Telephone: 01392 273679 Fax: 01392 498144 E-mail: headmaster@exeterschool.org.uk Victoria Park Road
Headmaster: Mr R Griffin MA (Oxon)
Exeter, Devon
EX2 4NS
March 2007
Dear Parents,
Thank you very much for your continued strong support of so much that goes on at the school. I hope that this newsletter will update you about the term's events and successes. Please also visit our web site at www.exeterschool.org.uk for regular news during the term.
ACADEMIC
We received twelve Oxbridge offers this year:
OXFORD
Matt Betney Engineering (Lady Margaret Hall)
Amelia Davies Medicine (St Hugh's)
Ed Grieg-Gran Engineering (St Hugh's)
Sophie Harris English (Lady Margaret Hall)
James Hopkins Engineering (Christ Church)
Sam Moreton PPE (St Peter's)
Jack Renninson Engineering (St Catherine's)
Adam West Chemistry
CAMBRIDGE
Richard Liversidge Land Economy (St Catharine's)
Oliver Reinhold Architecture (Jesus)
Toby Vernon History of Art (Trinity)
MATHEMATICAL CHALLENGE
In the recent UKMT Intermediate Mathematical Challenge, there were 21 Gold awards, 36 Silver and 43 Bronze from pupils in U5, M5 and L5. Various top performers have qualified for the forthcoming Grey and Pink Kangaroo, Cayley, Hamilton and Maclaurin competitions for the highest achievers nationally. Max Taylor was classed "Best in School" and the other U5 gold winners were Claire Harrill, Hannah Partridge, Freya Young, Gabe Dupre, Ben Eccles, Sam Clarke, Stuart Hoddinott, Olivia Hampsher-Monk, Josh Johnson, Leela Arshi and Andrew Melzer. The top scorer in the M5 was Ben Glover and his fellow Gold award winners were Jacob Ayres, Matthew Phillips, Charlie Taverner, Tom Cherrett, and Adam Jackson. Michael Dawson topped the L5 and his fellow Gold award winners were Ali Omari and Bethany Partridge.
A team of U5 mathematicians finished third in the recent Mathematics Challenge at Taunton School.
CROSSING CLUB
On Tuesday 23 January, Professor John Dupré, Director, ESRC Centre for Genomics in Society, University of Exeter addressed the Crossing Club about the issues for society that our scientific unravelling of the genome will bring.
On Monday 5 Feb the Crossing Club met to hear poet Mr Lawrence Sail, who managed to get an audience of 70 writing as well as reading some of his own poems, discussing definitions of poetry, answering questions and giving wise advice to aspiring writers.
The club was addressed by Dr Ed Hawkins OE on Thursday 15 March on the subject of his research career and related academic matters. He then spoke to a large audience of pupils, staff and parents in the evening on the topic of climate change.
MEDICAL SOCIETY
The new committee has chosen, invited and run five meetings with between 16 and 25 pupils attending each. Speakers have included Dr Neil Smallwood (occupational health), Dr Bev Hopwood (anaesthetics), Commander Anthony Dew (medicine in the marines) and Mr Jim Gilbert (Medical ethics). It has been particularly encouraging to see a growing number of pupils from the 3rd to U5 form attending. 20 aspiring Sixth Form medics and Scientists went to the Peninsula Medical School conference "Men in White Coats II" on 12 March.
PHYSICS OLYMPIAD
The following Sixth Formers won prizes in the Physics Olympiad: Bronze 1: Ed Grieg-Gran. Bronze 2: Oliver Mattos, James Hopkins, David Chapman, Thomas Purkis, Chris Bishop, Matthew Betney, Thomas Burchell and Amelia Davies. Commendation: Thomas Pidgeon
PAPERCLIP PHYSICS
Our team of Signe Hulbert, Lizzie Tolson, Kristina Pill, Will Blackshaw and Seb Helliar won the local round of the PaperClip Physics Challenge, held at school on 3 March. They competed in the SW regional final, held at the Met Office on 21 March and finished third in the region.
LAWRENCE SAIL POETRY PRIZE
The winners were Matthew Watson for his poem 'Them that Fly' and Leela Arshi for 'A Journey through India'. The following were highly commended. Deborah Bazeley ('The Death Ensemble I have Hummed'), Matthew Turner ('A Day in the Life of a Tesco's Worker') and Hannah Partridge ('Another Forgotten Hero').
Poems by each of the following M5 pupils appear in an anthology entitled "Away With Words" (Devon): Michael Walker, Charlie Houlden, Rob Buckler, Lily Davies, Dom McLennan, Georgie Rait, Chris Ripper, Ewan Harvey, Brendan Challenger Mills, Jamie Rowe, Jack Niven, Rob McLaverty, Katherine Bush, Joe Hitchcock, Richard Maddock, Izzy Tilley, Brittany Harris, Connor Armitage Lowe and Andrew Lines.
