Issue 1 2018

RGS Newsletter Terms 1 & 2 2018

Autumn Edition INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Message from the Head of School 1 RGS Robotics Club Duke of Edinburgh Award 2 Senior Prize giving 2018 National Youth Orchestra 3 Art Visit to the Imperial War Museum Nchant - Marking the 100th Anniversary of the Women's movement 4 Year 12&13 Visit to Tate Modern and The BP Awards Art Visit to the National Portrait Gallery 5 Autumn Concert Harvest Festival 6 RGS Carol Service Senior Citizens' Christmas Party 7 Geography Coursework Week Spendid Productions Workshop 8 Black History Month Japan 9 Sports News RGS Charity Fundraising 10 Bar Mock Trial Competition 11 Flair goes to the Flicks! 12 Looking Ahead - Important Dates for Terms 3&4 2019 13 December 2018 Issue 1 2018 Term 1&2 RGS Newsletter

C HRISTMAS MESSAGE FROM RGS

Dear Parents/Carers

I am writing this message on the last day of term, at the end of a week which has seen the first RGS whole school ‘Just Dance’ fundraiser. Yesterday saw the best of RGS students as they danced in their Houses, got into the Christmas spirit and had fun watching the staff trying to join in. This whole event was planned by the students who wanted to raise money to provide more outdoor, shared seating space for students to use. Thank you to everyone who has already donated, the GoFundMe link will stay on our website and I look forward to the next Student Council meeting in January where they can assess their progress towards their target.

You only have to browse this edition of the newsletter to get a flavour of the many varied trips, events and opportunities which our students have been able to participate in over the course of the last two terms. Can I take this opportunity to thank all the staff who regularly give up their own time to make these possible and to all the students who represent the school in such a positive and inspirational light.

I have recently hosted another ‘Afternoon Tea with the Head’ for students who have made a significant contribution by volunteering outside of school or supporting others in school and all of those invited shared a positive attitude to helping others and being their best. It makes me very proud to spend this time with students and hear about their wonderful achievements.

I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. I hope you all have a relaxing and enjoyable break and I look forward to seeing you in the New Year.

Mrs Brinklow Head of School Page 2 RGS Newsletter

RGS R OBOTICS CLUB

The RGS Robotics Club recently competed in the First Lego League tournament held at Kent University, at Canterbury. They went up against a dozen other local schools in a series of challenges.

The Robotics Club has been working to prepare for this event for many months by meeting together during lunchtimes and after school. They were led by Mr Jackson and Sixth Form student David Fadare who served as the coach for the team.

The theme for this year was “Into Orbit”. The team researched the challenges of space flight and focused their efforts on how a base could be built on Mars. They further explained the steps that would be necessary to terraform the planet to support human life. Although they were under intense pressure in front of the judging panel the students were impressively calm and confidently presented their ideas and research.

They then competed in the robotics portion of the tournament by designing, building, and programming a robot made from Lego Technic pieces. The robot had to complete a series of tasks within a certain time frame. The students then explained the design of their robot to a panel of judges. In true RGS style they incorporated a number of Thinking Maps into their presentation to show the steps taken in the design process.

The team excelled on the teamwork portion of the event. Half the team was a shown a complex structure made of many different Lego bricks of various sizes and colours. They then had to instruct the other half of the team, who hadn’t seen the structure, how to assemble it from the many disassembled parts. Our students quickly devised a strategy to divide the task into small portions for which each member was responsible. They perfectly completed the task in an astonishingly short period of time. The judges were very impressed how they made this task seem effortless and awarded them the first place trophy for demonstrating the Core Values of Teamwork.

Many of the students for this event have been members of the Robotics Club since its start three years ago. The Year 7 students in the Robotics Club are currently learning the basics of the programming software, so they can participate in the upcoming Tomorrow’s Engineers Lego Robotics competition that will be held in February.

Mr Jackson Curriculum Leader of Science

D UKE OF E DINBURGH

BRONZE AWARD: 14th – 16th September & 5th-7th October 2018, Year 10 students completed their Bronze Assessed Expedition, in the beautiful Kent countryside.

