Newsletter

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December 2019

Dear Parents

As we move towards the end of another term I want to thank all staff and students for their continued hard work throughout a very busy term.

Our recent school Christmas carol concert was a great success and I hope all our students enjoyed performing in the concert. My thanks to Ms Sayers, Mr Moore, Miss Orton, Mrs Knell, Mr Beech, Mr Mitchell, Miss Eccleston and our Music Prefects (Ellie Nixon and Owen Excell) for all their help and support in making the evening so enjoyable. There have also been a number of student visits and trips including Year 10 work experience day, as well as our annual Year 9 trip to the Christmas market in Aachen, to name but a few of the many activities that have taken place this term. My thanks to all staff, students and parents for their support for the many activities that have taken place outside the classroom this term.

I am delighted to report that our new building at the IN site arrived on schedule and some photographs are included below. We hope the project will be completed by the end of the February half term break, when we will take possession of a new Design Technology Studio as well as a Food Technology room.

As you will be aware from a recent email we have been working with KCC and KIER to scope the much needed new Teaching and Learning Block on the main site that will replace the annexe.

In the New Year we will begin detailed discussions on the extension to our Science Block where we will acquire four new Science Laboratories and I will continue to update parents/carers as and when information becomes available.

In the mean-time as 2019 draws to a close I wish all students, staff and parents/carers a very Happy Christmas and best wishes for 2020.

Mrs E Wilson Headteacher

At the end of this term we bid farewell to Miss Titchener who has been working with colleagues in Modern Foreign Languages and we thank her most sincerely for her hard work and support and wish her will for the future.

After Christmas we welcome Ms Murday to the school as she joins the Modern Foreign Languages team.

In Science we have been pleased to welcome Mrs Capewell as a Science Technician and hope she enjoys her new post at our school.

New Build at the IN site

Creative Christmas Cakes (see inside for more!)

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Orchestras For All Modulo Programme We are lucky enough to have been accepted onto the Modulo Programme for 2019-20. This involves our orchestra, Stay Tuned, working on a set of four specially arranged prescribed pieces during the year. As participants of the Modulo Programme, we are going to be treated to a rehearsal at school led by a professional player from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in March. In addition, ten members of Stay Tuned will travel to London in March and July to take part in the regional and national meetings at which they will experience working on and performing the prescribed pieces, alongside other schools in the South East. This is an exciting time for our school orchestra and we will report on our progress in the next newsletter.

Ms Sayers

Subject Leader of Music

Christmas Concert The Music department held the Christmas Concert on Tuesday 3rd December and featured sixty students from across all year groups. The standard of music performed was very high and was enjoyed by a large and very supportive audience. All of our regular clubs performed a number of pieces ranging from Winter from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons to High Hopes by Panic! At The Disco. Well done to every student in the following clubs: Boomwhackers, Glee, Guitar Ensemble, Harmonize (choir), Stay Tuned (orchestra), Violin Ensemble and the Voice in a Million Choir. In addition, well done to the soloists: Alice Chan (Year 8), Hannah Runting (Year 12), Owen Excell (Year 13) and Ellie Nixon (Year 13).

We are in full swing with weekly rehearsals for next year’s VIAM event at Wembley Arena. The Choir have now learnt five of the thirteen songs and the dance moves are coming along nicely. All members need to remember to attend rehearsals in the New Year in order to know the pieces and moves by heart in time for the event in March.

Christmas

Sing-along At the time of writing, our

staff band and choir are busy preparing for a charity

Christmas sing-along event at the end of term. All

proceeds will go to Crisis At Christmas.

Synchordia Schools Christmas Concert On Friday 6th December,

pupils from a selection of primary and secondary schools

joined with a local orchestra, Synchordia, to perform in

it’s first ever Schools Christmas Concert.

Three instrumentalists from

our school participated as

members of the orchestra

and four of our students

joined the choir, performing

a joint vocal piece with

Gravesend Grammar School.

It was a wonderful evening

of music. Well done to all

of the performers.

GERMAN DAY AT BRONTE

SCHOOL

As one of the few schools in the area offering the study of German at secondary level, we are keen to support our local primary schools in their own teaching of this language.