ARTS
MUSIC
The Associated Board music examination results were pleasing, with 4 Distinctions, 16 Merits and 28 Passes. Hannah Partridge attained a distinction in Grade 8 Singing from Trinity College of Music.
Hannah Partridge is now a member of the Training Choir of the National Youth Choir of Great Britain. Bethany Partridge is a member of the Southern Girls' Choir of Great
Britain. These are the highest sections for which they are eligible at their age.
Tom Grennan-Cruise recently won four trophies and six commendations at the Saltash Music Festival
17 of our senior musicians attended a highly-rated Haydn lecture and concert at the Wigmore Hall.
At the Informal Piano Concert fifteen pupils played music ranging from Scott Joplin to Chopin. Tom Leger and Tom Burchell were two of the senior stars of the event. Ollie Stephenson was particularly impressive in a performance of a difficult Bach Prelude.
At the Informal Woodwind Concert fourteen pupils took part. Chris Thomas played with real attention to detail. Tom Grennan-Cruise produced a stylish performance of a jazz piece. Perhaps the highlight was a flute duet played by Katie Symons and Amy Glover. This was their GCSE ensemble piece and their audience was very impressed.
The Choral Society's performance of Karl Jenkins' The Armed Man and John Rutter's Gloria in Exeter Cathedral was extremely well received by a full audience, including the Lord Bishop and his wife and the Lord and Lady Mayoress. A choir of over 250 pupils, parents, school staff and friends was accompanied by an orchestra of professional musicians and several leading pupils. Warmest congratulations to Dr Foxall and all involved! The concert was dedicated to the memory of former Chair of Governors Keith Mackay.
DRAMA
The Middle School play, "Arabian Nights", delighted three audiences. Miss Stevens' cast and crew did themselves proud in a most ambitious production. Rowena Caine and Ewan Harvey led the action well as the crafty Scheherazade and her wicked husband; the 40 thieves, led by Michael Haughton, were memorable for their charming ferocity; the little beggar, Natalie Filor, and the young adventurer Freddy Eggleton showed great promise; Bevis Bowles-Bray was a suitably confused party animal; genies Seb Sutcliffe and Tyler Wootton were appropriately comical and menacing; Lucy James was a glitzy princess; Gaby Smallwood and Alice Tolson were murderously alluring dancers; Jon Schranz made another comic impact; Austin Robison was a splendid birdman and Lily Davies was a convincing old crone! There were countless others who played various roles: the Lines twins seemed to appear just about everywhere in different guises. Special mention must go to Emily Chamberlain for dancing through three performances with a broken toe and to Anna Ripper for expertly covering Henry Cowling's role on Saturday at zero notice. Many staff made telling contributions behind the scenes.
The well-attended GCSE drama productions were polished and entertaining: there were impressive performances from the duos of Charles Pidgeon and Sean Ford, Felicity Clarke and Hope Ritchie and the four story-telling friends Lucy Greenberry, Charley Gould-Smith, Claire Harrill and Olivia Hampsher-Monk.
SPORT
CANOEING
L6 kayakers Sam Freeman and Tom Sharpe were selected by the Youth Sport Trust to join the inaugural National Talent Orientation Camp at Loughborough University in January. They received specialist advice and mentoring, attending workshops with other leading young athletes and will work with Olympians and other coaches.
A number of Wednesday and weekend Upper Dart trips have provided good training for the Peru expedition team. Other memorable trips were a low-water descent of the Erme gorge and kayak surfing at Bantham.
Off the water . the 14-strong Peru team, under the enthusiastic leadership of Mrs Hinds, has raised over £2500 since November.
CROSS COUNTRY
In the Exmouth Cliff race on Wednesday 14 March, 5 schools and 45 runners ran between Exmouth and Budleigh. Sam Freeman came 3rd, David Bird was 5th and James Harris was 17th.
FENCING
Joe Bonner, Will Cummings, Andrew and Tom Lines, Freya Young and Tom Hall entered the Public Schools' Fencing Championships in London from Monday 19-Wednesday 21 March. Will Cummings fenced well in the Senior Boys' Epée competition and was narrowly defeated in an exciting contest at the last 16 stage. Tom Hall performed impressively in the Mount-Haes Foil, winning every contest in the opening two qualifying rounds and reached the last 32.
