WIRRALNuntius GRAMMAR SCHOOL A Foundation Business & Enterprise School for Boys

Cross Lane, Bebington, Wirral, CH63 3AQ | Tel: 0151 644 0908 M a r c h 2 0 0 9

‘The Big Bang’ The National Science Competition Success Mathew Smith (Upper Sixth) applied to complete The three final candidates were interviewed a Nuffield Bursary project through school in the by five high profile judges including Dr Marcus summer of 2008. His successful application du Sautoy, Professor of Mathematics at Oxford allowed him to join an impressive research team at University, and Dr Colin Blakemore, “one of the Liverpool John Moores University for four weeks. most powerful scientists in the UK” and Professor of Physiology, also at Oxford. Decisions were not The aim of the project was to develop methods of revealed until the final award ceremony, hosted creating more effective drugs against the parasitic by TV’s Kate Humble. Mathew was told at the infection malaria, which kills up to 3 million people ceremony that he was to receive the Shell Special each year. Having achieved a Gold CREST award, Prize as runner up in the National Young Scientist Mathew’s project won through at the local North of the Year Competition. He receives a notebook West CREST science and technology awards finals computer and a trip to Germany, hosted by to the National Science Competition at ‘The Big Shell Oil, to participate in a prestigious science Bang – UK Young Scientist & Engineers Fair’. and technology event. He will also act as an ambassador across the whole country publicising This competition brings together young scientists science as part of Gordon Brown and Lord from across the country and “pits the best against Drayson’s ‘Science: So what? So Everything’ the best”. Mathew’s work was up against 183 initiative. other projects such as ‘Induction and quantification of g-H2AX foci following 1-10 Gy g-irradiation’ and Well done, Mathew on your excellent and ‘Natural variation in circadian clock function in the impressive work! Mathew would like to thank Dr plant Capsella bursa’. On the second day of the Fyaz Ismail, who mentored Mathew’s project at competition, Mathew was told that he was through the School of Pharmacology and Chemistry, at to the last three in the entire competition and that he Liverpool John Moores University. would be having tea with Lord Drayson (Minister for Mathew meets Lord Drayson at No. 10 Science & Innovation) at Downing Street! before he goes in for tea!

High School Musical

This year’s musical spectacular was High School Musical. For those readers who may have somehow managed to avoid the garish logo, merchandise and film over the past few years, this is an American musical based on the most popular film Disney have every produced, ‘High School Musical’. The story is about two high school students from rival cliques – Troy Bolton, captain of the Basketball team and Gabriella Montez, a beautiful and shy transfer student who excels in maths and science. Together, they try out for the lead parts in their high school musical and, as a result, divide the school. Despite other students’ attempts to thwart their dreams, Troy and Gabriella resist peer pressure and rivalry, inspiring others along the way not to “stick to the status quo”.

Geoff Hinde MBE, Director, has a long running reputation for excellence and this year was no exception. Starring Sophie Bowen Jones as Gabriella and Stoffer Bruun as Troy, flawless acting combined with enthusiastic pompom shaking audiences produce a fantastic week of entertainment for all involved.

Max Gopfert

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Welcome Charity Update Dear All I don’t know where the time has gone! It doesn’t seem like five minutes since I Our Spring Term has been packed with was last writing a charity update for the activities and achievements of all kinds Christmas edition of Nuntius. Still, time has and in many ways, the best of Wirral gone so quickly because we’ve been so Grammar School has to offer is reflected in busy on the charity fundraising front. the range of events that have taken place, many of which are reported in the Spring Firstly, the Staff Karaoke on the last day of Edition of ‘Nuntius’. the Christmas term proved a huge success. Featuring performances from Mr Earnshaw, Mr Askew & the English Department, not to mention an extremely brave solo- Musical and artistic performances have performance by Mrs Jubb, we raised over £400 for our chosen charity this year, featured significantly and our term ended the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. In addition, during the last week of term Y7, Y8 and Y9 with another super School Production with were treated to a film afternoon. This raised an additional £450! Over another ‘High School Musical’ being performed £100 was raised in the same week through a staff raffle & Christmas card over five evenings before capacity scheme and via donations from the carol services. All in all, the last week proved audiences. to be very busy and very enjoyable! Since we arrived back after the festive period, school has continued to be a hive Our annual Music Competition involved of activity. There has been a wide range of activities taking place including a 80 participants across all year groups. Y8 Charity Quiz arranged by the Peer Support Group team which raised £150, Congratulations go to Jamie Shorrock, and most recently a Non-Uniform Day on Friday 27th February which raised over Matthew Lochhead and Michael Cearns £900. There is also a lot to look forward to. At the time of writing, our upcoming who won in the competition finals. It was balloon race (held jointly with Wirral Grammar School for Girls) and the Y9 once again wonderful to have the talents Charity Quiz are both fast approaching. I’m sure both of these events will provide an enjoyable end to this term. of so many boys demonstrated in our Spring Concert in the last week of term. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all staff, students and parents for your continued support – it is invaluable. Sporting opportunities and achievements have been a significant aspect of the term; Richard Crompton the annual Rugby 7’s tournaments have Head Boy & Charity Coordinator taken pupils and staff to venues across the [email protected] length and breadth of the country. There have been many individual and team COMIC RELIEF 2009 triumphs and of particular note was the MANY THANKS go to all students and staff for raising nearly success of the Year 9 Hockey team who £100 for Comic Relief – in just one day and at very short became the Wirral U14 Cup Winners for notice! Particular credit is deserved by 7BC who organised this season. their own fundraising event! Well done to all involved.

School charity activities have featured prominently and our current charity total for this year’s school charity, Cystic Fibrosis Trust, stands at £4,500. SAM Learning All parents and pupils are reminded that SAM (Self-Assessment Method) Learning As the Spring Term draws to a close, for is available for all pupils at Wirral Grammar School for Boys and is designed for many pupils, thoughts and attention turn support in the preparation for external tests and examinations. Pupils are able to to the external examinations at both GCSE ‘log-on’ through the SAM Learning website. and A Level which begin in just over a month’s time. We wish all pupils every As a reminder, to log on: Centre ID is CH63WGZ and the user ID and password success as they prepare over the weeks are both set as date of birth followed by initials. For example: 10 January 1993 for Joe Smith would be :100193JS. ahead. Usage levels are very high for most years and most notably Year 11 where over Finally, I extend my very best wishes to 88% of the year group have been making effective use of the resources available. everyone for a peaceful Easter break.

Yours sincerely Very Best Wishes! . . . to all boys who are taking public examinations this Summer. David Hazeldine We are looking forward to another set of excellent results this year. Headteacher

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Playground Improvements

Since September new seating areas have been provided around the playground; this is part of the process of continuing development. School Council representatives have expressed an interest in seeing more activities available outside for lunch time use. Maths Challenge Wirral Grammar Easy Challenge Progress Indicator The square of a positive number is twice as big as the cube of that Your son’s Progress Bulletin gives you a brief statement of his progress at a particular point in the school year. Along with the usual data number. What is the number? (attainment, effort and behaviour) there are two other grades; the Challenge Target and the Progress Indicator. A. 8 B. 4 C. 2 D. ½ E. ¼ Challenge Targets have been set for your son based on his achievements at Key Stage 2 and in the Cognitive Abilities test (for More Difficult year 7) and Key Stage 2 & 3 (for year 10). The targets indicate 66 Catherine’s computer correctly calculates 66 / 2. What is the units the levels/grades that your son could achieve based on a national digit of its answer? analysis of student performance at the end of the Key Stage. The Progress Indicator shows your son’s current performance with A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. 6 E. 8 respect to his overall Challenge Target. This is represented for KS3 in the figure below. PA Fundraising – Summer Term Focus

The Student Council would like to see improved facilities in the play ground. So far new seating areas have been added. Please support PA fundraising so that we can give support to their suggestions.

• Support PA events in school • Join the 100 Club • Route your on-line shopping through the easy fundraising website (www.easyfundraising.org/wirralgrammarboys/)... 15% of each purchase goes to PA funds The colour scale (currently printed as words) enables you to see at a glance whether your son is on course to reach his target. The key for the progress indicator is as follows: Parents’ Association Fundraising . . . the easy way! An overall picture of green and yellow indicators shows that your son Everyone can help to raise funds for the PA – just by shopping on-line. is making good progress with his subjects. A single red indicator need If you already shop with stores such as NEXT, Amazon, HMV, Dixons, not be a concern if the trend during the year shows improvement. To M&S, John Lewis, Comet, Play.com (and many more), simply access help you determine if this is the case the Easter Progress Bulletin will them through the ‘easy fundraising’ website. Every on-line purchase contain the previous grades. generates 15% for the PA and at no extra cost to you. Over 600 retailers are featured. In order to ensure that all boys are aware of their Challenge Targets, parents are urged to display the Challenge Target Statements at home. Please register at: We believe that collective effort and support is the key to maximising the potential of all our pupils. http://www.easyfundraising.org/wirralgrammarboys/ Remember that the bulletin is a supplement to the annual full school Please join other parents and support PA fundraising through your report and if at any time you are concerned about your son’s progress on-line shopping! you should contact the Head of Year.

Dr J Randell www.wirralgrammarboys.com www.wirralgrammarboys.com WIRRAL GRAMMAR SCHOOL M a r c h 2 0 0 9 A Foundation Business & Enterprise School for Boys Community Development

IN the last edition of Nuntius we had just launched our first ever Primary Enterprise Challenge where 37 teams of Year 5 and 6 pupils from 8 Wirral primary schools were given £10 each (per team) and only 5 days in which to make as much money as possible.

