GILLINGHAM SCHOOL NEWSLETTER - DECEMBER 2017

The Deep South Comes To Gillingham

On the 14th November, we were privileged to welcome Eugene ‘Hideaway’ Bridges, an award-winning Blues musician, to Gillingham School to perform a concert.

Alongside this exciting event, 25 students got the opportunity to experience the Blues first-hand in a workshop. Students were treated to a comprehensive story of the development of Blues music, with some fantastic musical examples and interludes. We then had a jam session, in which students were taught the basic chords and had the opportunity to improvise and show their musical creativity. They even got the chance to sing their own Blues!

Our thanks go to Eugene and his infectious love of music, and to Hannah Sweet for organising such a fantastic event.

Mr Higgs

Rylands FarmOn Wednesdays, around 12 students get the school minibus to Rylands Farm in Holnest, on the outskirts of Sherborne. The students join groups and sit down to have warm drinks and toast before sitting down to do some written work.

Rylands Farm is a farm where students struggling at home or at school can go to and it is there to offer help and advice to kids who may need it. Most of the children who go like to be around animals because they find it calms them.

Some students do the City and Guilds qualification whilst the others do work sheets.

‘After we have done this work, we put on our PPE and start doing jobs with the animals - covering cows, sheep, donkeys, ducks and geese! Work varies from feeding and cleaning out the animals to helping the vet when he comes to visit. There is always a lot to do at the farm and the staff are always so friendly!’

‘I enjoy going to the farm because we get to spend the morning outside’ Year 9 Student

‘I enjoy spending time and interacting with other people and the animals’ Year 11 Student

‘I enjoy going to the farm because all the adults there are understanding and you can always talk to them, it’s also really relaxing being around the animals.’ Year 11 Student

Equestrian TeamA training session at the Dorset Showground was organised in half term for the equestrian squad by Sally Upshall, the team manager. Six riders and horses were taught by Jo Rimmer, a local event rider. At first the weather looked a little dull but the rain held off! It was great fun to all be together and everyone got a lot out of the morning learning lots from watching each other and listening to Jo.

Robyn Allard, Bertie Large, Lucy Peck, Rosie Fowler, Jennifer Bland, Alice Upshall and Camilla Cripps all came for the morning, although poor Camilla’s pony was not 100%, so she stayed on her feet and gave us all homemade cup cakes.

We jumped a round of show jumps, then had feed back and jumped a second round with a jump off section to give us experience of a competition format.

We can’t wait for our next competition, and hopefully after a winter of training with Jo, the Gillingham teams will be flying next year!

Year 9 Student

Well done to Maths Masters for coming 7th in Sumdog’s Dorset

Maths contest in November, with a score of 343!

Overall class scores are the aver-age number of correct answers out of the students in the class.

Rylea Osborne (7D) was the top student in the class, and came 17th in the Sumdog student

leader board with a score of 942 during the competition.

On Thursday 16th November, 60 Year 12 students spent the day at Southampton University.

Greeted by six student ambassadors, from across the various subjects available to study at the university, our students enjoyed an introductory talk on going to university by Dr Emma Thompson followed by a campus tour of the university.

After time to enjoy lunch in the student facilities, our students went to a taster lecture by Dr Becki Nash on Body Modification.

It was a fascinating lecture delivered in an animated manner that invited many questions from our students at the end!

Mrs Berry

Southampton University Trip

Go R.E.D, not BLUE!

Earlier in the term, we hosted Hannah Beecham who I met whilst running the Marathon de Sables. She founded a charity called R.E.D which stands for Run Every Day. She was inspired to start the movement after helping her mother combat depression through physical exercise. Hannah spoke to our Year 9 students about the value of physical exercise on their mental health.

The focus is on the month of January and this movement’s mantra is:DON’T FEEL BLUE IN JANUARY, GET R.E.D

Our Year 9 students are going to try and do some form of exercise during tutor period everyday in January.

If you and your family wish to sign up to this challenge, you can register for free here: http://www.runeverydayjanuary.com/

You can run, walk, skip or whatever exercise you fancy, each day, every day. You can choose to raise money for charity or not. There are no rules! It would be lovely to hear that some of our families and young people have signed up to this challenge.

