Dear Parents and Carers National Recognition For the third year, Grey Court has been awarded a Certificate of Outstanding Progress by ALPs as we are in the top 10% nationally. In addition, Mr Lee, KS3 Maths Coordinator, accepted the Financial Centre of Excellence Award behalf of the school. Please see page 4 for further details. ATD & Survey Results Thank you to every-one who completed our parent survey. We are compiling the final results, first indications are that you are generally satisfied. Should there be any areas of concern, we will address these to ensure that we work together for the continued success of our students and the school. I would also like to thank all parents who made the effort to attend our ATD—it was our best attendance ever! Thank you! Christmas Concert & Panto Well done to the VPA Department for all their hard work and organisation. This magical occasion show-cased our school and community in its best light. Over a 100 students of different races, backgrounds, and ages came together to dis-play their enormous talents. It was truly a heart-warming experience. I would also like to thank Ms Burton who wrote and directed the panto CindeRhodesella. Y11 Mock Exams No doubt our Y11s are relieved to have finished writing exams, and are looking forward to a relaxing Christmas break. These exams are an important bench-mark to help them prepare for their finals. Celebration Assemblies It is very important for the ethos of the school to celebrate the success of our phenomenal students. We held the Y7 assembly today, and the rest will be held next week. Lost Property: Tuesday, 17 December to Thursday, 19 December We have an abun-dance of unmarked clothing and kit in lost property. Mr Williams will be displaying this in the corridor outside the IT and Finance Office from Tuesday to Thursday. All un-marked, non-uniform items will be donated to charity if they are not claimed by the end of term. If your child has lost any item of cloth-ing or equipment, please encourage them to check lost property. Christmas Lunch & Jumper Day: Wednesday, 18 December 2019 The school Christmas lunch and Christmas Jumper Mufti Day will be held on Wednesday, 18 December. The Christmas lunch costs £3, and we will be rais-ing funds for the charity Crisis by holding our Christmas jumper mufti day. All students are

reminded to bring £2 for this worthy cause. Remember the student wearing the funniest or most original jumper will win a prize! As this is the last bulletin for 2019. I would like to thank all my staff, students and parents for your support since I became Headteacher. This has been a truly outstanding term, and all key performance indicators such as attend-ance, engagement, participation, and student achievement have improved in comparison to last year. Please note that the students will be dis-missed at 12pm on Thursday, 19 December. On behalf of my senior leaders and staff, I would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year. I look for-ward to welcoming you back to school on Monday, 6 January 2020.

Kind regards Chris Rhodes—Headteacher

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Page

Y7+Y8+Y9 2-3

Y10+Y11 4

National Recognition 4

Sixth Form 5-11

International Page 12-13

MFL & VPA News 14

T&L, Wellbeing 15

Attendance + PA News 16

Sport Stag + TT Links 17-23

Notice Board 24-25

Book Stag 26-33

TERM DATES

Autumn Term 2019 School Closes: Thu, 19 Dec at 12pm

Spring Term 2020 Mon, 6 Jan to Fri, 3 Apr

KEY DATES

Y13 Trial Exams: Mon, 2 Dec—Mon, 16 Dec

QUICK LINKS

Y13 Trial Exam Timetable click here School Calendar 2020-2021 click here

Friday, 13 December 2019 Chris Rhodes, Headteacher

#Y7 Congratulations Y7, you have successfully complet-ed your first term at Grey Court :) And what a term it has been. You have whole-heartedly thrown yourselves into school life and have achieved and experienced much: PDW drop down days Remembrance Memorial Whipsnade Zoo trip Winchester Science Park trip More sporting success than I have space for! Creative writing competition Tutor Assemblies OAP Christmas Party Christmas Concert and Panto Christmas card competition . . . . . and much more! We are very much looking forward to supporting you in your next chapter here at Grey Court. Y7 CELEBRATION ASSEMBLY WINNERS! We may only be one term in but we had plenty of awards to give out at Friday's Celebration assembly. Huge congratulations to all of our winners: Tutor Awards Ash - Amelia Price Beech - Annabel Locherer Cedar - Maja Hehir Elm - Alex O'Donnell Maple - Azelea Ovuike Oak - Leo Moore Rowan - Elsie Hobson Willow - Malak Saleh Kindness Awards Ashpriya Baryan Maja Hehir Isaiah Lourdes-Khan Emma Phillips Going Above & Beyond William Bond

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Areg Sarkisyan in 8 Ash for his performance of Bee-thoven's 'Fur Elise'. It takes a lot of courage to play in front of such a large audience, particularly as a solo artist and Areg did a great job. I would love to see some performers from Y7 at our next celebra-tion assembly at Easter.

Ms White, Head of Y7

CHRISTMAS CONCERT Wow! What a night! The Christmas concert and panto was fabulous, as al-ways. It was particularly good to see so many Y7 students involved (unfortunately, far too many to name here!) Thank you to all of our actors, musi-cians and choirists, you did an absolutely brilliant job and we'll all be back again next year to see you! OAP CHRISTMAS PARTY Thank you to all Y7 stu-dents who donated items and gifts for the OAP Christmas Party. Everyone had a fantastic time! A special thanks goes to the following students for helping at the party: Erin Napper,7A Malachi Blight, 7B Thomas Faulkner, 7B Isaiah Lourdes-Khan, 7C Samuel Barry, 7E Mia Memaripour, 7E Ashpriya Baryan, 7M Sahib Kaur, 7M Isaac Morton, 7M Morgan Jeffrey, 7O Malak Salah, 7W Wilma Roberts, 7W Our guests commented on how welcome you made them feel and how attentive you were at topping up their drinks! UNIFORM/EQUIPMENT Holidays are a good opportunity for a uniform and equipment audit. Please ensure that any incorrect uniform issues are addressed over the holidays. If the event that circumstances cause problems with this, please contact Ms Igoe or Miss White before the end of term. In addition, please replace any lost or damaged equipment. I hope you all have a thoroughly restful and enjoy-able holiday. On behalf of the Y7 pastoral team, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. See you in 2020.

#Y8+#Y9

ASSEMBLIES House assemblies took place last week in the lead up to our Christmas holidays. Totals were revealed and strategies discussed as the competition hots up. UNIFORM Please make use of the holidays to replace any lost or out-grown items of uniform, PE kit or equipment. The uniform policy is on the school website if you are unsure of what is permitted. Well done on a great first term of the year to all our students! Enjoy your break and remem-ber to reflect and be thankful for what we have. Y8 & Y9 Pastoral Team

Mr Ridley, Head of Y8+Y9

Y9 will be sitting their next science assessment in the first two weeks after the Christmas break. These will be held in one of their double lessons, the exact date will be told to students by their teachers over the coming week. This will be a 70 minute test, worth 60 marks and will cover all of the topics they have been taught since Janu-ary. These are:

The codes relate to the online textbook which they have access to through Pearson online (same website as Maths). If they don’t know how to log in, then they need to come and see me. They also have access to a range of revision resources through Seneca online, which they have used for homework. The Y9 science teachers will start to talk to the students about revision strategies in lessons in order to prepare them for this.

