MGS TIMES July 2014 Dear Parent/Carer Another year has passed that again has been packed full of hard work, developments and successes. We have continued our journey of evolution, but hopefully with a new spring in our step, and without moving away from our traditional culture and ethos. In fact, the journey forward, has actually further embraced our past and history. We have been very fortunate to have Mrs Birrell working with us this year as the School’s new Archivist. She has thrown herself into the role and found things out about the School that have been incredibly interesting. During the next year we will be creating an MGS Museum and Archive Room that will be open for all members of the School community to visit. With this new development it is hoped that the allegiance you all have with the School is further strengthened as you learn more about our history. Despite the successes, there have been a number of changes, challenges and difficulties this year that the School and members of the School community have had to face. Throughout the challenges the feeling of camaraderie amongst the School has been evident and incredible. We are a family, and families look after each other in difficult times, and I want to thank the School for displaying such care for each other this year. I know I am biased and only see things through my eyes, but despite these challenges there has been a real buzz about the place. One key memory for me of the year was the successful judgement we received from the Ofsted Inspection. The result was testament to the outstanding School that we value and hold close in our hearts and at this point I wish to again formally thank everyone involved for their contributions. We were all incredibly proud of the outcome, and of course slightly relieved now that they won’t be back, fingers crossed, for a while. Schools face some of the biggest changes for 25 years and it is really important we prepare this School for those changes, but at the same time continuing with the direction that we wish to go in. This year we have reviewed and made changes to the Key Stage 4 curriculum ready for September to reflect the changes in the GCSE examinations; we have reviewed and updated our Homework Policy to take into account what parents expect; we have made changes to what we expect from our Sixth Form students to further improve the culture and ethos within the Sixth Form; we have investigated opportunities for students to make use of their own electronic devices to support their learning which we will be rolling out from September; and we have done a lot of work to develop how students can take greater ownership of their learning. In addition to all of these developments, which will make a positive difference to teaching and learning, we have been working very hard behind the scenes getting ready for the Development/Alumni Launch. From September all students and parents will hear about how the School is going to grow over the next 10 years and how we all can support its future. At the back of this Newsletter is the School Calendar for next term illustrating key dates for you all. Please familiarise yourselves with the dates relevant to your child, but particularly note down the date for your Development/Alumni Launch. I look forward to seeing you there. This month the Parent Forum met with me to discuss how the School is developing over the next couple of years. I shared with them the School’s Development Plan and the six main priorities that we will be mainly focusing on: The new curriculum reforms and accountability measures; how we see the House Structure evolving; the impact of the new AEN and Safeguarding procedures; continuing to achieve outstanding learning within the classroom; the role of the Form Tutor; and the birth of the Development/ Alumni Fund. The. meeting was extremely positive with many good ideas being discussed; and a lot of what we talked about will be shared to you all when you come in and meet key staff at your child’s Information Even- ing. The Parent Forum is an excellent sounding board for the School and it will remain in place for many years to come providing opportunities for robust, but supportive, debate to occur. Many thank again for those parents who were able to attend. If you would like to know more about the Forum please do contact me in September. During the last term since Easter there have been a number of successes that we can feel extremely proud of. The rest of this Newsletter goes into detail many things we wish to applaud, but I would like to acknowledge an important one that the whole School should certainly celebrate. Back in May we were invited to the Kent Teacher of the Year Awards as the Student Services Department had received a nomi- nation from a parent for Team of the Year. We not only won the award for Top Pastoral Team for the Maidstone Area but we also collected the prize for overall Team of the Year for the entire county. We are extremely delighted with not only receiving a nomination but for coming away from the award ceremony with the overall best team. The entire pastoral team, which includes the Student Services Department, work incredibly hard all year to support every student and this award backs up the recent Ofsted Inspec- tion and our own feelings about the School. Well done to everyone involved. I also wish to acknowledge another fantastic Extended Learning Week which took place two weeks ago. Once again the School received many positive comments from staff, students and parents about the week, and it is something that we can all feel incredibly proud of. Thank you to everyone who was involved and we look forward to another week like this next year. This time of year not only marks the end of the academic year but also marks the end for those members of staff who are leaving the MGS community. The Staff and Governors said their official goodbyes last night; and the students had their opportunity to acknowledge their contributions at the final assembly to- day. The members of staff we say goodbye to, and how many years service they have given, are: Ms Sherriff (RS, 2 years), Mr Hart (Director of Rugby, 2 years), Mr Byatt (Media Technician, 3 years), Ms Mott (D & T, 3 years), Ms Brookes (Chemistry, 4 years), Mr Kozinski (ICT Technician, 7 years), Mrs Lumutenga (Year 9 Learning Manager, Economics and Business Studies, 23 years), Dr Callaghan (English, 23 years), Mr Simons (Head of RS, 30 years), Dr Derrett (Head of 6th Form, Biology, 34 years) and Mrs Sanfourche (Languages, 41 years). We thank them for the continued commitment and dedica- tion given to the School and wish them all the best for their future. Particular acknowledgement must go to Mrs Lumutenga, Dr Callaghan, Mr Simons, Dr Derrett and Mrs Sanfourche who between them have given over 150 years of service to the School. This is a remarkable achievement and testament to what a great place MGS is to work and be a part of. On behalf of the many thousands of students who have trav- elled through the gates of MGS, thank you. Staff leaving brings with it new faces that we will see from September. Mrs Sewell, who currently is As- sistant Headteacher at Fort Pitt Grammar School, joins MGS as the new Deputy Head to replace Mrs An- derson who left at Easter. We also welcome: Ms Kruppa (Assistant Head of 6th Form and Teacher of Languages); Ms Alloy (Teacher of RS); Mr Taylor (Teacher of Science); Mr Wong (Teacher of Mathe- matics); Mr Moorey (Teacher of PE and Director of Rugby); Mr Gymer (Teacher of RS); Mr Baker (Teacher of Business Studies and Economics) and Mr Hall (Teacher of D & T). I finally would like to wish you all a pleasant summer holiday, enjoy the rest, and we’ll see you in Sep- tember. M. Tomkins Headmaster Please do share any successes achieved outside of school with us so that we can include them in our termly newsletters and provide pictures where possible. Send to: [email protected] Pastoral Structure 2014-15 Head of Upper School, Years 11 to 13, Mr P Smith, Deputy Head Head of Lower School, Years 7 to 10, Mrs J Sewell, Deputy Head Assistant Headteacher KS5 Dr V Everett Assistant Headteacher KS4 Mr C Philpott Assistant Headteacher KS3 Miss R Johnson Learning Manager for Y7 Mr M Hall Learning Manager for Y8 Mr M Jones Learning Manager for Y9 Mr B Highsted Learning Manager for Y10 Miss A Lang Learning Manager for Y11 Mr P Highway Public examination results A2 results are available from 8.00 on Thursday 14h August AS results are available from 9.00 on Thursday 14th August GCSE results are available from 10.00 on Thursday 21st August If students are unable to collect the results in person, we need a letter signed by the candidate (Please pass to the School Office before Results Days) to authorise the results to be picked up by another person. Mem- bers of staff will be available each morning to give advice and guidance. Relevant information will also be available regarding requests for remarks and exam scripts where relevant. Leavers school books must be returned to the school before results day.