July 2015 Newsletter - Alcester Grammar School

Newsletter
July 2015
Principal’s Welcome
At last the summer holidays are here! Once again, the students have excelled
themselves over what has been another successful year at AGS. I would like to take this opportunity to
wish all of them, and all of our readers, a restful and refreshing break.
This newsletter might make you exhausted just reading it. It is a fitting record of just some of the many
activities that our students have participated in with enthusiasm and talent, and on your behalf I must
thank all those staff who have created these opportunities, fostered such creativity, and led by example.
I must also thank Jacqui Dyos who has edited the content and put together a publication that really does
do justice to the wealth of opportunities enjoyed at the school.
As I reflect on my first year here, I think it counts as one of the happiest in my professional career. I am
very proud to be associated with the wonderful staff and delightful students, and I am sure that with
your ongoing support the school will continue to go from strength to strength in 2015-16.
Alcester Grammar School
We are grateful to all those parents who have
already pledged a regular monthly amount to our
school fund. If you have not already done so, please
read the letter from the Principal and Chair of
Governors on our website at :
http://www.alcestergs.co.uk/page/?
title=Information&pid=3
How you can help secure
our financial future
The level of funds raised will determine to what
extent the school will be able to deliver the
“essential extras” - those extras which contribute so
much to the quality of education at AGS but which
soon won’t be able to be supported from our
budget in the light of reductions to our funding.
Year 7 Open evening
On the 2nd July, we hosted another successful Year 7 Open Evening,
with a huge attendance in excess of 1100 parents and prospective
students. All year 7-11 departments opened their doors for the
evening to showcase the range of academic and extra-curricular
options available at AGS. Mr Sentance, Dr Minards, Mr Slater and Mr
Brewer presented throughout the evening giving all those who
attended a highlight of how AGS works, including the
A fairy bower , A Midsummer Night’s Dream
expectations of those who
study here, what they can expect from the school in return and the
many and varied opportunities that they will have if they are one of
the students who choose AGS.
Over 80 students from years 7 to 12 assisted throughout the evening,
touring parents and their children around, asking questions and
passing on their enthusiasm for AGS.
WWI classroom display
Year 12 Induction
We had a highly successful induction evening involving nearly 900
students and parents. This is the second stage of a
three-part induction programme following 'Subject Sampling' last
January and the pleasures of the Welcome Day barbecue coming up
in September. We are looking forward to an excellent new intake of
Year 12 students.
Show my Homework
From September 2015, we'll be launching ‘Show My Homework’ at
Alcester Grammar School and we hope that this service will provide
parents with a deeper insight into the homework your son/daughter
receives. More importantly, we hope that it will improve your son/
daughter’s organisation, time-management, and help them to keep on top
of their workload. Show My Homework will allow you to see the details
of all the homework tasks your son/daughter has been set. It offers online 24/7 access and Apps are
available for iPhone, iPad and android devices.
From September you will be provided with login details to your personal account, ready-linked to your
child’s homework calendar.
Our website features links to AGS’s live homework calendar. When you have received your login
details, you will then be able to log in. All information is available to view whether you log in or not.
Many staff and students have started to experiment with the service already in preparation for next year.
Library and Information Centre
… … working together
… … reaching goals together
STUDY/LIBRARY MANAGERS
From September 2015, helping us to manage the Library and provide
assistance to the younger students and Library Assistants will be
Miranda Gleaves, Beatrice Taylor and India Golding. All three students
have helped us extensively over the years and are valuable members of
our Library team already. Well done to all three students for achieving
this prestigious and valued role within the school.
ALCESTER SCHOOLS’ BOOK AWARD 2015 – MARCH 2015
The books for this year’s Alcester Schools’ Book Awards, nominated by the three School Librarians, to
read and assess were as follows:Soldier Dog – Sam Angus, The Fault in our Stars – John Green
The Runners – Ann Kelly, Darkling Land - Harry Sherwin
No Stone Unturned – Helen Watts
One of our students, Eleanor wrote about the 1st trip.
There was a wide genre of books – a romance, a fantasy, a mystery, a war and a dystopian fiction.
What I enjoyed about today was that it was very well rehearsed and the teachers had already read the
books so the teachers could give us an overview on the books, with an idea of some of their favourite
genre. I also enjoyed meeting some new friends, seeing old classmates and seeing what new books we
would be reading (full article available on our Library Blog)
On 13th May it was AGS’s turn to host an event and we were thrilled thrilled to welcome local author,
Helen Watts who was here to talk to the students about her book “No Stone Unturned”.
The book is fictional but based on local history and Helen Watts researched specific information about
the limestone quarry that had been in the Wilmcote area, which gave her inspiration for her novel: definitely, a ‘stone turning’ novel for the wonderful heritage of the local area. The limestone was used for
the floor of The Houses of Parliament.
Helen spoke about how her initial idea for the story came
whilst walking around the edge of the disused quarry with her
dog, near to her home and she began to imagine what the
quarry would have been like in its time. Details of Helen’s
book can be found on our Library Blog.
The final was held at St Benedict’s on 21 May 2015 which was a
lovely event for all and the students were able to find out the
winner of the book award and see if their choice matched.
The winning book was ‘The Fault in our Stars’ – John Green,
second place went to ‘No Stone Unturned’ – Helen Watts and
third place went to ‘The Darkening Lands’ – Harry Sherwin.
Library and Information Centre
… … working together
… … reaching goals together
WARKS SCHOOLS’ BOOK AWARD – FINAL 2015
Students from all over Warwickshire attended Bilton School,
Rugby on Tuesday 17th March to meet with the shortlisted
authors and find out the winner of this year’s prestigious
award based on the votes from all schools. Our vote was for
Phoenix by S F Saio which had been selected by our
students, firstly by the cover design and then on the book
itself. The author presentations were excellent with each
author, Hilton Pashley, Berlie Doherty and S F Saio
explaining where they found inspiration and material for their books. The
students were then able to purchase a book and get it personally signed by the
authors present. We also have signed novels by all three of the authors in the
Library! Our students were delighted when our favourite book, Phoenix, was
chosen as the winner. Photographs of the event can be found on our Library Blog.
BORN TO PLAY – DAN FREEDMAN PREQUEL NOVEL
Dan Freedman, the talented author of the Jamie Johnson series of novels; about an aspiring young
footballer, visited our school just a couple of years ago as a shortlisted author for our local Alcester
Schools’ Book Award. It was therefore great to receive a sample copy of the latest, specially written
prequel in this series called, Born to Play.
Born to Play is a novel that covers a young boy’s aspect of life and experiences in the football world whilst
also being in Year 7 at school. Thus, it was a lovely gesture to be able to present this sample copy, by Mr
McGready, our Head of PE, as a gift to a young, talented Y7 footballer in our
school: Will Cooke.
Will was scouted by Wolves’ Academy, Wolverhampton and has been
playing with them for one and a half years. He loves this experience and
covers three training sessions a week and plays one match a week to
develop his tactical, football team skills.
Thank you to Dan Freedman for a lovely gift.
Check the site link: http://www.danfreedman.co.uk/jamie-johnson-books/
English News
EXTENDING HORIZONS
Our English A Level students are embracing the opportunity to widen their experiences of English beyond
the A Level curriculum this term.
Y12, having just returned from the AS
examination season, may well have thought they
were off to University as they were welcomed
back with a Literature Lecture Day. They
experienced a morning of Lectures led by subject
specialists (aka Mrs Tingle, Ms. Humphries and
Mrs Bremner-Smith) on the challenging topics of
Marxist and Feminist
Critical Theory and
Reading through
Metaphor. These were
then followed by intense
specialist seminars which
have in turn led to
ongoing tutorials. These
students have had a taste of English study at
Higher Education level.
Our English Language Y12 students are taking the
study of Child Language Development out of the
classroom to apply it in a very real context: Teddy Bear
Corner Nursery in Alcester. They are spending
sessions observing child-carer interactions to explore
the development of
children’s language in
practice. We are very
grateful to all at the
nursery for supporting
us in this
endeavour.
STRATFORD LITERARY FESTIVAL
The last few months have been an exciting and creative time for extracurricular activities offered by the English department. Once again we were
delighted to be involved with the Stratford Literary Festival, as it seems
were our students.
On Tuesday 24th March, Sam Jordison, journalist, publisher and self-confessed book lover with two published
books under his belt, came to AGS to give a writing workshop based around developing news stories into
narratives.
Through analysing the start of ‘War of the Worlds’ by H.G Wells, a story partly inspired by the news stories of
the time such as Darwin's evolutionary theory and the growing power of the British Empire, we gained
inspiration for our own narratives and so a morning of ebola-inspired dystopia and eclipse apocalypses ensued.
The workshop was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone who attended and near the end of the workshop we got to
ask valuable questions about writing and publishing, giving us a real insight into the industry. Sam told us about
the work his does for ‘The Guardian’ and for his publishing
company Galley Beggar Press which published the recent bestseller
‘A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing’ by Eimear McBride. He also told us
about his books and gave us advice for writing and getting
publishers for our own books.
It was an exciting and informative workshop and special thanks
must go to Sam for planning such a great morning and the English
Department for offering it.
Scarlett Colquitt 8W
English News
Get
wring!
