Issue 2 2018

RGS Newsletter Terms 3 to 4 2018

Spring Edition CONTENTS

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Letter from the Head of School 1

World Book Day 2018 2

NChant competition 3 Year 8 Visit to Ypres

Duke of Edinburgh Case Study 4 Year 13 Essay Competition

STEM 5 National Science Education Week

"When You Wish Upon a Flair" 6 Year 7 Globe Theatre Visit

The Royal Shakespeare Company 7 Time for Tea

Sports News Sports Relief Step Challenge 8 Change of Office Email address

The Importance of Being Earnest 9 RGS Charity Funding

Student Council News Black History Month 10 RGSA

Kelly Tolhurst Visit RGS 11 Suffragette Centenary Celebration

Looking Ahead - Important Dates 12

March 2018 Issue 2 2018 Term 3-4

RGS Newsletter

M ESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

Dear Parent/Carer

We have had another busy few terms since I last wrote in the Christmas newsletter. As I write this message, students are busy planning and rehearsing for our Multicultural Fashion Show. This is our final event of the term and the final event of Multicultural Week. Students will be showcasing the dance, art, language and food that people have been able to experience this week and of course there will be the highly anticipated annual fashion show itself.

There have been so many wonderful opportunities for students to showcase their talents in a variety of areas. Earlier this month I was in the audience at the Royal Festival hall to support NChant, who had reached the final of the Barnardos National Youth Choir Competition. The Music department continues to thrive and the Spring Concert was an excellent example of the depth and breadth of musical talent in the school. The orchestra, NChant, Gospel Choir, Dynamic Voices and Choirisma were fantastic and the solo performance on the evening were beautiful.

Year 8s spent a very cold but thought provoking Friday in Ypres to learn more about the experiences of soldiers in WW1. Visiting the cemeteries and getting a sense of the landscape, enriches all the work done in history lessons at school.

STEM continues to go from strength to strength and the number of students who attend STEM club on a Friday after school is such a positive endorsement for Mr Jackson and his team of teachers and students who help run all the competitions and projects.

Staff seem to have spent a lot of this term in fancy dress, first celebrating World Book Day and then National Science Week. Congratulations to Somerville, who won the Golden Bunsen Burner competition in Science Week.

I am sure those of you lucky enough to come and see Flair this year will agree it was a brilliant show and as usual money was raised for an amazing cause, Make-A-Wish. I know how hard the students and staff work to make this event as professional and entertaining as it is and every year the bar seems to get higher and higher. This year’s school show was The Importance of Being Earnest and as someone who studied this at school myself I was really looking forward to the RGS version. I was not disappointed. What a talented bunch of actors and actresses who had me laughing all evening.

I have recently hosted another ‘Afternoon Tea with the Head’ for students who were nominated by teachers for having a positive impact on the school community. Whether that is helping to run clubs or supporting younger students they all embody the ethos of our school and I am very grateful for the time they spend being positive role models. A huge thank you as ever to the staff who really go the extra mile to support our students and offer the wide range of extracurricular opportunities.

It just remains for me to wish everyone a safe and enjoyable break and I look forward to seeing you all next term.

Mrs Brinklow Head of School Page 2 RGS Newsletter

W ORLD BOOK DAY 2018

On Thursday 8th March, a belated World Book activities; these included creating their own character for Day was celebrated by staff and students at RGS. a novel, writing a mystery suspense story, completing a Staff dressed up as characters from different literary word search and taking part in an interactive novels, including one member whose quiz. There was also a photograph competition where enthusiastic portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the students had to guess which teacher was hidden behind West, left her feeling a bit green for at least 2 their favourite book. The activities proved very popular days! Staff also created posters showing the with both staff and students and a lot of fun was had by covers of their favourite books which were then all. attached to the door of their classrooms for students to look at on their way in. The Finally, a book drive was organised and the English selections were truly diverse and encompassed Department was overwhelmed by the donations of everything from Jean-Paul Sartre to Paul much loved, used books which have now been passed Gascoigne. Pre-starters that day saw teachers on to The British Heart Foundation and will hopefully discuss these books and explaining what had be enjoyed by many more readers in the future. made them pick it up and read it, why they had enjoyed it, if they been inspired to read more books by that author and if it had prompted them to visit any of the places mentioned in the book.