The challenge proved to be a huge success with over 200 children taking part throughout Wirral, and on 20th January 2009 the eight winning teams from each school were invited to WGSB to deliver a 5 minute presentation to a panel of judges who were looking for ideas that were:

• Sustainable • Had Social Impact • Profitable

The following 2 pages are dedicated to those schools that took part, the children and teachers involved and of course an announcement of the winners in each category.

A new Enterprise Challenge will be launched to our Primary School partners during this year’s National Enterprise Week in November.

Tony Boustead (Community Learning Manager)

The Finalists

Higher Bebington Juniors Team: ‘Eat Up’

The winning team here devised a recipe book (Eat Up) aimed at getting families cooking healthy meals together. The idea was sustainable and could be adapted to suit different seasons and special occasions. They made £61.71p profit in total.

Lingham Primary School Team: ‘Juice on the Loose’

The children at Lingham bought and sold a range of juices that would contribute to the ‘five a day’ healthy eating model. The profit raised was an excellent £25.08p.

Brackenwood Junior School Stanton Road Primary School Team: ‘Pet Pals’ Team: ‘Bright Sparks’

This team organised a day that other This enterprising group made their money children could ‘pet’ a range of animals by designing and selling a range of badges which included a python and a guinea and bookmarks. These items were then sold pig! They charged 50p to pet an animal to children and staff during break to raise a and £1 to have a photograph taken with profit of £42.00. it, and in total they raised £83.00. A truly great effort.

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St Peter’s CE Primary School (Heswall) Christchurch CE Primary School (Moreton) Team: ‘The Juicy Juice Bar Team’ Team: ‘Costa Fortune’

This team decided to buy and sell Capri-sun drinks. They The children organised an OAP coffee morning where they played games carried out some Internet research to get the best price such as monopoly with the customers. On offer were Fairtrade tea, coffee, and sold the drinks at a profit of 35p per drink. By the cookies and jam and all cups and napkins were recycled at the end of the end of the week they had raised £65.00. day.

Thornton Hough Primary School Team: ‘Wishy Washy’

The Thornton Hough team organised a superb marketing campaign and with donations from local businesses managed to raise a massive £127.90p in just one day by washing vehicles that included cars, tractors and even a double-decker bus!

Woodchurch Road Primary School Team: ‘The Big Blue Badge Company’

Finally the Woodchurch Road children decided to make and sell anti-bullying badges and to donate any profit made to Childline. They came up with a realistic business plan, advertised their product and sold 91 badges, raising £45.50p in the process.

The Winners

After careful deliberation, our panel of judges (Susie Wallis-Enterprise Advisor, Angela Cotterill-Bebington Work Related Learning Co-ordinator and Bill Davies, Community Governor) had no hesitation in awarding trophies and £10 gift vouchers to members of the following teams:

• Most profit raised - Thornton Hough Primary School • Most Social Impact - Woodchurch Road Primary School • Most Sustainable idea - Higher Bebington Junior School

Congratulations to ALL those taking part. Each finalist collected a gift voucher and certificate and by the end of the competition all the children who took part agreed that they now were aware of what it takes to be truly enterprising . . . well done! www.wirralgrammarboys.com www.wirralgrammarboys.com WIRRAL GRAMMAR SCHOOL M a r c h 2 0 0 9 A Foundation Business & Enterprise School for Boys

Year 5 Science Club PSYCHOLOGY DEPARTMENT: Brain Day Year 5 Science Club is on Wednesdays from 4-5pm. We do different activities On Friday 13th February, Sixth Form Psychology like melting ice using Bunsen burners, and Biology students were off timetable for making periscopes, making a model ‘Brain Day’. The day started with an intriguing of a lung, spaghetti towers, using explanation from Professor Guy Sutton on how the microscopes, making lighthouses and brain works, whilst we used the computers in the doing experiments on a woodlouse’s IT Suite to explore for ourselves the workings of preferred habitat. For one week we go the brain, as well as some brain-orientated games and activities that everyone seemed to enjoy. We into a computer room and design posters were then told about how damaged brains and brain deficiencies can affect different people, whilst about different planets. After every after lunch we were shown some graphic images of damaged brains and people with rare disabilities activity the year 5’s have to fill out an as a result of brain impairments. The day ended with a dissection of a sheep’s brain, something that evaluation and at the end of 8 weeks, some people just couldn’t bring themselves to watch! All in all, it was a very interesting and useful they fill out a large one. day, and one I think everyone enjoyed. Daniel Kowalski 8KLJ By Callum Peters L61 The year 5 science club is an interesting experience, as it combines learning and helping. The pupils seem to learn and co-operate with us well and enjoy the Year 9 Visit to the Conway Centre club. Of course, it is very demanding to keep them interested in the topic, but The annual visit to the Conway Centre on Anglesey is fast approaching for pupils in Year that adds to the fun. It is a real hands on 9. A number of activities have been arranged and these include sea-level traversing, sea teaching experience. kayaking, canoeing, climbing, raft-building, woodland ‘high ropes’ and sailing. One George Anderson 8AJM of the main activities is ‘Outdoor Business’ which includes pupils working in small teams led by one of the Centre staff in the grounds of the Conway Centre. Activities include a range of problem solving tasks that the pupils are able to choose themselves; some involve Working with the year 5’s is a great learning experience for me and physical activity while others are more about mental agility. I feel it is a great opportunity for younger people to make new friends through talking and team building activities. It also gives them a more Parents of boys in Year 9 who would like to know more about the Conway Centre, fun and exciting view of science, whilst teaching them basic science ahead of the information briefing in school, can visit the centre’s website: which will help them later on in their education. It also helps by giving www.conwaycentre.co.uk safety tips in the laboratory and inspires creativity in poster contests. Put all this together and you have a great reaction! Liam Nye 8KC Chemistry Team at Liverpool University

On Saturday 7th March, Ryan Howard, Lewis Theobald and Theodor Petkov, all Year 12, took PSYCHOLOGY TRIP TO CHESTER ZOO part in the Royal Society of Chemistry Young Analysts competition. During the day the team had to carry out individual and team experiments involving titrations, an infra-red spectrometer and a spectrophotometer (unfortunately Mrs Hayman wasn’t allowed to help us!!!). Following the With the entire Psychology group waiting, and a full class to register, Miss instructions, we carried out our experiments as accurately as possible, hoping our final answers were Heymans was under pressure to perform. So when she arrived outside the both accurate and precise enough to win the first prize. However, although we completed all tasks, canteen in the minibus fifteen minutes late, the students were not impressed. squabbled over the calculations and reached conclusions we were happy with, we just missed out on After stalling the minibus before even reaching the end of Cross Lane, 3rd prize. Overall it was a great experience, fulfilling in both the experience of university experiments it seemed we would never get to Chester in time. Despite these minor and the food they provided! It was definitely a worthwhile visit and we’ve been awarded RSC setbacks, the upper 6th Psychology group arrived at Chester zoo at ten certificates to prove we completed all that was asked for. minutes to ten, with time to spare to tease Fred Eadie for wearing ridiculous Ryan, Lewis and Theo. headgear, before the day began. The first sight which the students beheld was the majestic elephants, but time was short and primates were the theme of the day. The students took a brief tour through the monkey house, supported by the soothing tones and biological knowledge of Joanne Heymans, before making their way to the ‘Education centre’ a prospect which did not arouse the boys’ interest. Chester Zoo’s very own Adam was there with his hissing cockroaches to meet the boys and to deliver an hour Year 10 Aim Higher Science Olympics long lecture on animal psychology, which despite initial sceptical feelings, On the 31st January 2009, Kieran Cook, Nick Harvey proved thoroughly interesting. After two hours of free time, most of the boys and Chris Hatter were selected to compete in the headed back to the education centre for a guided tour of the primates, led Wirral Aim Higher Science Olympics. We competed in by Ruth. We learnt about the methods of becoming a dominant male in a many different activities such as making a marble run, chimp society and were introduced to the two-week old orangutan baby girl constructing a rocket to hit a target, and devising a boat by her proud mother who was desperate to show her off to all the visitors. that held over 600 marbles before it sank! We came Unfortunately Fred, James and Josh had managed to get lost, camouflaged first in the rocket launch and the boat making thanks to amongst the gibbons, and joined the group later. This very stimulating tour Chris’ and Nicks’ engineering skills; we also did well in the difficult quiz ( 8 B’s in a B anyone??). Due to our ended shortly after and the students, with a fresh head of knowledge, trekked excellent performance in the events we achieved first place out of 20+ schools on the Wirral. We are to the magnificent gift shop and then to their final attraction, watching Miss now going on to compete in the regional finals later in the year. Heymans try to drive everyone home without stalling. Sean Robinson Thanks to Miss Clements for organising the event.