CREATIVE WRITING COMPETITION
STRATFORD LITERARY FESTIVAL 2015
When the opportunity came up to take part in a
Creative Writing competition, I was excited to try.
My English teacher recommended it for the Writing
club I go to on Tuesdays, and I was inspired to write
something and see how it went.
The task was to either write a short story (up to 2000
words) or a poem (maximum 600 words) with the
title and stimulus as ‘My Voice’. With the deadline
on Friday 13th March at 4pm, I got some ideas
together. My future career idea is to be an author, so
I wanted to practice my story – writing skills by
choosing the option for a 2000 word short story.
Once I had decided how I would link the title to my
setting – in a cave , I spent several after-school
evenings drafting and typing up my story.
I wanted it to be interesting, descriptive and a
gripping storyline. With the majority of the piece, I
just went along with the flow: with what felt right.
After checking it through I added extra details and
improved the structure of my phrases, using exciting
adjectives and including an unexpected twist near
the end.
I was delighted to hear that my story was going to be
published in the Stratford Literary book sold at
Waterstones, and that several other people in the
writing group who entered had been too! I was the
6th name mentioned on the 11-16 years category,
which is a great achievement for me. After reading
some of the other stories published, their work was
full of creativity and the winners definitely deserved
their prizes. I am happy that I did the competition,
and enjoyed the experience – I will certainly have a
go in other contests when the occasion returns.
Here is the first paragraph from my story:
The cave is covered in glittering crystals that shine
and glimmer from the beam of my torch. Warily, I
step past the abundance of stalagmites that cover
the floor, my eyes flickering across the path. I take
my eyes off the ground for a few seconds,
building up courage to walk through the
obstacles; I lose my footing on a lump that I didn’t
see before and slip down. Suddenly darkness falls
upon me like a thick blanket, and I realise my
torch has broken, scattering pieces of glass
somewhere I can’t see. Panic bubbles up inside
me and grabs me by the neck, I can’t breathe…
Calm down, I tell myself, all you’ve done is lost
your footing. Carefully, I try to stand up without
falling, grasping out to something to hold onto. As
I manage to rise up, I reach behind to get to the
bag slung over my shoulder, to get some water.
While I slowly sip the water, it cooling my throat
as I swallow, I narrow my eyes to focus on the
surroundings. Twisting the cap onto the bottle I
realise that my friends surely can’t be far ahead.
“Hey,” I call, “Molly? Are you there? Sarah?
HELLO??”I am shouting now, at the top of my
lungs. “Help me!!!” I yell, and I hear my voice
bounce off the walls, into my ears, deafening me.
Eleanor Foster 8W
WORLD BOOK DAY
To celebrate World Book
Day, Key Stage 3 participated
in an inter-form book quiz.
With rounds on subjects
such as literary heroines, Shakespeare and the
homes of fictional characters, the teams needed
a real breadth of literary knowledge but they all
rose to the challenge. The atmosphere was
incredibly positive yet there was a real
competitive edge as the students vied for the top
position. Members of the winning team from 8W
received book token prizes.
English News
YEAR 12 ENGLISH MASTERCLASSES
In a continuation of last year's innovative new approach to stretching and challenging our Year 12, around 60
A Level students participated in seven English masterclasses as part of the English Department's extra
curricular provision.
Designed to give our students a taste of university style lectures and seminars, these optional sessions once
again proved to be very popular.
Topics included:
•
•
•
•
•
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two masterclasses on Shakespeare's presentation of gender and the "play within a play"
the depiction of illness in women in 19th century classic novels
the madness of Modernism
a creative writing workshop
the mother figure in children's literature
Media and Culture: the freak show documentary
Several particularly eager students attended five or six sessions! Everyone responded well to the strong
emphasis on individual participation and gained a lot from the experience. For those applying to study English
at university, it also gave them a great addition to their UCAS form. Thanks to all members of the department
who gave up their time to run these sessions and, most of all, to the students who participated with such
interest and enthusiasm. Keep an eye out for these next year as we look to expand and develop our
programme.
Mrs Atkinson
YEAR 8 & YEAR 12 BRITISH LIBRARY TRIP
TUESDAY 19TH JUNE 2015
On Tuesday 19th June, all the student librarians went on a trip to the British Library. We
got to see some of the most important documents in the world, including two of the
four Magna Cartas, some documents from the battle of Waterloo including
Wellington's hand drawn battle plan and the East India companies ledger showing
Napoleon’s ordering of wine for him and his wife. We also saw one of the oldest
printed books in the world, as well as Leonardo Da Vinci's handbook.
It was one of my favourite schools trips to date and a big thank you goes to Mrs Beeson for her part in
helping to organise it.
Tom Hansen 8D
The British Library trip was an enjoyable and informal trip for all the students involved. The visit offered Y12
English Language and Y12 English Literature students the opportunity to attend workshops covering topics
such as feminism and language research, and also the chance to visit the current Magna Carta exhibit.
Being in the language research group, I enjoyed learning about the history of language and being guided
through an exhibition containing a first edition King James Bible, handwritten letters from Winston Churchill
and other historic documents.
The material covered in both workshops was greatly relevant to our respective A2 courses next year.
Harry Fowler 12MM
PSHE and Citizenship News
THE MOCK ELECTION
The mock election helped to engage students of different ages and years
across the school with politics and our political system. Everyone who took
part had to formulate their own campaign and take part in the hustings. For
me this was a great experience as it encouraged myself and other candidates
to debate and share their ideas with other students. Having a visit from the
candidates for the Stratford-Upon–Avon constituency, pupils were able to
ask direct questions to potential new members of parliament. This was a key
part of the mock election as it gave direct power to students to cross
examine those who wish to represent them. The whole process not only
engaged the student body but also encouraged those who had not taken an interest before to do so and
learn more about democracy. It was for me a wonderful opportunity for myself and the other candidates
but most importantly for the students at AGS.
Joshua Ellis
YEAR 9 PSHE AND CITIZENSHIP
In collaboration with the History and RE department year 9 spent the morning
of Friday 26th June with a survivor of the Holocaust, Susi Bechhofer. The
Holocaust education Trust provided lesson materials for the previous week to
prepare them for the visit and as a result of this there was an air of anticipation
prior to the talk.
Susi's eye witness testimony focussed on the importance of identity. This was
key to her story as she had been transported with her twin sister Lotte at the age of three to the United
Kingdom. Once here the girls had been brought up without the knowledge of their background and with
new names. It was only on sitting an examination in school when Susi
found out her real name. As she grew older she began the task of finding
her true identity, and she explained all of this in such a pertinent way to
our students.
The students were very interested and generated some super questions
for Susi. Susi engaged the students with her open and honest answers.
The presentation was very moving and year 9 will be following it up by
writing some letters of thanks for Susi in PSHE next week.
PSHE and Citizenship News
PUPILS PROBE INTO POLITICS
Which political party can we trust? Why are inner city students worth more than students in Warwickshire?
These were just a few of the pressing questions posed by students to the five local prospective
parliamentary candidates during the Hustings event held at Alcester Grammar School.
The event, held on Tuesday 14th March, boasted a strong turnout from students of all ages and saw the
candidates engage in a heated debate concerning a myriad of topics.
Allocated just two minutes for each response, the candidates began with an introduction emphasising their
main priorities. For Elizabeth Adams, representative for the Liberal Democrats, these were the fight for
‘families’ future’ and her passion for ‘youth involvement in politics’.
Edward Fila, of UKIP, argued that Britain needs to escape the ‘unsustainable and undemocratic’ system of
Brussels, and highlighted the UK’s ability to negotiate trade deals without the EU.
Both the Green Party and Labour, represented by Dom Giles and Councillor Professor Jeff Kenner
respectively, focused on the ‘inequality’ of our society and emphasised their desires for the ‘politics of the
future’.
Welfare reform was one topic of focus for the former MP, Conservative Candidate Nadhim Zahawi, who
also stated that Britain was a country of ‘freedom and opportunity’.
Following this, the five, each hoping to be elected as the MP for Stratford-Upon-Avon, were faced with
questions from students among the enthusiastic crowd. Question topics included the democratic system,
education funding, and the past mishandling of both the NHS and the economy.
All candidates agreed that an extent of reform of the democratic system was necessary, ranging from the
lowering of the voting age to 16; as advocated by Labour and the Greens, to the eradication of the first past
the post system, described by Edward Fila as being ‘no longer the way’.
The Greens and Labour were in agreement again with their belief that fairer funding for education in rural
areas is vital, described by Jeff Kenner as ‘an absolute’. Nadhim Zahawi confidently told of the committed
attitude that the Conservative party has taken towards the creation of a ‘fairer funding formula’, and
Elizabeth Adams argued for higher wages for ‘all education staff’. Following the confident responses of the
other candidates, Edward Fila failed to give a substantial answer, and was promptly met with an
intervention from both Principal Clive Sentance and Mr Zahawi, who informed Mr Fila of the National
Funding Formula.
Ms Adams responded to the question concerning previous mishandling of the NHS and the economy by
stating that the Lib Dem’s policies are based on ‘evidence’, as opposed to those of Labour and the
Conservatives, which she described as ‘ideological’. Mr Zahawi pledged that the Conservatives will deliver
‘£8bn per year to the NHS by 2020’ and told spectators to judge the party by ‘their track record’.