Students had to work as a team to navigate a planned route of approximately 27km, carrying all their equipment for the weekend. They had to work as a team, to plan and cook meals for the whole weekend, and show camp craft skills with putting up their tents.

Students are now working towards completing all the sections of their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award, in order to complete it by the Christmas deadline.

SILVER/GOLD AWARD: This year has without doubt been the most successful year the school has ever had for students participating in the Duke of Edinburgh award. A total of 183 students from Years 9 to 12 successfully completed Bronze, Silver and Gold expeditions this year. Since the last report I wrote in the summer, students have taken part in 5 expeditions in Sittingbourne, Dover, the Ashdown Forest, the Peak District and Dart- moor. Our 2 Gold groups walked about 80 km over the 4 days of their expeditions and had life changing experiences along the way. I am very excited about the prospect of join- ing 4 new Gold groups next summer when they complete their expeditions. We are cur- rently encouraging the students to upload their evidence so that they can finish the awards and receive their certificates at the presentation evening in March. I would not be able to do this without the support of our activity provider the Medway Open Award Centre and the many staff who freely give their time to help and assess groups and I thank them for their efforts.

Dr Vickery TSAT DofE Manager Issue 1 2018 Page 3

S ENIOR PRIZE GIVING 2018

On the evening of Thursday 1st November students from Years 11, 12 and 13 gathered in the hall, accompanied by their proud families, so that they could be presented with a range of certificates and awards based on their achievements in the summer. Year 11 and Year 12 were being recognised for their outstanding achievements in external examinations, which are always a daunting prospect. Our students showed real resilience to not only meet this challenge but, in many cases, surpass it.

Academic success was not the only achievement to be acknowledged. Awards were also presented to students for their sporting prowess, as well as special awards for students who have impacted upon school, the community or wider society in a positive and inspiring way. The talent of the students was exemplified by the impressive musical interludes throughout the evening.

The guest speaker was Fiona Carragher, Deputy Chief Scientific Officer for England and, very importantly, Head Girl for RGS in 1988, the year of the school’s centenary celebrations. Fiona spoke about what she believes to be the gift and privilege of service and inspired the room with her personal experience of the fundamental role that scientists play in the medical treatment of individuals and science’s contribution to the NHS. It was humbling to hear about her direct involvement in furthering medical science and the lives that have been saved as a result. The warmth with which she spoke about her time at RGS and the honour she felt being Head Girl during the centenary was amusing and stirring in equal measure. She was an inspirational speaker to a hall full of talented, aspirational students.

Mr Dowling

N ATIONAL YOUTH ORCHESTRA

Annabel Beniston - Recently Annabel has been a leading soloist in RGS concerts including performing on the double bass at Founders Day and Open Day. She is a member of NChant, RGS Symphony Orchestra, RGS Chamber Orchestra, Dynamic Voices, RGS Wind Band and the Sorelle String Ensemble (and that’s only in school). Annabel has also been busy this term auditioning for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, widely regarded as one of the finest youth ensembles in the world. We are delighted to say her hard work and dedication has paid off as she has been selected to join them at their first course at the end of December. The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain selects only the best instrumentalists from across the UK and works with them over a week long residential course performing some of the most challenging music. Annabel’s first performance nearby will be on the 5th January at the Barbican, London. Page 4 RGS Newsletter

A RT V ISIT TO THE IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM

GCSE Fine Art students are currently working on a unit of work based on the theme ‘War and Conflict’. The visit to the Imperial War Museum provided the students with an opportunity to draw artefacts from direct observation, to acquire information and document their thoughts and feelings to generate ideas for their own work.

The Imperial War Museum has been renovated over the last few years and contains a wide range of artefacts linked to all wars. As well as drawing, students also analysed Art work produced by a variety of leading war artists. For example, ‘Gassed’ 1919 by John Singer Sargent

Taken as a whole, with its huge variety of objects and breadth of coverage, IWM London is an excellent and sensitively organized museum, with an important message for all generations. Highly recommended.