Mr Lavis

ROCK LEGENDS(Less than 2 seconds)

Robert Keane George Longbond Isabel McConnellFreddie Hannigan

Matilda Ridge Ollie Adams

Aimee Coling Radha Patel

Jamie Coward

BLACK BELTS DECEMBER 2017

Leo ButterworthHarvey BarkessAngelica Duffin Jack Goddard

Trip to the Balenciaga Exhibition On 17th November, the Fashion and Textiles class visited the Balenciaga Exhibition at the V&A Museum in London. Here, they heard talks on ‘being a fashion designer,’ ‘being a costume designer’ and inspiring, interesting talks from environmentally conscious designers.

The Exhibition showcased iconic fashion designers who were inspired by Balenciaga including Givenchy and Paco Rabanne.

London-based designer Gareth Pugh works with modern materials such as PVC and rubber. His recent work is strongly influenced by Balenciaga’s strong silhouettes and abstract shaping.

CLIMBING NEWS

Emily Breese, Year 8, has recently completed 2 climbing competitions in the past few weeks.

She came first in the Under 14s at Red Spider in Fareham (Southern Area Competition) with a perfect score of 200 and in the following week, she travelled up to Oakwood Climbing Centre in Farnham where she qualified for the Semi-Finals in the Open Boulder Competition. She finished 14th overall and 4th as an U16.

A great experience as her first Semi - quite different in format with isolation, commentator, music and an audience!

Well done Emily!

On the Sunday, we put it all into practice with walks around the stunning scenery of Wareham Woods. The students were brilliant and had a lot of fun doing it, so having completed “Boot Camp” (almost literally) all are now looking forward to their practice expeditions next summer.42 Duke of Edinburgh Bronze

Award students and 13 volunteers had a lot of fun over the weekend of 18/19 November at Carey Outdoor Education Centre and Wareham Woods.

On the Saturday, we had training in how to safely cook with Trangias, planning menus, how to pack rucksacks, how to erect and strike tents (and still keep relatively dry!).

We also learned about hiking navigation including use of a map, compass, pacing, timing, safety procedures and country code. The students cooked their own meals on the Trangias and took part in Orienteering and team building games (including in the dark!)

Big thanks to Carey Outdoor Education Centre for the use of their facilities and the amazing cross-section of volunteers which included 6th formers, parents, teachers, and community volunteers.

Martin Flanagan

BRONZE BOOT CAMP

Fashion and Textiles A Level Fashion and Textiles was introduced as an A Level here at Gillingham at the start of the year and this exciting subject allows students to explore so many dimensions of the fashion and textiles industry as well as giving them the opportunity to explore 3D modelling, create customised patterns and find their own bespoke styles.

The first term sees our A Level Fashion and Textiles students creating individual briefs. They will then design and make their own tailor-made garments which will tackle a problem that is prominent in the fashion industry.

I had the chance to see the students at work and hear some of their favourite parts of the course so far and what they’re looking forward to in the year ahead. During the lesson, Mrs Beck explained that ‘students will need to understand how to make a pattern and garment from scratch’ and she highlighted the fundamental planning and preparations that are needed before jumping into creating the garment.

Miss Jackson

Annabelle, Jasmine, Tash and Poppy are all studying A Level Fashion and Textiles:

‘I’m creating a 1950s inspired ball-gown with the goal of incorporating the issue of body confidence and the industry quota of using the same models – I really enjoy the freedom of the course, it’s a lot different to other subjects.’ Annabelle – Annabelle is to have work experience with Sands Films, a well-established costumier and studio in London and she would like to study Costume Design after finishing A Levels.

‘I enjoy the construction, having an idea and then being able to make it – I’m making a 1960s style dress inspired by Mary Quant and I’m trying to promote the use of British materials and products.’ Poppy

‘I’m making a coat and using 100% wool to make it more natural. I enjoy that with the course, you can design and create something of your own, completely from scratch!’ Jasmine

‘The issue I’m tackling is to bring sales in Marks & Spencer up by appealing to a younger market – I am creating a 1950s inspired summer dress. I enjoy the pattern making and I am looking forward to creating the final project.’ Tash

Student joins NYO Inspire Programme Seamus Thresh (Year 12) has been given the exciting opportunity to join the National Youth Orchestra’s (NYO) Inspire Programme. The programme aims to provide young musicians the opportunity to experience more challenging repertoire in a range of different styles, and also to network with other skilled musicians looking to take their playing to a new level.