The overriding message arising from the closing statements from all involved was to encourage youth
involvement in politics, and if the atmosphere of the event was anything to go by, it seems that young
people have already taken the advice on board!
Beth Flaherty
Community Day
YEAR 12 COMMUNITY DAY
Year 12 rolled their collective sleeves up again this year, and spent a very successful annual Community Day
working at over 30 different projects in and around Alcester.
Activities included helping to create design ideas for Alcester Town Hall, helping the Shakespeare Hospice
fundraising team, entertaining residents in local care homes and clients at the Alcester Alzheimer’s Café, and
lending a hand in local primary schools and nurseries. Other students worked in the gardens at Coughton
Court and in the nature reserve at Welford upon Avon, and at charity shops in Alcester, Stratford, Henley and
Wellesbourne.
As usual, the students were a credit to
the school, receiving many, many
positive comments from the
organizations they were working with.
Well done Year 12!
Dr Carr,
Assistant Head of Sixth Form
Community Day organiser
Pictured: Isabel Upcott, Lucy Randle,
Lauren Goymer, and Annabelle Strain at
St. Mary’s Junior School, Studley, who
painted the fencing of the school
playground (there was lots more of it not
pictured!).
Students planted a wildflower bed that will attract bees and other
pollinating insects, as well as provide a colourful show, at the Headless
Cross Community Orchard, near Redditch.
Physics News
YEAR 6 OGDEN CHALLENGE DAY 3: DRAGON’S DEN (IN COLLABORATION WITH THE DT DEPARTMENT)
On June 11th we welcomed 32 students from 3 of our feeder schools to take part in the
final Ogden Challenge Day of this academic year. These are days planned and
delivered between the Physics and DT departments to encourage the students to
work together to solve problems with a physics, design and engineering emphasis to
them. The students worked in teams of 4, each team having a sixth form mentor to
support them throughout the day.
Students were tasked with designing and then making a product constructed from everyday items which are
usually thrown away. In the afternoon all the teams pitched their ideas to our two “Dragons”, Mr. Sentence
and Dr Minards and certificates were awarded for team work, creative ideas and products that were felt to
be commercially viable. We had a huge range of ideas from an Ipad carry case to
sculptures of well-known landmarks. The year 6 teams were each supported by a year
12 mentor who worked with them all day, guiding and supporting them. The year 12
students were superb and a credit to the school. It has been another successful year
of challenge days with our feeder schools and we look forward to welcoming a
number of the students who have taken part into year 7 in September.
PRIMARY PHYSICS CPD
Through our role as an Ogden Trust hub school and
as part of their primary science programme, we run
CPD programmes to upskill primary teachers.
These CPD days are designed to give primary teachers
confidence in tackling practical science work, to improve
subject knowledge and the ability to identify and tackle
possible student misconceptions.
Teachers can collect ideas and resources that can be used
immediately in the classroom to improve both teacher and
student engagement in the physical processes. Each school
attending receives a box of resources which includes
everything a teacher needs to carry out ten complete
investigations, a comprehensive set of lesson plans and
teaching notes to accompany these investigations. The first of
these sessions has been run at AGS this term entitled “Phizzi
Forces”, focussing on developing the confidence of primary
teachers to ensure that they are able to provide a consistent
and exciting approach to the key strands of primary Physics.
One of the teachers who attended said; “Hopefully this will
lead to students having a sound understanding and enjoyment
of Physics which can be developed even further when they join
you in year 7”.
If you feel your local primary school
would like to take part in these events
in future please feel free to email:
[email protected] for more details
about how you could get involved.
SIXTH FORM PRIMARY PHYSICS CLUBS
Every year we have a group of Year 12
students who are trained to plan and
deliver a series of after school Physics
clubs in our local primary schools. This
involves students working in small
groups and being responsible for all
aspects of the club from arranging the
sessions with the schools, planning and
trialling what they intend to deliver, and
keeping a portfolio of their work. This
all contributes towards students
receiving a British Science Association
Silver Crest Award in recognition of
over 30 hours work whilst completing
the project. The project can also be
used as part of their Duke of Edinburgh
Award. Huge congratulations go to the
students who have taken part on the
project this year whose projects will be
completed this term. The students have
demonstrated real motivation,
perseverance, resilience and
enthusiasm and hopefully, they’ve had a
bit of fun whilst doing it. Those
students are; Benedict Allen, James
Fordham, India Golding, Phoebe
Greenwood, Alexandra Hatton, Joe
Morrow, Annabel Pigdon, Saffron
Purewal, Morgan Shelley, Harry Stevens
and Sam Teale.
Physics News
BRITISH SCIENCE WEEK IN THE PHYSICS DEPARTMENT
British Science Week ran from the 13th to 23rd March this year and we had several events going on within
school to celebrate it.
Y7 PHYSICS FACTOR
Year 7 students competed in our first ever Physics Factor competition. Students had to work in teams of 3
to research, practise and perform a Physics Busking act. We had some
great entries and the time and effort students put in designing their
acts was excellent. We held an “in house” competition on Friday 19th
March where all teams competed and the panel of judges including
myself, Mr. Brewer and Mr. Sentance chose the 3 best acts who were
then invited to a special Celebration Evening at Stratford High School.
The winning teams and their parents were invited to Stratford High
School where the students set up their very own stands and performed
their acts to parents and students from other local high schools. The confidence and ability to
communicate shown by our students was really impressive.
Following that, they were treated to a “chilled Physics” talk by Ally Caldecot
from Warwick University who showed the students some interesting
applications of liquid nitrogen, culminating in using it to make ice cream,
which the students thoroughly enjoyed. This has led to the finalists being
awarded a British Science Association “Discovery Award” in recognition of
their hard work, not to mention the valuable skills they have demonstrated
and developed. It was a privilege to support the students taking part, congratulations go to; Matthew
Tingle, Calum Blackie, Ben Earls, Logan Dennis, James Baker, Isabelle Hopper, Emilie Cooke and Sophie
Smith who can all be seen below receiving their prizes, and enjoying their liquid nitrogen ice cream!
SOLAR ECLIPSE, 20TH MARCH 2015
This year we were fortunate enough to be in school for the partial eclipse, when 80%
of the Sun was obscured. Students started off the day taking part in a live skype link
up with Dr Johanna Jarvis, who previously delivered our “Stargazing Live” evening in
January. She took the students through the Physics behind the eclipse and how to
view it safely to get the students geared up for their observations!
Following that session we took part in a national weather experiment in conjunction
with Reading University. This involved the students setting up
and taking measurements of temperature, light levels,
humidity, background radiation and wind speed before, during and after the
eclipse. These results were sent to Reading University and have formed part of a
study into the effects of the Sun on the weather on Earth. Our results can be seen
on the noticeboard in the Maths quad. Students spent time outside, complete with
their eclipse glasses, and were able to view the eclipse directly, making the most of
the opportunity which will not arise again until at least 2026, with the next total
eclipse not taking place until 2090! Once again the cloud was not on our side but
the hopefully the students enjoyed the opportunity to appreciate just how vast the
Universe is and how small we are!
Physics News
YEAR 12 PHYSICIST OF THE YEAR 2015
Each year, in partnership with the Ogden Trust we are able to nominate 2 students as Year
12 Physicist of the Year. These prestigious awards are given to students in the local area
who have demonstrated a consistently high level of effort and engagement with their AS
Physics work and who we think deserve recognition for their ongoing hard work.
We work in collaboration with Birmingham University and Warwick University and this year we are pleased
to announce that our Birmingham University winner was Joe McLeod and our Warwick University winner
was Sara Rafaty. Both have consistently demonstrated hard work, a genuine interest in
improving their understanding and an all-round excellent approach to their AS level
Physics.
Both will be attending the awards evening at the respective Universities where they will
be presented with their awards as well as being involved in a series of talks and
demonstrations by students and lecturers at the Universities. The students can now
apply to become members of the Ogden Trust Alumni Association. They may also apply
to receive Ogden Trust Undergraduate Scholarships which support and encourage
students who choose to go on to study Physics at University.
Many congratulations Joe and Sara, it’s very well deserved!
YEAR 12 PARTICLE PHYSICS MASTERCLASS
Every year Birmingham University run a particle physics
masterclass for year 12 students. These full day sessions are
designed to review and illustrate some of the latest
developments in particle physics research. They are part of a
national series of masterclasses, supported by the Institute of
Physics. This year, a group of 15 students attended. Students
were firstly given a brief introduction to particle physics and
the standard model, which they will study further during year
13. They were then shown how computer software analyses
the collisions that take place in some of the world’s largest
particle accelerators, specifically the LHC at CERN. Once they
were familiar with the software students were then set the
challenge of analysing a series of collision from the Atlas
detector to see if they could identify the fundamental particles
which were present in each case. They were also asked the
illusive question; can you find the Higg’s Boson? For Harry
Stevens and Joe Kelly, the answer was “yes”, they were
awarded a prize for correctly spotting and identifying the
Higgs Boson. To finish off the day the students took part in a
live video conference with CERN where they were given the
opportunity to discuss the work they
had done during the day and ask
questions; many of which stumped
these world-class researchers! The
students had a great day and it has
given them a taste of some of the work
they will encounter in year13.