Mrs Reckless Teacher of Art

N CHANT—MARKING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WOMEN’ S MOVEMENT

On Wednesday 28th November 2018, NChant performed at the Sweet Music’, ‘A Million Dreams’ and ‘I Lift my Eyes’. It was an Corn Exchange in Rochester as part of an event to mark the cen- amazing opportunity to perform in a new venue in front of new people, and the acoustics of the 18th century hall meant the sound really rang out and sounded quite magical.

After NChant's contribution, speeches were given about local women involved in the fight for equal voting rights from the key- note speaker Ian Porter. One example was Vera Conway-Gordon, an RGS student from 1890 to 1892, who set up the local Suffragist branch in 1912 and proceeded to organise public meetings and protest marches as part of the campaign for votes for women. There was a chance afterwards to look at an exhibition on the Suf- fragettes.

The event was a huge success and was enjoyed by performers and audience members (which included some RGS Sixth Form History and Politics students) alike.

Emma Beniston, 12Hg6 tenary of the campaign for women’s right to vote. NChant were invited as positive representation of young female students in Medway and sang three songs at the start of the event: ‘There is Issue 1 2018 Page 5

Y EAR 12 &13 V ISIT TO THE TATE MODERN AND THE BP AWARDS AT THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

A Level Fine Art and IB Visual Art students visited the Tate Modern to explore artworks that relate to their independent units of work.

They produced primary research drawings of their selected pieces and annotated how they were specifically inspired by the artists. We then visited the BP Awards exhibition. This is an annual portraiture competition held at the National Portrait Gallery in London, the successor to the John Player Portrait Award. It is the most important portrait prize in the world, and is reputedly one of the most prestigious competitions in contemporary art. The first prize winner of the competition was ‘An Angel at my Table’ by Miriam Escofet.

After the intensity of two gallery visits in one day, we then had an Art group meal at Wagamama’s. The visit was excellent in building bonds between the group, in students exploring ideas for their own work and in the experience of seeing multiple Art pieces first hand. The students were (as always) an absolute credit to RGS.

Mrs Gregory Assistant Principal/Leader of Art

A RT V ISIT TO THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

This October, Year 8 travelled by coach to the National Portrait Gallery in London as part of their Art project on ‘Self Identity’. The students have learnt how to draw ‘self-portraits’ and the purpose of the trip is for students to develop their analytical skills and to inspire ideas in their own work.

Each group received a lecture from a practising artist on how to analyse different types of art. The students then had freedom to explore different styles of portraits from different genres in the various exhibitions at the National Portrait Gallery. They then personally selected inspirational artworks which they drew from direct observation and then analysed the pieces.

Student engagement in the lecture and in the galleries in completing the task was exemplary and we look forward to seeing how their work evolves.

The Art Department Whole class photograph: 8Z3 Page 6 RGS Newsletter

A UTUMN CONCERT

On Wednesday 14th November, we held our highly anticipated across year groups. We were also treated to the debut of the Autumn Concert. The evening was filled with a variety of musical newly-established RGS Wind Ensemble, who wowed with the performances, each showcasing the wonderful talents and hard powerful sounds of ‘At World’s End’ from Pirates of the work of both the students and staff involved. Kicking off the Caribbean. We once again heard some talented soloists such as concert was an exciting rendition of ‘Russian Dance (Trepak)’ and Francesca Lewell, who sang Finding Wonderland, and Emma ‘Waltz of the Flowers’ by Tchaikovsky performed by the RGS Beniston (the current RGS and Medway Young Musician of Symphony Orchestra, followed by a succession of gifted soloists, the Year) who performed ‘Nigun’ by Bloch on violin. including: Catherine Alsey playing Romanze on violin; Darius Oladipo with an original song, ‘Success is a Series of Small Wins’, Last but certainly not least, the event was concluded by the on piano and April Wells sang and accompanied herself for the RGS choral choir, NChant, who delivered a beautifully song ‘Listen’. A selection of ensembles followed, such as the Year 7 executed performance of ‘There is Sweet Music’ and ‘Shine choir, singing the popular Disney classic ‘Under the Sea’ and the Down’. Thank you to all who participated in organising the RGS Chamber Orchestra performing Elgar’s ‘Serenade for Strings event, the directors of the ensembles, all the talented performers Mov. 1’. We were treated to the first performance of the year by and everyone who came to listen. We hope those in attendance the new cohort of Chorisma, made up from students from a mix of enjoyed the evening and are looking forward to future concerts. local primary schools. Under the direction of Mrs Woodman they gave an energetic performance of a combination of winter themed Jemimah Tikare 12 Tm6 songs to finish the first half.