#Y9Science Assessment

Ms Moran, Head of Science

Biology Chemistry Physics

CB1a: Microscopes

CC1a: States of matter

CP1a: Vector and scalars

CB1b: Using microscropes

CC2a: Mixtures

CP1b: Distance time graphs

CB1c: Specialised cells

CC2b: Filtration and crystal-lization

CP1c: Acceleration

CB1d: inside Bacteria

CC2c: Paper chromatog-raphy

CP1d: Velocity time graphs

CB1e: Enzymes and nutri-tion

CC2d: Distillation

CP2a: Resultant forces

CB1f: Enzyme action

CC2e: Drinking water

CB1g: Enzyme activity (including the CP)

CB1h: transporting sub-stances (include the CP)

CB2a: Mitosis

CB2b: Growth in animals

CB2c: Growth in plants

CB2d: Stem cells

CB2e: The nervous system

CB2f: Neurotransmission speeds

Dates for your diary

Wednesday, 18 December: Christmas lunch (£3)and Christmas Jumper Mufti Day (£2 donation for Crisis Charity) Thursday, 19 December: Students are dismissed at 12pm.

#Y10+#Y11

As the last week of term approaches, we ask that students maintain the high standards that they have upheld throughout the term. Thursday is an early closure, so in effect we have three and a half days till we break up for a well deserved rest. We hope everyone enjoys their holiday and spends time relaxing and eating well! Y11 Trial Exams Congratulations to Y11 who have now completed their exams. They have undertaken these with an excellent attitude and determination to succeed. Illness Students must go to the medical room if they feel unwell. They must not phone or contact home. If the medical team feel that a student is really unwell then the KS4 team will contact home to ensure that students are picked up. We have had a number of students coming to us with a headache asking to go home, we hope you will agree that we are asking for a little more resilience from students in KS4. If students do feel very unwell we will, of course, be very sympathetic and ensure they are sent home to rest. Some dates for your diaries: Results day Y11 students will receive their exam results in a formal assembly on Monday, 20 January 2020. Parents' Evening will take place on Thursday, 23 January Sixth Form Applications the closing date for Grey Court Sixth Form is 15 January, so please ensure you applications are sent in on time.

Mr Gordon Walker, Assistant Headteacher

Mr Lee accepting the Financial Centre of Excellence Award on behalf of Grey Court School. The school has be reaccredited for delivering an outstanding educa-tion, integrating finance, in every subject across the curriculum in every year group.

National Recognition of Grey Court School

#SixthForm: Bergen Belsen, Tusk Awards, Founders and Bad Santa Belsen 75 Project “Alfie Price and Lara Tabateau have been selected to accompany Ms Hawkins on the Belsen 75 project. Ms Hawkins opined that she was “incredibly impressed with the quality of all the appli-cants’ letters but Tabateau’s and Price’s pieces felt the most intellectually and emotionally forceful.” Extracts from their letters of application are printed be-low: Studying the holocaust is vital for us to gain an under-standing regarding what went so terribly wrong in a land of ‘high culture’, ‘high modernity’ and the supposedly civilised way of European life. Also, it is a moral require-ment to outline just how harrowing Nazi Germany was, a regime, which among many other cruelties included: the unjust persecution of the Jewish, disabled and Gypsy communities. Can you, confidently and instantaneously, state when the holocaust took place? The chances are, you can’t. A re-cent study carried out by SurveyMonkey uncovered that a jaw-dropping 52% of adolescents in secondary/college/upper sixth education cannot correctly answer, when asked, the dates of the holocaust. The correct answer is: 1941-1945. Four years... six million men, women and children persecuted. The entire population of Wales is three million. Two times a sovereign nation, died in just four years. Few of those that endured the inhumane con-centration camps are still living- It is imperative that the study of the holocaust becomes a fundamental aspect of our national curriculum. (Alfie Price) The number of students studying history A level has been declining recently and this is a worrying trend. Jenni Rus-sell wrote recently in The Times; ‘If I were World King and could choose one subject that every child should study, it would be history; the topic that encompasses every hu-man and pre-human experience that ever was. It reveals all human nature, our capacity for cruelty and co-operation, love and hatred, and the extraordinary range of the societies in which we have lived and died, from hunting bands to empires, dictatorships to democracies. It teaches us that all power wanes, every decision has unintended consequences and that no society recognises its fatal flaws until it’s too late’.

I think that studying the Holocaust is one of the most important things we can do so that we don’t forget the atrocities committed and so that we ensure this does not happen again. Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor visited Auschwitz last week and speaking about the visit said ‘This place obliges us to keep the remembrance alive. We must remember the crimes that we committed here and name them for precisely what they were’. (Lara Tabateau)

In the New Year Alfie and Lara will journey to Bergen-Belsen over 24 hours, before returning to in educate their classmates and communities about this period of history and to give their first-hand account.

Tusk Awards: Eco-conscious McDermott and Friends Grace the Green Carpet!

Glowing lights. Flashing cameras. A bustling crowd of excited and inquisitive onlookers. This is the crowd that we were a part of, scanning Leicester Square for fast food and trying to figure out where to change from our battered trainers to elegant yet agonizing heels … when we looked up to fully register that the green carpet behind the gate, leading to the elabo-rately decorated cinema, was our destination. Trainers stuffed in bags, we wandered down that path, dazzled by the lights and the crowd which we were a part of just a moment ago, now looking at, filming, photographing: us. Dancing to the music and waving at the photographers to snap their front page picture of Grey Court at the Tusk Awards, we toppled inside the arched doorway of the unrecognisable cinema, decked out with fancy people, fancy photography and fancy clothes. Without a popcorn or Coca-Cola machine in sight, all traces of everyday life were shielded by professional photographers and enveloped with draping material plastered with brands and sponsors - the sense of an-ticipation and expensive white wine hanging in the air. The cinema itself was enormous and packed, on each seat a goodie bag ready and waiting. I couldn’t help but feel a little self-conscious tipping back my cheese and onion - oops sorry, ‘Somerset cheddar and shallot potato crisps’- in this room filled with sophisticated decor and classy people, a feeling intensified by the

clatter of cans that ensued as a result of Eva and I stand-ing for the respectfully silent acknowledgement of Prince William’s entry, but this feeling only increased the excite-ment (bordering on delirium) for the night to come. Although I couldn’t help but reference the thrill of the glamour of the evening, by far the most exceptional thing about this experience was learning about the lives and accomplishments of the incredible honourees. Amongst them, Benson Kanyembo, a man of mental fortitude who spoke passionately about the war being tirelessly fought between rangers and poachers, this military depiction combined with the sombre roll of honour for those lost in the line of duty for this noble cause a powerful portrayal of the urgency of this battle for the conservation of na-ture that is our human duty; as he so eloquently put - ‘a crime against nature is a crime against the whole lot of us’.

Star of the Week: Well done to Eve McDermott for writing such a won-derful review and for your effort and ambition in English!

Friends and Founders Success Many thanks to the 47 friends of Grey Court who volun-tarily attended our careers networking event last Thurs-day night. The guests - who ranged from doctors to ac-tors, film directors to lawyers; Bank of England Econo-mists to IT consultants; and biomedical post-graduates to naval officers - engaged in enlightening and civilised con-versations with around 120 year 12 students who were resplendent in business dress. The annual event – which is now 5 years old – has grown in scope from 22 “founders” to 47 “founders.” We used to fill three rooms of the Sixth form but the operation – ably managed by Ms Bernadette Corrighan (Careers rep-resentative of the year - South Croydon section) – now encompasses seven rooms, a balcony and a library! Our Founders now include: most of Ms Higham’s friends, family, associates and cousins from Dorset; several local Dads I engage in social inter-action with whilst sampling craft beer; numerous parents, alumni from Grey Court’s ancient regime and even THREE Grey Court Sixth Form alumni! As far as I’m aware the only other institution that suc-cessfully stages such an event is Eton! Here’s some feed-back about the careers opus:

From the Founders: “Great work last night: it was really good to see how the event was run and that so many employers showed up.” Hi Bernie, thanks for inviting me last week, thoroughly enjoyed it and met some interesting students. Last week, I took my older brother to The New Inn on Ham Common for a Grey Court School bi-yearly reun-ion with lads and lasses who went to the school in 1956 and left before 1966. I was telling them about myself and Thursday with the pupils. They remarked that "the only help that I got, (with careers education) was to be told: 'You might as well leave now, you are useless!" “Just a note to say that as always I really enjoyed the evening. Without exception I was so impressed by the lovely students at Grey Court but I just wanted to par-ticularly commend the two boys in the last group I saw – I think it was Jack and Anraj or similar names?? Anyway they were so completely delightful, friendly, smart, and engaging – it was truly a pleasure to meet them and see all the hard work they are putting in to their studies and outside interests which is all going to pay dividends in future, I can guaran-tee. All I can say is that I was blown away by them!” “I thoroughly enjoyed meeting all your young future psychologists who demonstrated much maturity, in-terest and enthusiasm for the subject ! It was a lovely buzzing atmosphere and I was made to feel very wel-come, great to have pizza and a beer too after a long day ! Thank you.”

