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 www.wirralgrammarboys.com WIRRAL GRAMMAR SCHOOL M a r c h 2 0 0 9 A Foundation Business & Enterprise School for Boys 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 www.wirralgrammarboys.com www.wirralgrammarboys.com N u n t i u s 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.