After the interval we heard some fantastic student-led groups such as Senior Gospel Choir and Dynamic Voices, both of which bridge

H ARVEST FESTIVAL

Harvest has traditionally been a time to gratefully celebrate our own blessings, while also remembering those less fortunate than us. Each year, RGS students get into the spirit with the annual Harvest Festival Food Box collection, which gives students a chance to help to those in need… while also enjoying a little inter-house competition!

Every form set about collecting at least one box of food, while also decorating their boxes in line with this year’s theme of… Harvest! After the Harvest Festival assembly, where the stage overflowed with tins, packets, and weird and wonderful cardboard creations, each house had its contributions judged on the quantity of food donated as well as the overall design of the boxes.

The winners, breaking a Year 7 Cassidy winning streak, were the students of Somerville. Head of Somerville Mrs Hutton said: “I am so proud of Somerville’s effort this year, not only were the boxes decorated showcasing Somerville’s flair for creativity, but the boxes were overflowing which is the main focus of the Harvest collection. Well done Somerville!”

After the assembly, the harvest boxes were donated to local charity Caring Hands in the Community as part of their Harvest Heroes initiative. The collected food will help to support people in the Medway Towns who are affected by issues such as hunger, homelessness, and substance addiction.

Many thanks to all students and parents for the generous food contributions, which will make a real difference to the lives of the most vulnerable people in our local community.

If you would like to find out more about the work of Caring Hands in the Community, please visit www.caringhandsuk.org.uk Issue 1 2018 Page 7

RGS CAROL SERVICE

On Monday 10th December we held our annual Christmas Flowers’ from Tchaikovsky’s The Carol Service at Rochester Cathedral. This is always a Nutcracker, Senior Gospel Choir singing favourite of all of us here at RGS as it puts us all in a festive ‘The Night that Christ was Born’ and spirit and this this year didn’t let us down! RGS Chamber Orchestra who performed Leroy Anderson’s ‘Sleigh Ride’. As always, NChant’s performances of ‘In the First Light’, ‘The Coventry Carol’ and ‘Tell Me Tell Me‘ were well received! Overall it was an excellent evening of traditional carol singing, readings and music enjoyed by all in the beautiful setting of the Cathedral.

Mr Chapman Director of Music The service started with ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ with the solo sung by Yasmin Ahmed before being joined by the choirs and then the congregation. After a welcome from The Reverend Matthew Rushton we had a mixture of traditional carols accompanied by the Symphony Orchestra, readings by students and staff and some musical items. Highlights included the RGS Symphony Orchestras rendition of the ‘Waltz of the

SENIOR CITIZENS’ CHRISTMAS PARTY

The Senior Citizen’s Christmas Party this year was run and organised by the Year 12s. We spent several of our Wednesday afternoon pastoral sessions organising and getting ready for the event. This included collecting prizes for the raffle, to making bookmarks and writing out Christmas cards for each one of the guests.

On the Tuesday before the party, a team of students decorated both of the school’s Christmas trees making sure they looked beautiful for the party and could be enjoyed by all the guests. On the day of the party, Wednesday 5th December, we spent the afternoon preparing the hall for the guests when they arrived. This included putting up the decorations and preparing the food as well as setting the tables with Christmas crackers and various nibbles.

When the guests arrived we signed them in and gave them their Christmas gift and card, which was a home-baked biscuit and a bookmark. We then helped them to their seats and asked what they would like to drink. After making sure the guests felt welcome and comfortable, they were able to enjoy a variety of performances, some of which included acts from students lower down in the school as well as some performances from the talent within Year 12. They also enjoyed the raffle in which many people won some wonderful prizes.