…And from the students: "What I took away was the advice to put experiences on my CV in reverse chronological order" "the lawyer I met - her progression through her law degree and afterwards was inspiring" "Being an engineer is being a professional prob-lem solver" "You are the most important thing in your business!" "Speaking to the medicine professional made me like medicine even more and know that is the path I want to pursue" "It was useful to know that there were different career pathways alongside the more traditional GCSE, A level, degree routes" “It genuinely was an inspirational experience!”

So an additional Star of the Week nomination must go to Jack and Anraj for generating such a glowing impression about the school to visitors! Soon we will have a constellation. Well-being Watch! Not a bad place of work! As Mr Rhodes, never tires of reminding me, how lucky I am to work at Rhodes Hall! This is the site that greeted me at the end of my cycle to work on Tuesday! Pretty inspiring and that’s BEFORE I meet the people inside.

Sixth Form Christmas arrangements next Week Y13 exams will continue on Monday. Y12 students who have organised folders WITH targets will start at 9.15pm on Monday; Y12 student without organised folders with Targets will start at 8.25am on Monday. On Wednesday afternoon during enrichment the Sixth Form will be recreating the spirit of “Frozen 2” on the ice at Hampton Court. On Thursday morning we will have carols and the Senior student Christmas quiz in the small gym from 8.30am. …and I’m told Santa will be visiting Grey Court next week. But who is the figure in the niche costume? Is it: Emond: the mild mannered Janitor? David the bookish librarian? Phil – from D.T? Or …bad Santa himself – the Bash? Answers on an Artisan receipt for Waitrose Panettone please, by Monday!

Y13 Mock Exam Arrangements: 9 December - 16 December 2019

Y13 students will have SIX days of exam leave. They only have to be in school - on time - for the examinations. Students should be back in school for Tuesday, 17 December, when full-time lessons will resume. The assessments will provide us and you with valuable data with regard to your progress in your chosen subjects and will act as a key indi-cator of your likely success in the summer. For this reason it is important that these assess-ments are a true representation of your ability. The results of these assessments will be re-leased to you on Tuesday, 14 January 2020, at 8.30am in the Sixth Form Assembly. These re-sults will be monitored very carefully. They will inform us and support our decision-making in a number of areas: That you are secure and progressing well in your subject.

1. Accuracy of our UCAS predicted grades. 2. Areas where additional support is required. 3. In extreme cases, these results could be used as evidence that your programme of study is inappropriate for you and might be changed. 4. Poor performance will result an examina-tion re-sit in the week beginning Monday, 20 January 2020. Your child’s examination performance will be discussed with you during the parents’ consul-tation evening on Thursday, 6 February 2020. Absence from Assessments Should you be unwell on the day of an assessment, a parent/carer should phone early in the morning, so that your assessment can be rescheduled on your return. Mop-up days have been scheduled for Monday, 16 December 2019. If you have missed an assessment you can sit it in the am or pm ses-sions on this day. Contact: Ms Buckley on 020 8948 1173 or email: pbuckley@greycourt.org.uk

Timetables Please check the mock exam timetable carefully. This has been posted to you via google-classroom and is also displayed in the Sixth form and on the notice board outside the conference room. Ms Buck-ley also has a copy by the front desk. It is your responsi-bility to check and then follow your assessment timeta-ble.

Before the exam You should arrive at the venue at least ten minutes before the scheduled start time of your exam. All mobile phones should be switched off.

In the exam room Once you enter the exam room, you will be under exam conditions and you should not com-municate with anyone other than an invigilator. You will not be allowed to leave the exam room from this point. You will not be allowed to leave the exam room early, even if you have finished your exam so please do not ask!

Arriving Late If you are not in school for the start of an examination without contact from your family, we will try to contact you and your parent/carer to remind you where you should be. Please make your way to the sixth form reception as quickly as possible after receiving such a telephone call. If you are late, come to the sixth form reception as soon as you can, and Ms McNicol/Ms Buck-ley will escort you to the exam room.

Locations of Exams We try to ensure that you have the best possible conditions in your examinations. Students with access arrangements will sit the exams in the class-room provided unless specific alternative arrangements have been made prior to the mocks. If you are using a computer you can bring your own lap-top to the exam and use that computer. (Your teacher will check that you are not accessing the internet in the exams.) Alternatively, there will be lap-tops provided. These will be supplied by your subject teacher. Please remember to email your subject teacher with the work and check that they have received it at the end of the exam. Make sure you save a copy of the document you have written and email it to yourself!

Refreshments You are allowed to bring a drink of water in a clear plastic bottle, with the label removed. However, you are NOT allowed to bring in any cans or cartons of drinks, chewing gum or any other food.

In Case of Emergency Should the fire alarm go off, do not panic. Please follow instructions from the invigilator. You will be asked to leave the room in silence, leaving all equipment and paperwork in the exam room. You will still be under exam conditions during this time and you MUST NOT communicate with other students. Once the invigilator has given permission to return to the exam room, you will be instructed accordingly. You must not

#CareerOpportunities Y12 University Taster Courses These lectures are a great way of boosting your university applica-tions. Visit the University of London taster course website: https://london.ac.uk/taster-course-search and you will have access to 18 London Universities (UCL, King’s to name a few) as well as a range of courses from Engineering to Criminology. Make Me A Medic Course (MMAM) is being run at West Middlesex University Hospital on 8th and 9th April 2019. Applications will open on the 6th Janu-ary 2020 and should be submitted to Makemeamedic@chelwest.nhs.uk. The deadline for applications is the 14 February 2020. All the in-formation is on the Y12 Google Classroom Page or see the Science department.

Y12 Work Experience Opportunities Grey Court Y12 work experience takes place 13-17 July 2020. Students should be actively looking for placements and they are updated with opportunities via the Y12 Google Classroom. Current opportunities: Kingston Hospital Work Experience Grey Court have 4 placements for students interested in medi-cal and healthcare opportunities. This will be a 1 week work experience and to apply please send your CV and a covering letter/statement to Miss Corrighan bcorrighan@greycourt.org.uk by 10 Janu-ary 2020. All applications will be considered and you will know by the end of January if you have been successful.

BP in Sunbury – Business, Engineering and Tech-nology placements www.bp.com/workexperience website to sign up and the deadline is end of December 2019.

