Glyn School Newsletter

Newsletter
This Week in Pictures…
Students shone at An Evening Celebration of Glyn Arts
Learn • Achieve • Enjoy • Succeed
Glyn School, The Kingsway, Ewell, Surrey, KT17 1NB
T: 020 8716 4949 F: 020 8716 4999 E: [email protected] W: www.glynschool.org
Dates
for
your
Diary
Monday 13 June to Friday 17 June - Year 8 End of Year Examinations all week
Monday 13 June to Friday 17 June - Healthy Eating Week
Wednesday 15 June - An Evening Celebration of Glyn Arts from 5.30pm to 8.00pm
Wednesday 22 June - Year 11 into 12 Parents’ and Carers’ Information Evening from 7.00pm - 8.00pm
Friday 24 June - Glyn PSA Years 7 and 8 Disco in The Proctor Hall
Thursday 7 July - School will finish at 12.20pm for all students due to Open Evening taking place that evening
Friday 8 July - Whole School Sports Day starting at 10am. More details to follow shortly.
“...amazingly talented students”
This week, it has been a pleasure to see a huge range of GCSE and A level Art displayed in The Proctor Hall and Fitness
Suite. Whilst students’ work awaits final moderation from the examination board, the school community has been able
to enjoy it and once again appreciate the astounding talents of Glyn students.
On Wednesday evening, the school opened its doors to families and guests for the annual Evening Celebration of Glyn
Arts. We were delighted that the Mayor of Epsom & Ewell, Cllr George Crawford, and the Mayoress, joined us for the
evening which featured an impressive display of art, photography and design technology, as well as musical, poetical
and dramatic performances from students of all ages. This year we were also treated to the added bonus of an
impressive range of canapés made by Year 10 GCSE Catering students. If the event couldn’t get any more sophisticated,
we were then able to enjoy a fantastic performance of ‘Eight Days a Week’ by the Ukulele Band, featuring our very own
Mr Proctor and the Mayor himself.
In his closing address, the Mayor praised our “amazingly talented students” and went on to say that more important
than this talent was the “sheer guts” it takes for all of them to “put themselves on the line” by displaying their work or
getting up on stage to perform. This really resonated with me and I am extremely proud of all of our students who had
the courage and strength of character to be themselves.
As a Science teacher, it is tempting to look for a definitive list of reasons as to what makes the Creative Arts’ evening
such a special occasion. Is it the incredible range of talent that we see on show, or the hard work that students have so
evidently put in? Is it the way in which the whole school community comes together to celebrate the Arts? Perhaps it’s
the moment that we see another side to a student through their artwork or the emotional depth of a poem written and
bravely recited. I suspect the true quality of the event comes from all of these things, in part, but also the indefinable
sense of positivity, support and community that is felt around the school. The event is undoubtedly a shining gem in the
school calendar at which our values are clear for all to see.
Our profound thanks go to all of the staff and students who were involved in what was an inspiring and life-affirming
event.
Mr Jones, Assistant Headteacher
Message from The Mayor of Epsom & Ewell
As you will have read earlier, the Mayoress and Mayoress of Epsom and Ewell were guests at the Evening Celebration of
Glyn Arts last night. They took a keen interest in our students’ work and were enormously warm and fun guests!
We were delighted to receive a message from them this morning, as below:
“Jackie and I wish to thank you for a wonderful evening.
Your hospitality was outstanding and the entertainment
supplied by your young people was amazing.
Please pass on our thanks to everyone involved. I enjoyed
myself so much that I had to Tweet my feelings as soon as
we got home.
Jackie thanks you for the lovely flowers and my picture is
already on the wall in my flat.
Many thanks once again and I look forward to our next
visit.
George and Jackie”
The Tony Cooper Poetry and Prose Award
The English Department holds an annual poetry and prose competition in memory of our
dearly-loved colleague, Tony Cooper. The standard of entries is always incredibly high, disproving
the myth that boys are not adept at creative writing. This year the theme was Truth, Fantasy or
Fiction, which yielded an impressive range of engaging entries. It was an incredibly difficult but
pleasurable task to select this year’s winners from each year group. Congratulations to the
following students who received their awards last night, presented by the Mayor, during the Evening
Celebration of Glyn Arts:
Year 7: Armaan Malik 7A
Year 8: Ryan Purvis 8SB
Year 9: Kyle Alpas 9A
KS3 Overall Winner: Jono Graham 8M
I hope you will enjoy reading the entry from the overall winner, Jono Graham, below.