Seamus received the nomination to take part from the Dorset Youth Symphony Orchestra, after which he had to write an application outlining his current musical strengths and those areas he wishes to develop, and how the programme might help him achieve his goals.

Seamus says: “I am thrilled and looking forward to this marvellous opportunity”. The Music Department would like to congratulate Seamus on such a fantastic achievement – well done!

Mr Higgs

GCSE Geography

Trip to Bristol

On 29th November and 1st December, all the Year 11 Geographers took part in a sunny and chilly field trip to Bristol for their GCSE. The aim of the day was to compare the quality of life between Bedchester and the Floating Harbour redevelopment.

The students enjoyed the opportunity to spend the day in an up and coming urban environment that helped to contextualise their lesson based learning. Something memorable to help with exam success!

Miss Moore

Year 7 Science Club This month in Year 7 Science Club, the students have been combatting the winter chill by building their own papier-mache volcanoes and making them erupt using a special combination of hydrogen peroxide, fairy liquid and catalyst potassium iodide.

They also discovered how flammable methane gas can be by experimenting with the methane bubbles kit.

Mr Steel

CHRISTMAS CAROL CONCERT

Wednesday 13th December 7:30pm Multi-Purpose Hall

Performances from GYJO, Vocal Group, String Group, Concert Band, MAN Choir, and Orchestra in addition to readings, chamber music

and carol singing.

Tickets available from School Library.

The following Year 7 students have been sent certificates for outstanding

work in Maths Masters.

Ethan Crabb, Maximus Flynn, Zoe Hebditch, Danny Junge, Jack Ledbury, Josslyn Marshall, Mia Meeks, Rylea Osborne, Jamie White

Well Done!

Students from 8GB wanted to do something to support their community in the lead up to Christmas. They worked hard to think of a good cause and decided to invite Hannah Gibbons from Gillingham Foodbank to attend an assembly and explain the work done by the Trussel Trust.

Hannah explained that the Foodbank has supported over 1500 Gillingham families this year and the need is growing week by week. She explained that people who have managed well for years are now struggling to make ends meet as daily living costs increase, benefits are reduced and wages stay the same.

Hannah explained to the students that the foodbank helps everyone - from babies to pensioners and everyone in between. Hannah said that the people who need the help they provide are regular families, just like ours, and elderly people who live alone.

In response to the assembly, students got busy bringing in donations of food and invited the whole school to participate. After just 3 days, lots of food was gathered including Christmas puddings, mince pies, chocolate and other Christmassy treats that the Foodbank appreciates so much at this time of year.

‘It was really nice to feel like I was making a difference this Christmas’ Year 10 Student

This term I have been out riding in the British Showjumping Just For School League representing Gillingham School.

Currently I have won enough points to be in the Top 20 nationally in three height divisions on my two ponies. 80cm on Bo and 90cm/1m on Angel.

I have a few more competitions to ride before the Winter Championships in March and I am hopeful that I will be high enough on the leagues to qualify.

Year 9 Student

‘It’s so easy to forget that some people are struggling and that they might be our friends and our neighbours. I enjoyed going round the school and collecting the donations.’ Year 8 Student

‘I like helping people. It’s easy if you try. Everyone should help.’ Year 8 Student

Hannah thanked the students and their families who have so generously provided donations. She said, ‘Every little helps towards feeding those in crisis at the moment.’

The Foodbank takes donations everyday from Tuesday to Friday at their premises in The Old Library at the top of Station Road in Gillingham.

Ms Perren-Chant

Making a difference this Christmas with the Year 8 Foodbank

British Showjumping Just For School Leagues

Parents’ QuestionnairesThank you to all parents who completed the questionnaires at the recent ‘Meet the Headteacher’ evenings and the Year 7 ‘Meet the Tutor’ evening. All responses will be valuable in helping us review what we are doing.