P.S. I hasten to add that I only stalled once…. Miss Heymans Kieran Cook, Chris Hatter & Nick Harvey

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The “Hard Work Has Its Rewards” Prize Draw MUSIC REPORT Winners of Prize Draw 2 : 2008-09 The Annual School Music Competition was once again a resounding success with over 80 pupils attempting to reach the final on Thursday 12 March. Now in its twelfth year, This is an incentive to encourage our boys to work hard and earn commendations. the audience was treated to some command performances in the final, adjudicated by The boys can use 5 commendations to buy a Prize Draw Ticket. The more Prof Stephen Pratt, Director of Music at Liverpool Hope University. Congratulations to this years winners: commendations they get the more tickets they can buy and the higher their chance of winning. A new draw takes place every five school weeks. There is now a Junior Section: Jamie Shorrock separate draw for each form in years 7, 8, 9 and 10. There is one prize of a £5 Intermediate Section: Matthew Lochhead gift voucher for each form. Senior Section: Michael Cearns Here are the winners of Prize Draw 2. Commiserations to the other finalists listed below, but well done to all performers for entering this year - I’m sure that all enjoyed their chocolate bar, courtesy of sponsorship from the local Co-op! I hope everyone will try again next time - remember you will be 7LEM Jack Davies 8AJM Chris Williamson competing against different people as you will be a year older. 7DW Toby Brennan 8KLJ Alex Wood 7BC Andrew McLannahan 8GWG Jack Cooke Finalists: George Anderson 8AJM, Jack Fletcher 8KC, Jamie Shorrock 8KC, Ben Savage 7KM Euan Kendall 8RR Oliver Manning-Spencer 8RR, Marcus Miller 9OA, George Wilkinson 9OA, Ben Caveen 10AB, Adam Shorrock 7AD Harry Smith 8KC Emmanuel Short 11PC, William Vick 11PC, Matthew Lochhead 11SPA, Michael Cearns L62, Philip Arathoon L62, Thomas Outram L63, Kenny Wiles U65, Matthew Mellor U61 9JHH tba 10AB Chris Hatter Congratulations as well to the following successful Music Exam candidates, the results 9IPT Mark Griffiths 10WS Nicholas Harvey of which were not available for the last issue. There are a particularly high number of 9SMC Daniel Edwards 10SF Jonathan Barnett merits and distinctions this time so well done to all the following: 9OA James Highton 10MH Ross McMurray 9HS David Lewis 10PLC Luke Cartwright Name Form Instrument Grade Result Ellison Andrew 8KLJ Keyboard 1 Distinction This year we are also running a Bonus Draw which takes place after each Form Alex Jenkins 8AJM Keyboard 2 Pass Jacob Chan 8AJM Pop Vocals 2 Distinction Prize Draw. The tickets from the 5 forms are put into a year group and one ticket is Jonathan Wilkinson 8RR Keyboard 1 Merit drawn. The winner receives a £10 GAME voucher. Lewis Casella 8RR Pop Vocals 2 Distinction Michael Pane 8GWG Pop Vocals 2 Merit Bonus Draw 2 Winners: Jack Compton 9JHH Pop Vocals 2 Pass Year 7 Toby Brennan 7DW Jonathan Howes 9JHH Pop Vocals 3 Merit Year 8 Thomas Cunmming 8GWG Jack Walker 9IPT Pop Vocals 4 Merit Year 9 Jonathan Howes 9JHH Jonathan Cooke 9SMC Keyboard 2 Pass Year 10 tba Thomas Deakin 9SMC Keyboard 2 Distinction Kieran France 9SMC Pop Vocals 3 Pass Ben Sanders 9HS Keyboard 4 Distinction Winners of Prize Draw 3 : 2008-09 George Wilkinson 9OA Keyboard 2 Distinction William Ekuban 10AB Keyboard 2 Merit Here are the winners of Prize Draw 3. Aaron Smith 10SF Keyboard 1 Distinction Daniel Smith 10AB Keyboard 2 Merit 7LEM Ben Gore 8AJM Mike Thompson Ben Caveen 10AB Pop Vocals 4 Merit 7DW Liam Kearns 8KLJ Henry Noble David Field 10PLC Pop Vocals 2 Distinction 7BC Harley Moore 8GWG Jack Newton Thomas Ramsay 11PC Pop Vocals 5 Distinction 7KM Udit Shankar 8RR Tom Hawkes Edward Kenny 11SPA Theory 5 Merit 7AD Harry Smith 8KC Daniel Mortimer Matthew Lochhead 11SPA Clarinet 8 Distinction James Powell L65 Theory 5 Pass Matthew Mellor U61 Pop Vocals 8 Distinction 9JHH C McIntosh 10AB William Ekuban 9IPT Daniel Harris 10WS C Redhead Results of exams taken just after half term didn’t quite make the Nuntius deadline, 9SMC Adam Knott 10SF J Gray so watch out for those and other guitar and keyboard results in the summer issue. 9OA Matthew McNelly 10MH Andrew Burgess However, congratulations are definitely due to Matthew Lochhead 11SPA, who as well 9HS Reid Spain 10PLC Daniel Galvin as receiving a distinction for his Grade 8 clarinet exam, has received the Margaret Weathered cash prize for the particularly high mark he obtained in his Grade 4 saxophone exam last year. Open to all candidates taking an exam on certain grades Bonus Draw Winners: in the Liverpool Centre over the last 12 months, Matthew’s name will be published in the Year 7 Robin Leach 7AD Associated Board’s Annual Review later in May, which is released nationally. Year 8 Tom Wood 8GWG Year 9 Oliver Jackson 9JHH The Spring Concert was on Wednesday 1 April with a matinee performance in the Year 10 Seed Quereshi 10SF afternoon. This matinee concert was given to an audience made up of almost 300 children from local primary schools, this year attended by St Johns, Stanton Road and Brackenwood Primary School. There will also be concerts in 5 lucky primary schools Congratulations from Mr Hynes during the summer, which already looks like being a busy term, especially as the Music Department’s bi-annual foreign tour is to depart on Thursday 16 July travelling to the Provence region of France. The choir and concert band will perform at cathedrals and bandstands in the area before returning via Police and Parking Paris for a joint performance in Disneyland. Following the introduction of new traffic calming measures Make sure you pack your bugs-bunny outfit. along Cross Lane, there has been a significant impact on the speed of vehicles passing the front of school; this Mr P Thomas is a welcome safety measure for pupils as they arrive and depart from school. The police will be carrying out Music Competition Winners 2009: periodic CCTV monitoring checks outside school and will Michael Cearns, Matthew Lochhead and impose fines on drivers who park on the zig-zag area at Jamie Shorrock the front of the school. www.wirralgrammarboys.com www.wirralgrammarboys.com WIRRAL GRAMMAR SCHOOL M a r c h 2 0 0 9 A Foundation Business & Enterprise School for Boys Multilateral Comenius Project

We have now submitted our application to the British http://www.hof.kommune.no/Tjenester/Skole-og- Council for a multilateral Comenius project. utdanning/Hof-skole2/ Hof Skole, Hof, Norway. Multilateral partnerships are cross-curricular projects that involve at least three schools or colleges from at least three European countries. They enable staff and students in the UK to work together with partners in other Comenius eligible countries for the duration of the two year partnership. In addition to learning more about other cultures and gaining an insight into other teaching practices, participating staff have reported increased enthusiasm and motivation from colleagues and children alike, often resulting in raised standards across the curriculum through such partnerships.

The benefits to the school include valuable opportunities for staff and students to work together, develop focused approaches to problem- solving, and build pedagogical programmes. Pupils and students also have the possibility of visiting their partner institutions through the funding available. www.emelwerda.nl Emelwerda College, Emmeloord, The Netherlands Our proposed project will be entitled, “European Citizenship, what’s happening?”and will focus on teenagers’ lives as European Citizens and teenagers’ cultural and economic awareness with emphasis on good citizenship. Collaborative, innovative and motivating foreign language teaching will be established through ‘student to student teaching’ by using multimedia and ICT as communication tools.

Teachers from the other schools in the multilateral partnership at the contact seminar in Cordoba, Spain, November 2008.

Partner school websites: http://www.iesmaimonides.com/ Instituto de Educación Secondaria Maimónides, Cordóba, Spain.

More details of the project will follow when we have confirmation of funding from the British Council.

Mr J Hughes International Coordinator

http://www.brenderup-realskole.dk/ Brenderup og Omegns Realskole, Brenderup, Denmark. AIM HIGHER

Many congratulations to the Science Olympics team [consisting of Kieran Cook, Chris Hatter, Will Fenna and Nick Harvey] who are through to the final of this prestigious competition , as well as those who have been involved in the ‘Salters’ Chemistry camps. Many thanks also to Miss Woods who has given up her free time to supervise pupils at these events. The Aim Higher fund has recently helped to subsidise the school drama production as well as geography fieldwork excursions, trips to university open days and theatre visits. Pupils have attended master classes at Liverpool University on various subjects, including electrical engineering, chemistry and mathematics. Twenty members of Y10 attended an open day at Liverpool John Moores University, taking part in ‘ Mock ‘ lectures and having a guided tour of the students’ union and accommodation. Years Twelve and Ten had study days, with input from external providers as well as members of staff. It’s been a busy year so far! Mrs K Campbell

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History Peer Mentoring Anti-Bullying Committee promotes Anti-Bullying ethos The History Peer Mentoring scheme has now been running since September and, so far, has been very successful. We decided to set up the scheme Wirral Grammar School for Boys’ Anti-Bullying Committee has continued after our own personal experiences with GCSE History and thought that we to build on its foundation to promote an Anti-Bullying ethos. The could offer support to younger students. The mentoring group has grown committee, co-ordinated by sixth form students Lee D. Evans and Harry from two original mentors to a team of seven lower sixth students, who are Bush, has been working with its Anti-Bullying representatives in years 7 to helping to prepare the current Year 11 for the approaching GCSE history 11 to counter CyberBullying and homophobic bullying this past term. exams. The sessions take place on Monday lunchtimes and focus on exam technique and course subject matter. The Anti-Bullying Committee has a new structure which is intended to empower students. With the new structure, every form in years 7 to 11 We also decided to set up a Year 7 History Club. We held a naming has an Anti-Bullying representative who is responsible for going along competition to launch the club, which has subsequently become known to their year group meetings, reporting back to their form and attending as ‘The W.H.O’ (Wirral Historian Organisation). The club tries to extend the full Anti-Bullying Committee meeting. Their feedback is then taken on history out of the classroom and has ventured into topics ranging from board to consider how the committee and the school can advance our Ancient Chinese history to the 1960s! The club has run presentations, Anti-Bullying objectives. quizzes and even a mock court martial over the previous half terms. It is well attended and is held every Thursday in EN7 with the help of Mrs Jones. The committee is determined to make sure Anti-Bullying is a whole school We hope that the mentoring scheme and history club will continue to be approach, therefore all representatives, students and staff receive a successful and grow further throughout the rest of the year. bulletin from the Anti-Bullying Committee once every half-term updating By Josh Eaton L63 and Matt Walker L67 them on the work of the committee and how they can get involved.