In form time, students took part in a quiz and were all given a World Book Day token which they could swap for book of their choice. This was followed at lunchtime with a variety of fun

This term, RGS celebrated World Book Day- which took place throughout the school. Around RGS, teachers were encouraged to stick both their favourite books and the books that they were currently reading on their classroom doors. Not only this, but on the day teachers from the English Department decided to dress up as their favourite literary characters – and most lessons were themed around the day.

At lunchtime, an activities fair was open to students – this contained a mixture of both creative tasks and literary quizzes. Some examples of tasks included: creating potential characters; book reviews; quizzes about famous novellas and themed puzzles and word searches. Students from all year groups attended the activities fair and the event was enjoyed by all. Students were able to meet others with similar interests and have in-depth conversations about their favourite books and authors.

World Book Day at RGS was a huge success, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I cannot wait until next year!

Jasneet Samrai, Tm5 Issue 2 2018 Page 3

NCHANT COMPETITION

On Monday 12th March, NChant were delighted to have been chosen to compete in the Barnardos National Youth Choir Competition Final 2018 at the Royal Festival Hall. To enter we had sent a recording of two songs (back in October) and we were selected to be in the final with five other senior school choirs (over 400 choirs had entered this competition!).

At 11am, we boarded the coach up to the Festival Hall and were in good spirits’, singing some popular music together as a warm up on the coach! On arrival there was a real buzz around the foyer of the concert hall as other choirs were gathered. We were taken backstage to our dressing room, and then after a short warm-up session it was our turn to go onto the fantastic stage at the Royal Festival Hall to perform for the Judges. It was scary but also exciting! We sang brilliantly, a testament to all the hard work that has been put in during all our rehearsals.

After performing there was time for a quick trip for dinner at Pizza Express. It was a chance for the choir to have time socially, away from the pressure of the competition. After a great meal we went back to the festival hall for a massed rehearsal with all the other primary and senior choirs who had also qualified for their place in the finals, to rehearse two joint songs. It was a different experience for NChant to sing with other voices especially with male voices!

During the first half of the concert we got to watch some of the other choirs perform and then at the end of the second half, it was our turn to perform to the large audience (which included our supporters, parents, grandparents, alongside Mrs Brinklow and Mrs Gregory).

Although we weren't placed 1st or 2nd it was an achievement just reach the final six choirs! Overall we all had a really great time and despite being exhausted afterwards, it was a pleasure to represent RGS.

Francesca Lewell

Y EAR 8 VISIT TO YPRES

On an extremely chilly Friday morning, 90 Year 8 students set off to the beautiful town of Ypres in Belgium. Despite the early start, spirits were high as the coach departed from school. The journey was around 3 and a half hours altogether which included 30 minutes on the Euro Shuttle and the drive through Northern France.

Our first destination was Lijssenthoek Cemetery. It was shocking to see the amount of gravestones (10,875 in total) of British, French and Commonwealth soldiers that had fallen in battle. There was only one female grave there, the one of Nurse Nellie Spindler who died saving lives on the front line. We also visited the German cemetery Langemark, which contained almost quadruple the amount of dead that Lijssenthoek had, and Bayernwald German trenches. Visiting the trenches was astonishing and really showed me the harsh reality of living and fighting in the First World War.

One highlight for me was when we travelled deep into the heart of Ypres. Here we visited the beautiful yet shocking Menin Gate, which contains the names of thousands of soldiers that were never found, and an authentic Belgian chocolate shop which sold delicious confectionary. After the visit to the town, our last stop was Tyne Cot Cemetery, which is the largest cemetery of Commonwealth Soldiers in the world.

For me, visiting Tyne Cot was the most memorable part of the entire day. We got a chance to look round the cemetery, and in this time I located the name of one of my relatives on the memorial wall. His name was Joseph Rooks and he died in battle on the Western Front in Flanders on the 26th October 1917 during the third battle of Ypres (Passchendaele). For me, it was a very moving moment to have the honour of placing down a wreath beside his name to commemorate the soldiers that died fighting for our country. I would recommend a trip to Ypres to anyone, it is a real eye-opening experience that you will never forget.