I walk through the street tall and proud,
The sound of my shoes clear and loud.
I wear a suit worth hundreds of pounds,
My new leather shoes silent on the ground.
But all of this is just an act,
I’m lonely and unliked, as a matter of fact.
When I look in the mirror all I see is despair,
You think it looks good but I hate my hair.
.
My suit is really itchy,
My hair is wiry and awfully witchy.
So next time you see me, don’t jump to conclusions
Because this whole confidence thing is just an illusion.
By Jono Graham 8 Merton
Miss Keoshgerian, English
Running to Rio!
This week and next, students and staff are running laps around
the school field in an effort to run the equivalent distance of
Glyn to Rio, as part of our charity fortnight raising money for
The Children’s Trust. I’m pleased to say that we are moving
closer to the attempted distance of 9,252km, but we still have
some way to go! Please encourage your sons and daughters to
get involved during morning break, lunch time or before and
after school, so that we can reach (and hopefully exceed!) our
target.
Many thanks, as always, for your support.
Miss Seal, Mr Holloway and Mr Churchill
Heads of Oaks, Derby and St Benet Houses
Open Evening and Early Closure - Thursday 7 July
We will be welcoming prospective families to Glyn School during our Open Evening on Thursday 7 July from 5.00pm to
8.30pm. In order that we can prepare the school for this annual event, school will close at 12.20pm on that day for all
students. A large number of students will be helping during the Open Evening by acting as tour guides or assisting within
faculties and the early closure will allow them time to rest and have an early tea at home before the event. We hope
that notification of this early closure will assist with your childcare arrangements for that afternoon.
Mrs Buckley, Business Development Leader
Year 9 Students Enjoyed a Trip to the Globe Theatre
On Monday 13 June, 30 Year 9 students and three helpful staff set off to the
South Bank, London, to visit The Globe Theatre. We walked around the
exhibition neighbouring The Globe, and saw some fascinating exhibits learning about Shakespeare along the way! We then entered the actual Globe
Theatre (reopened in 1997 after the original was closed in 1642 under
England’s Puritan administration), and sat in the seats whilst our tour guide
shared lots of interesting facts; we got to sit in the highest tier, which used to
be the most expensive seats in the house!
This was followed by a drama workshop across the road. We started off by playing a game to wake us up and then we
made freeze-frames to help us understand more about Macbeth. After this, we began creating arguments between
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth with various twists, like speaking in Modern English or even only using body language!
Finally, we saw an exciting stage-fighting
demonstration, including swords that
would
have
been
used
during
Shakespeare’s time! It was a fantastic
demonstration and we even got to hold
and feel the swords!
Overall, the day was a great adventure;
we learnt a lot and it was really
enjoyable! On behalf of everyone who
participated in the trip, we just want to
thank Miss Keoshgerian for organising the
trip and Mrs Fairbrother and Mr Ransom
for helping out.
Ben Williams, 9 Bourne
Sports Day - Friday 8 July
Our annual Sports Day will be taking place on Friday 8 July 2016 at the David Weir Leisure Centre, Middleton Road,
Carshalton, which can accommodate all of our students and enable them to take part in a number of field and track
events.
This year Sports Day will commence at the slightly
later time of 10am due to a large number of
students and staff taking part in the Glyn Open
Evening on the previous evening. To help with
congestion at the David Weir Leisure Centre and
assist lower school students getting to the venue,
we will be arranging for coaches to and from the
centre for students in Years 7 and 8. Further details
for Sports Day and travel arrangements will follow
in a separate letter via Schoolcomms.
Emma Smith, Finance Office
[email protected]
Years 7 and 8 Language Challenge
Well done to all the Year 7 and 8 students who are
attempting the Language Challenge in the hope of
becoming our very first MFL Language Leaders for
September 2016-2017.
Please remember to collate your evidence for
your folder and to hand this in to me by the deadline of
6 July.
Miss Moore, MFL, SLP
Year 9 Eurodisney Trip - Parents’ and Carers’ Information Evening
Tuesday 21 June at 7.30pm
There will be an Information Evening on Tuesday 21 June at 7.30pm in
The Proctor Hall for parents and carers of Year 9 students who are going on the
Eurodisney trip in July.