YEAR 12 PHYSICS
OLYMPIAD
The annual Oxford
University AS Physics Olympiad is an
examination-based competition that has a
dual purpose: to challenge and reward
the best physicists in British schools and
to select the UK Physics Team for
competition at international level. This
year we had 18 students take part. The
students completed a 1 hour paper which
required them to extend their thinking
well beyond the work they have done in
the classroom. The questions really
stretched and challenged students, and
gave them an insight into what University
– level Physics may be like. It was a huge
achievement to have completed the
paper. Particular congratulations go to
Alice Lake, Kirsten Davis, Harry Stevens,
Alex Weatherup, Theodore Hlustik-Smith,
Rhys Morrison, Sara Rafaty and Sam Teale
who all achieved a Bronze award, which
puts them in the top 20% of students
taking part nationally and Tom Baxter, Joe
Morrow and Matthew Buckland deserve a
special mention for all achieving Silver
awards; putting them in the top 10% of
students nationally.
Sustainability and Biodiversity
VEGETABLES FOR THE FOOD BANK
In the raised bed garden behind the music department spring
sowing was under way. Jack Smith and Calum Blackie (7W) and Ogo
Juwah (8D) have so far planted broad beans, peas and carrots, and
have sown lettuce in seed trays.
On Weds 17th June Rev. Cathy Davies collected the first of the produce grown and
delivered it to one of the food banks in Coventry which the school has been supporting.
The consignment was a bed of Webbs lettuce, 50 onions and some very new Charlotte
potatoes. Luke Embley has helped Jack, Calum and Ogo with tending the raised beds.
We are hoping to “makeover” the area around the raised beds so that it is a low maintenance, quiet retreat
area, as well as continuing to use it to grow vegetables. We are happy to have more students planting a
variety of crops on the other beds, and maintenance work will continue in and around
the Patricia Wells biology garden and the pond. I you are interested in helping in
these areas please see Mr German or Mrs Warren.
BIOLOGISTS OUT AND ABOUT IN JULY
Year 12 biologists are travelling the world in July.
Firstly Dr Clifford and Anne Hopkins have taken 12 keen students to a genetic engineering plus ecology week
in Castle Head Cumbria.
Then 24 y12 and yr13 students are spending the last fortnight in the Yucatan, Mexico on an Operation
Wallacea expedition with Mr German, Mrs. Preston and Mrs. Lugo. This will involve survey work in a camp in
the Mayan jungle followed by a week diving.
Last but not least Mrs. O’Mahony, Mr Brewer and Dr Clifford are taking 45 students on the annual Dale fort
ecology field course in sunny Wales.
M German
Signing off as head of biology and handing over to Mrs. O’Mahony!
Maths News
PRIMARY MATHS CHALLENGE
Mrs Leeds, Mrs Warren and Mr Wade run a Primary Maths
Challenge day for year 5 students on 26th June. There were
over 20 primary schools represented. Students worked in
teams of 4. Sixth form students helped out by supporting individual teams or marking their answer sheets. Year 5 students
took part in several different rounds of mathematical challenges. The most popular of these was the relay
competition, where students collected the first problem sheet, solved the puzzle on the sheet and ran
back to the judges to check their answers. If their answer was right they collected the next problem sheet,
if it was wrong they had another go at solving the same puzzle. Students were really enthusiastic about
solving mathematical problems and puzzles. They thoroughly enjoyed their day.
INTERMEDIATE MATHS CHALLENGE RESULTS
This year similarly to other years there has been a large number of students taking
part in the Intermediate Maths Challenge.
Enthusiastic students in years 9, 10 and 11 have been completing tricky maths questions to gain bronze,
silver and gold certificates. 14 students received a gold certificate, 22 a silver certificate and 20 received a
bronze certificate. 13 students qualified for the follow up rounds of grey and pink kangaroo and the
Hamilton round. The maths department would like to congratulate all these students on their fantastic
achievement.
Following on her excellent performance in the Intermediate Maths challenge and the Kangaroo round
Elizabeth Hatton has been selected to take part in the Summer Schools for girls in Balliol College,
Oxford. This is an outstanding achievement and deserves a special mention. Many congratulations!
Year 9 Students
Grey Kangaroo
Jamie
Joe
Brown
Hunt
Bronze Certificates
Millie
Knight
Alex
Doidge
Caitlyn
Wright
Dominic
Furey
Jade
Ng
Silver Certificates
James
Kaziah
Leo
Oliver
Lake
McGahan
Fosse'
Higginson
Gold Certificates
Jamie
Brown
Joe
Hunt
Maths News
INTERMEDIATE MATHS CHALLENGE RESULTS
Year 10 Students
Hamilton
Izumu
Mishima
Pink Kangaroo
Josephine
Wild
Bronze Certificates
Silver Certificates
William
Elinor
Harvey
Samuel
Elizabeth
Cavan
Harry
Daniel
Harry
Jones
Braithwaite
Randle
Price
Weatherup
Farrow
Brooks
Hancocks
Belton
Gold Certificates
Izumu
Mishima
Josephine
Wild
Year 11 Students
Pink Kangaroo
Silver Certificates
Callum
Aidan
Sarah
Farrow
Keavy
Davies
Ben
Hawker
Miranda
Sealy
Tom
Thomas
Taylor
Rhymer
Eleanor
Owen
Joanna
Godfrey
Andrew
McIsaac
Alex
Dior
Nathan
Shalom
Frank
Finlay
Elizabeth
Battersby
Hatton
Sam
Gold Certificates
Callum
Farrow
Aidan
Keavy
Sarah
Davies
Tom
Thomas
Taylor
Rhymer
May
Andrew
Nathan
McIsaac
Shalom
Bell
Finlay
Battersby
Sam
Muller
Johnathan
Furey
Elizabeth
Sam
Hatton
Burn
Bronze Certificates
Madeleine
Hill
Alasdair
Carr-Smith
Harry
Mason-Hodges
Leo
Kershaw
Zoe
MacMullen
George
Mason
James
Coward
Rebecca
Stirling
Charlotte
Wilkins
Oliver
Burrell
Tom
Savage
Lachlan
Wright
James
Wiseman
Thomas
Pettifer
Phil
Newsom
Chemistry News
The C3L6 Challenge is a prestigious and highly competitive international Chemistry
exam, which not only requires significant subject knowledge but also first-class lateral
thinking and problem solving abilities, if the applicant hopes to reach the highest levels. The paper takes
students significantly beyond the syllabus and encourages them to think about science in the way that they
would at university.
This is the 5th year of the competition. At AGS our students have enjoy considerable success in previous
years. AGS is one of only 3 schools in the country where a student has achieved the top award in each of
the years that the competition has been running.
This year, 30 Year 12 chemists bravely took part in the C3L6 challenge, supported by St Catharine's College
Cambridge. 8535 students entered this competition and we are delighted to report that and 5 of them
achieved the highest accolade possible, the Roentgenium Award. The awards are listed as Copper, Silver
and Gold but as this is a Chemistry competition, the three awards are topped by a Roentgenium, the fourth
and the most rare of the noble metals in Group 11 of the Periodic Table.
The C3L6 results placed Eve Cain, Eliza Griffiths, Joe Morrow, Annabel Pigdon and Oscar Warden in the top
0.7% of all students who entered the contest and, as only the best students in each school are put forward
to take part in the competition, it is an outstanding achievement by each of them.
As a result of this achievement, the 5 have been invited to an all-expenses paid residential Chemistry Camp
at Cambridge University. This is run by Dr Peter Wothers, the chairman of C3L6, who last year presented
the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures and is one of the most renowned Chemists in the world. All of our
pupils made an excellent effort on the paper and should be proud of their achievements.
Roentgenium Award (top 0.7% all entries)
Eve Cain, Eliza Griffiths, Joe Morrow, Annabel Pigdon and Oscar Warden
Gold Award (top 7% all entries)
Luke Boyes-Varley, India Golding, Lucinda Grainger, Phoebe Greenwood, Ben Jones, Gemma Niblet,
Chris Owen, Harry Stevens, Megan Taylor and Sam Teale
Silver Award
AJ Anderson-Littlewood, Rachel Beasley, Colton Bryan, Matt Buckland, Lucy Fitchford, Ebony Healy,
Ameeta Khamba, Miles Pigdon, Morgan Shelley, Bethan Timms and Rhys Winter
Copper Award
Ben Cooper, Joe McLeod, Isaac O’Neill and Sidney Ocanagil-Tunstall
Huge congratulations to them all. Many thanks too to Dan Rhymer, Year 13, (a previous Rg winner) who
attended the chemistry camp last summer. Dan has been a key player in the training and teaching of the
revision material for the exam paper and we thank him for all of his hard work and efforts.
Chemistry News
ONLINE COMPETITION
From November each year the new online monthly C3L6 challenge is launched. This competition is open to all
students (and parents) across the world. New challenges have been released at 00:00:01 (UK time) on the first
day of each month from November to June. We have thoroughly enjoyed the successes of many of our
students over the past few months who have pitted their wits against chemists from all over the globe.