Jessica Rooke, Fz1 Page 4 RGS Newsletter

The Thinking Schools Trust (TSAT) is made up of a family of twelve schools which include Primary Schools, Grammar Schools, High Schools and Comprehensive Schools. These schools are located in Medway and Portsmouth. Both of the Grammar Schools in the Trust (The Rochester and ) have delivered the Bronze Award successfully for many years and the other secondary schools ( and The ) have run DofE in the past. When Medway Council decided to change how DofE was funded in its local area, it became clear that although both of the Grammar Schools could continue to run DofE, The Victory Academy would no longer be able to give students the opportunity to participate in the DofE programme. Following discussions with the DofE, it was decided that the Trust would be granted its own licence as the Trust had the right structure to support the growth of the DofE programme across the whole Trust rather than in the individual schools. This was only the second time a Multi-Academy Trust had been granted a licence in the South-East Region.

Ben Vickery, the DofE manager for the Trust explains what happened; “At the time we learnt that the funding of DofE was changing, I was the acting coordinator for the Bronze award at The . Due to changes in staffing and as I already worked across the different Trust sites in another role, I suggested that I should be the manager. My first task was to get as many staff as possible to get involved and have as many as possible receive training. This year we have had four staff members trained to be assessors, with one of these taking on the role of coordinator in her school and another start the Lowland Leader Course. I myself have had training to be the Manager and have done the training part of the Hill and Moorland Leader Award. To minimise the staffing requirements, I have organised the Bronze expeditions so that we only need to run three combined expeditions for our 161 enrolled students from the Medway area. We are also running the Silver and Gold expeditions for the first time. There are 57 Y10 students currently signed up to do Silver and I expect this to hit 70 before next summer. We have ten Y12 students signed up to do Gold and I will be encouraging the Y11 students to sign up as soon as they turn sixteen. My main aim is to have the DofE programme running in all 4 schools and we are currently developing a strategy on how we can encourage as many as possible to take part.”

This desire to give everyone the opportunity to take part in the DofE programme is also felt strongly by Stuart Gardner, Chief Executive Officer of TSAT and a Gold award holder himself, who explains; “I know from personal experience that the Duke of Edinburgh is a fantastic programme for young people and has the power to transform lives. The focus on the development of, and engagement with, essential life skills and habits allows young people to develop as a whole person. For me, the expeditions have always been the highlight of the Duke of Edinburgh process. Effectively working as a team, taking responsibility for finding your way to the next camp site and ensuring that you had enough food to keep you warm and full created some of my fondest memories.”

Y EAR 13 ESSAY COMPETITON

We would like to congratulate Jasmine Powell and Isabelle Thorneycroft for being shortlisted for the New College of the Humanities Year 13 essay competition prize.

At the award ceremony took place on 10th January at New College of the Humanities (NCH) in Bedford Square and the Master of the College, philosopher A. C. Grayling, commended the 50 shortlisted candidates from schools in the UK and Europe on the qualities of their essays and their ideas (Is democracy the best form of government?, What is the future for globalisation? Or do we need philosophers?) and the exceptionally high standard of the entries.

It should be noted that Jasmine and Isabelle were doing their mocks at the time of the entry date while many of the entrants weren’t doing their mocks until January!