National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in Tedding-ton NPL have an academy every year which hosts students in a range of Science, Engineering and Business placements. Website to apply: https://www.npl.co.uk/careers/work-experience

Please note this takes place the week of 6 - 10 July 2020. However, students can apply and would miss activities week. This is a great oppor-tunity so we would support this placement and the deadline to apply is 31 January 2020. Y13 - Apprenticeships The website Uptree highlights upcoming appren-ticeships and events and it’s all in one place. Sign up at: https://uptree.co/a/signup/student/ The following companies have deadlines coming up in January, please see their websites for more information and requirements are below: KPMG – Business, Audit, Software and Digital ap-prenticeships (criteria varies depending on pro-gramme applied for) Dentons – Solicitor apprenticeship (ABB) JP Morgan – Finance (CCC) and Tech (ABB) PwC – Accountancy (96-112 UCAS points) GSK – Business, Finance & Data Analyst appren-ticeships (120 UCAS points) BAE – Engineering apprenticeships (96 UCAS points) Unilever – will be coming in to school on 15 Janu-ary to do a presentation to Y13s on their oppor-tunities. These are higher level and degree ap-prenticeships, offering a competitive wage and based in London or Kingston. Jobs available are below and the deadline is 19 January 2020: Data Analyst Software Developer Digital & Technology Data Scientist Business

start writing until the invigilator tells you to do so.

End of the Exam The invigilators will collect your exam papers before you leave the exam room. Silence must be maintained during this time. Question pa-pers, answer booklets and additional paper must NOT be taken from the exam room. You will be dismissed from the exam row by row. There may be other exams continuing so please leave in silence as other students will still be working. If you have EXTRA time you will work through the break or stay after form time. teachers will be there to supervise you.

H e a d s t a r t C o u r s e s We have had a

number of students attend these courses over the last four years especially via the bursary scheme. The feedback from our students has generally been very positive. Headstart courses offer Y12 students opportunities to go to some of the top universities to try STEM subjects such as: Engineering, Maths and Sciences. These take place in July and can be used as work experience. Russell group Universities include: UCL, Oxford, Liv-erpool, Manchester, Southampton etc. and courses cost approx. £399. However there may be bursaries available. Many of these are residential so include accommodation, food and travel. EDT run successful university taster courses for stu-dents aged 16-17 in Y12 who have an interest in creativity, problem solving, & STEM subjects – for those who want to look at the world, play a part to resolve critical issues to help our environment & create a better world. The courses are designed to increase confidence, help students make well in-formed decisions about their future & show STEM career paths to be accessible & exciting. Headstart courses range from 3-5 days. Our unique blend of learning and networking, whilst having fun, provides the perfect mix to un-derstanding what type of career might lie ahead and help students make a more informed UCAS application. Our broad-based engineering courses give a fla-vour of many different aspects of engineering and our focus courses provide an insight into a variety of highly specialised fields. https://www.etrust.org.uk/headstart-courses

*PAID PARTICIPATION - PEER RE-SEARCHERS NEEDED 16-18*

OneRichmond (RPLC and Hampton Fund) has commissioned the research organisation Rocket Science to conduct a youth needs consultation in Richmond, with a focus on mental health, crime and enhancing life opportunities for vulnerable children and young people. Rocket Science will be reviewing good practice in addressing young people’s needs and concerns; and will be engag-ing directly with young people in Richmond be-tween December 2019 and February 2020 through interviews, focus groups and peer re-search. They are looking to recruit peer researchers aged 16-18 from the borough of Richmond. They will be paid £100 for their participation. During the training Rocket Science will discuss safe locations in which they may want to carry out peer research and they will develop research tools collaboratively. Rocket Science researchers will be available to provide support to peer re-searchers either in person, on the phone or via WhatsApp throughout the consultation period. The peer research will take place in January and February 2020. If you know a young person/young people that you feel would be suited to the role, Rocket Sci-ence would really appreciate it if you could please confirm with them that they would be willing to take part and get in touch with Dina Papamichael at Rocket Science on dina.papamichael@rocketsciencelab.co.uk with their details. Those suited to the role will ideally : Have an interest in finding out about the per-spectives of other young people Feel comfortable engaging in informal consulta-tion with other young people Benefit from gaining research and communica-tion skills eg if this aligns well with their current studies.

Amos Bursary We are now in the process of recruiting for 2020's cohort of stu-dents and would like to make an appeal for help in selecting Y12 students who match our criteria. Founded in 2009 by Baroness Amos and her sister Col-leen Amos OBE, the Amos Bursary is a charity committed to as-sisting academically able British boys and young men (16–24) of African and Caribbean descent, from London Schools and Sixth Form Colleges to fulfil their academic potential, attend top uni-versities, secure good professional jobs in which they can excel and give back to society. At the Amos Bursary we: support students as they transition through sixth form into

university and the world of work work in partnership with volunteers and organisations to

prepare students to tackle the challenges they will encoun-ter

focus on building self-confidence, self-belief and social skills to enhance employability. Through a range of net-working opportunities, they have access to Inspirational and motivational speakers as well as international work-related experiences

encourage them to be flexible in their thinking and ap-proach to work and how to face the unknown with confi-dence and enthusiasm

provide the best social and ‘people’ skills to achieve suc-cessful performance while at university and enhance their ability to thrive in a competitive world in their chosen ca-reers

Central to student success is our ability to offer students life changing opportunities and a mentoring service which offers each student a peer and professional mentor for five years. Our evening and weekend professional and personal development programmes ensure that students are fully equipped to make informed and appropriate choices for their futures. All under-graduates receive an annual bursary of £500, except those in re-ceipt of scholarships over £500. More information is available at the following website: https://www.amosbursary.org.uk/students/ The APPLICATION DEADLINE for this year's recruitment is 24 JAN-UARY 2020. Please see Mr Clements

Careers Resources for Y7 - Y13 Stu-dents and parents have access to a ca-reers programme called START: This is packed with job profiles and offers stu-dents a chance to rate their skills and interests and it will suggest possible job matches. Students can look at post 16 and 18 education options. It also gives Labour market information for each job, this is important to see where jobs are in the country and if that job is like-ly to grow or decline in the future. Please click here to access the website.

Y11 - Post 16 Applications Y11 stu-dents are busy doing applications and working on their personal statements at the moment. We recommend they ap-ply to at least 2 providers and if they need any support in school, they can see Ms Corrighan. The Grey Court dead-line is: 15 January 2020 and check other provider websites for their deadlines, as they will be fast approaching.

Apprenticeships The November Parent's Pack is here - lots of useful information on apprenticeships, not just for parents but for students too. This month includes: degree ap-prenticeship open day checklist, engi-neering apprenticeships explainer, up-coming vacancies with apprenticeship employers and much more! Please click here to access the pack.

World of Work Roadshow Y11 and Sixth Form students are invited to this event on Wednesday, 11 March 2020, to find out more about apprenticeship opportunities locally and nationally. Students are welcome to see me to talk about interviews, career options, uni-versities, and apprenticeships on Mon-day to Wednesday and on Fridays.

If you have any questions about your child’s career options, please email me on bcorrighan@greycourt.org.uk

Mr Clements, Head of Sixth Form Ms Corrighan, Careers Advisor

International page launch

This week sees the launch of the international page, created to celebrate diversity. It is designed and collated by Sixth Form students as part of the school’s enrichment programme. Each week we will fea-ture a different country looking at interesting aspects of food and culture.

Preeya Nair - EAL Coordinator

International Page

Poland

The capital of Poland is Warszawa (Warsaw). Other big cities include, Krakow, Wroclaw and Katowice. Polish is the 3rd most spoken language in the UK.

Christmas in Poland St Nicholas Day (6th December) This holiday honors St. Nicholas (Święty Mikołaj), a saintly, dignified figure. St. Nicholas was the 4th-century Bishop of Myra in Lycia, He had a reputation for secret gift-giving and

is associated in some countries with Santa Claus.