Commenting on the work of the committee, Lee D Evans said “We are really proud of the achievements of the Anti-Bullying Committee this year. We have got a new team in place who are effectively communicating Lower Sixth English Literature our Anti-Bullying message, working in a more focused way to highlight Theatre Trip specific issues that we can all work together to tackle.” Building upon that, Harry Bush said “Bullying in a school can’t be hidden Year 12 AS English Literature students are currently working on important and the work the ABC does is very important. We must continue to coursework essays about Shakespeare’s “Othello”, so it was fortuitous ensure all students know bullying is never tolerated and nobody lives in that the Royal Shakespeare Company brought a touring production of the fear of being bullied.” tragedy to Liverpool Playhouse recently. The Anti-Bullying Committee’s theme for this next half-term is countering The lads’ cultural thirst was such that they were even willing to forego homophobic bullying. All students in school will be briefed on the issue their usual Friday night out to attend a performance of this famous tale by the Anti-Bullying representative, who will discuss with them what of malice, jealousy and murder. They were rewarded with a very good homophobic bullying is, why it must never be tolerated and how we can production of the play that really highlighted some of the text’s important ensure it never happens. themes and issues and gave them plenty of food for thought and discussion.

As well as getting a lot of ideas out of the performance, they also enjoyed it and coped admirably with the three hours plus running time and some bottom numbing seats! All in all it was a very worthwhile Atrium Art Exhibition experience. Mr A Davies Since the opening of the new building the school has been provided with greater scope for the display and celebration of the pupils’ artwork. The new atrium space is a particularly conducive Design and Technology: space with clean light and many open areas. We currently have work on display which was produced by year 10 during an artist- in-residence workshop ‘Computer Aided Design’ with local artist, Lynda Roberts. Following a successful funding application to the Wolfson Foundation, new ‘Computer Aided Design’ resources have been purchased for the Technology Department. Over £30,000 has been spent on high-tech design and The department plans manufacture equipment including a Laser Cutter and a 3-D milling machine. to have a rolling The new investment will transform the opportunities that are available to pupils programme of exhibitions of all ages and will allow them to precision manufacture products that they throughout the academic design on computer. year, with plans in place for another year 10 The new technology will have a popular impact on the range of products that project titled ‘Birds’ and Atrium Entrance students are able to design at both GCSE and A level. additionally a year 8 cross-curricular exhibition involving Art, Music and English departments.

Watch this space! Keya Johnson (Head of Art)

A Level and Year 10 Art Exhibition Laser Cutting in action with Sixth Form Students www.wirralgrammarboys.com www.wirralgrammarboys.com WIRRAL GRAMMAR SCHOOL M a r c h 2 0 0 9 A Foundation Business & Enterprise School for Boys

Tomorrow’s Managers Today

‘Tomorrow’s Managers Today’, was an off-timetable activity day where all Year 9 students got to experience what it is like to be part of a business. It covered all aspects of business management. We discussed company profit and loss, PR and Marketing and purchasing stock in detail. After recently being selected to take part in the Young Anti-Bullying Alliance network (a joint partnership with the Princess Diana Award and the Anti-Bullying Alliance), I was delighted to be invited down to London on 24th February to take part in a consultation with Ed Balls, Secretary of We convened to the hall, where the Teachers split us up into groups. State for Children, Schools and Families. This enabled us to work with new people. Teamwork played a large part in the day’s activities, as everyone needed to work as a team to succeed. After an extremely early start and an hour spent trying to get on the right tube lines, I finally arrived in Westminster at the new DCSF building. First things first, most of us had to turn each other from perfect strangers into a close-knit team. After that, it was straight down to business. The Over the course of the day, we made cardboard vans which we would morning comprised of various different consultations relating to how bullying amongst pupils can be prevented once they’ve left the school gates later sell to teachers for ‘money’. This took some initiative due to the – for example on the bus. This was a fantastic opportunity to share good practice as this is something the Anti-Bullying Committee is researching fact that some bartering was involved and the teachers would not part at the moment. with their money easily! In the afternoon, after a very (un)healthy lunch, we spent a very imaginative two hours thinking of ways that Anti-Bullying Week 2009 could The money we earned was used as profit to get our group out of debt. be launched – giving it the press coverage and media attention that it deserves. We then put our ideas forward to Ed Balls and his official aids. The group who got out of debt and made the most profit would then win He was extremely down-to-earth and very receptive of our suggestions and thoughts. All in all, it was a fantastic day and I would just like to say a prize at the end of the day. thank you to Dr Bromley and Mrs Walker for making this opportunity possible! Richard Crompton Although my team did not win the overall prize, it gave me an insight Head Boy into business and an opportunity to experience commerce.

Overall it was a very enjoyable day and, given the chance, I would do it again; only this time I would charge the teachers more! Alex Butler – 9IPT Ruta Quetzal 2009

Last year, I was fortunate enough to be able to enter the 2009 edition of the Ruta Quetzal competition. Ruta Quetzal is ‘a programme of study and adventure’ formed ‘at the suggestion of His Majesty the King of Spain with the aim of forging bonds between young people aged 16 and 17 in all Spanish-speaking countries’; their words, not mine! In essence, each year a number of students depart on a lengthy expedition to an exotic corner of the Spanish speaking world; a more glamorous version of the Duke of Edinburgh Award one could say. This year’s expedition is set to follow in the footsteps of Spanish Mariner Juan Fernández, visiting Chile and Fernández’s eponymous islands.

However, in order to obtain a place on the expedition one must first pass a number of rigorous selection procedures; after all, only one candidate from the UK can take part. As an entrant, I was firstly required to write a letter boasting of my supposedly prodigious sporting and academic abilities, particularly with regard to my competence in Spanish. Happily, I was chosen as one of 30 finalists from the UK. As such, I was required to attend a day of examinations at the Instituto Cervantes, roughly the Spanish equivalent of the British Council, to determine the ultimate winner.

Consequently, on the 12th December 2008 I was permitted to leave the hallowed corridors of Wirral Grammar School and spend a day in the altogether more glamorous surroundings of Eaton Square, London. That morning, I sat an exam testing my knowledge of the Spanish language and both Spanish and Latin American culture. Of the 30 finalists I was placed third in this test and, along with the remainder of the top ten, proceeded to the second round of examinations, which consisted of a number of speaking tasks.

In all honesty, said tasks amounted to probably the most daunting experience in my life. Prior to each, the contestants were held in isolation in a small room in a corner of the building. When my turn came, I was led down a winding staircase and, after a short pause outside the Each year there are elections throughout the Wirral for the UK theatre door, onto a small stage in front of which the assembled mass of parents, teachers and dignitaries were seated. On each occasion I Youth Parliament. This year Charles Burke, Jan Greenshaw and was presented with a different challenge; for instance, describing a previously unseen photo or answering a number of questions, all in Spanish myself entered these elections. We prepared a speech which of course. was then recorded at the Learning Lighthouse on 26th January. Then from 2nd February through to 2nd March, young people Following the competition, all the remaining contenders chatted nervously and, quite without exception, everyone thought they had failed from across the Wirral could listen to the speeches and then abysmally. Nonetheless, there was a winner and she was by all accounts a very fine linguist. Ultimately, I finished between fifth and vote online. Monica Boughdady from Wirral Grammar School for Girls and myself were elected as deputies to Leah Cope and tenth, more specific details were not given, and although I may have cut a forlorn figure on the train journey home, I gained much from the Yasmina Jones who are full members of the Youth Parliament. experience. At the very least, as my GCSEs approach this Summer, I can safely say that I’ve had worse. Both Monica and I will remain in the position of deputy for the next year after which we will replace Leah and Yasmina as full I would like to thank Miss Faulkner for affording me the opportunity to enter the competition and, particularly, for aiding me in my preparation. Members of Youth Parliament, at the end of their term in office. In my manifesto I campaigned for better facilities to be available Jan Greenshaw 11CCC for the young people of Wirral, reduction the in costs of transport, and for more aid to be provided to the young people of Wirral to tackle bullying. Now that I have been elected I will campaign for these changes to happen across the Wirral and will also engage in the campaigns upon which the Youth Parliament has already embarked. On 8th January the Youth Parliament representatives from the North West voted for three regional campaigns. These were the reduction of transport fares, the bettering of young people’s perception in the media and more effective citizenship lessons in school.

The Youth Parliament welcomes anyone between the ages of 11- 18 who is enthusiastic about the interests of the young people on the Wirral, so feel free to get involved.

