1 Gillingham School Virtual Sports Tour 2020 The PE Department recently set a monster of a challenge through our Instagram page for students, parents and staff to travel 3100 miles across Europe. By sending through evidence of their physical activity at home we collated the miles to replicate the travelling distances required. Originally we thought we would be looking at 3-4 weeks to complete the challenge. However, as always, our school community stepped up and rose to the task. In just 6 days the tour was complete, finishing in Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. Prior to this we had visited Wembley, Johan Cruyff Arena, Parc des Princes, Allianz Arena, Stadio Olimpico, San Siro and Camp Nou. A big thank you and well done to everyone who contributed, we really were blown away by the quantity of people from our whole school community who got involved. You can find all the highlights of the ‘Tour’ on the Instagram page @gillingham_pe_department. We are taking a short break from the weekly challenges but will be back soon with another one for you, so keep your eyes peeled.
PHOTOGRAPHY Some of our photography students’ creations using fused plastic
2 This month sees the deadline of the Royal Geographical Society 'Young Geographer of the Year' competition.
This is a globally recognised prestigious competition which is entered by thousands of Geography students every year from across the UK. If their work is selected by the RGS they will be invited to attend an internationally recognised awards ceremony (currently planning to be held virtually this year). Zuzanna Jaroni This accolade is looked upon very favourably by the top universities as well as employers. This year's theme is ‘The world beyond my window’ which is an opportunity to explore the geography immediately outside their homes and beyond. These entries explore how the individual is connected to and influenced by their chosen place - Isabel Board Cai Sasaki-Evans be the connection physical, digital or emotional.
Year 9 have still been busy collecting Bronze Awards and have risen to the challenge of online learning. They have continued to achieve and show the highest of standards. Teachers have been issuing Bronze Awards for the fantastic work that the students have been producing.
We have three more students that have achieved their Gold Ties by receiving 50 Bronze Awards.
Congratulations go to Ruby Stockley, Rae Bowden and Charlotte Berry and we will be making arrangements for them to receive their Gold Ties.
https://www.facebook.com/ theDofE/
3 Year 7 are completing weekly challenges at the moment.
Their first two challenges were Bake and decorate a cake and Year 7 Wildlife Photographers of the Year!
Well done to all those that took part. Mr Bignell
4 I think it is safe to say that this school year has been unlike no other! If you had said to me in September that school would be closed from March until the end of the year because of a virus pandemic, I wouldn't have believed you, but here we are and it all seems pretty real now.
However, the thing I find really interesting about all of this, is how so many of us are missing school. When you spend so long, doing the same routine every week, being told that you have to do work from home and not go to school seems like a dream—but in reality, it isn't quite so. All the school trips, cancelled or postponed. All of the clubs at lunch, unavailable now. Seeing your friends altogether, and within two metres, it’s been a while. Having that reason to wake up in the morning. When school starts at 9 am, you have to be there, there aren't exceptions. But when your walk to school is just going down the stairs, or just to a table, it becomes harder to remind yourself that you still need to get your school work done.
For some that don’t like change, this has also been an uphill battle. I didn't realise how much just being surrounded by people in a classroom changes the work atmosphere. When you get stuck on something, you can ask someone nearby. You can look around and see all the people that you know. Now, the only company you have is your family and pets (which I am sure has been a bit tedious for all of us at times!)
This lockdown may have been frustrating every now and then, and I am sure lots of us wish it could all go back to normal soon, but there are some good things that we can get from it. I appreciate lots of things that I took for granted so much more now since I have been stuck inside. I went in a car for the first time in 10 weeks and I was amazed at its technology! It felt so strange to be in this ‘object’ that gets me from A to B so quickly! I also didn't realise how much noise birds make. It may seem so obvious and such a silly thing to say, but without the cars going by and the hubbub of people around me, all I can hear is the birds and the rain! I am definitely not going to take the ability to walk freely outside for granted again. The idea of ‘unessential’ travel and shopping seems like a fantasy! Having to be inside for such a long time has made me realise that being outside is so nice, especially when it is this time of year and you aren't having to wear thick winter coats and hats because it is so cold!
I think it is a very strange situation as on the one hand, this is the most free time from school we are ever going to have so, (along with school work) we should try and make sure we are doing things we like to do and wouldn’t normally have time to do, now that lots of our hobbies and clubs are cancelled too. But also this is the most time we are going to have to improve at something and become better, to catch up on things we don’t understand to have better test results and do better in exams. What would you do?
We have also spent the past year witnessing the increase of damage and stress to our world that we put on it. Particularly the factories producing the harmful gases and the plastic that can’t be recycled getting into the oceans and killing wildlife. Well, the lockdown meant that there were less factories being open, and it’s helped repair some of the damage! 73% of all fish have plastic in them, something we can’t fix, but now, not only were there dolphin sightings in the Venice Canals, but at Studland Bay, here in Dorset, Seahorses have returned. I personally didn’t even know we had seahorses here! It is the biggest population of them since 2008. So yes, this lockdown has been tough at times, and I really do just want things to be normal, for everyone, but knowing that staying and working from home helps our families and saves lives, as well as our planet, well, that makes it worth it, doesn’t it?