On 30th October, the Bronte School delivered a German Day to their junior students and our Year 12 and Year 13 students of German lent their experience and expertise to help make this day a success. Activities included decorating Christmas cookies, learning about the geography of Germany, and playing German board games. Annie Lane (13ANN) reported that the day was clearly a lot of fun for the children and they learnt a lot. Maha Amer (13SBS) had the follow-ing to say: “a parent of one of the children came in to talk about German festivals and traditions. This is actually one of our topics for A Level and so this was a valuable experience for all”.

We are very proud of our A Level students for their positive contribution to the local community.

The Modern Languages Coordinator at Bronte School had high praise for them, stating that they clearly love languages, that they worked so enthusiastically with the children and that the activities would not have been possible without them. Toll gemacht, Klasse 12 und Klasse 13.

Mr Lobo, Subject Co-ordinator of German

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Our school took part

in a mock general

election on the same day as the country

headed to the polls. Students were invited

to vote in our school polling station during

their break and lunch

time. A significant number of students

turned out to vote for the different candi-

dates for Gravesham. The students conducted themselves in an impressive manner, with thoughtful discussions on

the key issues on their way into vote and continued to

debate the merits of their choices as they left the polling

station.

The Labour Party was

returned with a signifi-

cant majority, securing a 55% share of the vote

(Conservatives 23%, Green Party 14% and the

Liberal Democrats 8%). The A-level politics students will continue to analyse the results

and consider the relevance to their studies of

politics. A huge thanks must go to the politics teachers

and students for facilitating the election and counting the votes and to all of the students for

their thoughtful participation which made this

an easy election to organise and manage.

Mr Valentine, Subject Leader of History & Politics

Year 9 Mandarin Intensive Day

On Friday 6th December, the Year 9 Mandarin students have enjoyed their first Mandarin Intensive Day of this academic year. On the day, Ms Lin led an introductory session on the GCSE speaking tasks. Ms Yang led a listening and reading practice session with authentic language materials, and organised students on a group project on the bubble tea culture. The Year 9 students have made their own bubble tea, with tapioca pearls! Finally, the Year 8 and Year 9 Mandarin students had a joint teaching session on the Friday after school. They’ve taught each other interesting linguistic and cultural points, and clearly enjoyed their time together!

Year 9 Mandarin students making bubble tea

Visit to our School

On 7th November, a Chinese delegation of

educators and researchers visited Mayfield to learn

more about the British education system. Mrs Kemp

delivered a presentation on the history of the school

and responded to questions from the visitors. Year 8

Mandarin students then gave them a tour of the

school. They showered us with gifts and thanks.

On Monday 9th December, six Mandarin students from Year 8 and Year 9 put their linguistic skills to the test as they took part in the British Council’s annual Mandarin Speaking Competition.

Now in its sixteenth year, the national competition aims to build inter-est in Chinese language and culture. Since 2003, around 3,000 young people from across the UK have entered the competition – with some of these pupils later going on to graduate in Mandarin Chinese. This year, pupils from 88 secondary schools (both independent and state schools) across the UK competed in regional heats held in Belfast, Glasgow and London. Our school proudly has Aleena Murphy (8C), Freya Burton (8C), Esther Olowoyeye (8C), Jadwiga Kaminska (8W), Polly Akehurst (9L), and Elena Lloyd (9R) who entered the competition. In the Individual section, Aleena gave a short presentation in Mandarin, answered questions from the judges, and translate sentences from English into Mandarin. In the Group Performance section, Polly, Elena, Freya, Jadwiga and Esther performed a piece of drama in Mandarin, involv-ing imaginative performances and drama. This competition allowed our pupils to show off the hard work and effort they have put into learning Mandarin. This is what they said:

“It was very eye opening and I enjoyed watching other students competing”. (Esther Olowoyeye, 8C) “It was a very exciting experience and I would definitely recommend it”. (Polly Akehurst, 9L) “It was an amazing experience that helped me to understand and improve my mandarin”. (Elena Lloyd, 9R) “The competition, though stressful and nerve-wracking, encouraged us to develop both as people and as friends. We learnt to encourage each other further and improve our Mandarin abilities. We learnt so much and I am so proud of how far we have come”. (Aleena Murphy, 8C) “Everyone learnt new words and we all had a fun time listening to others”. (Jadwiga Kaminska, 8W) “This competition helped us to learn new words and become more fluent in the Chinese language as we learnt new sentences and listened to others talking”. (Freya Burton, 8C) Well done to you all!