Wigilia (pronounced vigilia)

Wigilia is celebrated on the 24 December. A 12 course meal is eaten by the whole family which can include:

Pierniki - Polish Gingerbread

Barszcz Czerwone z Uszkami - beetroot soup with Mushroom dumplings

Makowiec - Poppy Seed Cake

Kompot - Smoked Fruit Cordial Wigilia is a meat-less celebration because people want to remember all the animals that kept Jesus warm when he was born. Fish is the main course.

Sharing of the oplatek (pronounced opwatek) is the most ancient and beloved of all Polish Christmas tradi-tions. Oplatek is a thin wafer made of flour and water, similar in taste to the hosts that are used for commun-ion during Mass. The Christmas wafer is shared before Wigilia, Christmas Eve supper.

Other traditions Traditional dress

National costumes of Poland (Polish: stroje ludowe) vary by re-gion. They are not worn in daily life but at folk festivals, folk weddings, religious holidays, harvest fes-tivals and other spe-cial occasions. In Krakow the wom-an's costume includes a white blouse, a vest that is embroidered and beaded on the front and back, a flo-ral full skirt, an apron, a red coral bead

necklace, and lace-up boots.

Traditional food

Pierogi (Polish dumplings)

Rosół (broth/ chicken soup)

Gołąbki (cabbage roll)

In this school Polish students: 5

Olivia and Romina

British Council Mandarin Speaking Competition

Six Y8 students put their linguistic skills to the test on Monday, 9 December, as they took part in the British Council’s annual Mandarin Speaking Competition. Now in its sixteenth year, the national competition aims to build interest in Chinese language and cul-ture. This year, pupils from 88 secondary schools across the UK took part in the regional heats. Those who progress to the final round will be in the running to win a fully-funded trip of a lifetime to China. Georgia Kelly (Y8), said: “The competition was such an enjoyable experience! To watch higher level Mandarin learners really in-spired me.” According to Pablo Paz-Cundy (Y8): “Once I got over my initial nerves, the competition was great fun and a good way to improve my Man-darin. Learning Mandarin is a new and interesting experience because it’s very different from Europe-an languages and culture.“ We are very proud of all the students who participat-ed and we look forward to having many more stu-dents who would like to take part next year.

#ModernForeignLanguages

#MOGO Auditions

After some gruelling auditions, congratulations to the following students who have made it through to the final of MOGOs 2020.

MOGO Act/Singer Mentor Name/Y11

Lily Clarke Nathan Whittaker

Tea Halls Oliver Smith

Darcy Champ Theo Potin-Sawada

Kitty Bevins-Martin Louis Vincet

Ashpriya Baryan Sophie Webb

Eliza Shaw Zacharia White

Issy Hayes Eugene Reggio

Minna Lipton Miyu Potin-Sawada

Tom Hardman Georgina Marx

Zahra Diouman Nayanika Jha

Darja Kulpo Joanna Abe

Layla Banarse Jake Wilson

Annabel Locherer Anastasia Savvari

Sophie Boyde Jimmy Davies

Clara Bing Lois Hunt

It’s not often that you get a sneak peek into the private life of a teacher. But I was fascinated to stumble upon a little gem that I would like to share with you. By now if you haven’t already recognised him from the photograph, let me introduce you to Mr Khan—one of our Science teachers. Sir, and his team, Smac 19, recently travelled to the States—San Diego, California– to be exact, to compete in a Break Dancing Competition. The event is equivalent to the Olympics of Breaking, and they qualified for the Top 32 in the world.

Kooth, from XenZone, is a free, safe and anony-mous online provider of mental health services for chil-dren, young people and adults, accessible through mo-bile, tablet and desktop.

Monday-Friday 12pm-10pm Saturday-Sunday 6pm-10pm For more information about XenZone, please visit XENZONE.COM.

If you’re a parent looking for more information about Kooth, please mail PARENTS@XENZONE.COM

Wellbeing

Ms Mercer, Director of Wellbeing

Our choir has been going from strength to strength this term and they have performed at a carol concert in Batter-sea, the OAP Christmas party and of course, the VPA Christ-mas concert. If anyone fancies joining in the New Year, choir practice is on Wednesday mornings from 8-8.40am in MUB and breakfast is provided. In case you weren’t aware, here are some of the less obvious benefits to singing:

Children singing cause the brain to perform multiple

tasks at once. This helps to develop memory. From remem-bering lyrics to remembering a cue to start singing, the brain learns to be able to handle more tasks that it is re-quired to perform simultaneously.

Children singing encourages deep breathing, getting

more oxygen to the brain.

Children singing gets the endorphins flowing in the

brain. This causes the body to feel good and increases the brains activity.

Singing can help to develop a child’s imagination and

creativity. Please see Ms Howell to find out more about the exciting things choir are doing next term.

Ms Hurley, Assistant Headteacher

Teaching & Learning

#SneakPeek

#Attendance

TOP WEEKLY ATTENDANCE For the period 2 to 6 December 2019

Year 7: 7 Elm 98.7% Year 8: 8 Oak 98.7% Year 9: 9 Beech 98.6% Year 10: 10 Oak 99.4% Year 11: 11 Oak 97.9%

#PANews

Lou, Amira, Michaela + the team

A few little reminders for the last bulletin of the year: DOUBLE DONATIONS with Easy Fundraising until 15 Decem-ber!! Don’t forget you can easily help raise money for the school this Christmas through www.easyfundraising.org.uk. Shop at all your usual outlets via easy fundraising and a per-centage of your spend will be donated to your chosen charity - why not Grey Court School!!? Go to easyfundraising.org.uk or download the App.

If you buy your Christmas tree from The Palm Centre they will donate 25% of the cost to Grey Court. The voucher can be found in the Notice Board section of this bulletin. And if you find yourselves with unwanted gifts this year please hang on to them and we will happily take them off your hands for future fund raising opportunities. Finally, we would like to wish you all a very Happy and restful Christmas and we look forward to sharing more PA news with you in 2020!

#Fundraising

Help us generate funds when you shop online. Whether it is the weekly grocery shop or more ad hoc purchases you can also help Grey Court without spending a single penny more. Here's how : Easy fundraising - here you can shop via all your usual online outlets but a percentage (typically around 1%) of the amount you have spent is donat-ed by those retailers to the charity of your choos-ing. Why not choose Grey Court?

Amazon Smile IF you use Amazon (in addition to supporting your local independent retailers, of course) then instead why not shop through www.smile.amazon.co.uk You browse and log-on in the same way but, for each purchase you make, Amazon will donate a portion to your nominated charity.

Ms Thomas, Director of Development

#SportsStag

The PE Department run a Sports’ Player, a Sports’ Team and a Sports’ Scholar Award of the month to recognise sporting talents. If your child achieves any outstanding sporting awards, please inform the PE Department.

#SportsWebsite&Twitter

All fixtures, team sheets and results can be accessed via the Sports Website click Sports Website

To access TEAM SHEETS you will need to enter a password. The password is: greycourtsports!

(including the explanation mark)

Click here to follow us on twitter

#SportsTimetable

#ExtracurricularTimetable

Click here

Click here

#Congratulations

In October, Charlotte Rae qualified for the finals of the Winter Comp at High Sports Brighton. The finals were held on 23 November and consisted of both bouldering and roped routes. Charlotte came 2nd in her category. On the 7 December, the second round of Blokfest (the leading bouldering festival in the south of Eng-land) held at Flashpoint Bristol, and Charlotte came 3rd. Well done Charlotte!

Congratulations to our boys who will be playing John Fisher in the Final on Thursday, 16 January 2020. Well done!