Please bring a copy of your son’s passport and EHIC to the meeting if you have
not already handed these documents into the Finance Office. Thank you.
Miss McKenna
Year 8 Spanish Trip - Information Evening - Tuesday 21 June at 5.30pm
I would like to invite parents and carers of Year 8 students who are going on the Spanish trip to attend an Information
Evening on Tuesday 21 June from 5.30pm to 6.30pm in The Proctor Hall. Students are very welcome to attend and
need not wear uniform. The meeting will include a presentation of the trip and a session to answer any of your
questions. We look forward to seeing you there but, should you not be able to attend, a follow-up information pack
will be sent out via SchoolComms with all the relevant details.
Miss Moore, MFL, SLP
Do We Have Your Correct Contact Details?
We would like to ensure that we have up to date contact details for every student. If you have changed your email
address, mobile, work or home telephone numbers, please let us know so that we can update our records and
therefore ensure that you will receive all communications from the school.
Please email any changes to your email and other contact details via the following email address:
[email protected]
Thank you.
School Disco - Years 7 and 8 - Friday 24 June 2016
The next Glyn PSA Disco for students in Years 7 and Year 8 will be held on Friday
24 June 2016 from 7.00pm - 9.00pm in The Proctor Hall at Glyn School. Students
from Rosebery School will also be invited. Tickets cost £4.50 and are now
available to purchase via ParentPay. Please remember to click 'pay for items'
after topping-up My Account within ParentPay. Each student is only allowed to
purchase one ticket and tickets are non-refundable. If you do not have details of
your ParentPay login, or require any further assistance with this, please email
[email protected] or call the Finance Office on 020 8716 4938. Your son’s
name will be added to the ticket list held at the door on the night of the disco.
We regret that no tickets will be sold at the door on the evening. Refreshments
will be available to purchase during the evening. Tickets for this event are
limited and traditionally sell out very quickly, so buy your tickets early. Many thanks for your support.
Please can you help the Glyn PSA to win £5,000 for our LRC?
National Book Tokens are running a competition for schools. By entering this
competition we can win £5,000 of National Book Tokens; enough to buy
hundreds of books for the LRC and you'll also get £100 of National Book Tokens
for yourself!
To enter, simply click on the link below. The competition closes on 31 July
2016.
http://www.nationalbooktokens.com/schools#.V1guYx94WnP
The more parents and carers who enter, the better our chances of winning!
Off-Road Driver Training 16+
The PSA are very lucky to have been donated vouchers for RoadCraft Off-Road
Driver Training held at Mole Business Park in Leatherhead on Sundays. This
provides a course of junctions and road layout in a safe environment. These
vouchers give 16 year olds the opportunity to start their driving practice before
their 17th birthday. Training starts approximately a month before their 17th
birthday. They don't even need to hold their provisional licence. The vouchers,
available on ParentPay are only £60 and provide three hours off-road training.
RoadCraft has been established for over 15 years, helping to qualify over 50
instructors and 1,000s of students with an ethos of teaching to a higher standard and safe driving for life, not just to
pass the test. Their unique off-road course teaches students to handle the car confidently and to be prepared to start
a safe and complete driving experience. Having the off-road course considerably reduces the number of hours needed
for on-road lessons. Then if you choose to commit to a course of 10 lessons on road with Roadcraft, you will receive an
additional hour off-road with a free lesson of 45 minutes on-road. RoadCraft lessons are £210 for 10 lessons. They also
have both male and female instructors. Other driving schools are charging £40 per hour for this off-road driving. These
vouchers make ideal presents and they are now available to any friends or family, as well as Glyn students.
Please email [email protected] or more information.
Second-hand Uniform, Books and Revision Guides
We would like to thank everyone who has made donations of second-hand uniform and GCSE A/AS Level Revision
Guides to the PSA. Our stock of second-hand blazers and PE kits is running low. If you would like to donate any items
of uniform that your son or daughter no longer requires, the PSA at Glyn School would be very grateful to receive
them. Please hand your donations into Student Reception. If you are thinking of donating a number of items we will
even collect, if that makes things easier for you. Any donated items will be made available for other families to buy
and could make a real difference to other parents and carers. All monies raised through the sale of second-hand
uniform will be used to provide funding for extra resources at Glyn School. Your support of the PSA is very much
appreciated.