British Council Speaking Competition

Mock General Election

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Have you ever seen 100 children dressed as Einstein? Well we have…

On the 11th October, myself and other Science Officials

(Hanna Arro, Hope Farquhar, Abigail Lockwood, Fabienne Onyema, Mithunaka Pakeerathan, Simrit Sahota and Lidya Seabright) collaborated

with students from Gravesend Grammar School to hold a Mad Scientist Day for St Joseph’s Convent Preparatory School. All of the kids came dressed up as scientists - with lab coats, test tubes, crazy hair and all! We set up several stations, along which the children were eager to work their way around and experience different experiments, each getting more exciting than the next. On the first station there was lava lamp making, based on the repulsive nature of oil and water. Here, the kids got to take home their very own colourful lava lamp and left us with the

gift of cleaning up after them! We also had a pH testing station, where the children gaped in awe at Miss Yeong’s thrilling rainbow fizz display to demonstrate how universal indicator

works, using acids and bases. Then they were able to play detective, using litmus paper to identify whether certain solutions were acidic, neutral or alkaline. Finally, the children were able to make their own handmade rockets at the last station, which soon became a competition of whose could get the furthest!

The kids also got to witness skulls, fire and bones with Gravesend Grammar School (but, of course, our experiments were better). The day ended as a success and we got a great reaction from the children, who were absorbed in every second of the experience. Not only was it a blast, but the children got to learn more about science and how it can be found in every aspect of life. We hope that this day sparked more of the children’s curiosity in science and, in the future, some of their scientist costumes can become the uniform they wear to work.

Mia Perrott, Year 13 Chemistry Prefect

Year 10 & 11 Year 10 students need to bring in details of where they are going on 9th December, “Take Your Daughter to Work Day”, and Year 11 students should be sorting out their work experience for the week commencing 29th June 2020. This information needs to come in by the 28th February at the latest, so we have time to conduct any necessary Health and Safety checks. Work place visits and experience are a cruc ial part of education for life and employment. Students gain a tremendous amount from this part of their curriculum. Parents letters and forms are on the school website under ”Parents”, “Letters”. Careers Interviews for Year 11 have continued into this term. These are designed to support students as they begin to think about their 6th form options and the various pathways open to them. Students should read through their action plans and start to research their options.

Year 12 We heard feedback presentations in September from Year 12 Work Experience and it was evident that it had been a great experience for the students; something to enhance CVs and university applications. Students should continue to think about gaining experience during the 6th form, particularly if they intend to go into areas such as Medicine, Veterinary medicine, Healthcare, Law, Engineering or Teaching as it is a requirement for admission onto some Higher Education courses. If in doubt students should come and see Miss Johnson.

Year 13 We have provided all Year 13 students with the opportunity of a Mock Interview. Students provide a CV and letter to two external professionals who interview them and give them feedback on their interview presentation and the effectiveness of their CV. These took place in the evenings after school during October and November. For the students, having outside interviewers comment on their presentation and performance is really useful practice for future interviews for both University and Degree Apprenticeships. Students should be finalising their UCAS applications and Personal Statements in order for form tutors to provide references. Those students who applied before the 15th October deadline for Oxbridge and Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary courses are already beginning to receive offers and invitations for interview.

In keeping with our commitment to provide students with outstanding careers guidance and tailored support when choosing their next step after school, we will now be using Unifrog; an award-winning, online careers platform. All students in Years 7- 13 now have access to this excellent website. Unifrog brings into one place every undergraduate

university course, apprenticeship, and college course in the UK, as well as other opportunities, such as School Leaver Programmes, MOOCs and every college option at Oxford and Cambridge. This makes it easy for students to compare and choose the best university c ourses, apprenticeships or further education courses for them. They can also explore exciting opportunities further afield by looking at English taught undergraduate programmes available in Europe and the USA. Students can use Unifrog to explore different career areas based on interests and aspirations; they are also able to record any Careers related activities they have undertaken, as well as keep a record of key competencies that they are developing towards study at University or progression into the workplace. In the first instance we are encouraging all Year groups to complete their Personality Profile and start to look into Careers that they could be suited to based on their personality type.