The evening was a great success and was enjoyed by everyone who attended. Some of the guests enjoyed themselves so much that they couldn’t resist getting up for a little dance to the Christmas music, which was such a sweet thing to witness. We had some wonderful emails, phone calls and even a Christmas card from people who enjoyed it so much that they just had to say an extra thank you: “Thank you so much for the super party on Wednesday I had a lovely time meeting many of you and some of your guests” “We would like to thank you for the most enjoyable Senior Citizen’s Christmas Party yesterday. The girls did a really good job, not only seeing everyone had enough to eat and drink, but they also sat and talked to us”. Overall there was approximately 70 guests that came for the evening, some of which were relatives of students at RGS and many who were from local care homes in the area.

Jessica Spratt, 12 Fz6 Page 8 RGS Newsletter

G EOGRAPHY COURSEWORK WEEK

Recently Year 13 Geographers have been The next day, we visited Hythe. Our Stratford. I personally chose to focus my completing their A Level coursework. presence as a group of Geography work on Hythe. After this decision we were This is an assignment equating to 20% of students was pronounced due to the 6ft encouraged to develop a question to base our their final A Level grade. Year 13 RGS ranging poles with which we paraded to coursework around. The expectation was alongside Year 13 Holcomb Grammar the sea. These massive poles, which that we would visit Hythe or Stratford the school joined forces to complete the task. inevitably led us to take the appearance of next day to collect relevant data for a tribal cult, were actually used in the answering our question. This made it The coursework began with a briefing in civilised purpose of recording beach essential to plan resources for the next trip what the investigation would involve. profiles. In addition to this, we were resulting in an array of maps, questionnaires Students were informed of the various trained in methods of measuring pebble and surveys spurting from the printers. sampling methods and research angularity and sediment size. These were techniques which could be utilised in an entirely new types of data collection Day five arrived and it was time to visit and investigation. Alongside this, a plan was which I personally enjoyed practicing. collect data from our location of choice. Two set out for the coming week. This coaches came, one heading to Stratford and incorporated exploratory visits to Day three involved a visit to London. one to Hythe. I spent my sunny day in Hythe Whatman Park (Maidstone), Hythe (on Here students looked at both East Village carrying out beach profiles, questionnaires the South East coast) and Stratford (East and Westfield shopping centre comparing and land-use surveys. London). the levels of prosperity in these regions. Once again, work was largely Since the geography coursework week, The visit to Whatman Park enabled independent, albeit with an emphasis Year 13 have been analysing data and students to sample a range of different placed upon understanding the use of answering the unique questions they research techniques. This included asking transect lines. This involves collecting formulated during this very busy week. passers-by questionnaires, surveying the data along a cross section of a map. environmental quality of the area and Amelia Davidson, 13E measuring sound pollution. The visit was After the three days of action it was time very student-led; teachers provided the to contemplate ideas back in school. This equipment and basic ideas but it was up day involved the big decision of whether to the students to explore. to base one’s coursework on Hythe or

Recently Splendid Productions visited The Rochester Grammar School to perform one of their plays and carry out a workshop. Splendid are a theatre company as well as an educational company; they create challenging, vibrant theatre for youth and provide expert training in all areas off drama. They specialise in the theatrical genre of Epic Theatre, developed by practitioner Bertolt Brecht. Whilst at RGS Splendid Productions performed their version of ‘The Oresteia’, which followed the story of three terrifying furies and their blood tinted glasses. The Oresteia is a murderous tale of family, history, vengeance and honour, and Splendid retold the story using multi-roleing to present the legendary family born to power.

Their adaptation of Oresteia, employed a range of theatrical and Brechtian styled techniques, including an episodic structure, elements of Greek theatre, breaking the fourth wall, multi-rolling, choral precision, physical and vocal storytelling and exaggerated characters. As a drama student watching such a unique rendition of a tragedy, it was useful in discovering techniques I am able to use in my own devised pieces, and watching such a rich and powerful piece really inspired me to come out my comfort zone and try non naturalistic styles of theatre, like Splendid. After watching the fantastic performance, we had the privilege to partake in a Splendid-style workshop, during which we learnt how to incorporate different techniques like song, audience involvement and ‘wow’ moments into our theatre. This was extremely useful as a student to see different ways to devise an interesting and engaging piece of theatre, as well as this we had some time to ask questions to the Splendid team about drama and theatre as a whole. I extremely enjoyed this part of the workshop as it gave us the chance to ask career questions to someone who also wants to get into acting and theatre.