5 What have we been up to in lockdown?
I asked some of my friends what they have been doing to pass time in lockdown. Here are some of their answers! “I have been dancing a lot and playing board games with my family.”
“watching TikToks and Youtube videos.”
“I have gone out on long walks with my family, have enjoyed going cycling and I have started an art project with my mum on an artist I am studying at school.”
“I have taught myself the guitar, I’ve been running 20km a week and baking for my family, friends and neighbours most days.”
“I have had socially distanced picnics with my friends and learning to drive on the local airfield”
Have you been doing anything similar? Personally, I have made bread quite a few times and done some letters to my friends as I couldn’t see them.
Thoughts about the future
We have all had to adapt, even businesses. The fact that all businesses have coped doing their meetings at home via software like ‘zoom’, or, one that we all know and love, Microsoft Teams! Does this mean that in the future, all business meetings will be done online, saving people having to travel, seeing as they can easily do it on a computer? Being able to see someone in person is so different to online, I think it would be more intimidating! Who knows what the future has in store, but let’s hope it is not another virus!
So that’s the student’s perspective of lockdown. I think lots of us are unsure right now as to what is going to happen, but we are all having to take each day as it comes.
We have all been improving at something, whether that is baking or running. So, whilst we sit and do our school work now at home, we can know that in 100 years’ time, children our age will be learning about what are living through right now and just how crazy it was!
Rae Bowden in Year 9 has been experimenting with her art and has produced this amazing piece!
Isabel Board in Year 8 has been doing lots of baking and made this tasty– looking cake!
ARTICLE BY MARISSA HERON
6 2nd June A working week in the life of lockdown
74 days, 10 hours and 16 minutes. Quarantine, my new life. Monday – Friday. 6:00am wake up. Shower, dress, hair, face. School done by 9:00am. Walk with Loula. Mum & me look after the childminded kids. Play, play, play. Out again on a walk Mum, me, Lucas and the kids. home, Story time. Lunch then sent off for their nap.
Me and Lucas offer bounce. Netflix. Wake up the kids. Play, snack, bounce. Home for them, guitar for me. Draw Disney character. Help with the garden. Dinner bracket vegetarian of course bracket. To the lounge for a movie with the family. Popcorn, Disney, blankets. Read for an hour or so. Lights out. Sleep. Repeat.
ISOBEL JOLLIFFE 8C
7 Remember Remember when, Thursday evening rolls around And the doors swing open at 8pm, A chance to show pride and support, Although we only see them Through gaps in the door, Or through a 2m distance, Waving at them. Remember when, Asking ‘how are you?’ and generally wanting an answer, Skype calls with your grandparents, Always were entertaining, Remember when, You were entertained by the birds out the window, And everything was peaceful. Remember when, The handshake with a stranger, Felt like the weirdest thing in the world, Remember when, This is all over, and nothing will be the same again Remember when, The NHS were on the brink of going, And Brexit was the biggest problem Remember when, You could see your friends, and hug them Remember when, The news wasn’t filled with deaths or Dominic Cummings, Or tourist spots weren’t that full. Remember when, You could still see people And not have to queue for hours at the shops, Remember when, you wore the rainbow with pride, and clapped at clapped until your hands were raw, Remember when, You washed your hands until; they were rough and tough, Remember when, If you accidentally coughed in the shop people would glare at you, Remember when, The community were closer than ever, And you talked to your neighbours over the fence, Remember when, You forgot what day it was, And you missed everything. So, don’t forget, The times we are in, The protests, The masks, The way we thought it was the end, We will get through this, Don’t give up. Just remember. OLIVIA WILKINSON 8I
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Lockdown 21/05/20
As I laid on the grass, my fingers caressed my springer’s soft ears. I had recalled a distant memory when life was once hectic. I recollect walking to school, hands clenching and unclenching as cars zoomed past on the bustling road, thinking to myself, I wish the world would just slow down a bit.
I laughed. What had I done? In the past few years, my to-do list gave me ulcers. I could count the quiet weekends off on one hand. Maybe it sounds boastful, or stupid. It isn’t meant to. All I wanted was time. Time to play like a child. Time to laugh with my family. Time to talk to my friends. Time to read. I longed to spend my childhood days wisely and cherish them as sweet. After all, I wasn’t going to get them back. This, I suppose, was my only time to be a child. However, instead I spent each day sat at my desk, endlessly writing. This brain, the one that never stops analysing and manufacturing new material, is both a blessing and a curse. It can bring such satisfaction and joy, yet also memories of the life you haven’t have, and the people you’ll never know or meet, and the love you don’t feel. One day, I stared at my exercise book and forcefully declared I would negotiate and only write what I had to write in what I thought of my Day of Change. I reclaimed a social life, laughed and played, yet a month in I still was over- loaded with work and spent hours at my desk each day. If anything, that Day of Change deteriorated the whole situation and morphed it into an invisible but potent monster. I am still surprised that I do not have indents from my resting elbows on my desk.