The majority of the Year 7 questionnaire was based around the transition process from Primary School, and we were pleased to see that the responses were overwhelmingly positive about how the process was managed.Question % Agree or Strongly Agree My child was helped to settle in well when they started at the school.

97.7%

My child enjoys school. 98.8%Overall, I am happy with my child’s experience at Gillingham School.

99.2%

The response to the Year 7 ‘homework’ question was interesting, with 3% saying that not enough is set, 84% saying ‘about right’ and 13% ‘too much’.The following responses were from parents of students now in Years 8 -10:Question % Agree or Strongly AgreeMy child has made good progress. 96.1%Overall, I am happy with my child’s experience at Gillingham School.

96.2%

Thank you once again to everyone who responded to the questionnaires.

K. BarkerDeputy Headteacher

On Sunday 26th November, 9 students from Gillingham School, including myself, went to compete in the South West Schools Trampoline Competition in Taunton. We took three teams; one Girls U19 team and two in the U14s category.

We had to arrive in Taunton Leisure Centre at 11am, so we had plenty of time before our warm up at 12:15. Our warm up consisted of us having to choose between two trampolines on which we would like to compete on and then we practising both of our routines: our set and our vol.

Once our warm up was over, we were put in the order in which we would compete. Once we were in this order, the first person would go and sit in the middle of the trampoline; then a Marshall came over and told us we could start.

Once you came off the trampoline, the judges would put in their scores.

After everyone in our category had finished both of their routines, it was time for the ceremony. In the Girls U14 intermediate category, our two teams came first and second which was amazing!

The day as a whole was a brilliant experience and extremely fun.

Year 8 Student

South West Schools Trampolining

Year 7 and 8 Girls

Christmas Hockey

Tournament

31 Year 7 and 8 Girls played hockey to Christmas tunes on the evening of Wednesday 6th December.

The evening was finished off with hot chip butties!

Many thanks to the Senior Girls who helped organise and umpire.

Mrs Warren and Mrs Stockley

Hauser & Wirth Gallery Trip, BrutonOn Tuesday 7th November, Art and Photography students took a collective trip to Hauser & Wirth Gallery in Bruton.

Upon arrival, we received a talk from the Head of Education Debbie Hillyerd, who explained to us how the gallery aimed to educate the public in Art and a brief history of Hauser & Wirth. From here, we split into two groups.

Our initial task was to look at Rita Ackerman, who uses layers of green in her work, often with subtly hidden figures and symbols. We recreated this by sketching continuous line drawings of the people in our group, repeating this for each person until we had a layered image.

For our next endeavour, we used portraits by Ackerman as inspiration; we made our own interpretations through an assortment of fabrics and garments, relying on colour and shaping to reproduce her work.

After lunch, we looked at sculptures by Josephson, who had tried to encapsulate portraits within them. Our assignment here was to draw the room, including the sculptures within it, in a continuous line piece. We were told not to focus on detail, but to pay attention to the shaping and the angles of the room.

Following the previous activity, we looked at the artist’s interpretation of structure and how he contrasted the traditional approach of detailed architecture by creating rather simplistic sketches.

The next sculpture in the room was the basis for our next set of drawings - we set the simple architecture upon the sculpture which created a mini village within our work.

The gallery staff were really helpful and the trip itself was insightful. The tasks we performed helped us with our structure project; we thought less about detail and more about how different shapes can create an atmosphere and effect within our work; we will think about what we have learned here when we are adding into and improving our surface and structure projects.

Year 11 Student

The online resource has a Parents Section so that you can help your child/children use the site. To find out more, go to: https://www.gcsepod.com

If you would still like to contribute towards the cost of your child’s login, it is not too late. A voluntary contribution of £10 per child or £15 per family with more than one child at our school is what we originally requested.

A really big thanks to every family who contributed to the cost of buying GCSE Pod for our school community to use.

We have bought into this amazing online resource for the next four years. Over the next couple of months, starting with Year 11, we will be giving students their login details.

GCSE Pod is specific to each exam board and includes practice exam questions and short videos covering the key knowledge required in each subject.

There is an app for mobile phones which is free from ITunes or the Play Store on Android devices. Encourage your child/children to use this excellent resource to help improve their chances of improving their GCSE outcomes.