Mrs Brinklow Head of School Issue 2 2018 Page 5

STEM

At the end of last year, the students of Thirty Year 8 students from STEM club The Can-Sat Team has been busy putting STEM club indicated that this year they attended a special trip to the Dungeness B the final touches on their first entry into wanted to focus more on ecology. We have Power Station as part of Pretty Curious this national competition. They are been very busy since then with a variety of Campaign to encourage more young nearing the completion of building a projects. A pond has been dug on the women to consider a career in engineering. device the size of soda can that will be school grounds and a team of students are They were treated to a tour of the nuclear lifted by a large balloon into the working on designing the landscape around power station and were able to talk to atmosphere. It will collect data, including it. There are plans to build a small bridge many of the female engineers about the pollution levels, as it parachutes back to over the pond and many students have been career pathways that are open to them. the ground. busy constructing bird houses that will be situated around this wildlife sanctuary. Teams of students from each Key Stage There are still many more events and More work needs to be done outside so Group attended the Rotary Club competitions coming up besides all the while the weather has been cold students Technology Tournament. They had to projects we have at our weekly STEM have been active in researching, designing work together to design a construct a lunch Club meeting. Upcoming events include and building a hydroponic system to grow system for a plastic golf ball. Our Year 9 the Salters Chemistry Festival, the plants indoors. team won first place in their division. Faraday Challenge, and at the end of the year there will be a trip to the Big Bang The robotics portion of STEM club Fair for all the STEM Club members. Last continues to be very active this year. year’s trip was a very exciting and Students have attended local competitions engaging time and this year looks to be to showcase their expertise in the VEX IQ even bigger and better. Robotics System and Lego robotics. Unfortunately, the second Lego robotics Mr Ryan competition was cancelled due to the snow, STEM Co-ordinator but the students learned valuable engineering skills building and modifying their robots along with computer programming. Hopefully they will be able to put these to good use next year.

N ATIONAL SCIENCE EDUCATION WEEK

The Science department at RGS celebrated National Science Education Week (12-16 March) with a wide range of activities that centred around the theme of “wildlife.” The students participated in an inter-house competition to earn points towards the Golden Bunsen Burner Award.

Key Stage 3 classes had special lessons all during the week. Year 7 students designed and built a boat to test and see how much mass it could hold before sinking. They also had a great time making slime and building mini rockets where they had to calculate the right amount of reactants to have it launch after a set period of time. Year 8 classes designed and built bridges out of paper and wooden splints. They tested them to see how much mass they could hold before collapsing. They designed an insect and justified the adaptations it had. DNA was extracted from strawberries and they dissected a fish which proved to be a very exciting and memorable experience for many.

Year 9 classes competed to design and build a windmill that could lift the most mass whilst Year 10 classes tried to build the tallest light house using only a limited set of resources. All the classes worked very hard on their entries and the competition was fierce.

On Tuesday of Science Week RGS participated in the National Science Demonstration day. We had a variety of exciting and explosive science demonstrations for the students to witness and increase their awe and wonder of science. The end of the week saw the Science teachers creatively dress up in outfits related to the theme of the wildlife and students competed in a periodic table memorisation challenge.

At the end of the week the Golden Bunsen Burner was awarded to Somerville.

Page 6 RGS Newsletter

“ WHEN YOU WISH UPON A FLAIR”

The 1st-3rd February saw our 8th charity to live-action versions such as “Hocus dance show “When You Wish Upon A Pocus” and “A Wrinkle In Time”. The stage was filled with prowling animals and intricate arm movements for the whole cast numbers, while other numbers represented pirates, trolls and some of your favourite heroes and villains.

The Flair company would like to thank their friends and families for their fantastic support, and the generosity shown in

Flair”, celebrating the music and magic of Walt Disney. A wonderful group of choreographers, dancers and crew worked from September to bring this world to life in a “friendly, supportive and amazing atmosphere”. The show was a real crowd- pleaser with dance styles including lyrical, tap, street and African, and the Disney films ranging from classics, such as the “Lion King” and “Beauty and the Beast”,

donating prizes and buying tickets for the raffles. We also thank the staff and the student front-of-house team who donated their time for this great cause. While the final total is still being determined, we are thrilled to be supporting Make-A-Wish in enriching the lives of children who have life-limiting conditions.