Many students have taken part in the monthly challenges for this academic year with outstanding success. All of
our pupils finished in the top 150 on the world leader board. In the June competition, Izumu Mishima (Year 10)
was 26th in the world closely followed by Sam Teale (Year 12) 27th and Harry Brooks (Year 10) and Harvey Randle
(Year 10) who were also in the top 100 fastest finishers. On the world cumulative leader board Izumu was
placed 25th overall, out of 2800 entries , Sam finished 47th.
On the U18 world leader board Izumu finished 9th and is the youngest student on the board. Sam and Harry
Brooks finished in 17th and 19th place respectively. Special mentions should also go to Harvey Randle, (Year 10),
Annabel Pigdon, (Year 12), Bill Jones (Year 10) and Elinor Braithwaite (Year 10) who finished in the top 100 in the
U18s and Joe Morrow and Gemma Niblet (both Year 12) who were in the top 150. What fantastic achievements
by all.
Unfortunately we believe that this is the last year that the monthly online competition will be running as we
have really enjoyed it and the successes of our pupils.
GENETIC ENGINEERING RESIDENTIAL 2015
Early on the morning of the 29th June, twelve
intrepid molecular biologists, Dr Clifford and
Mrs Hopkins ventured north to the Life Sciences
Centre based at Castle Head Field Studies
Centre in Grange-Over Sands just south of
Windermere in Cumbria (http://www.fieldstudies-council.org/centres/castlehead/the-lifescience-centre.aspx). The five day residential
course provided an opportunity for the students to immerse themselves in a bespoke molecular biology lab
where they experienced the joys of using a Gilson pipette and the exacting rigour required to culture bacteria,
extract and purify DNA and use DNA restriction enzymes to cut the bacterial plasmid DNA into fragments
which they then ran through gel electrophoresis. Isolate 7 was named ‘Gary’. He (if a bacterium can have a
gender) was cloned and duly processed to identify whether or not his plasmid DNA carried the valuable 2350
kilobase fragment of DNA that was the human insulin gene! A real lesson in dexterity, following technically
challenging protocols and extreme precision and accuracy…. All in all a very high-tech biological cookery
lesson with a good pinch of physics thrown in for good measure! When they were not sweating in the lab (it
was 30°C and the windows had to be kept closed to avoid contamination of the lab by fungal spores from
outside!), everyone got stuck into a variety of team-building activities
including Jacob’s Ladder, low-ropes and raft building. I have never seen the
ladder scaled so rapidly and a raft that cruised so straight… what a great
team! To support the A2 ecology course, the students spent a day at the sand
dunes at Sandscale Haws near Barrow in Furness (http://
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sandscale-haws-national-nature-reserve/visitorinformation/). This beautiful backdrop provided the ideal site for learning
about ecological succession and sampling methods. We even found
pyramidal orchids in the dunes which was fantastic. All twelve returned just a little older – but a lot wiser in the
ways of biology on the miniature scale!
KS3 Play. Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
ALICE IN WONDERLAND
AND THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
Directed by Mrs Spencer
This year’s KS3 production has been an epic
adventure into Wonderland. With a cast of 47,
a stage management crew of 11 and the moral
support of AGS staff, students and parents, this
show was a high maintenance visual and aural
treat for its audience. With the raked seating
pushed back, the space transformed into an
area setting, thus bringing the audience closer
to the action, and in some cases, directly into
the action, as the Gryphon, Mock Turtle and
Alice brought members of the audience in to
help demonstrate the fabulous dance called
the Lobster Quadrille!
All the characters in this story have their quirks
and peculiarities, but it was a pleasure to see
our students bring them to life with their own
interpretations, such as the rather sassy
Humpty Dumpty (played by Steph Jones), or
the cool and condescending Caterpillar
(Florence Cain), and not least the childlike and
tricky Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Our Alice
was a combination of four fine actresses: Lily
Bell, Amber Elliott, Alice Dankenbring and
Marianne Botterill. Throughout rehearsals
their focus, dedication, energy and
professionalism remained constant, and this
resulted in utterly charming performances,
enabling the audience to fully connect with
the character of Alice and come alongside her
on her journey through Wonderland, or
should we say through childhood into
adolescene…
KS3 Play. Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
I’d like to say a heartfelt thank you to all the
cast for making this show such a joy and a
success. I know I’ve had my whinges and
worries along the way but I never had any
doubt in your ability to make this show what it
has become. You are a fantastic cast to have
worked with; each one of you should be proud
of your talent and achievement and I hope
you’ve enjoyed the experience as much as I
have.
It is a privilege to have been able to direct and
produce this show. The cast have been so
creative and collaborative, but furthermore I
certainly feel the show would not have
happened, at least with my mental faculties
still intact, if I hadn’t had the support and hard
work of Georgie White (year 12) and her team,
Miss Bray (Head of Music) and Mr Dereza
(Head of Drama). A massive thank you to all
those involved, and of course a huge thank
you to the audience for supporting the
company on the night and through the
rehearsal process. May you all have a summer
filled with wonder!
Best wishes,
Caroline Spencer
Drama
THE GCSE PLAYS
A quartet of self-penned plays from our super talented GCSE groups provided a wonderfully charged evening of
imaginaon with thought provoking topics.
First up was ‘The Experiment’ that combined a modern mystery with flashbacks of what happened to them in their lives
told through different theatrical styles. 6 paents are invited to an island that is
gradually changing their behaviour pa'erns. Playing on peoples vulnerabilies
what was supposed to be a fresh start, soon turns into a nightmare for all of them.
The character driven cast was played by Sam Burn, Oli Burrell, Ole Green, Dan
O’Mahoney, Miranda Sealy and Cailin Vijoen.
This was followed by a wonderful futurisc play called ‘Herod’ that implicated
that the government will gradually take control
controlling our lives enrely from the minute we are
born. The cast combined Alan Benne' style dialogue,
the TV series Utopia, with fabulous DV8 movement as
the ensemble (Will Farrell, Declan Harris, Olivia Hunt,
Leo Kershaw, Tom Taylor and James Wiseman) captured a riot.
‘The Door’ saw three interwoven stories where someone has to pay for their mistakes with
their life. A dark and brooding play that rapidly moves between a church, an isolaon unit and
a bar. The cast takes us through lightning bolt scene changes as the pressure builds upon three
of the main characters who gradually become more desperate for their lives. The mul-rolling
cast (Max Bri'on Kathryn Philips, Ed Smithers, Gab Somers and Amie Woodward)
experimented with mime, clever staging and an episodic style of Drama.
‘Cargo’ was an outstanding piece of naturalisc script wring based in a government experimental facility in which
water is being used to control the minds of people. When a new “item”, Skye,
ended up in a newly formed unit by mistake, havoc is caused. It is revealed that
Jack has not been drinking the water, he sll has his memories. He convinces Skye
to work with him to escape. But does he know too much? Gradually the group
begin to boyco' the water. But aBer years without memories, will the
overwhelming emoons be too much for the cast (Ben Hawker, Cody Stanley,
Charli Wilkins, Zoe Macmullen, Tom Rhymer) to handle?
THE YEAR 12 DRAMA ENSEMBLE PLAYS
5 AS plays over two nights from published plays was a carnival, as they
experimented with style and form, linked together by so many outstanding
performances. To start the fesvies was ‘The House of Bernarda Alba’
set in Andalusia and Lorca’s most naturalisc play. A family of five
daughters are led by the iron rod rule of their mother Bernarda Alba. The
all-seeing Poncia a family friend is the go between for everyone, who
papers over the cracks, so the reputaon of the family is not embarrassed. However, it has
disastrous consequences, especially as they try and look aBer their half crazed grandma. The cast
really captured a story of frustraon, madness, jealousy and deceit played out in the oppressive
heat of Andalusia and inside the claustrophobic confinements of closed walls. The wonderful
ensemble cast was made up of Jess Bedson, Hannah Ciotkowski, Danni Gavin, Georgia
Heaselgrave, India Peart- Barr, Robyn Pullen and Sophie Wardle).
The fabulous cast (Molly Pipe, Julie'e Duffy, Natalie O’Neill, Thomas Tristram and Ben Co'rial) of
‘Memory of Water’ by Shelagh Stephenson, were constantly spinning plates between serious,
comical and emoonal moments at a roller coaster pace. It was set during the winter in a coastal
town where a cast of 5 adults congregate, coming to terms with their loss, reflecng on their own
lives as well as changing values and relaonships. However, they are also ideologically at odds as
they deal with their dysfunconal relaonships. The theme of memory is exported through the
scienfic idea of memory contained within water as well as what we remember from our youth
and how we chose to interpret this.
When performing ‘AƩempts on Her Life’ by Marn Crimp our ensemble cast (Harriet Friend,
Rebecca Kane, Ellie Craig and Callum McGeady) mul role different characters in every scene and poise the queson “Who is
Annie?” This wonderfully accessible Avant-garde piece leaves the audience not only trying to solve the style of the play but to
work out what is the story and what is its purpose. Scenes have tenuous links with other scenes as we try and deconstruct
Annie. Is she a film star, an old lady, as assassin, an arst or even a car? It became clear that Annie could be anyone of us. The
cast captured this mosaic episodic piece with serious, sad and funny moments throughout. The cast seamlessly crossed a
number of genres including naturalism, Artaudian style movement, melodrama as well as direct address.
‘Honeymoon Suite’ by Richard Bean is a moving study of how relaonships grow and change throughout the course of me.
