Welcome to 2017!
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TERM 3 February 2017—Issue No 3 WELCOME TO 2017! Welcome back to 2017 at Gravesend ly not be asking parents for contribu- soon. The Headteacher, former GGS Grammar School! The academic year tions towards educational necessi- Associate Head Malcolm Moaby, re- seems to fly by all too quickly, espe- ties. ceived specific mention for his work cially for those sitting public exams in Gravesend Grammar School has been “…You have successfully led the Summer. Students in Year 11 and proud for over 120 years, to serve school through a period of consider- 13 will be sitting trial exams during the needs of the local community. able change. Standards had declined this term and those in Year 8 and 11 We firmly believe that bright young- since previous inspection and making choices, or beginning to think sters in this area should have the op- you lost no time in raising the ex- about those choices, this term. portunity for the sort of education pectations of staff Just before Christmas the govern- offered by this school, regardless of ment outlined their latest plans for a income, religion, social status, or an- National Funding Formula. The in- ything else. We have no intention of tention was to equalise funding for changing this stance. individual students across the coun- try and remove some of the historical unfairness inherent in the system. Obviously there will be winners and losers as a result of these proposed changes. This school would actually be a net gainer to the tune of ap- proximately 1.6% of our income. This, at least, will help mitigate very slightly the on-going budget reduc- tions that all schools, especially with sixth forms, have suffered over the last three years. There has been some national press speculation that At the end of January we received some schools will be seeking some very good news regarding the “voluntary” contributions from par- other school in the Gravesend Gram- ents to help make up shortfalls. Over mar School Academies Trust, recent years we have managed our Whitehill Primary School. Ofsted finances very carefully and, whilst paid a visit to the school deciding there has been some small reduction that it was still a “Good” school that in curriculum choice, we will definite- has made substantial recent progress and is well set to make further steps Page 2 STAFF NEWS DROPPING OFF STUDENTS CONGRATULATIONS to Ms Maxwell on To ensure the safety of our students and staff, please only use the Turning Circle to the birth of her son on 30th January. drop off/collect students. Please do not drop off outside the Main Building or in WELCOME to Mrs Bouhamdi (History), the Top Car Park. Parents should not come on to the school site via the Pine Ave- and Ms Jarvis (Catering). nue entrance. HEAD STUDENT REPORT 2017 has already proven to be a rather credit to our school, with performers visited to look around the school and successful year for us at Gravesend such as Matt McDermott and Robbie attend subject talks, and we received Grammar School and it is very pleasing Smithers-Halberg arousing a huge de- very positive feedback about all the 6th to see the students return from the gree of applause and appreciation for formers who were on hand to help. Once Christmas break as motivated as ever! their music. Furthermore, the musical again, our students helped display our atmosphere in the school was extended school as an extremely credible, friendly For many of the Year 13’s, the prospects when Faber Whitehouse, a Year 12 stu- and positive place. And it very much is of leaving school and going to university dent, held his own concert at the school so! seem to be right around the corner, in which he performed songs of his own whilst many of the Year 7’s have com- creation. This just goes to show the im- This is the penultimate Head Student pletely settled in and seem to have made aginative and artistic flourish that is on Report for this current serving team. As a the school feel like part of their home. offer at the school. Deputy Head Boy, group, we feel like we’ve each made five It’s brilliant to see how, despite the con- Finn Robinson-Jones, didn’t have time to brilliant friends (Mr Dunne’s kindness trast in age, both groups continue to write this report, as he has been working and support does not go amiss!) and we approach their learning with a degree of tirelessly to extend the musical availabil- have all thoroughly enjoyed and appreci- focus, concentration and enthusiasm in ity within the school, by launching a se- ated our roles and responsibilities. We order to achieve the best. ries of mini gigs during school time to would like to thank everybody for their keep the students engaged and provide help, but particularly acknowledge the Several successful events have occurred a regular opportunity to explore their help and sheer generosity that Mr in recent weeks, promulgating the quali- artistic capacity. Well done to both Faber Dunne, Mrs Carmody and Mrs Haggar ty of music that the school has to offer. and Finn! have shown to us! We wish the new As usual, ‘The Big Gig’ held at the school team the best of luck. Who knows, they proved to be a great success, with stu- This term has also held the 6th Form might even be as good as us! dents throughout all years displaying Open Evening, one of the most im- their musical talent to a large audience. portant events of the year. It was a big Bobby Suman The confidence, capability and flair that success for all involved: a huge number Deputy Head Boy the musicians expressed were a true of students, both current and external, US AMBASSADOR VISITS GRAVESEND On 10th January a group of students from turned up some unusual results as Gravesham’s youth had Gravesend Grammar School, St John’s and almost opposite views to the rest of the country on the whole. Gravesham Youth Council met the out- The second section was more open ended, we were all pre- going United States ambassador to the sented with a card at the beginning on which we were asked UK, Matthew Barzun (pictured left). to write something we disliked about the US and something The session was interactive and split into that inspired us. We then discussed the most common an- two parts; the first was a series of ques- swers. tions about important political issues on both sides of the Atlantic, which actually Patrick Dixon 10D FRIENDS AND FAMILY WANTED! Every year the School runs a two day "Challenge of Management" activity for our Year 12 students during Curriculum Develop- ment Week in July. The event is part of a week designed to help our students develop skills that will allow them to excel once they have finished school lives. One of the successes of the event is the opportunity for students to be around people who can lend their experience and work with them as mentors during the two days. We're looking for people with experience in managing and developing teams or mentoring to help our Year 12 students devel- op their ability to work as teams and individuals in unfamiliar situations. The event this year will be on Wednesday 5th and Thursday 6th July from 8am - 4pm both days. If you are interested in getting involved please send an email to Ms Haggar ([email protected]) with your name and email address and we'll get in touch with more details. GGS Newsletter Opportunity and Challenge in a Caring Environment February 2017 Page 3 Careers News application workshop and a visit to a sity (CCCU) for a Careers focus day. The Careers Fair where many apprenticeship event was run in collaboration with employers will be represented. CCCU MA students studying Career man- agement and each of our year 12’s had the opportunity of an individual careers interview and took part in career infor- mation sessions. The topics covered in- cluded Personals statements, CV writing The UCAS deadline on 15th January her- and the impact of Social Media profiles Year 11 are currently in the midst of alded the end of this year’s application on career prospects. This last topic is making their choices for 6th form and to cycle. Offers have been rolling in and help with this process over 40 chose to many applicants have been successful. take the Morrisby Profile. This is a psy- There are still a number of applicants chometric careers assessment tool which waiting to hear and some attending in- gives an objective report of the student’s terviews so we wish them every success. measured potential across a wide range For the Year 13 students who have not of ability areas and combines the results applied to university, progress is well relevant to everyone as many employers with an interest questionnaire to suggest underway to identify and apply for ap- will “Google” prospective applicants to career areas and A level courses that prenticeships. The majority of these will see if there are any positive or negative may be suitable. The profiling takes place be at Level 4 or above and as the appren- posts to be found. In extreme cases ap- in School run by Mrs MacMahon and I ticeship offer expands every year, more plicants will be rejected if their online who are trained Morrisby Practitioners. diverse occupational areas are being profile is deemed inappropriate for a The reports are processed by the Morris- accessed.