The Flair Team

Y EAR 7 GLOBE THEATRE VISIT

Back in February, the Year 7s were taken on a day trip to The Globe Theatre in London. This is a day that the students thoroughly enjoy as not only do they have a tour of the theatre, but they also take part in a Shakespeare workshop which allows their drama skills to shine! On arrival at the theatre, the students were split into small groups and each group was assigned a guide for the day. Each of the guides was one of the actors from the Globe Company. First, they were all given a tour which included lots of information about what the Globe would have been like in Shakespeare’s time (very crowded, very dirty and VERY smelly!), and the building of the current theatre. Students were also given the opportunity to walk on the famous stage and were even given a line from Shakespeare to speak to an imaginary audience, giving them a sense of what it is like to perform at this wonderful theatre. Afterwards, students were taken to The Globe Workshops where they were given scenes to perform from ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. There was much laughter and activity during these workshops as students worked on different ways to speak the lines, and the guides were all given an enthusiastic and appreciative round of applause when we left. Our final stop after a quick lunch and a visit to the shop for some mementos of the day, was The Globe Exhibition, where students could explore the life of Shakespeare, the London where he lived, and the theatre for which he wrote. They were also able to see some of the magnificent costumes that had been worn in a range of productions at the theatre. Students returned to the school at the end of the day with not only their souvenirs but some very happy memories of an enjoyable and informative day.

Ms Cumming Curriculum Leader English

Issue 2 2018 Page 7

THE ROYAL S HAKESPEARE COMPANY’ S ASSOCIATE SCHOOLS PROGRAMME J ULIUS CEASAR: THE IDES OF MARCH

On Monday 12th of March, six Year 10 Drama students had the Cuthbertson, Shaan Dhillon and Ellee Ray; as well as the dynamic amazing opportunity of performing live at the Marlowe Theatre performance piece being led and directed by Mr Selby. in ; along with the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Associate Schools Program. The annual production brings On arrival, all Associate School’s taking part in the production together aspiring young performers (of a variety of ages) and were introduced to the Marlowe Theatre directors; and then given demonstrates just how exhilarating exploring Shakespeare a technical rehearsal. Following this, the day was filled with through Drama can be. This year’s Production was ‘Julius meeting other schools (and rehearsing with them - sharing skills Caesar: The Ides of March’. The performance as a whole was and helpful tips), blocking through the final piece with costume not only a brilliant collaboration, heaped with vibrant, talented and props, and even a leisurely scavenger hunt around Canterbury students; but offered a lovely experience to all those involved. High Street!

The day at the theatre was long, however, gave a real insight into the world of professional theatre. The evening performance saw an audience of over 800 people and was a massive success. It gave a new, challenging, but mostly rewarding experience to the students at The Rochester Grammar School; and was overall an incredibly enjoyable day. To perform in such a large scale production was a very unique opportunity, and will always be remembered as a day filled with teamwork, persistence and great fun.

Thank you to The Royal Shakespeare Company, The Marlowe Theatre and Canterbury High School for arranging such a wonderful day. Also, a massive thank you to all the supporting staff and students involved in making the performance a massive success.

Brooke Bettey, 10 Hildegard 6.

The Rochester Grammar School students involved were Esther Anthony-Ajileye, Brooke Bettey, Lucy Conaghan, Amber

.It is our second year being part of The Royal Shakespeare Company’s Associate Schools Program and the performing standards continue to get higher. All students involved behaved and performed to an incredibly high standard and feedback about The Rochester Grammar School’s extract in the final production was overwhelmingly positive. We are looking forward to embarking on our next project with the program, which will see a selection of our students perform an abridged version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth at The Royal Shakespeare Company’s theatre in Stratford Upon Avon. This performance is due to take place in July.

Mr Selby

TIME FOR TEA

As part of our reward system at RGS, we hold a celebration where students are invited to have afternoon tea with the Head of School.

Students who joined Mrs Brinklow this term were Grace Wingrove, Isabelle Thorneycroft, Mayong Tabe, Hannah Silver, Jasneet Samrai, Jasmine Powell, Louisa Pledger, Lucy Pgden, Michelle Ngugi, Niamh McLaughlin, Damilola Matthew, Charlotte Le Breton, Emma Lambkin, Eleanor Hicks, Amy Dennis, George Cook, Christiana Adewumi Page 8 RGS Newsletter