To sign up for Basketball, please visit the Knights Basketball website:

Friday morning Y7: http://knightsbasketball.co.uk/bookings/, Click on the Secondary School Session photograph, then go to the box in the right hand side of the page and go to page 3 and Y7 is the top op-tion. Click on Book Places and follow the instructions for payment.

Friday afternoons, Y8, Y9, Y10: http://knightsbasketball.co.uk/bookings/, click on the Secondary School Session photograph, then go to the box in the right hand side of the page and go to page 3 and Year 8, 9, 10 is the second option. Click on Book Places and follow the instructions for payment.

#Y7RugbyLeagueFestival

#KnightsBasketball

The Y7 boys’ team became Borough XC Champi-ons at Richmond Park on Friday, 22 November, with Bertie Thomas winning the event, Josh Har-wood-White coming 2nd, James Russell finishing in 7th and Leo Walton 11th. Bertie, Josh and James will now go through to represent Rich-mond in the Middlesex Finals. Well done to Elsie Hobson, who finished in 4th place in the Y7 girls race. She will also go on to represent Team Richmond at Harrow School in January 2020. The Y7 girls’ team came joint 3rd overall, with Rosie McDermott and Ruby Green-field finishing strongly. The Y8/Y9 boys’ team came 2nd overall, just los-ing out to Hampton boys by a few points. Felix Allen ran superbly finishing in third, so will also join the other students at Harrow in January. Luca Leutchens and Keir Tollan ran strongly too, finish-ing 12th and 18th respectively in Y8. The Y8/Y9 girls team finished in 3rd place overall, behind Harrodian and St Catherines. Nina Blazevic finished in 13th place, Bella Asghar 17th, Harriet Wiltshire 18th and Maddie Warren 19th. Huge congratulations to the Y10/Y11 girls XC team who also became Borough champi-ons beating 9 other schools to claim the overall title, including LEH and St Catherine’s. A special mention to our Y11 runners of Emilia Chittenden who came 3rd, Alix Baccardax who came 4th and Ella Walton who came 7th. All three girls will go onto represent Team Richmond in January too. In Y10, Lauren Hawkley finished in 12th and Lily Ab-bott in 13th. Our Y10/Y11 boys team came 2nd overall out of 14 schools, with Sam Nesbitt finishing in 5th (also qualifying to run for Team Richmond), Max Dick-son finishing 10th and Ollie Sossick finishing a creditable 12tth. Finally, Jack Dickson (Y12) and Eric Williams (Y 13) have also qualified to represent Team Richmond in January, finishing in 3rd and 6th place in the Y12/Y13 boys’ race.

#BoroughXCChampionships

Congratulations to our athletes! See the results below for this year’s cross country. Click here for the full list per year group. The Middlesex Schools’ Championships will be held on Thursday, 23 January.

Overall Boys Secondary

School Team Score

Hampton School 91

Grey Court 112

Orleans Park 228

Christs 406

Richmond Park Academy 417

Harrodian 517

Turing House 555

St Richard Reynolds 598

Overall Girls Secondary

School Team Score

Grey Court 157

St Catherines 175

Orleans Park 190

LEH 364

Waldegrave 227

Teddington 533

This is an exciting opportunity for young cricketers who attend a state school to receive free cricket coaching over the winter. MCC Foundation Hubs provide weekly, intensive coaching to sup-port the cricket development of both boys and girls in years 7 to 10. The programme is designed for players who show good cricket potential, are passionate about the game, willing to challenge themselves, and keen to improve their skills and knowledge. Nationally, the MCC Foundation op-erates 54 Hubs which provide high-quality coach-ing to almost 2,000 children at state schools. With a shared commitment to providing as many op-portunities as possible for local children to get involved in Cricket, MCC Community and Middle-sex Cricket are delivery partners of the MCC Foun-dation Hubs run across North and West London in 2019/20. There are 3 Hubs in North and West London for 2019/20, including: Lord’s - Girls (Year 7-10, commencing November 2019), Junior Boys (Year 7 & 8) and Senior Boys (Year 9 & 10) Hammersmith - Junior Boys (Years 7 & 8) and Sen-ior Boys (Year 9 & 10)Tottenham - Junior Boys (Years 7 & 8) Senior Boys (Year 9 & 10) Please note: All Boys Hubs commence in January 2019 We are delighted to extend this offer to any play-ers that you believe have the skills, passion and desire to benefit from this opportunity. To be eli-gible for a MCCF Hub, players must: *Attend a state secondary school *Be in Years 7 to Year 10 this school year *Not have been selected for a 2019/20 Winter County *Age Group squad Please see leaflets regarding all North and West London Hubs, and visit lords.org/mccflondonhubs for all information and to apply. For any questions about specific Hubs, please see contact details below: pete.jones@middlesexccc.com

#MCCFoundationHubs

#GirlsPlayerOfTheMonth #BoysPlayerOfTheMonth

The boys’ player of the month is Bertie Thomas. Bertie has made an excellent start to Grey Court and is an exceptional distance runner. He finished 5th in the ESAA Cross Country Cup Regional finals at St Albans which was superb considering he was competing against Y8 students as well. Bertie then followed that by winning the Y7 Borough Cross Country Championships at Richmond Park on Fri-day, 22 November. It was an excellent perfor-mance. Bertie is also a talented rugby player who is an im-portant member of our Y7 squad and was influen-tial in helping the team win the Borough Rugby League Competition. Well done Bertie!

Nina Blazevic, Y8

The girls’ player of the month is Nina Blazevic. Nina is an outstanding all-rounder, representing Grey Court in numerous sports. Nina recently ran in the Borough cross Country, where she was the 1st Grey Court girl, and 12th overall. She has played in the unbeaten U13 NBA Basketball team, as well as the unbeaten U14 team, who are now Borough Champions. She also plays in the netball and ten-nis teams. Out of school, Nina has recently started playing as post for the U13 Richmond Knights Team and training with the J13 rowing team at Kingston Rowing Club. Well done Nina on a fabulous first term in Y8.

Bertie Thomas, Y7

The girls’ team of the month is the Girls’ U16A Netball Team. The girls have worked extremely hard throughout their season. They were unbeaten in the league and in the final were down at half time 4-11, but worked hard to come back to a 13-12 win! Ms Shaw’s standout player was Ella Palmer in defence, who worked tirelessly throughout. In the national cup, they won their first game 56-3 and then came up against previous national final-ists Putney but sadly lost 55-22. A great experi-ence, against an extremely talented side. So far this year, they have scored 222 goals and conced-ed 163, winning 8 games and losing just 3. Well done girls on an excellent season!

#GirlsTeamOfTheMonth #BoysTeamOfTheMonth

The boys’ team of the month is the Y7 Boys’ Cross Country team.

The team consisted of Bertie Thomas, Joshua Har-wood-White, James Russell, Leo Walton Jeremy McCarthy and Harry Rust. The boys were extremely hard in training and were fully prepared and fo-cused for the Richmond Borough Cross Country Championships on 22 November. The top four places for each school counted to-wards the title and the team had fantastic results: Bertie Thomas: 1st Joshua Harwood-White: 2nd James Russell: 6th Leo Walton: 9th Jeremy McCarthy: 11th Harry Rust: 21st All boys ran superbly and our top four finishes ena-bled the team to be crowned Richmond Borough Champions. Well done boys!

Y7 Cross Country Team U16A Netball Team

#GirlsScholarOfTheMonth

Mia Kirkwood

The girls’ sports’ scholar of the month is Mia Kirk-wood. She has been excellent in lessons always keeping her booklet up to date. She has represented the school in the Y7 A Netball team and Cross Coun-try teams in November too. Well done Mia!