Paul Aitchison, L61KMC

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Imperial War Museum Visit

THEIR PAST, YOUR FUTURE – On Wednesday 7th January, a large portion of Year 10’s studying history visited the Imperial War Museum North. When we arrived, “Some went to war, to some it came.” most of us were disheartened by the look of the place. It was a large building; drab, metallic and grey. The gloomy weather didn’t seem to The History Department recently took part in a project run by Port Sunlight help either. However, when we went inside we were met with complete Museum and Garden Village and Wirral LEA Professional Excellence Centre disorientation and awe. The first thing that could be seen walking into to work with local schools and veterans to explore and commemorate the the exhibition hall was a Harrier Jump Jet that hung above us. It was impact of the First and Second World Wars on Port Sunlight. pretty impressive, as was the exhibition hall itself. Split into different ‘silos’ as they were called, each one gave an informative and personal An activity afternoon was organised for 5th March to support the coursework view on history throughout war, filled with artefacts, some non-personal to be produced by the pupils as part of a forthcoming assessment on World and some personal. War Two. Below are some of the thoughts of two of the pupils involved. During the day, we had the chance to handle some of these artefacts, “As our whole year group filed into the hall on a dreary, Thursday afternoon we had no idea of the wonderful activities that had been planned including ones such as an old artillery shell, the hat of a private who for us. Firstly, our form was taken to the library where we were given a very informative talk on how to research using books. fought in the Second World War and his dog tag, which as we found out, happened to be made of horse hair and cardboard pulp compressed Next, we had a chance to get information from the internet, but to give us a little push in the right direction we had some guidelines and together; charming. It was something we found quite interesting though. recommended web sites. The best part was going on activehistory.com where we could quiz a virtual Hitler. Afterwards, we went to the Another feature of the day was “The Big Picture”. Hourly, the lights History room to discuss Britain and the War. would go out and on the walls of the exhibition hall a film would start to be shown. The ones we watched were ‘Children in War’ and ‘Weapons We also watched two wartime videos about rationing and evacuation which I really enjoyed. of War’. Both contained personal and archived footage that showed the The highlight of the afternoon for me had to be the interview with three spirited women who were young adults during the Blitz. These ladies true nature of conflict and its horror. formed a panel to answer the questions of each Year Nine class in turn and they were filmed doing so by the Learning Lighthouse. Overall, I, along with most of the people who also went on the trip, would agree that the visit was a great day; informative, fun and much Not deterred by the fact that this was the first time they had to answer the questions of an entire year group in one afternoon, the trio treated better than being sat in a classroom. the Year group to a unique insight into what daily life was like for people living in Port Sunlight and the surrounding area during the war. They revealed to us that it was terrifying in the raids and that the blackout was dangerous as many people were killed through accidents. They told Dan Galvin 10PLC of how distressing it was for the children of Liverpool and Birkenhead to be evacuated and separated from their family, even if it was for their own good.

Yet despite all their woes, it was also clear that hope and happiness lived on even in those dark times. They remembered how good morale Saving Private Ryan was despite the inconvenient circumstances, and how there was always singing and dancing in the church halls. Even though they worked six War, War is an awful thing, days a week, we learned that the celebrities of the day would visit the factories and other workstations to give morale an extra boost. They The losers mourn, and the winners sing, also discussed the role of Winston Churchill in the war. The three women left me and the rest of the Year 9s with a different perspective The losers leave without their guns, tanks or men, on World War II, and we are very grateful to them for that, and to the Museum Education Officer and the Learning Lighthouse Staff for the And only in a few years, they may be led to war again, The winners celebrate and are elated with joy, opportunity to meet them. The country they defeated, is now their new toy, They own the land, buildings and men, I would like to leave you with this sentence to think about: ‘For your tomorrow we gave our today.’ Another country shattered, never to rise again.

Matthew Siddorn and James Sexty 9IPT James McNeillis – 10AB

War War Is more than fighting and killing, French Languages Competition Over spoils and riches and greed, Or even over defending ones beliefs for a better world. In October, there was a languages/business competition for year 10 pupils at schools in the North West. Wirral Grammar School for Boys was invited and six boys were selected to represent the school at the competition. They were Sam War Is more than fighting and killing, Bowman, Edward Forshaw, Nathan Walker, Sean Goodchild, Max Dutton and Usman Hayat. It is brother fighting brother, separated at birth.

The first stage of the competition required us to make a website page for the Great Space at Liverpool Cathedral, and we War Is more than fighting and killing, Is more than a country uniting all to survive the current world, also had to prepare a business plan. We had a day off lessons where we met with Mr Harrison for the business side of Rationing, saving, making the death that they seek to prevent. the competition. He helped us set out our business plan and got us to work together on the computers to do our research. In the afternoon, Mr Hughes (French) helped us to develop the French section of our presentation which included a War Is more than fighting and killing, PowerPoint and radio script for the next round. We then sent off our entry and waited for the news on whether we would Is more than the massacre of innocents, be participating in the final round of the competition. The burning of homes and safety.

In late November, we received confirmation that in December, we would be taking part in the final round at Merseyside War Is more than fighting and killing, Is more than that first step over sodden trenchs, Enterprise Offices in Liverpool. This meant that we needed to complete our PowerPoint and radio script and then rehearse Is more than dying for your country and risking all for some ideas. them both before the day of the competition. We therefore spent lunchtimes practising the scripts over and over until we knew them off by heart. War Is the destruction of ideas, So much lost that shall never be found. On the day of the competition, we had about 10 minutes for a last minute re-run of what we were going to do before Is the destruction of hope, we were called into the board room with the other teams. We spent a long time watching other schools make their That co-existence shall happen. presentations and the standard was very high. When we came to present our plan, the judges were very impressed, Is the destruction of safety, especially by Sam’s radio script which sounded like a French speaker. After we had finished the competition, we were told As homes burn amidst trapped cries. that the judges would decide who had won and would let the Mr Hughes know by phone. Two weeks later, he received a Is the creator of forgiveness, As one thinks to advance the world. phone call explaining that WGSB had come first runners-up.

This competition was a great experience and built our team building skills. If there is a tournament like this in the near War Is more than all of us. future, it would definitely be worth entering as it has helped our language skills tremendously. Peter Bennett – 10AB www.wirralgrammarboys.com www.wirralgrammarboys.com WIRRAL GRAMMAR SCHOOL M a r c h 2 0 0 9 A Foundation Business & Enterprise School for Boys

PA News World Book Day Plant Sale The PA would like to thank all those who placed orders for the spring The Library celebrated World Book Day on the 5th March by organising a book swap event. Pupils brought fiction books they had read into the plant sale. Your purchases will be ready for collection on Saturday 9 Library and swapped them for a different book. The event was a great success with books being swapped by pupils from all years and even May. teaching staff. Such was the popularity of the event we hope to do another book swap later this year.

100 Club winners: Year 8 and 9 pupils are this year again enjoying the opportunity of taking part in the nationally recognised book award “Wirral Paperback of the Year”. A number of boys attended an author event on the 11th March and enjoyed hearing the authors speak before having an opportunity to ask October January questions. Voting for the winning book will start soon after Easter, and it will be interesting to see which books are voted for by Wirral Grammar £100 Mrs C Fellows £100 R Wiles pupils – and which book is the eventual winner. £50 CO and L Jones £50 D Burbridge £25 Dawn Woodall £25 Betley

November February £100 DA & CW Lamb £100 D Atherton £50 J Kelsey £50 H Muise £25 N Cromblehome £25 R Heath

December £100 Haslam £50 D Smith £25 A Booth

Future PA Meetings – held at 7pm Wednesday 22nd April Tuesday 19th May Year 8 and 9 pupils with, from left to right, the authors Michael Coleman, Marie-Louise Jensen and Cliff McNish Tuesday 16th June

Ceili Night The PA will be holding a “Ceili Night” on Saturday 27th June. This is Gifted and expected to a fun night for all parents, family and friends with hot food, School Garden Club a bar and, of course, live Irish music with a ‘caller’. If you are interested Talented News in joining the fun, keep an eye out for a letter being sent home. There The school garden club is now nurturing its seedlings in the are also details of the band on www.beerforbreakfast.supanet.com greenhouse. Many boys from several year groups have been There has been much activity since the start of the school year. The getting their hands dirty for the sake of carrots, peas, tomatoes Maths department has bought some new teaching materials and the Art Newcomers are always welcome, and we are always on the lookout for and lettuce. There’s even a pumpkin competition underway for department has applied for funding for its annual ‘Artist in Residence’ new, exciting fundraising ideas. If you would like additional information, Halloween. scheme as well as for an ‘Illustration’ workshop. Geographers will no or have any good money-making ideas, please email Andrew Booth, PA doubt appreciate the addition of four geographically themed periodicals Chair [email protected] Our next move is to plant up outside after the Easter holidays. to the already extensive range in the library. Younger pupils have very We wait with anticipation for the garden to take shape over the much enjoyed being part of the ‘Wirral paperback of the year‘ process, coming weeks! If you fancy joining us, we meet every Week B extra fiction purchases being made via the gifted and talented fund. The Wednesday in Biology lab 3. Bring some seeds! library has also purchased learning resources for those studying Italian on Year 9 visit to Lady Wednesday lunch times, a popular extra-curricular activity attended by J Heymans Lever art gallery both staff and pupils. The fund is supporting the annual school drama production ‘High School On Thursday the 26th of February Mrs Jubb took 20 year 9 Musical’, paying for acting workshops and choreography. Several boys pupils from French set 3 to look at the French Impressionist who are planning a career in medicine had their ‘bio-medical’ test fees exhibition at the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight Village. The paid through the fund and the music department bought a new drum group was split into two. One half was shown around the French kit! Students of Critical Thinking were treated to a ‘Brain Kung Fu’ day, Impressionist exhibition where they saw paintings by Pisarro, provided by ‘Wise Words’. Manet, Degas, Sisley, Cézanne, Rodin, Monet, Morisot and Renoir. The other half completed activities around the rest of the Our three book clubs, The Junior poets, the Dead poets and Senior poets gallery and were shown certain paintings by Mrs Jubb. The two respectively have been meeting regularly for literary lunches. Favoured groups then swapped over. The group enjoyed the visit and were authors have included Jose Saramargo, Edgar Allen Poe and Robert a credit to the school. Westall. Able year eleven pupils recently attended master classes run by professional examiners on how to attain that elusive A * in English Whilst at the exhibition we learnt that French impressionism Language and Literature GCSE. Dr Richard Miles from Trinity College, was a 19th century art movement that gave colour and light Cambridge recently paid us a visit to talk to those boys who are planning more importance than line and represented scenes from modern to make an Oxbridge application. life. This marked a breakaway from the traditional art scene in Mrs K Campbell France that was dominated by L’Academie des Beaux Arts. The group will shortly be completing some follow up tasks including audio files which will be uploaded to the Liverpool Museum’s website. This will enable pupils to use language creatively and deepen their knowledge of French Art. Pupils Help Starving Africans Thanks to all pupils, especially those in years 7 and 8, who have By Connor Sailes and Luke Wilding-Steele donated their spare pennies (or in some cases spare pounds) to buy livestock to support poor farmers in Africa. So far we have raised enough to send two rabbits, a cockerel and a sheep via the Send a Cow gift programme. Each animal is used to breed others and the family who receives the gift has to pass on the offspring to other struggling farmers. We are currently well over half way to the £55 needed to send two goats. If you’d like to know more about this project, visit the web site at: http://www.sendacow.org.uk