S PORTS NEWS

Term 3 started with the Year 7 A and B netball teams playing place after school and 9 students took part. During this gala the against Walderslade Girls coming away with two wins. students showed great sportsmanship and the Year 9/10 team came Unfortunately, the other games that were due to be played this joint first, well done girls! term were cancelled by the other schools, meaning that even though we received the points the girls were unable to play There was another first for us this term and that was entering a these games. gymnastics competition. This opportunity was given to those students who attend gymnastics club and this took place in Since then the Year 7 and 8 teams have entered the Maidstone with 6 students taking part. The behaviour from the County Netball Tournament. The Year 8s played on a very girls throughout the day was exceptional and it resulted in Ellen cold Monday where the rules were bent by the organisers to Jones and Marlei Hutchinson coming 3rd in their sections. The girls allow them to play in gloves and hats! The girls played are already looking forward to competing next year. extremely well winning 4 games and losing 2. They were excellent representatives of RGS and even though the courts Mayong Tabe has also broken the Kent Indoor Athletics were frozen at the start of the day they kept their enthusiasm Championship record for long jump which was 5.50 metres and she going throughout. The Year 7 team played later the same jumped a staggering 5.79 metres, well done Mayong! This has now week. They were extremely excited and nervous, as it was their also become her personal best. first tournament, but they started well by winning their first game. By the end of the day they had come forth in their Finally, this term Florence Green-Cronin represented Kent in the group. All of the girls that took part should be very proud of National Cross Country Championships in Loughborough, running themselves. 2.7km in 13 minutes and 10 seconds. This resulted in her coming 143rd out of 220. This is a huge achievement, especially as Florence Since January RGS has also entered two Swimming galas, with is in Year 7! We look forward to seeing what Florence can do next the first being the Kent Schools gala. For this event took place year. in Margate on a Saturday and 5 students took part. They all tried hard with most of them competing in two events. The Miss Clements next gala entered took place at Kings School Rochester and it PE Department was the first time we had been invited to this event. It took

As part of Sport Relief 2018, The Rochester Grammar School joined in with the nation’s 1 billion step challenge. Staff and students alike competed to log the most amount of steps throughout Sport Relief Week with an amazon voucher up for grabs for the highest placed student. In total, we as a school managed to log a mammoth 3,629,467 steps which equates to roughly 1800 miles! To put this in perspective, if we tag teamed all of our steps together we could have walked all the way to Istanbul in Turkey!

It was thoroughly enjoyable to see students and staff getting excited about exercise and competing with each other to walk the furthest each day, as well as the main competition I know there were many individual challenges going on between staff and students! A special mention to the three highest placed students who were battling it out for top spot throughout the challenge with Rebecca Hanks finishing in third, Elsa Burdett in second and Madeline Colley in first - narrowly pipping it at the post with 355,446 steps. Also, to Miss Moore who managed to take the staff title from Mr Willard who had been leading the staff contingent for most of the week!

A big well done to all of you who got involved and we hope that you continue to make your 10,000 steps a day target!

The PE Department

C HANGE OF OFFICE EMAIL ADDRESS

Please note that from Tuesday 3rd April, the [email protected] email address will no longer be valid. If you wish to email the school, please use the new address:

[email protected] Issue 2 2018 Page 9

‘THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST’