Rebecca Kalli, 12 Fz5 Issue 1 2018 Page 9

B LACK HISTORY MONTH

This October saw RGS taking their given the privilege of being some of the first people to see the celebrations for Black History month exhibition they had helped shape in so many ways. The exhibition outside of the school grounds, as we itself was bold and striking. The colours, the bold images and the took 70 students down to the Historic range of hands-on displays were all ideas formulated by the Dockyard Chatham to help the Medway African Caribbean Society and the Dockyard launch their new exhibition ‘Untold Stories: A Celebration of Black People in Kent’. The Press Launch happened the day before the official opening on the 4th October and both the RGS orchestra and the senior gospel choir performed. The orchestra played a piece by black composer Chevalier de Saint-Georges while the senior gospel choir performed Sam Cooke’s ‘A change is gonna come’. Both performances were roundly praised and sounded beautiful in their slot on ITV News. 10 students. They can also take credit for some of the biographies on the walls and the giant cross word that was the centre piece of the hands on sections.

RGS students back at school didn’t miss out on the opportunity to hear the poignant performances and learn about the exhibition thanks to an excellent assembly. In their annual young black achievers awards MACA recognised the hard and important work that students had put into the ground breaking exhibition by presenting the school with a Citizenship award. I would like to take this opportunity to thanks all staff and the many students who helped contribute to such an interesting and significant project. We also took 10 students from Years 9 and 10 who had been working on the project since April 2018. These students were Mrs Still

J APAN

Our trip to Japan was full of wonder and awe, to which I find hard to put into words. The kindness and generosity we all experienced from not only our host families but from ordinary people we met along the way, made a place so big and strange to us, feel like home. Japan has opened our eyes to a new and unique culture, full of respect and benevolence. The days we spent in this astonishing country seemed to almost fly by. A place full of wonders, which finds so much beauty in the simplicity of its surroundings. Japan is a representation of how a community can maintain respect and happiness, in the modern world. Now that I try to comprehend everything that this trip allowed us to experience, I realise how itis almost impossible to give such a life-changing trip justice. We were able to try everything from food to religion. Although it was not possible for us to see all that such a great country has to offer, the small elements we did see revealed a place far different from the area in which we all grew up. Not only the people and the unique aspects of this country made our trip so incredible but also the stunning places we saw. We visited Kyoto, Hiratsuka, Asakusa, Akihbara, Harajuku, Ito, Shin-Kobe, Atami, Hiroshima and extraordinary places within them like shrines and temples, castles, museums and mountains. Everyone and everything about this country has deeply touched us and helped us develop as people, and I don’t think we will ever be able to show how thankful we are to our teachers, our host families and simply the people of Japan for accepting us and showing us their world.

Mia Barrett, 10 By3 Page 10 RGS Newsletter

S PORTS NEWS TERMS 1 & 2 FIXTURE INFORMATION This term has been a busy one in extracurricular activities. In postponed and will be rescheduled in the new year. football, we had our U13 team play against Fulston Manor. This was a tough match with the score being 1-1 at full time Outside of school Abigail, Holly and Megan Batchelor entered the meaning that the game had to go to penalties, which RGS won South East School Pistol Championships and represented RGS. 5-4. This meant that they qualified for the next round and now Holly came 9th, Abigail 10th and Megan 13th in their individual means that they are through to the quarter finals in the Kent events. The top 8 went through to the next round so they only Cup. The U14 team had a tough match against Invicta missed out by 4 points! This was a great achievement as it was their Grammar School where, even though they fought hard, they lost 4-0. The U16 team played Barton Court Grammar School and won 1-0. This means that the U16 team have qualified for the third round in the Cup. Finally,for football, RGS entered a team into the Gillingham GSC Cup where the team played well making it to the quarter finals. During this day they even beat the eventual winners of the Cup who were Highsted.