If you require any second-hand uniform or have donations to be collected, please either email us at
[email protected] or message/post on our Facebook page, which also lists the current stock of second-hand
uniform: https://www.facebook.com/groups/GlynSchoolPSA
Glyn PSA
[email protected]
Messages from the Finance Office
Changes to ParentPay
Parents and carers may have noticed that there have been some changes to ParentPay recently:
‘My Account’ has been introduced. This enables you to top up, hold a balance on your account and then make
payments as and when required. This means that you can easily budget your school costs by topping up an amount in
advance, allowing you to pay for regular items, such as dinner money. It works like a holding account.
Paying for items is now a two-step procedure. Once you have topped up ‘My Account’, you will notice on the
homepage a large orange band across the screen showing the balance in your ‘My Account’. There will be a box with
your son’s or daughter’s name in it. You will then have to click on ‘pay for items’ and the usual list will then appear
showing dinner money and school trips, etc. You can then allocate your money to the items you wish to purchase or
top-up.
Please do not hesitate to call the Finance Office on 020 8716 4938 if you would like any further guidance.
Enrichment Week Day Trips
The day trips during Enrichment Week have now been removed from ParentPay to enable us to finalise numbers.
However, we have limited spaces available on the following trips:
Paintballing – Monday 18 July
Army Assault Course – Tuesday 19 July
Horton Golf - Monday 18 July, Wednesday 20 Jul, Thursday 21 July
Spectrum – Tuesday 19 July
Sandown Ski – Tuesday 19 July
JB Ski – Wednesday 20 July
London Tombs and Tower Bridge – Thursday 21 July
If you would like to book a place on one of these trips, please contact the Finance Office at [email protected]
or call 020 8716 4938.
Year 8 Spanish Trip
If you have not done so already, we urgently need photocopies of students’ passports and EHIC cards, together with a
signed Medical and Consent Form. Please ask your son to take these documents directly to the Finance Office.
Thank you.
Finance Office
[email protected]
020 8716 4938
Participation in Parade at the Patrons’ Lunch
Kingston and Malden Scout and Guide Band, of
which I am a member, were invited to play at
the Patrons’ lunch on Sunday 12 June as part
of the Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations.
50 members of the band played and paraded
up The Mall in front of the Queen and her
guests. I am in the percussion section and play
a range of instruments from triangles to
drums. At the parade we played "Forget You",
"All About That Bass" and
"We Are All In This Together".
It was an honour to participate
in the event and I will never
forget it.
James Nicholas 7B
Brainstorming Session for Kitbox Students
The Glyn Kitbox team, our student-run school
uniform providers, had a very productive
meeting last week with both Mark Hindle
from Kitbox and Harriet and Charles,
representatives from INK Associates.
The meeting was used as a brainstorming
session to set out news plans for how the
school shop will develop over the coming
year. The project is being led by the students
and will include a possible redesigned layout,
redesigned signage, new bespoke furniture
and new storage to improve efficiency. The
students were incredibly fortunate to have
the input of Harriet and Charles from INK Associates who are professional designers working on shop floor interior design
for huge brands, including Nike and Christian Dior. The meeting was very productive and students identified the current
needs of the Kitbox team and customers and also started to sketch new plans for the layout. Students will now be
developing various initial ideas before we meet the Kitbox representatives again later this academic year.
Well done to all the students working on behalf of Kitbox.
Mr Kemp, Head of Year 12
Year 9 Sports Leaders Helped at
Tournament
On Tuesday and Thursday this week,
12 of our Year 9 Sports Leaders helped
to run Active Surrey’s Primary School
‘Kwik’ Cricket tournament. Many of
our local primary schools competed
for a place in the finals which will be
held end the end of the month at
Surrey Sports Park.
It was great to see the Glyn students taking a leading role in making another local sports event a great success!
Thank you to all of the students who took part in this event and to the parents and carers who came along to support.
Mr S Taylor, PE, ALP, Leadership Coordinator, Assistant Head of Merton House
The LRC Book of the Week - Numbers, by Rachel Ward
Since her mother's death, 15 year old Jem has kept a secret. When she looks into someone’s
eyes, she can see the date they will die. Knowing that nothing lasts forever, Jem avoids
relationships. Then she meets a boy called Spider and they plan a day out together. Waiting
for the London Eye, she foresees a shattering chain of events.
“I couldn’t stop reading it. The story really hooks you in –it’s really dangerous. I wanted to
see what happened next and how they got out of the situation.” Joshua Martin-Johnson 9B.