It’s only been a few days since our final that could replace this one as my final play ensure that we were doing exactly what performance of Oscar Wilde’s ‘The at RGS. I can only hope next year’s was expected of us. This gave us the Importance of Being Earnest’ but I’m musical, and my final show at the school, freedom to come together and take the will be just as rewarding an experience to leaps of faith that (most of the time) remember as Earnest has been. caused the show to vastly improve. Of course, I give no discredit to the amazing Alice Humphrys, 12 Sv3 team of teachers and not to mention our director, Miss Moore who were able to shape the performance and guide us to success. Miss Moore led us through such As I wrote in the show’s programme, being an amazing experience that I have never the only male cast member has not led me had before in my school career. to feel in any way alienated or pushed away by other members of the cast. I felt The Importance of Being Earnest is such extremely welcome and at ease whenever an incredibly funny play and I am so we were together. Throughout all of our grateful to have not only been able to missing it wholeheartedly already. It’s explore it as a whole, but also the probably been my favourite school show to character of Algernon Moncrieff. Algy’s be a part of since I started here with ‘The mischievous antics and frantic Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ in ‘bunburying’ excited me when first Year 7. reading the script, and I simply couldn’t wait to portray him up on the stage. The By playing the character Cecily in the play, magical moment for me was putting on I was able to inhabit a character unlike any I’d played before amongst a cast of both old and now new friends. With only 9 characters in the show we all became a really close and supportive unit, and it was an incomplete dynamic when anyone wasn’t there in the days leading up to the show. We were able to bounce ideas off each other really naturally and develop an energetic rhythm for comedic timing, which in this play in particular was very rehearsals and days leading up to the important. performance, the cast became so tight-knit and close with one another- I couldn’t We made it through three very eventful have asked for a more lovely group of shows, to say the least. Whether somebody people to work with in my first school play his waistcoat and jacket to simply walk forgot a line, or slid half way across the at RGS. Everyone was just so passionate around his living area, enjoying the stage or even fell down the stairs; we as a about making the show the best it could opportunity to step into someone else’s cast used it to fuel the comedy of the play be. life for an evening and waiting for the and worked well as a team to recover curtain to rise. whatever didn’t go exactly to plan. My favourite thing about being in the show was the independence that was put Bartholomew Hall, 12 Hg4 I can’t think of a better show experience upon each member of the company to

RGS CHARITY FUNDRAISING

MONEY RAISED FROM JANUARY 2018 -

Date Details of Donation Charity name Funds raised 13.12.17 Whole School Tag Day (final total) Student activity Fund 845.13

15.1.18 Somerville Charity Week 316.85

2.2.18 Xmas Card staff collection Demelza House 20.20

5.3.18 Byron Charity Week 290.54

1472.72 Page 10 RGS Newsletter

S TUDENT COUNCIL NEWS

One of the most recent additions to RGS following Student Council discussions has been a running water fountain. The School received a donation from Clancy Docwra which was topped up by the school in order to install the fountain. It’s now available for students to use in a covered outdoor eating area!

Alice Humphreys Head Girl

B LACK HISTORY MONTH

This October saw the UK’s 30th celebration of Black History decision; the standard was so high. Congratulations to our winner Month and RGS took to the opportunity to celebrate and Matthew Exley in Tm5 for his piece 'The Elder Tree' and to our educate throughout October and beyond. A range of activities runner up Sara Karim in Sv4 for her piece 'The unsung poet - happened during the month including: a cookout, which was a Muhammad Ali's legacy'. Over the course of the month £100 was swift sell out thanks to the delicious range of dishes on offer; a raised and this money was given to Medway African and Spoken Word Showcase, which saw students from all key stages Caribbean Association. We very much look forward to our demonstrate their impressive talent and assemblies and form continued work with MACA and their Black History Live project. activities that celebrated inspirational British black people. There was also a writing competition. All students were invited to take Mrs Still part in the competition to celebrate Black History Month and its English Department legacy. Since Black History Month was 30 years old, the theme for our competition was also legacy. We are pleased to announce both the winner and the runner up. It was a tough

W E NEED NEW PARENT MEMBERS TO JOIN THE RGSA!

The RGSA are a group of parents supported by staff whose purpose is to raise funds so that various departments can purchase items to support your daughter’s learning.

The RGSA help out at events throughout the year to enrich your daughter’s life outside the curriculum. These include: Drama and Music events, Flair, Parents’ Evenings, Discos, Founders’ Day ball etc. The meetings take place once a term and the group are a registered charity. The RGSA also co-ordinate the sales of the nearly new uniform; the uniforms are then sold before the meetings which are advertised. We need committee members and helpers to successfully run as a charity.

Meetings take place once a term but you do not need to attend every meeting to support the RGSA, all are welcome to support school events throughout the year.

If you would like more information, please contact [email protected]. Issue 2 2018 Page 11

K ELLY TOLHURST VISITS RGS

Kelly Tolhurst, MP for Rochester and , visited RGS today to meet with Sixth Form students of Government and Politics. Pupils had the opportunity to ask Kelly about important constituency issues as well as items on the national agenda. The discussion covered diverse topics such as Brexit, homelessness, local transport and her experiences of being an MP. Students also discussed ways to engage young people in politics and todays visit will certainly help.