In netball this term our 7b, 8b and 9b teams played away against Rainham Mark Grammar School. Unfortunately, both the 7b and the 8b team lost their matches, however the 9b team won 4-0. Next the U14 team went to Rainham School for Girls and competed in the Kent County Netball Schools Tournament. The girls played 7 matches and won all but one of these. This means that they came second in their pool and went through to the finals, which took place on Saturday 24th November, with a goal average of 5.25. Both the U14 and the U16 teams qualified for the Kent County Netball Schools Final Tournament. The standard of netball seen this day was extremely high resulting in all of the matches being very close. The U14 team finished in 6th place and the U16 4th. All of these first precision shooting competition, well done girls! We would students should be highly commended, not just for their ability also like to congratulate Millie Crowhurst in Year 7 for being and the way they played on the day, but also for the way they selected to represent Kent for Hockey. represented RGS with pride. It is a huge achievement to qualify for the finals tournament and, as a department, we are really Finally, this term we have introduced Swimming and Trampolining proud of them. We have also had matches against Fort Pitt sessions for our GCSE classes. This gives them access to a wider Grammar School where the 7b team drew 1-1 and the 8b team range of sports to use towards the practical side of their GCSE. won 2-1. Finally, this term the 7a and 8b teams played Trampolining will become available to other students throughout Rainham Mark Grammar School with the 7a team winning 4-3 the year so watch this space! and the 8a team drawing 5-5. Unfortunately, the matches against Rainham Girls School and Robert Napier School were Mrs Hutton

RGS CHARITY FUNDRAISING

MONEY RAISED: SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER 2018

Amount Date Donation Charity Name Raised October 2018 Poppy Appeal British Legion 176.46 Tag Day School Council tbc December 2018 Christmas Jumper Day Save the Children tbc 176.46 Page 11 RGS Newsletter

B AR M OCK TRIAL C OMPETITION

On Saturday 1st December, 15 Sixth Form students from The preliminary stages took the form of three rounds against three Rochester Grammar School took part in a regional bar mock schools from the south east, with each school being judged upon trial competition at Maidstone Crown Courts. Their their performance on a range of criteria. Performances were judged participation in the competition was the culmination of months by a real judge, who also presided over proceedings, giving students of hard work, which was predominantly student-led, that began an accurate feel for how a real trial would play out. Following the with a successful application to the competition in the summer. three preliminary rounds, the top two schools (out of 15) advanced to compete against each other in the final trial later on in the day. RGS came up against strong competition from Maidstone Grammar School, Highworth Grammar School, and Maidstone Grammar School for Girls in the preliminary rounds, but displayed great ingenuity and improvisation to overcome the cross- examination from the opposition barristers and the responses to questions from the opposition witnesses.

It was clear that every school in the competition was well-prepared and had put in considerable effort, as did the students from RGS. The hard work and effort made by all of the RGS students was rewarded as they made it to the final, where they were to go up against Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet, the winner of which would advance to the national final of the competition in Edinburgh. The final trial was close from start to finish, with both RGS’ prosecution and Queen Elizabeth’s defence displaying why they had both reached the final, much to the admiration of the judge. Unfortunately, the RGS students were narrowly beaten, In September, the Sixth Form students, led by Year 13 finishing runners-up of the South East regional competition. Simren Chug, learnt that they would have to prepare a defence and a prosecution for two hypothetical cases, in which they would need to assume the roles of barristers, witnesses, court clerk, usher, and jurors. In preparation for the competition, they needed to familiarise themselves with the specific requirements of their roles, the details of the crimes that had been committed, and the statements provided by each witness.

Leading up to the competition, the Sixth Form students worked tirelessly to prepare, meeting regularly after school, often until late in the evening to ensure that they were prepared for any questions and curveballs their competitors may ask. In addition to this the students were assisted, for one evening, by Danny Moore, a barrister from London, who had volunteered to offer his expertise and guidance to the students, help for which we were very grateful.