#BoysScholarOfTheMonth

Jakob Thompson

The boys’ sports’ scholar of the month is Jakob Thompson.

Jakob has had an excellent month both on the pitch and in the classroom. He contributes regu-larly to discussions in lessons and has shown fan-tastic leadership in both rugby and mixed netball during practical lessons. On the sports field, Jakob has scored goals and tries; bagging a hat trick against Ibstock and scor-ing a handful of tries in helping the U12 rugby team progress to be one of the top three teams at the Middlesex Rugby Festival. Although he is new to rugby, Jakob has taken naturally to captaining the team. His skills, vision and maturity have shone through and with con-tinued hard work, he will no doubt go on to get better and better. Well done on a brilliant month - keep it up, Jakob!

Q U I C K L I N K S Top tips for asthma suffers in cold weather A list of tip for asthma suffers when the weather gets cold Summer 2020 Exam Contingency Day Letter explaining the exam contingency day for the summer 2020 exams Activities at the Ham Youth Centre Lists free activities which are held at the Ham Youth Centre Grey Court Teaching School Lists upcoming events and information about the Grey Court Teaching School Grey Court School Menus Full list of meals which are served at Grey Court

Salutations from the weekly periodical of the school library. It is a compendium of current trends and interests forwarded by the students and staff of Grey Court.

The Book Stag

Edition

xii

Best Children’s Books of 2019 Then Good Thieves by Katherine Rundell FOYLES CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019

'An amazing adventure story, told with sparkling style and sleight of hand' JACQUELINE WILSON

'Rundell is the real deal, a writer of boundless gifts and extraordinary imaginative pow-er whose novels will be read, cherished and reread long after most so-called "serious" novels are forgotten' Observer

Vita set her jaw, and nodded at New York City in greeting, as a boxer greets an opponent before a fight. Fresh off the boat from England, Vita Marlowe has a job to do. Her beloved grandfather Jack has been cheated out of his home and possessions by a notorious conman with Mafia connections. Seeing Jack's spirit is broken, Vita is desperate to make him happy again, so she devises a plan to outwit his enemies and recover his home. She finds a young pickpocket, working the streets of the city. And, nearby, two boys with highly unusual skills and secrets of their own are about to be pulled into her lawless, death-defying plan. Katherine Rundell's fifth novel is a heist as never seen before - the story of a group of children who will do anything to right a wrong.

Deeplight by Frances Hardinege 'One of our finest storytellers' Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent 'Pure magic' M.R. Carey, author of The Girl With All the Gifts From Frances Hardinge, the Costa Award-winning author of The Lie Tree comes Deeplight - an underwater adventure as dangerous as the gods themselves . . .

The gods of the Myriad were as real as the coastlines and currents, and as merciless as the winds and whirlpools. Then one day they rose up and tore each other apart, killing many hun-dreds of islanders and changing the Myriad forever. On the jumbled streets of the Island of Lady's Crave live Hark and his best friend Jelt. They are scavengers: living off their wits, diving for relics of the gods, desperate for anything they can sell. But now there is something stirring beneath the waves, calling to someone brave enough to retrieve it. Something valuable. Something dangerous.

Nothing is quite as it seems, and when the waves try to claim Jelt, Hark will do anything to save him. Even if it means compromising not just who Jelt is, but what he is . . .

News

Crossfire by Malorie Blackman Nominated for the Costa Children's Book Award

'The Noughts & Crosses series are still my favourite books of all time and showed me just how amazing story-telling could be' STORMZY 'The most original book I've ever read' BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH

Years have passed since the love between Sephy - a Cross - and Callum - a Nought - de-stroyed their world and changed their families and society forever. Society appears to be very different now. For the first time ever, a Nought Prime Minister - Tobey Durbridge - is in power. Race and class don't divide people anymore. But things are never really that easy.

Because Tobey's just been framed for murder, and the only way to free himself is to turn to his oldest friend - Callie-Rose. Their families divisions run deep, and when two young people are kidnapped, their lives and every-thing they've fought for are put in the firing line. And when you're playing a game as dangerous as this one, it won't be long before someone gets caught in the crossfire... Crossfire is the long-awaited new novel in legendary author Malorie Blackman's ground-breaking Noughts & Crosses series.

The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman It is twenty years since the events of La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One unfolded and saw the baby Lyra Belacqua begin her life-changing journey.

It is almost ten years since readers left Lyra and the love of her young life, Will Parry, on a park bench in Oxford's Botanic Gardens at the end of the ground-breaking, bestselling His Dark Ma-terials sequence. Now, in The Secret Commonwealth, we meet Lyra Silvertongue. And she is no longer a child . . . The second volume of Philip Pullman's The Book of Dust sees Lyra, now twenty years old, and her daemon Pantalaimon, forced to navigate their relationship in a way they could never have imagined, and drawn into the complex and dangerous factions of a world that they had no idea existed. Pulled along on his own journey too is Malcolm; once a boy with a boat and a mission to save a baby from the flood, now a man with a strong sense of duty and a desire to do what is right.

Theirs is a world at once familiar and extraordinary, and they must travel far beyond the edges of Oxford, across Europe and into Asia, in search for what is lost - a city haunted by daemons, a secret at the heart of a desert, and the mystery of the elusive Dust.

The Secret Commonwealth is truly a book for our times; a powerful adventure and a thought-provoking look at what it is to understand yourself, to grow up and make sense of the world around you. This is storytelling at its very best from one of our greatest writers.

Chinglish by Sue Cheung As heard on Radio 4's Woman's Hour and BBC Breakfast TV

It is difficult trying to talk in our family cos: a) Grandparents don't speak English at all b) Mum hardly speaks any English c) Me, Bonny and Simon hardly speak Chinese d) Dad speaks Chinese and good English but doesn't like talking In other words, we all have to cobble together tiny bits of English and Chinese into a rubbish new language I call 'Chinglish'. It is very awkward.

Jo Kwan is a teenager growing up in 1980s Coventry with her annoying little sister, too-cool older brother, a series of very unlucky pets and utterly bonkers parents. But unlike the other kids at her new school or her posh cousins, Jo lives above her parents' Chinese takeaway. And things can be tough whether it's unruly cus-tomers or the snotty popular girls who bully Jo for being different. Even when she does find a BFF who actually likes Jo for herself, she still has to contend with her erratic dad's behaviour. All Jo dreams of is breaking free and forging a career as an artist.

Told in diary entries and doodles, Jo's brilliantly funny observations about life, family and char siu make for a sear-ingly honest portrayal of life on the other side of the takeaway counter.

Bon Vivant

A sociable person who has cultivated and refined tastes especially with

respect to food and drink

Fans of French cuisine won't be surprised to hear that the French language gave us a number of

words for those who enjoy good living and good eating. Gourmet, gourmand,

and gastronome come from French, as does bon vivant. In the late 17th century, English-speakers

borrowed this French phrase, which literally means "good liver." No, we don't mean liver, as in

the organ. We mean liver, as in "one who lives (in a specified way)"—in this case, "one who lives

well."