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work and have an impact. With the help of Dr Bromley, Head of Year 7, Peer Support Group and the brains behind the idea of the PSG, we made fantastic progress. My Time as a PSG Rep The Peer Support Group is looking to recruit Year 11 students We also worked closely with the Head Boy to organise charity events to When I was asked to write an article about my time as a Peer Support help create new friendships within the tutor groups and at the same time who wish to join the PSG in September 09. Group representative, I really didn’t know where to start! We have have fun raising money for charity. progressed so much since September 2007 so I thought I would begin Would you be able to do the following:- with a brief introduction. The highlight of being a PSG representative was winning the “Princess • Attend lower school forms on a weekly basis during Diana Anti-Bullying Award” with the other initial four volunteers. This registration The PSG was established in September 2005 and at first, it didn’t made me feel that the PSG is worth something and it really does make a • Speak confidently to lower school students during really lift off the ground. Unfortunately, not many students were initially difference for lower school students. assemblies/registration on a number of support related issues interested. So, when our new Learning Mentor, Mrs Walker, began, we • Listen and empathise with students who may be facing decided, at first, just to concentrate on Year 7 support. Only having five I have really enjoyed working as part of the PSG. I enjoy spending time difficulties representatives made it easier to work on things and make decisions with the other students I work alongside with and the tutor groups I • Encourage and motivate students and therefore we were able to create ideas for the future which we represent. I would like to thank Mrs Walker, Dr Bromley, Miss Clements • Be able to commit to regular meetings with other PSG reps would adapt as soon as we recruited some more willing volunteers. In and Mr McKibbin for making the PSG an enjoyable experience, and also and the Learning Mentor, Mrs Walker December 2007, we recruited more representatives and expanded our 8AJM, 7BC and what was 8L for being such great tutor groups and I • Be able to bring new ideas on moving the PSG forward support service into Years 8 and Year 9, where we now have a PSG hope the rest of this year and the next are just as enjoyable. representative for each tutor group. There is nothing better than knowing that you are doing something good If you would like to join our successful PSG team please write to to help others and I think all the other PSG representatives would like to Mrs Walker, expressing your interest in joining the PSG and the When I joined the PSG, I was scared about whether or not it would reasons why you feel you would be a good PSG representative. be the right job for me. However, as time went on, I became more say a huge thank you to the tutors of their tutor groups for their support. Training will be provided. confident. It was a struggle at first - we all had so many great ideas but we had to look at them in depth and see which ones would realistically By Michael Jones Sharon Walker, Learning Mentor

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award UK Young

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is a National Achievement Award for young people. With the Scientists & current Bronze and Silver participants busy preparing for their expeditions, the time has come to recruit current year 9’s into the D of E programme at Bronze level! Engineers Fair

Between the 4 – 6th March, we travelled to London to So, why should you take part in D of E? A D of E programme is a real adventure from beginning to end! It doesn’t matter who you are or represent the school and North West at the UK Young where you’re from. You just need to be aged between 14 and 24 and realise there’s more to life Scientist & Engineers Fair with our CREST project ‘Sound than sitting on a sofa watching life pass you by. You achieve an Award by completing a personal Evidence Falls on Deaf Ears’. programme of activities in four sections. You’ll find yourself helping people or the community, getting fitter, developing skills and going on an expedition (camping with friends – no parents Having travelled to London, we stayed at a hotel near allowed!). Euston. We travelled daily to the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre, in the shadow of Big Ben and But here’s the best bit - you get to choose what you do! Your programme can be full of activities Westminster Abbey. On the first two days, we presented and projects that get you buzzing. It’s all about personal achievement, and along the way you’ll our project to the judges and there were a wide range pick up experiences, friends and talents that will stay with you for the rest of your life. of activities and shows on. Kate Humble and Ben Fogle presented the event’s award ceremony and, although we So, look out for a special Year 9 assembly on D of E and remember to get your reply slips in did not win, we had a great time and were in the top 2% ASAP if you want to become involved! For more information, see the notice boards on the in the UK. Physics stairwell, visit www.dofe.org or see Miss Clements or Mrs Bradford for more details. We would encourage all students in school, who have a B. Clements, D of E Coordinator chance to partake in the CREST scheme, to try their best to get to this final. We would like to thank Maestro Services Ltd for their help in administering the awards. When Languages meet Mathematics Phil Mellor 10AB Sagar Jadeja 10SF Quentin Bourez was a visiting teacher who left his school in France to work at Wirral Grammar School for four weeks in the first half of this term. These are his Seb Masento 10SF observations of how teaching a subject (in this case Mathematics) through a language can bring benefits to both subjects....

In French secondary schools, it is more and more possible to learn non linguistic subjects such as history, mathematics or sport in foreign languages: Spanish, German, and of course, English. In order to offer a high quality of teaching in these ‘European sections’ classes, training programmes have been set up in particular between England and France.

As part of one such programme, I had the pleasure of being part of the Wirral Grammar community for four weeks. This experience has shown me that international exchanges and fieldwork are essential for teaching in a foreign language. They aid with linguistic accuracy, authenticity and add a cultural dimension to your teaching and I have been greatly inspired by all I have observed and experienced in your outstanding school.

The maths department have been fantastic, always available to share, discuss and explain the way we both work. I never thought they would be so trusting to let me teach so many classes at different levels.

The interest you have for a foreign language reaches another level when you use it as a basic linguistic tool to study a subject like maths. Miss Faulkner gave me the great opportunity to demonstrate this with four year 7 classes. With the help of the context, the pupils were able to learn new mathematical notions and reinforce their knowledge, but this time, in French !

I think it is a brilliant idea to develop that kind of practice. It only can lead to an improvement in pupils’ skills in both subjects (foreign language and studied subject). Phil, Sagar and Seb clearly enjoying Quentin Bourez themselves at the UKYSEF. www.wirralgrammarboys.com www.wirralgrammarboys.com WIRRAL GRAMMAR SCHOOL M a r c h 2 0 0 9 A Foundation Business & Enterprise School for Boys