Mr Lavis

UK Senior Individual

Maths Challenge

Congratulations and well done to all the students who won certificates in the recent UK

Senior Maths Challenge.

Best in Year 13 was Ben Patterson with a score of 96!

Best in Year 12 was Gabriel Evans with a score of 92!

CERTIFICATE WINNERS-

YEAR 13 - GOLDBen Patterson

YEAR 13 – SILVER Max Wilson-Hebben, Oliver Harris, George Lacey, Arun

Steward, Lauren Hayes, William Boult, Dave Waddington,

Joseph Kelliher

YEAR 13 - BRONZE Matthew Wells, Zen Lucas-Divers, Harriet Lucas, Verity Cowell,

Krystian Lewandowski, Edward Munday

YEAR 12 – GOLDGabriel Evans

YEAR 12 – SILVERCharlotte Dean, Douglas Trimmer,

Kate Barfoot, Eden Simkins

YEAR 12 – BRONZEDaniel Wagner, Jason Cook, Matthew Ward, Jennifer Bland, David Simkins, Zamira Lucas-

Divers, Seamus Thresh

Duke of Edinburgh Frog Racing & Fundraising

Recently, the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme has lost all Government funding and because of this the Gillingham D of E has suffered heavily. So from this, we have created a group of young people - some involved with the D of E and some who are not participants - to raise funds for the scheme so that the costs of running the Open Award Centre will stay at an affordable, accessible price for all participants regardless of background.

On the 11th November, we raised over £800 by way of Frog Racing and sponsors from several local businesses. This was an evening fully enjoyed by all who attended and a huge well done must go to Mrs Berry, who won the title of Queen of the Frogs! This would not have been possible without the help of sponsors, the main sponsor being PR Electrical Services and also, the organisation from the enthusiastic and brilliant Mr Tony Baverstock.

As well as the Frog Racing, the Young Friends of Gillingham D of E also had a table at the Victoriana Fair on Saturday 2nd December. This was run by a few of our own and involved a raffle and a treasure map. This event helped us raise around £500.

‘Doing the raffle at the weekend and all of the different charity events with young friends allows us all to feel like a part of the community and although it’s sometimes very tiring, when you’re done, you really feel like you’ve helped in some way and spent your time well.’ Year 12 Student

In addition to fundraisers, we also have ‘purple collecting tins’ situated around the local area. These have raised over £400 so far.

We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed and supported us so far. Keep an eye out for more Young Friends Of events in the New Year!

Year 11 Student

Students organised a ‘raffle bin’ as part of the Victoriana Day

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Information & Tickets for School EventsFor any of our events, contact the School Library,

01747 833844 or capub@gillingham-dorset.co.uk

School Library ShopFORGOTTEN SOMETHING?

PEN RUN OUT?

NO PROBLEM - COME AND SEE US AT THE LIBRARY SHOP!

WE STOCK:Stationery - including pens, pencils, rubbers

Glue sticksGeometry sets and calculators- a must for maths!

Protractors & rulersBook covers - A4 & A5

Art sketch books - various sizesArt portfolios

Photography books (black pages)Memory sticks

Pocket dictionaries

ALSO AVAILABLE:

School tiesSchool blazer badges

Sports socks

Exam Clear Pencil Cases ONLY £1.00

including a compass, pencil, ruler, rubber and protractor.

EVENTS DIARY - December

13th December - Christmas Carol Concert, Multi-Purpose Hall, 7:30pm 15th December - Charity Christmas Jumper Day - bring a £1 to wear a jumper!

OthelloWilliam Shakespeare

Gillingham School Main Hall - Wednesday 31st January, Thursday 1st & Friday 2nd FebruaryTickets 01747 833844 capub@gillingham-dorset.co.uk

GILLINGHAM SCHOOL PRESENTS

Headteacher P Nicholson BEdDeputy Headteachers K Barker BSc, M Lavis BSc, S Turnbull MA

Hardings Lane, Gillingham, Dorset, SP8 4QP Tel: 01747 822222Email: office@gillingham-dorset.co.uk Fax: 01747 825263www.gillingham-dorset.co.uk

Gillingham School1516-2016