Then Covid-19 happened. And the world stopped.
For the first two weeks, like many, I became almost manic. I secretly planned escape routes whilst in bed and called friends incessantly. What was I meant to do without them? I grieved for the plans that were snatched from me, the holidays that were lost, the events that were postponed and then I told myself to get a grip. How could I selfishly think like this? Our beautiful, intelligent and innocent Earth was in the centre of a subsistent crisis and I was thinking about petty holidays. Instead, I would use my valuable time constructively and productively. Maybe I would be able to finally organise my bedroom or my desk, create new recipes, read that book was meaning to finish, bathe in the sun, play games with my family or write a bullet journal.
My brain refused to comply. I could not focus on anything but schoolwork. My emotions perched on the surface of everything, bringing joy or tears at inappropriate moments. I stopped calling friends frequently. I completely isolated myself from reality, physically and psychologically. This mess is huge. And it demands respect. I soon stopped counting days or thinking about the after. I gave in to the continual rhythm of the day, the schoolwork, dog walks and mugs of herbal tea.
Almost 2 months in, I find myself halted almost to a standstill. Endless hours are spent staring into the vast blue abyss, wondering how insignificant we are to the billions of planets situated somewhere. I stare at my computer screen and type. I lie in the long grass with my dog and admire tall, thriving buttercups. I speak to a few people each day and at the distance of two metres. I peek out of my bedroom window at night and marvel at the stillness of the dark, the distant call of a lovelorn cow, the rustling of birds in the bushes.
I am grateful for technology that lets us communicate and grateful for the many kind efforts made by people we have no idea exist in order to keep alive. I am grateful for the small acts of kindness each day that brings us closer together (though safely). During this time, I have gotten to know neighbours whom I did not know before and random people on walks. We talk for ages because we have time. I am grateful for that. I am grateful for that sheep in the field and that cow, who I seem to be friends with. I am grateful for the existence of binge-watching as well.
This time is strange. Extremely strange. Though we must also remember we are humans – made to adapt. I think we shall take away knowledge from this experience. During this pandemic, we have witnessed compassion and sacrifice, friendship, and humour. We have also witnessed shameless profiteering, blatant lies, and selfishness. It has revealed more than anything how interconnected we all are. How the fate of people on the other side of the planet – or indeed, the other side of the street – may have an impact on all our lives. We have learnt that no country is an island. No island is an island. No person is an island. We are one large community sharing one, big planet and long-term individualism does not work. We need to look out for each other because if one suffers, we all suffer. NIGELLA FULLER 8L
9 10 STEP BY STEP SPONSORED WALK 2020 Monday 20 July - Sunday 26 July
Join in with the Step by Step Sponsored Walk and help young people at risk of homelessness.
We know that getting together is a bit tricky at the moment, so we're inviting you to do the sponsored walk however you wish. Do it at home. Do it in the park. Do it with family. Do it on your own. However you choose to do it, do it for young people who need your support.
The Step by Step Sponsored Walk is taking place the week of 20th July to 26th July 2020. And it's simple to take part: Art & Science Departments Choose a distance you're comfortable with: either 5km, 10km or 15km The Nancy Rothwell Award 2020 is now open for entries. Sign up via the form on this page and pay your £5 registration fee Each entrant can submit only one drawing for the award. We encourage entrants to enter scans of their Get sponsored: download the Sponsorship Form on specimen drawings rather than photographs. this page, or visit our JustGiving page to set Please read the competition's up your own fundraiser.
terms and conditions before entering and submitting your drawing.
The Award will close for entries at 23:59 BST on 31st July 2020. Winning entries will be an- nounced in September 2020. https://www.rsb.org.uk/get-involved/rsb -awards/nancy-rothwell-award
The Parent’s Guide to Careers https://mc.successatschool.org/parents-ebook?utm_source=School+Admin+Registrations&utm_campaign=a3d32c28f6- school_admins_parents_guide_110620&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f09eb3b2c8-a3d32c28f6- 212030961&goal=0_f09eb3b2c8-a3d32c28f6-212030961&mc_cid=a3d32c28f6&mc_eid=5dc1cc6c89
Headteacher P Nicholson BEd Deputy Headteachers K Barker BSc, M Lavis BSc, S Turnbull MA
Hardings Lane, Gillingham, Dorset, SP8 4QP Tel: 01747 822222 Gillingham School Email: [email protected] Fax: 01747 825263 1516-2016 www.gillingham-dorset.co.uk
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