2nd XV rugby report Wirral Club update Year 7 Rugby Yet another set of fixtures finishes as we complete a season of successes Wirral Cricket Club has begun its winter nets programme for all its Having had a testing first half of the season, the year 7 A and B for the Second XV. Following the previous report, we have had a further sections. The Under 9s and Under 11s practise at Wirral Grammar teams faced a difficult first fixture back after the Christmas break. five games with only one defeat. That leaves us with a record of eleven school for Girls on a Thursday night, whilst the Under 13s and This came in the form of Lancaster Grammar School away. An wins from fourteen games. I am sure that we would have improved that Under 15s practise at this school’s Sports Hall on a Friday nights excellent performance from Wirral A saw them victorious, winning record if we had not been defeated by the weather on several occasions. from 6-8.30pm. The outdoor nets for the Junior teams begin on 14-12 in a close game. Unfortunately, Wirral B lost 27- 7 to a Friday April 24th from 6pm. The Club’s three senior teams will strong Lancaster B side. The latest adventures of the team have seen wins at home against be starting their outdoor nets on a Tuesday and Thursday in mid Manchester Grammar, who left scoring no points with both Reeve boys April. Further and up to date details about these nets and about In a second half to the season that saw the cancellation and on the score sheet for Wirral. At this point, confidence was high and we the club in general, can be found on its website at www.wirral. disruption of matches against Bradford and Birkenhead, Wirral travelled to Lancaster Grammar hoping to beat this ‘bogey’ team at last. play-cricket .com or from me at the school. A enjoyed another impressive victory over Cowley, running out Preparations prior to the game were somewhat hampered as the referee 24- 19 winners. Alongside the victories there were unfortunately Wirral RFC continue to provide rugby for all ages and abilities deemed Routly’s pink (yes, it does say pink) boots too flash and came also two losses which came against Adams Grammar School and at their Clatterbridge home. Teams from Under 7s upwards are up with some rule about illegal studs. “Studs is studs” quoted Routly St Anselms School. as we desperately tried to remove the offending articles with spanners, catered for, and the club runs 4 senior teams with many past pliers and teeth. “Not in rugby they’re not” said the rest of the team and present boys taking part. The club runs four senior teams The Squad has made very obvious improvements in terms of their as Tom wondered why these sharp devices were banned in the fifteen and currently the first team are near the top of their league. The skill level and awareness of the game throughout the season and man game. ‘You can take the boy out of football...... ’ This put rather Junior teams continue to impress at all levels, and are in the with the 15 a- side season drawing to a close, the squad look remaining stages of the various cup competitions. For further a dampener on the start and the Wirral side never really got going. We forward to a challenging 7 a- side programme with tournaments information, please go to the website at www.wirralrugbyclub. left, well and truly beaten, suffering a 48-7 loss. at London Oratory School, Bradford Grammar School and our com own tournament at Wirral Grammar School for Boys. Come back wins against Adams Grammar and Shrewsbury helped us Report by Mr McKibbin, Secretary, Wirral Club Mr Atkinson regain confidence and this left us one remaining game against local rivals St Anselms. This is a team that had beaten us last year and we wanted to finish on a high. Mr White was away watching England vs Italy at Twickenham, picking up coaching and tactical tips. He should have stayed at home to watch the Wirral team demolish Anselms 64-7. In all Hockey Report the ecstasy following the game, the players even forgot who scored the tries. I would like to thank Brendan Bailey, who looked after the team The spring term has seen lots of Hockey played and plenty of success. Beginning with the 1st team we have seen the sixth form side make during the day. He said the students were “a great bunch of lads, who a lot of progress and develop in maturity this year. With this squad being a young side there is a lot of optimism for next season. After an worked really hard for each other and listened well”. I couldn’t think of excellent first term we found fixtures over the Christmas period called off due to the weather. When we came back an inexperienced side went a better way of summarising the squad and their attitude throughout this to Kings Macclesfield and lost, but fought back strongly with a win against Reaseheath College and then two excellent results against Kings season. Well done, boys! Chester 2-1 and Merchant Taylors 6-0. The side has been captained well by Sam Harvey but supported well by Phil Taylor, Michael Frank and Paul Gawith. I have enjoyed working and developing this year’s side and will be looking forward to bringing on the lower sixth team next season. I would like to thank all the boys who played their part in an enjoyable season and particularly Tom Williams, who showed himself to be a The junior sides have developed very well this season, showing confidence, enjoyment and improving their skills. This has seen them score worthwhile captain of this victorious squad. more goals and get some excellent results. The Year 9 team has led the way with their team success. This season has seen 35 players represent the school year 9 team and even though they had a rude awakening with their first game a 4-0 defeat at Calday, this was going to Final statistics: be the start of something special. Under the captaincy of George Wilkinson the boys have developed into a confident, hard working and skilful Played: 14 Won: 11 Lost: 3 side who had a good win against St Anselms 1-0 and then beat Neston HS 2-0 to make it through to the Wirral Cup Final. The excellent 3-0 Points for: 362 Points against: 167 Top points scorer: Tom Routly victory saw us win our first U14 final in the history of the competition. This took the team to the North West semi final up in Cumbria against Tries scored: 47 Top try scorer: Dave ‘the Dash’ Tarr (9) the Lakes School. They were a very good side and we struggled, losing 5-0. Nevertheless the boys have made excellent progress and further Number of players used: 37 wins against Denstone College 3-1, Neston 1-0 and St Anselms 2-1 show that this side have had a superb season. It is important that these boys join a hockey club to further their development as a squad.

The U15 side has worked very hard in training on a Monday and I feel that this side has huge potential if they continue to have the same approach and attitude. Many of the boys have represented the U16 squad in Cup and League matches. The side played games against St Royal Chester Rowing Anselms, with a score of 1-1 & 4-3 defeat and also a great win against Denstone College 3-2. They also have had two 1-1 draws against the U14 team and a 2-1 defeat against the U16’s. The progress of this squad is good to see. Work on their fitness and the development of their Club – Event skills will, I hope, see them do very well next season. Well done to Usman Hayat and Max Dutton, who have played for the 1st team this season and in both cases were the star players on the respective days that they played! This March I was chosen to compete in the National Junior Sculling Head for Royal Chester Rowing Club. The event was The U16 side are a squad of players that I feel have made the most progress over the last two seasons. They have struggled to score goals and held at Eton College’s rowing facility in Windsor which will be when playing other schools have found it difficult often due to the fact that their age group have some very good teams. That being said many of used for the 2012 Olympics. the boys have improved a lot and are playing club hockey and also representing the school 1st and 2nd teams. In the U16 Cup games the boys’ effort and work ethic has been outstanding and close games in which we lost against Calday 2-0, Neston 2-1, St Anselms 3-2 and even a 6-1 defeat could have gone the other way if we had taken our chances. The improvements made by Dennis, Farrington, Eastwood, Ollerhead, Oldham The race took place on Monday 10th February which meant that and the likes of Edge and Clegg have made them accomplished players who have all played their part in 1st and 2nd team hockey this season. in order to arrive with enough time to prepare and fix the boats we had to travel on the Sunday and spend the night in Windsor. The school house matches have seen Hodgson win the competition in Year 9, Dodds in Year 10 and Lever in Year 11. The standard of Hockey has been very good. Seeing 45 boys playing in each house competition is brilliant and the competitive nature of the games is great. I have Over 300 crews in total turned up which were all categorised into been very pleased with the progress of the Hockey across every school team and the attitude of the players. three different divisions and which raced at different times during the day. As I was competing in a J14 (Year 9) boys quad (boat I would like to thank the help and time given by Mr Cooper and Mr Thomason, whose efforts are much appreciated by myself and the boys of four), I was part of the third division meaning I was among to ensure that their Hockey can develop and improve together. Well done guys, keep your eyes on the blog for all of the match reports and the last to race. Each crew was to race to runs of 1088m of the Hockey news. http://wgshockey.blogspot.com. 2500m strip but unfortunately due to poor weather conditions Mr A Metcalf the third division was only able to complete 1 run.

My crew finished 13th out of 37 with a time of 7.24 and was met by four time Olympic Gold Medal winner, Sir Matthew Pincent who was there throughout the day helping crews in and out of the water.

Liam Hunt – 9SMC

www.wirralgrammarboys.com www.wirralgrammarboys.com N u n t i u s

North West Semi Year 8 Rugby Final v Lakes School

report The game at Lakes School was a two hour journey, a great experience for the lads, but as the game started it was clear that the Lakes School had Up to the time of writing of 9th March, the Junior some strong, quick players who had played plenty of hockey. They took an Bantams have enjoyed a successful season. The early lead and in the first 15 minutes dominated the play as we struggled A team continued its run up to Christmas with to make simple passes. We were 3-0 down as half time came around and an impressive win at Manchester GS. A tough with only one chance for Roberts to score from. A real eye opener!! home win against Lymm was achieved after some impressive forward power. In the new year, But determination was the key and the work ethic that has got us so far Lancaster were first up and the Wirral lads once appeared in the second half and with that plenty of chances. What if’s as again fronted up against bigger and stronger Sutton, Gouldson, Wilkinson, Lewin and Robert’s all had great chances to get us back in the game. With us on the offensive it left this strong Lakes opponents; but did they step back? No! They lost School side with opportunities at the other end and they took two further to a late try in three and although defeated, the performance was splendid. Another defeat followed at Adams GS which was undeserved but chances in the second half to take the score to 5-0. no more to say about that! The regular season ended with thumping wins at Stockport, Cowley and local rivals St Anselms, whom they had lost to last year. At the time of this report, there were some games to play, and they will be included in the summer edition, including a tour to A real shame overall, but a great experience and achievement from the South Wales. The B team found Lancaster too hard to beat, but they ended their season with a comfortable win at St Anselms, with Nathan lads!! Thompson scoring four tries! Mr Metcalf

The 7s season…saw the Wirral lads enter three tournaments. First at Lytham, the boys played well from Game one. They came up against hosts Lytham and won by over 30 points…it was nice to see Mr Clarke again (his refereeing hasn’t improved though!!) Birkenhead were swept aside by over 30 and Stonyhurst were easily overcome in the final pool game. A Quarter final against Cheadle was not going to be easy, but with the last play in hand, Wirral were 14-12 up. Unfortunately, the quick winger on their side slid over in the corner to seal a win for the opposition. Wirral really played some good stuff in this tournament, and can hold their heads up high.

The squad was: Tom Parry, Josh Edgar, Oliver Wedgwood, Matthew Stewart, Ben Brooks, Andrew Woodworth, Ross Handforth, Jack Dixon, John Downes, Kieran Sweeney, Sam Wicks and Joe Morris.

The Rydal 7s saw more impressive performances from the Wirral boys. The squad this time was Tom Parry, Ollie Wedgwood, Alfie Bolderson, Sam Wicks, Kieran Ivers, Jack Newton, Matthew Carroll, Ben Brooks, Kieran Sweeney, Jack Dixon and Joe Morris. The pool games saw solid wins against Birkenhead, St Ambrose and Rydal. Wirral then played Merchant Taylors in the semi final, and won a tough encounter 12-0. The final against Lymm was close, but Wirral lost due a bit to fatigue and injuries, though Lymm had some powerful runners. This was a really good standard of 7s, and I am sure Wirral are going to be a very good 7s team in the coming years. Wirral U14 Cup Winners!!