Miss Johnson, Careers Leader

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My Future Ambitions

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the context of their character” – Martin Luther King Jr.

I think we all long for an ambition as honourable as this. Perhaps many of us already have one. However, the power behind MLK’s famous speech lies in the fact that his words were supported, by his actions and ambitions. The rarity of it lies in the impact that he, as an individual created. People can march to the White House, protest on top of trains and scream and shout as much as they like. But yet t he real goal remains uncovering the secrets to being listened to, acknowledged. As Gandhi once said “In a gentle way, you can shake the world”.

Unfortunately, just when issues across the world began getting resolved, we started going backwards again. For example, on the 26th June 2015, same-sex marriage became legal in America. Yet barely six months into Donald Trump ’s presidency, LGBT+ rights took a step back-wards when he banned transgender people from the military on the 26th July 2017.

In a world that constantly contradicts itself, how are young people meant to be optimistic about their future? How are they meant to have ambitions? I’ve been told that I’m lucky to be living in the safest time in all of history. But, I ’m here struggling to understand how facing the threats of knife crimes, terrorist attacks, nuclear weapons, climate change, poverty, NHS failure, and the Pandora ’s Box that is Brexit, make me lucky?

I remember around the time of all the terrorist attacks back in 2017, many people were scared, and the amount of people going into Eng-land’s capital understandably decreased. However, my Dad (who already works in London) decided he would take my sisters and me into the city every few weekends. I was afraid, and asked him why on earth he wanted to go there if it ’s dangerous. He told me “they are doing these attacks to inflict terror. If we are too scared to go to our own city, then they’ll get what they wanted”. At the time, I still couldn’t under-stand why he wanted us to go to London, but over that year I saw memorials, fundraisers and volunteers supporting the families affected. I saw a community of people from all backgrounds coming together, and showing the world they will stand again.

I suppose my ambition could be to live in a world where people feel safe. Although I don ’t necessarily know how to do that, we can all do something to try. There is so much beauty in the world that we have an unhelpful tendency to ignore. For example, the feeli ng you get as you listen to a gentle singing voice dance its way through lyrics of a song; or that precise moment when the falling sun decorates the sky with purple and pinks. Or the details of someone’s eyes you can only truly see once you have been staring into them for slightly too long. These are my ambitions. These little features of life. I can’t make the world perfect, for now all I can do is change my perspective a little.

Libby Broadfoot 11C

Remembrance Poem Together we stood in Flanders Fields, Surrounding those who were brutally killed. Here we grow from the ground, Though the gun-fire did, we don’t make a sound. We rise upon the soldiers’ graves, Always thanking them for being brave. Here we are so soundly and so still, But we are not emotionless, As we have seen people kill. Forever our structure has signified, The remembrance for all those who fought but died. Thank you soldiers for all you tried, By the red we will always symbolise, Our sorrow for those who could have survived.

Simran Sandhu 8W

Remembrance The Australian soldier, grows not old, the flame still lights his eyes, Although his body lays to rest, his flag forever flies. On the green and gold horizon where the poppies sweep and sway It flies amongst the gardens and the classrooms of today. It defines a life worth living and a day that must be won, For every father’s daughter and for every mother’s son. Bur more than that, the honour claimed in fighting for the free, The pride Australian soldier burns in you and me. With a smile that lights the future shining brightly in our scope We will stand as one, together, we will carry on with hope. Evania Cerena-Gibbs 8W

Major A straight row of medals lay on his chest, A paper poppy intricately tucked in his breast pocket, As well as his neatly pressed suit, he wore pride, pride for his people, His footsteps drowned out by the deafening silence, The flag bearer lay the English emblem to the ground, The metallic sound of the last post ripples through the stillness, From sunrise to sunset the Major fought, his shift is over now, For this nation he has held the torch high, Now, his duty is over, in peace, he can die. Matilda Osborne 8W

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