Set in one hotel room on the northern coastline the cast (Ana Cortes- Crabtree, Joe Fellows, Joanna Kelly, Joshua Ellis, Anna
Tarver and Benjamin Clarke) brilliantly captured the same couple seen at three different stages of their lives; the day they were
married, an anniversary where their marriage suffers a serious setback and then years later when they have a reunion. For
most of the play, all six characters were in the same room unaware of the ghostly presence of their former or later selves.
Overall the acng was a naturalisc character study, however, we witnessed several marvellous Dennis Po'er style lip synch
moments expressing their emoons through the music of Dusty Springfiled and Frank Sinatra.
We finished with ‘The Woman who Cooked her Husband’ a superb three handed play, where Hilary (Flora Roberts) dedicated
to her marriage gradually sees life falling apart as Kenneth (Cian Cheesbrough) lives a life of deceit with Laura (Lauren
Keaney). The dramac triangle captured wonderfully the changing power struggle, anger and gradual frustraon between the
three characters and the consequences of their behaviour. Kenneth is a big Elvis fan and his music is peppered throughout.
There were well executed stylised moments, including overlapping dialogue and a speeded up passing of me with Kenneth
between houses. The changing status and loyales were key to this fascinang play.
THE YEAR 13 DRAMA ENSEMBLE PLAYS
Year 13s Theatre Studies students warmed our hearts in early February with some of the most thought
provoking and
well-crafted plays the Drama department has seen. Over four evenings we saw outstanding play writing from
our talented students around the themes of the London bombings, gender politics, business lunacy and being
caught between two worlds.
The Aftermath was an incredibly moving piece that was based around the 7/7 underground bombings, but
focusing on the victims of random attacks and the scars they carry with them. This highly sensitive piece
(portrayed by Vivi Bayliss, Ella Godfrey, Erin McGready, Flora Roberts and Eve Roberts) included beautiful
movement individual storytelling that culminated with the audience calling out the names of those that were
killed on that day.
Limbo was a really cleverly staged play where four people (Grace
Williams, Ben Cottriall, Lauren Keaney and Tyler Danks) find themselves
in an empty white room not knowing why each of them are there. With a
series of flashbacks it gradually unravels that their stories are intertwined
and they have been placed here for their excessive lifestyles. However,
only one can go back. With stylised monologues and staging this group
capture a broken generation who are argue, “they want us to all be
individuals, but then when we try we are told to conform.”
The Corridor is a highly imaginative black comedy where four characters
(Tom Dixon, Will Hughes, Cian Chessbrough and Luke Beardsmore) think
they are running a highly successful business where frantic buying and
selling takes place on the stock exchange. However, it is all in their minds
as they are part of an experiment that gives these patients an illusionary
world of high finance and wheeling and dealing. With ‘Frantic Assembly’
style movement, wonderful characterisation and excellent comic timing
their interaction makes us question what is real.
Finally The Revelation is a highly imaginative and intelligent play set in a future where women can control men
by turning them on and off with their y-watches. With the echoes of ‘The
Handmaids Tale’ this naturalistic piece combines a sci- fi world, the ‘roaring
twenties’ with the chattering classes. The cast ( Zoe Deucher, George
Fitzpatrick, Sophie Williams, Natalie O’Neil and Ryan Brook) delivered
impressive scene changes, internal monologues and role reversal (where
men for example are discussing life whilst shopping) that looked beyond
stereotypical gender roles.
DofE News
The past few months have seen several successful expeditions as well as a record number of Bronze awards
completed.
79 students in Year 10 successfully completed their Bronze assessed expedition in March and all have now
completed their award which is the first time we have achieved a 100% completion rate. Warm weather was a
feature of all 3 practice expeditions this term with Gold teams having to cope with some unexpected sunshine
in Snowdonia. Their first experience of wild camping was made much more bearable this year by the absence
of midges but this only came about due to ‘breezy’ conditions which tested the durability of some of the tents
overnight! Navigation was fully tested around the forests of Betws-y-Coed which will be great preparation for
the challenges ahead in the valleys of the Black Mountains in October.
As always, if you have completed your assessed expedition but not yet completed your award get logged on to
eDofE and get those assessor reports uploaded over the summer holiday.
Congratulations go to the following students who have recently completed an award:
Gold: Clare Bamford, and Jihea Kim
Silver: Huw Wickstead, Hannah Ciotkowski and Alexander Weatherup
Bronze: Ciara Fagan, Khalid Ahmad, James Allman, Harley Barnes, Jim Bate, Santiago Beach,
Harry Belton, Ella Bowen, Mollie Bracewell, Donald Braddock, Elinor Braithwaite,
George Bray, Harry Brooks, Cameron Carr, Julian Chiu, Sebastian Cortes Crabtree,
Matthew Cutler, Pheobe Dalton, Lotti Davis, Imogen Dykes, Luke Embley, Cavan Farrow,
William Flaherty, Jacob Flower, Jennifer Forysiak, Miriam Gentleman, James Gionis,
Emily Gordon, Isabel Griffiths, Daniel Hancocks, Jacob Hancox, Georgia Handford,
Sanchia Hansen, Edward Hewitt, Holly Hill, Oscar Holland, Sebastian Hopper, Bill Jones,
Elliot Kimber, Spencer Knight, Lester Langford, Megan Lawton, Imogen Lee,
Annabel Lindsay, Stephen Lowe, Emily Madden-Forman, Sebastian May, Isobel Meredith,
Florence Minchella, Izumu Mishima, James Morrow, Declan Mosson, Samuel Newcombe,
Remi Newton, Robyn Pettiford, Josh Phillips, Archie Pollard, Leah Poyner, Samuel Price,
Harvey Randle, Charlotte Rigby, Eleanor Roberts, Lucy Rundle, Matthew Stone, Daniel
Strand, Emily Sugden, Jack Surman, Naomi Tassa, Caitlin Taylor, Brandon Thomas,
Lara Tovey, George Wade, James Wall, Thomas Walsh, Morten Ward, Elizabeth Weatherup,
Matthew White, Finlay Whitmore, Edward Whittaker and Chay Willmott.
Rotary Photography Competition
Congratulations to all of the students that entered
the Rotary Photography competition this term.
Pictured (right) is the winning photograph by
Lucy Harvey and (below) are the highly commended
entries.
Highly commended Entries by Alex Hung, Calum Blackie, Edie Hutchinson and Laura Slatem
ART DEPARTMENT EXAMINATIONS
This is always a busy time of year for the Art Department with lots of students taking exams at all key stages
and producing some fantastic preparatory work and outcomes. We are very pleased this year to include
AS Photography in our list of entries. What follows is in only a small selection of the work produced.
Languages News
FRENCH EXCHANGE 2015
On March 22nd 2015, 40 students from Years 8,9 and 10, said goodbye to their families and
went to stay with a French family for a week. If that doesn’t sound exciting enough as it is,
they also had a packed week, full of activities.
Monday - La Maison du Pain and Lille.
Tuesday - Bruges for yummy chocolate.
Wednesday - Half a day in a French school.
Thursday - WW1 Memorials and Accrobranche (like Go Ape).
Friday - Disneyland.
And finally, Saturday - Free day, but the French school also had a party organised for us, too.
But what did they think of the activities and the week as a whole? I interviewed Francesca Wiseman, Chloe
Bishop and Harley Barnes to see what they thought of their week in France.
Megan: What did you do on Sunday, when you arrived at your French exchange partner’s house?
Harley: My French Exchange partner wasn’t there. So, I went home with his Mom and she tried using a weird
translator app. Anyway, we went to her friend’s house and ate dinner. And then, we collected my French
partner from the train station.
Megan: La Maison du Pain or Lille?
Francesca: I liked La Maison du Pain because we got to make bread.
Harley: I liked chasing the chickens at La Maison du Pain.
Megan: Did you have a good day in Bruges?
Harley: Yeah and I got some good photos
Chloe: It was so pretty.
Megan: Then, on Wednesday, we spent the morning in a French school. Which lessons were you in?
Harley: French and English.
Francesca: History and Maths.
Megan: What did you do once we’d left school?
Francesca: Chloe and I went to Quick with our exchanges. After, we went bowling and then we went to Arras
town and shopped.
Megan: So, Thursday we went to World War Memorials. What did you think?
Chloe: They definitely make you think a lot more about life in general.
Languages News
Megan: And then, we went to the Accrobranche. Did you like it?
Chloe: Yeah, it was good. Mr Wells was cool.
Megan: Friday was Disneyland, all day. Did you get to see any of the parades?
Francesca: Yeah. We watched both the one in the morning and the other in the
evening.
Megan: Favourite ride/ rollercoaster?
Chloe: Space Mountain was closed, but ‘Indiana Jones’ was really good.
Harley: That and ‘It’s A Small World’.
Megan: Did you get a chance to meet any Disney characters?
Harley: I met Rapunzel.
Megan: Then, what did you do on Saturday - your free day?
Francesca: We went to the party, but as well as that, we also got to be a part of the ‘after party’.
Megan: Which was your favourite day of the whole week?
Harley: Friday night, and Saturday.
Chloe: Wednesday.
Megan: Did you actually learn any French?
Harley: I probably did… Subconsciously….