Available to borrow from the LRC!
The following event, MGS04 Epsom and Ewell Arts Festival, is not being organised by Glyn School, however we feel it
may be of interest to Glyn families. There will be some current and former Glyn students performing during the
event, including Little Grim, who are ex-Glyn students (pictured below). Everyone on the Festival committee is a
volunteer and we are happy to help them advertise the event, for which there is a cost. For further details about this
event, please contact Epsom & Ewell Arts Festival as below.
MGS04 Epsom & Ewell Arts Festival
You may have heard about the new MGS04 Epsom & Ewell
Arts Festival, named after the chemical formula for Epsom
Salts, being held 24 - 26 June. There will be a host of
music, art, theatre and literary events of all genres, for all
ages.
As the Borough’s inaugural arts festival, we are pleased that so many Glyn students are going to be involved, both as
performers and volunteers.
Several current and former Glyn students will be performing on the big outdoor stage in The Derby Square, Epsom, next
to the Ebbisham Centre, on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 June, alongside some high-profile bands and artists.
For anyone who has ambitions to work in music, movies or write a best-selling book, there are workshops with senior
industry figures, including screenwriting, music production and how to get published.
Just around the corner from Glyn School,
Bourne Hall will be a hub of activity,
featuring: new drama, shows from
Mike Batt and concert pianist,
Nicholas McCarthy, and a very special
‘Audience with Michael Frayn’, the
prolific novelist and Noises Off
playwright, who grew up in Hillside Road,
Ewell.
For more information or to book tickets,
please visit: http://mgso4festival.org/
Click the link to view a
digital event programme:
Maria Reeves, Epsom & Ewell Arts
Festival, Assistant Festival Director
Do you have any Sainsbury’s Active Kids vouchers to hand in, please?
Sainsbury’s have now finished handing out Active Kids vouchers for this year.
We now have a few weeks to collect vouchers in and place our order for sporting
and Food Technology equipment for the school. Please hand in any vouchers to
Student Reception. Thank you.
Marion Meadows, Publicity Officer
Sports News
Swimming
The Years 7, 8 and 9 Swimming team have a gala against Reed’s School in Cobham on
Tuesday 21 June, leaving school at 3.15pm. All parents and carers are welcome to come
and watch. A team sheet will be emailed to students and a copy will be put up on the
Swimming board at school.
Congratulations to Charlie Hind 13C who is through to the final of the National Swimming
Championships, swimming 1500m freestyle in Sheffield during August. This is a great
achievement for a stalwart of the Glyn Swimming team and we wish him all the very best,
not only for his final, but also as he goes off to university.
Mr Pearson, Science, EVC, Extra Curricular Manager, UCAS
Last Week’s Sportsman of the Week - Connor Griffin 9T
Connor has had an excellent season for the Glyn U14 Cricket team, taking a number of wickets in
each game and backing this up with a solid batting performance. On top of this, Connor is currently
representing Surrey County Cricket Club at U14 age group.
Following his recent performances he has now been selected to represent Surrey EPP, which is an
emerging performance player squad for a two day game to be played in July.
Well done, Connor; a fantastic achievement.
Mr Tanner, PE
This Week’s Sportsman of the Week - Harrison Kite 9D
As part of the Physical Education Year 9 Student Leadership group, Harrison has proved to be an
integral member of the cohort in the delivery of athletics to primary schools this year. His
enthusiasm, organisation and attention to detail has been invaluable and indeed the latter has
enhanced his own personal performance in the shot put where he has excelled over the last 12
months. In June 2015, as a Year 8 student, Harrison threw 9.35m at Sports Day and in May 2016,
representing Glyn at the District Championships, he threw 10.08 (overall 4 th place) to clinch a
place on the Central Surrey team. Last week, he launched the shot a further 1.12m to record
a very impressive 11.20m to finish 2nd and earn himself his first Surrey cap.
Harrison will now represent Surrey in this Saturday’s Inter-Counties Athletics competition and we wish him all the very
best.
Mr MacLeod, PE, KS3 Coordinator
Glyn Football Coaching - can you help?
If any parents and carers are involved in football coaching and would be interested
in helping to run or coach a school team, please get in touch. If you do not have
any coaching experience, but would still like to assist with a team, please let me
know. Thank you.
Mr Tanner, Master in Charge of Football
[email protected]
Wishing you a restful weekend.