S UFFRAGETTE CENTENARY CELEBRATION

2018 sees the centenary of the committed for their cause. I object to this. It is up to the girls of RGS to change this. Representation of the People’s Act, a law Not because I don’t agree with their cause, It is very easy to get angry at statistics, but which enabled 8.5 million women the right or even because I agree with their it is far more effective to change them. to vote for the first time. As a high methods, but because I do not believe that Ann Taylor said about female MPS that achieving girl’s school it seems only fitting they would have wanted to be pardoned. “Having women to vote for in politics is that we commemorate this momentous They wanted to make a scene, they wanted very important, but we have to make sure moment in British history. to highlight just how unjust the world they these role models aren’t presented like lived in was. To pardon them would be to superwomen. We’ve got to get across that It has often been overlooked that the undermine their very message. ordinary women can do this.”. Our girls inclusion of women in this Act was an are anything but ordinary. Year after year afterthought and that this act was originally Much like in 1918 women in Britain have they achieve astounding examination intended to give the vote to 5 million extra much to celebrate. It is illegal to pay results as well win a significant amount of men who were still disenfranchised despite women less than men for the same job, sporting events, organise impressive the fact that they had been asked to fight for girls are out-performing boys at every level events such as the Multicultural Fashion their country in World War One. Although of the education system, we have more Show and even author published articles an afterthought for the politicians at female MPs than ever before with 208 and books. If anyone can live up to the Westminster, female suffrage was a life being elected in 2017 and we have had two legacy of the NUWSS and the WSPU and consuming mission for hundreds of women female Prime Minister. In a similar vein it make a real change to the lives of women across Britain who had campaigning is also clear that much is still to be done. it is the girls of RGS. tirelessly for 20 years. It was a campaign Experts have claimed that the gender pay that included marches, petitions, vandalism gap will take anywhere between 100 and Miss Beggs and arson and even claimed the life of one 217 years to close meaning that although History Department Suffragette – Emily Wilding Davison. girls are getting better grades than boys at Despite this the franchise offered was a both school and university they are failing limited one and it would take another ten to get those highly paid jobs. In addition to years to get the vote on equal terms. this; headlines such as those regarding powerful men such as Harvey Weinstein It has been argued that the suffragettes highlight how many women are perceived should be pardoned for the crimes they and treated by society. Issue 2 2018 Page 12

L OOKING AHEAD — I MPORTANT DATES FOR TERMS 5&6 2018

Monday 16th April First day of Term 5 17th April Year 8 Geography field trip 18th April Year 7 Parents' Evening 23rd/24th April Year 8 HPV 25th April Year 8 Cornwall Parents' Meeting 26th/27th April Year 7 Science tirp to Port Lympe 30th April - 18th May IB External Examinations 30th April - 181h May Year 12 A level and IB formal unseen exams 5th May Year 10 Silver Duke of Edinburgh Assessed Expedition 7th May MAY BANK HOLIDAY 12th May Year 9 Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Assessed Expedition 14th May GCSE/A level external examinations start 19th May Year 12 Gold Duke of Edinburgh training 25th May Last Day of term 28th May - 1st June May Break 4th-8th June Year 8 Cornwall trip 6th June Year 10 IB Information Evening 11th/12th June Year 10 Geography field work trip 13th June Year 9/10/12 Wicked Theatre Trip 20th June Cornwall 2019 Parents' meeting 21st June Art Exhibition 21st/22nd June Year 7 Dover Trip 25th-29th June Year 10 Full formal exams 27th June Year 5 Taster evening 29th June Year 12 Economics visit to the Bank of England 2nd-6th July Year 12 Workshadowing 2nd-4th July Sixth Form Induction 4th July Year 6 Induction Evening 5th July Year 6 Induction 9th-12th July Year 12 Virtually University 11th July Higher Education Evening 16th July Sports Day and Tidy Up Day 17th July Olympiad 18th July House Arts Day 19th July Celebration Day / Last Day of Term 6

Tuesday 4th September First day of Term 1

The full newsletter can be downloaded from the RGS website.