From this article, I think we can all see that, as every year, all students had a great
time and enjoyed the experience.
Thank you to all the teachers who made this trip happen, Mr Wells, Mrs Turner and
Mr Knights. But a special thank you to Mr Wells. This was his final exchange and we
hope he has enjoyed his experiences with the AGS French Exchange. Thankfully, we didn’t let him say
goodbye without him going on the Accrobranche.
Merci beaucoup, Monsieur Wells - you will be missed!
Megan White 9W
PE News
SOUTH WARWICKSHIRE TENNIS SLAMS
Congratulations to both the Year 7/8 (mixed age-group) girls and boys tennis teams who were runners-up at
the South Warwickshire tennis slams. Both squads performed well, showing clear improvement throughout
the matches.
There has been a fantastic opportunity for the girls to improve their tennis
skills this term, as Mel Farrow from Alcester tennis club has been working
with our Year 7-10 students. The sessions have certainly been paying off,
and although we’re not ready for Wimbledon yet, we are planning more
tennis matches in the future!
Year 7/8 girls tennis L-R:
Agatha Scholes, Yasmin Grinham,
Daisy Denning, Isobel Haerle,
Lydia Mitchell, and Jodie Palmer.
ROUNDERS
We have been pleased to host the South Warwickshire
rounders tournaments once again this Summer at Alcester
Grammar school. Despite typical British weather we have
managed to complete the tournaments for all age-groups,
which is an achievement in itself! In Years 8-11 we had some
fantastic performances, and proved that we remain one of the
strongest schools in the area for rounders; in particular with
excellent fielding displays. However, we really did save the
best until last, with an outstanding display from the Year 7s on
17th June. They remained unbeaten in all 5 of the games
played, demonstrating some awesome hitting, intelligent
fielding and great teamwork. All 11 players participated in the
final against Kineton, and even after extra time the sides could
not be separated. Therefore, we share the South
Warwickshire rounders trophy in the Year 7 age-group, and
look forward to competing again next year.
L-R: Isobel Bridge, Jess Taylor, Jemma McCarthy, Ellie Clarke,
Millie Fitchford, Francesca Clarke, Grace Hollis (Captain),
Taiya Cooper, Lydia Mitchell, Emilie Cooke, and Ella Yendall.
Year 7/8 boys tennis
Calum Blackie, Nick Butler,
Tom Clarke, Charlie Cusdin,
Edward Hill and Heath Parker.
Year 12 student Molly
Phillips, along with
two other members of
her branch, has been
asked to compete in
the show jumping
team representing
West Warwickshire at
the Hurstpierpoint
College National
School and Pony Club
Championships, at the Hickstead
International Show Jumping Arena on the
6th of August.
After qualifying last summer in 2nd place
for the Team Open Show Jumping
National Championships and Molly
qualifying in 5th place for the Individual
Championships, the team were invited to
go and compete at Hickstead this summer,
and are all very much looking forward to
it!"
PE News
The Athletics season started in earnest with over 25 students regularly attending Monday night training.
COMBINED EVENTS
Initial success came at the Warwickshire Combined events championships, where teams of 3 students
compete in a range of disciplines. AGS gained unprecedented success across the board with both
individuals and teams gaining the following results:
Yr7 boys: Ciaran McCormack-Wakeman 1st, Morgan Eagle 5th, Tom Clarke 6th Warwickshire Champions.
Yr8/9 boys: Noah Heward 1st, Zephan Boxhall 4th, Will Lazenby 8th Warwickshire Champions.
Yr10 boys: Elliot Kimber 1st, James Gionis 3rd, Cavan Farrow 4th Warwickshire Champions.
Yr7 girls: Suzie Mishima 2nd, Evie Beard 6th, Maddie Clarke 9th Warwickshire Champions.
Yr8/9 girls: Taz Chape 1st, Lucy Goldsmith 12th, Edie Hutchinson 17th 3rd place overall.
MASON TROPHY
An amazing 9 AGS students were given County representations at the Mason Trophy held at the Alexander
Stadium. Congratulations to Noah Heward, Alex Evans, Felix Shears, Callum Farrow, James Gionis,
Elliot Kimber, Taz Chape, Charlotte Rigby and Emily Madden-Forman (who also won the Triple Jump).
SUPER 6
The yr7 and yr8 boys teams, along
with the yr7 girls all qualified for
the level 3 Coventry, Solihull and
Warwickshire finals despite tough
opposition from local schools. We
wish them well on the 2nd July.
ENGLISH SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Congratulations to Emily Madden-Forman who will compete for
Warwickshire in Gateshead later this term. Best of luck! Elliot
Kimber is currently a reserve and we have fingers crossed!
PE News
COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Successes continued at the South Warwickshire
team trials with many students being selected to
represent the district at the County Championships
on Saturday 13th June.
Athletes selected: Nick Evans, Zephan Boxall, Cameron Palmer, Will Lazenby,
Alex Evans, Felix Shears, Noah Heward, Edie Hutchinson, Taz Chape, Elliot Kimber,
Callum Farrow, James Gionis, Seb Hopper, Peter Hanley, Emily Madden-Forman,
Charlotte Rigby, Cadie Hibberd and Erin McGready.
The following were crowned County champions:
Callum Farrow (High Jump), Elliot Kimber (Triple Jump and Pole
Vault), Charlotte Rigby ( Long Jump) Emily Madden-Forman (Triple Jump), Alex Evans
(Triple Jump), Taz Chape (Javelin), Cadie Hibberd (3000m), Erin McGready (Triple Jump).
SOUTH WARWICKSHIRE CHAMPIONSHIPS
A great day of competition, with too many individual successes and PB’s to list.
Students were committed, focussed and fully deserving of their achievements.
The yr7 boys, yr7 girls and yr8 boys won their divisions with the other teams all
placing in the top 3 to take the overall title. Well done to all.
A RETURN TO PRAGUE
A few months ago I returned from my fourth trip to Prague having being invited to attend the National Insect
Exchange Day alongside top entomologists (they study insects, specifically beetles) who work behind the scenes
at the Natural History Museum, London.
The day is vital for the museum as it allows
entomologists worldwide to meet and collect loans of
beetle specimens; some were collected centuries ago
by scientists such as Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel
Wallace. The loans may be used for research into
things such as climate change, or newly discovered
species may be named. Recently a rove beetle
collected by Darwin 180 years ago was discovered in the
collection at the Natural History Museum which had been
lost within the 9 million other specimens, in one of the
200,000 drawers. Not only was this a new species, but it was
also given its own genus! - Darwinilus sedarisi. Loans are
collected back in, as are newly mounted insects from
expeditions to the far flung corners of the globe such as Borneo.
Comedian David Baddiel also joined us as he was investigating the entomology behind Franz Kafka's novella
Metamorphosis, attempting to discover what insect or arthropod Gregor Samsa transforms into overnight. This
was in celebration of the dark tale's 100th anniversary of its publication and was broadcast last month on
BBC Radio 4 - his interviews with eminent entomologists Max Barclay and Beulah Garner can be found on BBC
Iplayer Radio.
Last week I had the opportunity to do some fieldwork surveying the Coleoptera (beetles) in natural history
television presenter and author Richard Fortey's wood in Henley on Thames. Numerous entomologists and even
an arachnologist (they study spiders) who collectively specialise in huge range of insects attended. Richard had
hired a cherry picker for the day and we had the unique experience of being lifted up and looking down on the
canopy of the forest from 30 metres up whilst surveying for beetles in the tree tops. We found over 80 species of
beetles in around 5 hours, plus large numbers of Hymenoptera (bees, wasps and ants) and Diptera (flies).
It was an unforgettable experience; I'm looking forward to an entomology-filled summer and hope to be back in
Prague sometime soon!
Jordan Rainey
LIFESPACE
Mr Chris Spriggs came to give a motivational talk to the whole of year 8 on Tuesday 26th
June. The students gave excellent feedback; they really enjoyed the talk and finding it
inspirational. Chris is from the Lifespace trust, a charity which has helped AGS with both talks
in PSHE and mentoring of students. Indeed he also spoke in a whole school assembly earlier
this term about resilience. He completed three marathons in three days. We are very lucky to
have such able and professional support.
We are not the only institution who values Lifespace. They have recently gained the Queen's
award for voluntary service for helping to make a difference for so many young people.
It is the highest award for volunteers in the UK. The school sends its thanks and congratulations to them all.
Music News
The music department has been a bustling hub of creativity this term rich with extra-curricular clubs,
rehearsals, GCSE and A Level performances, and composition deadlines.
The most anticipated music event of the year, the annual Summer Gala Concert, took place in the Theatre
on Thursday 7th May. It was the culmination of months of hard work from both the students and the music
department staff. Our talented musicians performed in the school ensembles: Orchestra,
Young Voices, Big Band, Folk Group, String Group, Wind Ensemble and the Senior Choir.
There were also some quite outstanding individual
performances from Alex Dior (year 11), Eddie
Brocklebank (year 13), Joe Higham (year 13), Nathan
Shalom (year 11), Eve Cain (year 12), Jim Bate (year 10),
Sophie Wardle and Tom Tristram (year 12), and Natalie
O’Neill (year 13). We had a unique barbershop
performance from our year 13 music students and the
year 8 djembe group (‘The Djem-baes’) performed an African music
composition with style and enthusiasm.
