidy (9th) and Will Hughes (10th) completed the team score in this, another race with more than 100 starters. Alex Sadler (13th) will also join them in the South Lincs team. The Girls were equally as dominant, as Norah Brill took the title and Holly Griffin finished in 2nd position. Madison Prince narrowly missed out on 3rd place but she, along with Scarlet Clifford (8th), Libby Moore (9th) and Amelia Smith (10th) completed the team score and claimed only our 2nd clean sweep in 14 years. This set of results is unquestionably the best for the School since our records began with all titles, six individual wins and five 1, 2, 3 finishes. All bodes well for the future, and an expected 50 students is likely to be selected for the County Championships in January. YEAR 11 ART TRIP TO THE TATE GALLERIES - Friday 5 October Report by Ella Burdock, Abby Garthwaite and Ellie Harrison (Year 11) On Friday 5 October, Year 11 and Year 13 Art students gathered at 07:00 to embark on a journey to London s renowned Tate Britain and Tate Modern galleries. After arriving at Tate Britain, we were welcomed with a variety of art pieces dating from as early as the 1500s to the present day, which proved to be both engaging and interesting. After two hours studying the works on display, we made the long, traffic-filled journey across London to the Tate Modern. Throughout the course of the day we created studies of both classical and contemporary art pieces from Turner to Warhol.!4
A particular favourite of the students was Anthea Hamilton s performance piece called The Squash, where a dancer sporting a squash-shaped headpiece saunters around the gallery - it was mesmerising and something we didn t expect to see! For many of us, it was the first time we had visited an art gallery and it did not disappoint. We are grateful we got to experience art first-hand and believe it will be highly beneficial in terms of inspiration for future coursework pieces. Anthea Hamilton s The Squash Changing gravity with SUPERFLEX s multi-swing GEOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION - Miss Pepper, Geography The annual Geography Photography Competition took place over the summer holidays and the start of the new School year. This year, the standard was again very high with many unique and interesting Geographical photographs submitted by a large number of students. Congratulations to all students who entered and to all prize winners. Key Stage 3 Winner Kareish Rajkanna!5
Key Stage 4 Winner Tim Schoutsen Key Stage 5 Winner Yasmin Hornsby!6
RUGBY LEADERS On Tuesday 10 October, 90 pupils from Market Deeping Community Primary, Thurlby, Bourne Abbey, Langtoft and Elsea Park primary schools came together to enjoy a fun-packed day of Tag Rugby at Bourne Rugby Club. On arrival, the primary students were split into mixed teams and had 90 minutes of coaching from Year 10 Sports Leaders from our School. In the afternoon, the same small teams all enjoyed games of Tag Rugby to practise their new-found skills and experience some competition. FORTHCOMING EVENTS Sixth Form Play - The Tempest Rehearsals are well underway for the Senior Play in the intimate performance space of the Drama Studio, which this year adds some Year 11 students to the cast of Sixth Formers for what has become a highlight of the year. The Tempest, Shakespeare s final play, is the story of the exiled Prospero, using his magic to bring his usurpers to him and exact justice. The island, populated with strange spirits and monsters, comes alive as the action unfolds and further plots and love-stories develop. The modern setting and up-close performance in the round will be an exciting project for some of our most talented dramatists. The small cast includes some new faces to the BGS stage, who are coming out of the shadows from having previously assisted backstage in productions, to get the sand between their toes on Prospero s magic isle. Performance dates are Thursday 6 - Saturday 8 December - tickets ( 7 for adults, 5 for concessions) are available via the School website or https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/event/276800. Junction: Dance Showcase - Tuesday 27 November Tickets are now on sale for Junction: Dance Showcase, featuring students performing a variety of different dance styles. Tickets are 6 for adults and 4 for concessions, and are available to purchase via the School website or https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/date/558420!7
STUDENTS OF THE WEEK Name Year Staff Subject Freya McLean 7 Mrs Mohan PE Elspeth Dunk 7 Miss Bradley PE George Bell 7 Mrs Welling Art Jacob Carrington 7 Mr Dougall Design Engineering Archie Crane 7 Miss Atkinson EPR Dominic Graham 8 Mr Adamson Mathematics Rory Spellar 8 Dr Barmby History Erin Holden 8 Mr Chan Mathematics Ananya Aravindhan 8 Mrs Somerville Art Cerys Edwards 8 Dr Murphy Registration David Hyam 8 Dr Murphy Registration Owen Slocombe 8 Mr Chan Mathematics Miina Maaranen 9 Mr Edwards Spanish Rayyan Faisal 9 Miss Segarra Ginés Spanish Davina Jaison 9 Mrs Clark Spanish Erin Brown 9 Mrs Worrall Spanish Finn Chisholm 9 Mrs Ellis Computing Ben Barnes 10 Mr Gatland English Liberty Bessent 10 Miss Smallshaw Chemistry Dan Rambaldi 10 Mr Bowers PE Anna Sloss 10 Mr Harris Chemistry James Watling 10 Mr Delport Design Engineering Lucy Burney 11 Dr Hanson Biology Olivia Wood 11 Mrs Shales Mathematics Isobel Kaufman 12 Mr Turton Mathematics Aidan Plant 12 Mr Sheppard Single Maths Mark Thompson 13 Mrs Shales Mathematics Luca Kirk 13 Mr Maddox Mathematics INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENTS Netball Mathilda King (Year 7) recently took part in County Netball Trails and has been selected for the Lincolnshire Netball Performance Academy for U13s.!8