Word of the

Week

Book of the

Week

Five students go to detention. Only four leave alive. Yale hopeful Bronwyn has never publicly broken a rule. Sports star Cooper only knows what he's doing in the baseball diamond. Bad boy Nate is one misstep away from a life of crime. Prom queen Addy is holding together the cracks in her perfect life. And outsider Simon, creator of the notorious gossip app at Bayview High, won't ever talk about any of them again. He dies 24 hours before he could post their deepest secrets online. Investi-gators conclude it's no accident. All of them are suspects. Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you'll go to protect them. 'Tightly plotted and brilliantly written, with sharp, believable characters, this whodunit is utterly irresistible' - HEAT 'Twisty plotting, breakneck pacing and intriguing characterisation add up to an exciting single-sitting thrillerish treat' -THE GUARDIAN 'A fantastic murder mystery, packed with cryptic clues and countless plot twists. I could not put this book down' - THE SUN 'Pretty Little Liars meets The Breakfast Club' - ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

Karen M. McManus is the author of the New York Times and international bestselling young adult novels One of Us Is Lying and Two Can Keep a Se-cret. Her work has been translated into 40 languages worldwide. Karen lives in Massachusetts and holds a master's degree in Journalism from Northeastern University, which she mostly uses to draft fake news stories for her novels.

AR Stars of the

Week

To acknowledge the effort that year 7s & 8s put into their reading. This week

students have been picked because of they have earned the most points in

their classes.

Isabel Burrows

Thomas Bachour

Maja Hehir

Jack Verwaerde-Daniels

Oliver Engelbrecht

Christina Amm

Amaani Akbar-Qadri

Julia Ciasnocha

Samuel Asghar

Joseph Belfield

Vlad Colea

Burney Feng

Grace Hooper

Grace Ouvaroff

Libby Knowles

Zoya Ahmed

Agnes Radek

Teo Casolin

Noelle Kortram

Kieran Price

Joseph Abbott

Hareer Karimie

Armin Shiri Feshkis

Gethyen Frost

Filipe Carvalho

Joseph Harris

Pauline Pfister

Adam Soliman

Mariana Savvari

Lois Sullivan-Mayne

Amy Duffey

Lauren Jackson

Robert Gallagher

Alfred Perrin

Piper Lawler

Amelia Sinclair

Ava Webster

William Weston

Harichandran Whiston

Toprak Avci

James Fennell

Juliana Molaeb

Jessica Spiller

Ethan Bentley

Andrea Martuscelli

Lily Huddart

Gilbert Budden

Daniel Adams

Keir Tollan Madeleine Warren Henry Pidduck Erizels Ama

This Week in

History

13th December 1958 Monkey lost after space flight The search for a small bushy-tailed monkey fired into space in the nose cone of a Jupiter rocket has been called off. The squirrel monkey named Gor-do survived a 300-mile journey into space and then travelled more than 1,500 miles in the rocket until it dropped in the South Atlantic. A technical problem with the re-covery gear meant a parachute failed to open and the nose-cone sank taking Gordo with it. The US Army abandoned the search after six hours. Gordo's condition was monitored by the Pentagon, which said the monkey suffered no significant adverse physical effects during the time it was weightless.

14th December 1972 Last Moon mission returns The last manned space mis-sion to the Moon is on its way back to Earth, bringing to an end the US programme of lunar exploration. The two Apollo 17 astronauts, Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt, completed their third lunar walk after a short ceremony in which they bade farewell to the Moon and unveiled a small commemorative plaque at the Taurus-Littrow valley. On it was written, "Here man completed his first explora-tions of the Moon, December 1972." Eugene Cernan also read out loud the post-script: "May the spirit of peace in which we came be reflected in the lives of all mankind."

December 14th 1911: Roald Amundsen reaches the South Pole. Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his team became the first people to reach the South Pole.

December

Each month a list of ten fiction titles recommended by the staff and students of Grey Court will be shared through the schools E-Bulletin page. The novels will range from old to new and classical to contemporary and of course dystopian. You can also visit the School Library newsletter by clicking on the link at the bottom of the page and the Extended Reading List.

Potential Presents

Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi The sequel to Waterstones Children’s Book of the Year category winner Children of Blood and Bone, this is another thrilling adventure packed with cinematic set pieces and credible, involving characters. Yet, in its portrayal of race and civil war, there is real emotional and political depth here too.

The Secret Commonwealth: The Book of Dust Volume Two by Philip Pullman The Secret Commonwealth: The Book of Dust Volume Two, intertwines the stories of Lyra Silvertongue and Malcom Polstead as they face new and dangerous secrets. Journeying far from Oxford’s spires across the globe, this is an adventure like no other. A powerful story

about the truths that underpin our world, the divisions that lie between love and responsibility and what it truly means to grow up.

Toffee by Sarah Crossan The astonishing new novel from the incomparable, multi-award-winning and Laureate Sa-rah Crossan. I am not who I say I am. Marla isn't who she thinks she is. I am a girl trying to forget. Marla is a woman try-ing to remember. Allison has run away from home and with nowhere to live finds herself hiding out in the shed of what she thinks is an abandoned house. But the house isn't empty. An elderly woman named Marla, with dementia, lives there - and she mistakes Allison for an old friend from her past called Toffee. Allison is used to hiding who she really is, and trying to be what other people want her to be. And so, Toffee

is who she becomes. After all, it means she has a place to stay. There are worse places she could be. But as their bond grows, and Allison discovers how much Marla needs a real friend, she begins to ask herself -where is home? What is a fami-ly? And most importantly, who am I, really?

Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott, Mikki Daughtry, Tobias Iaconis Soon to be a major motion picture starring Cole Sprouse (Riverdale'sJughead) and Haley Lu Richardson (The Edge of Seventeen and Recovery Road)! In this moving story that's perfect for fans of John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, two teens fall in love with just one minor complication - they can't get within a few feet of each other without risking their lives.

Crossfire by Malorie Blackman Malorie Blackman’s Noughts and Crosses series was one of the foundational texts of the Young Adult litera-ture boom and now, over a decade after Double Cross, Sephy and Callum return in a blistering new novel that finds our protagonists all grown up but the dystopian world they inhabit still casting a shadow on their relationship. A mature, intelligent addition to a seminal sequence.

Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater The bestselling author of the Raven Cycle returns with the first of a brooding new sequence that explores the vexed space between reality and dreams. Driven by three compelling characters with their own com-plex chimerical relationships, Call Down the Hawk is suffused with dark glamour and thrilling storytelling.

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell Spawned by a starring role in Rowell’s Fangirl, the Simon Snow books have taken on a life of their own. Hip, funny and action packed, Wayward Son reveals what the Chosen One

did after winning the day in Carry On, and treats the reader to a rollicking trip through an American west complete with dragons and vampires.

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas Waterstones Children's Book Prize-winning author of The Hate U Give returns with a powerful story about hip hop, freedom of speech - and fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you. Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri's got massive shoes to fill. But when her first song goes viral for all the wrong reasons, Bri finds herself at the centre of controversy and portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. And with an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri no longer just wants to make it - she has to. Even if it means becoming the very thing the public has made her out to be.

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo From the author of The Poet X comes a sumptuous prose novel, perfect for fans of Angie Thomas' On the Come Up, Justin Reynolds' Opposite of Always and Nicola Yoon. Ever since she got pregnant, seventeen-year-old Emoni's life has been about making the tough decisions - doing what has to be done for her young daughter and her grandmother. Keeping her head down at school, trying not to get caught up with new boy Malachi. The one place she can let everything go is in the kitchen, where she has magical hands - whipping up extraordinary food beloved by everyone. Emoni wants to be a chef more than anything, but she knows it's pointless to pursue the impossible. There are rules she has to play by. And yet, once she starts cooking, and gets that fire on high, she sees that her drive to feed will feed her soul and dreams too. And anything is possible.

Deeplight by Frances Hardinge A magisterial maritime fantasy from the Costa Award-winning Frances Hardinge, Deeplight probes the treacherous undertow of obsession and greed. Wrapped tight in evocative prose and sinuous, slithering atmosphere, this is a marvel of construction and technique.

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Extended Reading List 2015-16

50 Books That Every Child Should Read By 16

Recommended Wider Reading Year 10 & 11