For the competition, the students were assigned to be either the defence or the prosecution and go up against another school’s defence/prosecution. The schools then took it in turns to question their own witnesses and to cross-examine the other Nonetheless, their performance in the competition was a huge school’s witnesses. The cross-examination required quick success, even more so considering that it was their first time being at thinking on the part of both the barristers and the witnesses, as such a competition, and that the majority of their preparation for any slip-ups, inconsistencies, or fabrications resulted in a loss of the event was student-led. All of the students should take great pride marks. The witnesses also had to be convincing in bringing and satisfaction from their organisation and maturity shown their roles to life. In addition to this, the court clerk and the throughout this process, and how impressively they represented usher were judged on their ability to maintain the formalities Rochester Grammar School. and order in the court, respectively. The jurors were assigned to cases involving two separate schools and were required to Mr Hoptroff provide a guilty/not guilty verdict based on what they had seen.

Page 12 RGS Newsletter Flair goes to the Flicks!

The Rochester Grammar School will be performing its 9th annual charity dance show on 6th-9th February 2019. Over 80 students have worked since September in numerous roles including choreography, performance, set production and advertising to produce a spectacular show.

This year’s theme is focussed entirely on iconic movies. The choice of music is varied and exciting and the students have enjoyed choreographing to songs old and new; it really has given the students an opportunity to grow and develop as cast members and performers.

We are thrilled to be supporting Kent Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance. Last year alone, they were called out to help over 2,000 people in life-threatening condition. The charity never stops innovating and improving the care that they can give, which means as an independent charity that every donation is vital. The charity headquarters and forward operating base are located at Rochester Airport, with the aircraft hangared and maintained at Redhill Aerodrome. When the call comes, the aircraft can reach any part of our region within 25 minutes. The service and life changing support it provides is astounding, so please help us support them further by joining us for what promises to be a spectacular production for a wonderful cause. We look forward to seeing you there.

Dates: 6th-9th February 2019 Doors Open: 7pm Show Starts: 7.30 Prices: Adults- £8.50 Concessions £6.50 Page 13 RGS Newsletter

L OOKING AHEAD — I MPORTANT DATES FOR TERMS 3&4 2019

04-Jan CPD - Students not in school Monday 7th Jan Start of Term 3 07-Jan Berlin Exchange Parents' Meeting (6pm) 7-18 Jan Year 12 A Level and IB Unseen Mocks 7-11 Jan Tomlinson Charity Week 14-19 Jan Berlin Exchange Trip 15-Jan Choir Information Evening (7pm) 15-Jan Year 11 Exel Day 16-Jan Year 7/8/9 Sixth Form Curriculum Evening 16-22 Jan Year 8 Unseen exams 18-Jan Year 7&8 Disco 21-24 Jan Year 11 GCSE Mock exams 21-24 Jan Somerville Charity Week 23-Jan Year 11 into 12 Open Evening 24-Jan Year 8 Dungeness Power Station Trip 30-Jan Year 8 Parents' Evening (1) 01-Feb Year 11 Taster Day 01-Feb RGSA Quiz Night 6-9 Feb Flair 7-8 Feb Year 7 Globe Theatre Trip 11-15 Feb Byron Charity Week 13-Feb Year 8 Parents' Evening (2) 14-Feb RGS Young Musician of the Year 16-19 Feb Choir Tour to Amsterdam 15-Feb Last Day of Term 2 18 to 22 Feb Half Term 25-Feb Start of Term 4 25 Feb - 8 Mar Year 11 Mock exams 27-Feb Year 13 Parents' Evening 01-Mar Year 8 Ypres Trip 7-9 Mar School Production - Sister Act 11-15 Mar Hildegard Charity Week 18-22 Mar Year 13 A level mocks 18-22 Mar Science Week 21/22 Mar Year 9/10 Computer Science Trip to Bletchley Park 19-Mar Spring Concert 25-29 Mar Cassidy Charity Week 25-27 Mar Year 10 RGS Trip to Liege 27-Mar Year 8 Options Evening 1-5 Apr Multicultural Week 05-Apr Multicultural Celebration Evening 03-Apr Year 11 Parents' Evening 05-Apr Last Day of Term 2 Easter 8-22 April Tuesday 23 Apr Start of Term 5