Finally, Wirral entered the prestigious Birkenhead 7s with many of the top schools in the north west present. The Wirral squad was Parry, Well done and congratulations to the Wirral Year 9 team in their Wedgwood, Woodworth, Brooks, Ivers, Sweeeney, Morris, Dixon, Ben Thompson, Downes and Carroll. Wirral won all their pool games, though final played at Calday Grange. On a windy cold morning at Calday, tough opposition came from Wilmslow, St Amborse and Arnold school. The quarter final saw Wirral up against a good, and big, Merchants side. the Wirral boys turned up in changing room 4 in anticipation of This was tough! Wirral did not have a lot of possession but thwarted and defended stoutly against a determined opposition. I don’t think I’ve the game ahead, except Parso. But the vice captain arrived well seen a better 7s display from an individual team in any competition in my time at the school. It was magnificent! Oliver Wedgwood scored in time for the warm up! We had a good warm up with everyone the only try and he and the others tackled heroically, with Tom Parry’s try saving tackle another ‘hey’ moment! The semis were a doddle prepared for the big occasion. A good crowd had come to support by comparison and St Anselms were well beaten. Then Calday came on! This was always going to be tough, and the old enemy went into a the boys and were vocal from the side hoping we could do this business. 7-0 lead. But then Wirral refused to give in and tackled like no tomorrow! Kieran Ivers scored a try and Wirral were back in it. However, they couldn’t score, and Wirral lost 5-7. I was proud of the way our boys played in all three tournaments, and the tackling was especially bone We started superbly and within the first two minutes we were crunching at times! The quality of the 7s on show was also something to witness. passing the ball to each other and attacking the Calday Dee. As we progressed down the right with Crane and Lamen the ball was In case I forget next term, may I thank all the parents who have supported the teams this season. Their support has been a big help. Also may I played across the dee for Roberts to finish smartly from about thank all the teachers and referees who have helped with this squad; their help has been much appreciated. Finally, a big thanks to the squad 6 yards out. The perfect start!! We continued to press and we as a whole who have trained with enthusiasm and also some fun. Tom Parry has led by example throughout. There are many good players in were beginning to dominate the first half. Some solid work from this unit, and there is strength in depth. Rugby is about enjoyment and taking part and building relationships. I hope this is not broken. I wish McGilloway saw us continue to attack the circle. We won a couple them every success as a unit in the coming years. This is a very talented squad, and I hope they can keep their focus and improve their skills in of corners that really just needed touches from close range. But the years ahead. They have been a pleasure to have worked with, and I hope I have done my bit to encourage them and to make them better another short corner came about and Wilkinson shot on his reverse players. stick and the ball made its way into the far corner, amazingly 2-0. This was definitely going to be our day as Calday had a breakaway Those who have played in the 15 a side variety are: Tom Parry (Captain), Josh Edgar (Vice Captain), Sam Wicks (B team Captain), Jack chance which saw them have a reverse stick shot that came off the Dixon, Casey Sawley ,Mat Carroll, Andy Woodworth, Oliver Wedgwood, Kieran Ivers, Jake Phillips, Josh Poole, Adi Laufer, Alex Woods, Kieran underside of the bar, with Parsons clearing with Dobson to the side Sweeney, Coby Kendrick-Hall, Joe Morris, Rahul Avula, Mark Fennah, Kieran McGinley, Michael Thompson, Ben Thompson, Josh Parkinson, Alfie of the pitch. The next attack saw the ball played from Wilkinson Bolderson, Sam Walters, Lewis Draper, Jake Jennings, Mike Lloyd, Josh Helsby, Jack Newton, Jack Cooke, Ted Hall, Jack Hughes, Will Kelly, up to a battling Gouldson who turned and fed Roberts, who then Liam Grace, Lewis Casella, Oliver Murphy, Michael Stewart, Nathan Thompson, Ben Brooks, John Downes, and Ross Handforth. had a Thierry Henry like chance and finished the one on one with the goalkeeper with aplomb! We were in dream land but as the half progressed we just kept going at the Calday team with further Report by Mr McKibbin chances, especially for Lewin and opportunities from corners for Wilkinson and Crane. It was quite possibly the best half of hockey I have ever seen at Wirral Grammar School.

Maths Challenge - Answers What to say at half time was the question, but more of the same was in order. Cartwright made way for Graham after not having Easy Challenge Answer much to do, but Graham didn’t touch the ball in the second half D – Let the number be X. Then x2, that is x2 (1 – 2x) = 0. So x = 0 or x = ½ . However, x is positive, as we worked hard in defence. There were other opportunities so the only solution is x = ½ . for Gouldson as we maintained our dominance of the game. The effort levels were fantastic and with every player playing their part More Difficult Answer it showed what hard work over the last four weeks can do! We E - If n is a positive integer then the units digit of 66n is 6. So when a poser of 66 is divided by 2, the deserved our 3-0 win and we went on to play the Lakes School units digit of the quotient is either 3 or 8. Now 6666 is clearly a multiple of 4, so ½ (6666) is even and from Cumbria. therefore has units digit 8 rather than 3. Mr Metcalf www.wirralgrammarboys.com www.wirralgrammarboys.com WIRRAL GRAMMAR SCHOOL M a r c h 2 0 0 9 A Foundation Business & Enterprise School for Boys

Friday 30/01/09 – Michael Cearns himself was taken by agents Reeve, Surely the best-known symbol of Parisian culture Forshaw and Reeve (there are two Reeves by Sixth Form is ‘la Tour Eiffel’ and it was this that was in store the way, twin brothers.) There was also an for us on Friday morning. This enthusiasm was offer of a cultural tour of the Louvre by Monsieur duly shattered upon the realisation that we had Denby. However, agents were warned that never been quite so cold but the views over there would be no guarantee of being with Visit to Paris France’s capital were the cause of great marvel. the senior agent as he might have a mission of much higher importance. Thursday 29/01/09 - Thomas Keningley No time for dawdling however, as we indulged The day began meeting at Lime Street Station in a cheeky visit of the Arc de Triomphe, As aspiring French agents we felt the need to and being wowed by the size of the girls’ Napoleon Bonaparte’s nod to French victories experience the Louvre’s paintings and walk the suitcases. We caught a train from Crewe to in battle, before scouting the Champs Elysées in corridors of one of the largest museums in the London Euston and proceeded to cross London small groups for a typically French meal. world. Any spy’s dream. to St Pancras Station. We managed to all roll our suitcases across London unscathed and In the afternoon, we attended the first part of As expected Monsieur Denby got a call from caught our Eurostar train to Paris Gare du Nord. the, ‘Your future in Europe’ conference entirely headquarters and we had to battle out the conducted in French. Mona Lisa on our own. We were led by tourists Because we arrived during a favourite French to our destination in the heart of the Louvre, national activity, i.e. a strike, we had had to hire The day ended with a serene outing on the setting the benchmark for further spy missions. a coach to get us to the hotel, where we were Seine; a chance to relax, to see some of the Unfortunately the size of Da Vinci’s masterpiece given our rooms keys and proceeded to go and sights along the river and to reflect upon a was a lot smaller than anticipated. However settle in. glorious day in Paris. we were not disheartened and decided to grab a quick on the go lunch on the way to the heart Later on we Saturday 31/01/09– James Forshaw of spyland where many stories and secrets were were walked to After an eventful Friday evening the party told by our guide. This 80,000 capacity spy the Sacrécœur headed off to part 2 of the conference- this base is known by many as the Stade de France. Basilica, where time in a language we could fully understand. we were About 2,000 students from all over the UK Once the 20 agents had finished getting amazed by the attended and the Wirral contingent arrived last hooked up to their spy surveillance equipment views across at 9:15am to a full auditorium just in time to we hit the Parisian town ready for a night of all of Paris, catch the standing ovation afforded to our host fun and games on the metro. According to particularly of John Sergeant. The rest of the conference was the senior agents the area of the Georges the light from extremely interesting. Pompidou was full of good restaurants. Their the Eiffel tower instructions were taken and finally a mutually turning across We followed the conference with a walk around inviting restaurant was found. the city. the Parisian cemetery looking at the graves of Edith Piaf and Oscar Wilde to name but two. It then occurred to us that the day was Sunday We descended and all the activities that the French spies could into Montmartre At 8pm we all headed off for a meal by the do were closed. With seconds to go until the to eat and then, Sacrécœur led by our tour guide, Harry Bush. agents reached the crunch time we were called having some We stumbled across a pizzeria that served in and with style our mission was completed! time before snails as well as pizza. Stoffer Bruun tried them, meeting up, we but dropped more over his trousers than he Monday 02/02/09- Gareth Hughes found various ate. We then arrived at the Bar L’helise where After a late night nobody wanted to get out of bars and cafés we listened to French music and experienced bed but we needed to pack and snowy Paris is to haunt, before true Parisian culture. The evening ended with a just about enough incentive to get up. Twenty all returning serenade from Jean Saez. minutes later everyone was standing outside to the hotel, the hotel in the freezing, slush filled streets of seeing various Sunday 01/02/09 – Harry Bush Paris. The journey to the Gard du Nord was interesting sites The fourth day began with an early awakening treacherous, with angry Parisians being crushed and shops on due to an incorrectly timed alarm which by 23 students and teachers and just as many the way, not Cummings failed to hear. I found myself suitcases being packed onto the tiny metro and to mention surprisingly wide awake and ready for another several people being trapped by the doors but the infamous day of non-stop Parisian culture. we finally made it to the Eurostar at 11:30am. Moulin Rouge. We were greeted by a 1½ hour wait and, As we approached the ‘Managerial Espionage more excitingly, the prospect of another night in Team’ of Hughes, Denby and Burns, there was Paris. However the train left with us on it and the a choice of missions awaiting the 23 French journey home began. agents if they chose to accept them. An offer of a Stade de France tour with Monsieur Hughes

Admissions for 2010 $
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