The Staff Choir sang three items: Ave Verum by Mozart, gospel favourite Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho, and
an animated rendition of Can’t Take My Eyes Off You. Sadly 5 staff members are leaving us at the end of the
year and will be sadly missed. It was a wonderful evening of music and thank you to everyone that
supported the music department.
Very special thanks must go to Glen Leyser for his technical expertise, Molly Hughes for her artwork, the
front of house team, the peripatetic staff, Jess May for her wonderful accompanying skills, Young Enterprise
for managing the bar, the stage management crew, Tom Tristram and Sophie Wardle, Jeremy Slater, Rachel
Dancy, and Miss Williams and Miss Bray for all their hard work in putting the concert together.
Finally, our thanks to the students who help to make the music department what it is – we wish our Year 13
and Year 11 leavers every success in the future.
We would like to say a fond farewell to the music class of 2015. Eddie Brocklebank,
Ed Gough, Joe Higham, and Grace Williams have been wonderful students and
role models, committed to music making at the school. We will miss you.
Fingers crossed for your examination results in August.
Music News
Wall of Fame
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING STUDENTS:
Eddie Brocklebank – grade 8 trumpet.
Ed Gough – gained a conditional offer to study music at Pembroke College,
Oxford University.
Eve Cain – ATCL Diploma in flute with distinction.
Ben Jones – grade 8 voice.
Robyn Pullen – grade 8 voice with distinction.
Jim Bate – grade 8 piano and grade 5 organ, both with distinctions.
Lara Tovey – grade 3 piano with merit.
Emily Gordon – grade 7 voice with merit.
Isobel Meredith – grade 8 voice with merit.
Santi Beach – grade 4 piano with merit.
Florence Cain – ATCL Diploma in voice with distinction. Florence also got
through to the Rotary Young Musician National Final.
Victoria Robbins – grade 5 clarinet with distinction.
Charlie Berkeley – grade 5 voice.
Evie Beard – grade 5 voice with distinction.
Mark Davies – grade 5 tuba with merit.
Molly Wilshaw – grade 3 voice with distinction.
Eleanor Timothy – grade 5 voice.
Zain Iqbal – grade 3 piano with distinction.
Tristan Littlewood – grade 5 voice.
Amber Elliott – grade 6 voice.
Alex Fox – grade 6 voice.
Maddie Price – grade 5 voice with merit.
Sian Heer – grade 4 voice.
HOUSE MUSIC RESULTS
Well done to all those that performed in this year’s House Music Festival. It was a great day of
music making (from staff and students!). Wells House were in the lead halfway through but it was
Spencer House that won the trophy in the end. Thank you to our adjudicator, Damon Minchella,
who had the difficult task of deciding this year’s winners:
Year 7
Year 8
Years 9 & 10
1st
Jake Simian (piano)
Leo Welzel (piano)
Ben Snodgrass (piano)
2nd
Celia Wright (voice)
Amber Elliot (voice)
Jim Bate (piano)
3rd
Isobel Bridge (piano)
Alex Fox (voice)
Caitlyn Wright (voice)
Ensemble
winner
7W singers
8S djembe drummers
9S pop song composition
Year 13 Leavers
It was great to see all of Year 13
on the last day (dressed in 'old
school uniform', or the
interpretation thereof) for
some awards, music and
gunging.
We really appreciated the
turnout and hope you enjoyed
it.
Staff Farewells
GRAHAM WELLS
Well, a long career in a lovely school. I
started in September 1985 with a lady
called Kate Morris, the other French
teacher shortly to retire herself and
whose own career at AGS had started
in 1951! The languages department
only had 4 members then, including a
part-timer, and we were based in the
long corridor where Dobell 1, History 2
and part of the Y13 Studio are now. The school was a lot
smaller then, only two-form entry and a much smaller sixth
form. There was no Music block, no Art and DT block, no
Newport building, no Spencer building, no Maths quad (we
looked out from the Chemistry lab walkway onto what was
the Bottom Field where the Sports Hall and car park are
now). A lot of the teaching was done in temporary buildings
(FT, Art and Music for example). The Theatre was the School
Hall (again smaller then without the extension) and
doubling up as the Gym, much to the frustration of the PE
Department. The Library hadn’t been extended either and
you could walk through from the Library to Spencer without
entering another building as the Psychology/Drama/RE
rooms left of the stairs didn’t exist then.
Memories? Loads of them! A lot of lovely colleagues who
have become good friends….brilliant exchanges in
France…..and great pupils to work with and who have kept
me young! Time to retire now but I will miss you all.
LORRAINE BURKE
I have enjoyed my 25
years of teaching and
have particularly
enjoyed my last 16 at
AGS. I have always
been keen to try
something else in my
working life apart
from teaching and I
now have the opportunity to do just that.
I am having a bit of a 'Gap' year first and
hoping to travel more with my husband.
The best part about teaching for me is the
interaction with students, and the students
at AGS are very special, nothing can
replace that!
KATE WOODMAN
I will be leaving this
summer with my
family to State
College,
Pennsylvania, USA as
my husband, Andrew
has been offered a
Post Doctoral
Research Fellowship
at Penn State University.
Next year I will be undertaking study of a
Masters in Higher Education at Penn State,
with the intention of diversifying my
career at university level.
We would like to wish the following a long, healthy and happy retirement:
Mr German, Head of Biology
Mr Kopp, Head of German
Mr Mavrommatis, Chemistry
Mrs Preston, Biology and Head of Year 13
Mrs Reeves, Finance Assistant
We would like to wish the following every success as they take on new responsibilities in other schools
Mrs Bell, Maths
Mr Coleman, Maths and Exams Officer
Mrs Dathan, PE
Mr Driscoll, Chemistry
Mr Knights, Physics and Head of Year 9
Mrs Sweetman, Head of Business Studies and Assistant Head of 6th Form
Mrs Thompson, Chemistry Technician
Alumni Pages
Former Teachers Get Together - 5th June
"We visited Snowshill Manor & Gardens then ate in
the adjoining pub - retired teachers know how to live
it up! The reminiscing was a pleasure to see and hear,
with staff travelling down from as far as Nottingham.
All looked back with real pleasure on their ex-place of
work, and the very many pupils they taught. How
fortunate we were!
Dave Cowell
Back row (Left to Right): Cyril Johnson, Rod Simpson, Don Micklethwaite, Dave Cowell, Keith Johnson,
Grahame Percival and Bryn Woodcock
Middle row: Tony (Tom) Sawyer, Wendy Johnson, Caroline Brookes, Dot Bonham (with Pat Woodcock hiding!)
Front row: Michelle Bovey, Sue Munday, Trish Page, (Mrs Sawyer), Liz Matthews and Julia Hall
JONATHAN WELLS (AGS 2002-2004)
Morgan have recently released the new Aero 8, the design of which was overseen by ex AGS
student, Jonathan Wells, who is now Head of Design at Morgan Motor Company.
“This project presented us with an opportunity to evaluate and capture exactly what defines
Morgan as a class leader in hand-making luxury British sports cars. Over the last 15 years
the Aero Platform has successfully evolved both aesthetically and mechanically. Now on the
15th anniversary of the original iconic Aero Eight, it is incredibly exciting to have the
chance to revisit the design with this knowledge in mind.”
Jonathan Wells, Morgan Head of Design
An incredibly proud moment for Jonathan’s father, Graham, who retires from AGS at the
end of the Summer Term having taught here for 30 years.
Alumni Pages
SPORTS HALL
The aim of Alcester Grammar School Sports
Facility is to develop sport, particularly for
young participants, by making the facility
available to sports clubs who offer structured
sporting opportunities, or by providing
sessions run by qualified coaches.
Thinking of starting a new class?
New venture?
The Sports Hall is available for booking
Booking charges per hour:
Sports Hall (whole)
£30
Sports Hall (half)
£20
For further details please email
Will Wyatt, [email protected]
or contact the school on 01789 762494
Alcester Grammar School
Term Dates 2015-16
Autumn Term
Term begins
Monday 7th September 2015
Yr7 Welcome day & Yr13 Welcome back day
Tuesday 8th September 2015
Yr12 Welcome Day, Yr8 - 11 Term begins & Yr13 Reading Day
Half Term
Monday 26th—Friday 30th October 2015 (inclusive)
Term ends
Tuesday 15th December 2015
Spring Term
Term begins
Monday 4th January 2016
Half Term
Monday 15th —Friday 19th February 2016 (inclusive)
Term ends
Friday 18th March 2016
Summer Term
Term begins
Monday 4th April 2016
May Day
Monday 2nd May 2016
Half Term
Monday 30th May—Friday 3rd June 2016 (inclusive)
Term ends
Friday 22nd July 2016
Dates for Diary
9th September
6th Form Awards Evening, in the theatre @ 7pm
21st October
Yr7 Charity Social/Disco
10th & 11th November
Drama—The Master & Margarita, in the theatre @ 7pm
19th November
Ex Yr11 Awards Evening, in the theatre @ 7pm
1st, 2nd & 3rd December
Senior Play—Twelfth Night, in the theatre @ 7pm
10th December
Christmas Concert, in the theatre @ 7pm
14th December
Carol Service at St. Nicholas’ Church @ 6pm