FOOTBALL
The U18 team has followed up a promising Autumn Term with a successful Spring Term. The only defeat this term was away at King's Taunton, when the team was seriously depleted. They had fairly comfortable victories against Wellington and Shebbear. The best performance came in the 2-1 victory at Colyton Grammar School. Results have definitely exceeded expectations and this has been primarily due to a superb team ethos. There have been a number of very consistent performers, including Gary Chappell in goal, captain Dave Chapman at the back and Neil Broadbent in midfield. The outstanding individual talent has been George Magee.
|
P |
W |
D |
L | |
| U18A |
9 |
6 |
1 |
2 |
GOLF
Harrison Greenberry has been invited to join the Devon Junior Golf Squad: this has only twelve members and is selected from all the U18 players in the county! This is, therefore, a considerable achievement. His sister Lucy is already in the girls' equivalent squad.
BOYS' HOCKEY
Mr Rodgers accompanied the GB U20 Women's Team as Head Coach for the first part of term, winning the Gold medal in the Australian Youth Olympics, but was ably replaced by Mr Skinner, OE and ex Junior School teacher. Mr Davis also coached admirably in his absence.
Ably led by Mike Keough, the 1st X1 has played very well this year, some impressive wins, but unfortunately they were knocked out of the Devon Cup by a strong Exeter College side in December. The team enjoyed its annual trip to the Bath Hockey Festival, winning three matches and drawing one. The 2nd team run by Mr Goward has had some good wins also.
The U16 team made the National Indoor Finals at Aldersley, near Wolverhampton. They acquitted themselves well, winning one, drawing one and losing two matches. This competition is played against club teams and the team was unfortunate not to make the semi finals. In the U16 Outdoor Cup, our team was crowned Devon champions and played extremely well in the Divisional Finals at Millfield, drawing with the hosts and the eventual winners, Elizabeth College from Guernsey. The team narrowly lost to Bryanston 2-1 in their semi final.
The U15 team is outstanding and shows considerable potential for the future. Many played in the U16 competitions a year young.
The U14 team has had some mixed fortunes.
The U13s, led by Mr Mason, did well to finish 3rd in the Plymouth mini-hockey tournament and played in the Devon Finals in March.
The U12 year group is very promising and have lost few games, often playing up an age group. They won the U13 St John's Indoor Tournament and did well at the Plymouth mini-hockey tournament. They also played against U13 teams in the Devon Finals in early March, reaching the semi-final.
| P | W | D | L | |
| 1st | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 |
|
2nd |
9 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 3rd | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| U16 Devon Cup | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| U16 Indoor | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| U15A | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| U15B | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| U14 Devon Cup | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| U14B | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| U13A | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| U13B | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| U13 mini | 14 | 11 | 0 | 3 |
| U12A mini | 20 | 13 | 2 | 5 |
| U12B mini | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 |
Representative Honours:
West of England: Sean Flynn, Christopher Mason
GIRLS' HOCKEY
The U12 Girls play most of their hockey in the Autumn Term, but the following are results from friendly matches played since Christmas. The U12 A team played The Maynard and drew. They drew with St Margaret's, beat St James 8-0, West Buckland 7-3, and St Luke's 9-0. The girls have qualified for the Ashford League finals day. The B team beat The Maynard, drew with St Margaret's and lost to West Buckland.
The U13 girls have played some hockey fixtures in the spring term. They played in an Invitation Tournament at Exeter School and drew with Colyton, beat The Maynard and our U12s and were joint winners with Colyton.
They played in the Devon Mini Hockey Championships, drawing with Exmouth and beating Teignmouth 3-2 and Ivybridge 3-2. They drew with Mount House and beat Rivera 3-1. The girls played Isca HC in the semi finals and lost 2-0.
The U14 girls played in the end of season hockey tournament. They beat The Maynard 1-0, they beat St Margaret's 1-0 and St Peters 1-0 and lost 1-0 to Blundell's. The girls were placed second overall.
The U15 girls were runners up in their end of season tournament.
In the Spotlight on Indoor Hockey Finals U13 Skills Competition, our girls came second in the Skills Competition. The U15 girls played in the Indoor Games and beat South Dartmoor 1-0 and Sidmouth 3-0. They went through as winners in their section and lost in the semi-finals to Blundell's.
On Sunday 18 March, the senior hockey teams played OE sides: the boys' 1st XI drew 3-3 and the girls' 1st XI won 3-2.
Representative Honours:
West of England: Signe Hulbert
NETBALL
We have strengthened our fixture programme, with matches against Blundell's, Queen's, Taunton and Wellington throughout the age groups. We have matches for all age groups and B teams also play at U12, U13 and U14.
The U12 team performed superbly in their Exeter Area Tournament, beating Maynard in the semi final but losing the final to finish as runners-up out of 8 teams.
The U13 team has had an excellent season with seven wins out of eight fixtures. Robyn Lockyer and Alice Tolson have been shooting well. The team also performed well in the Exeter Area Tournament, reaching the semi-finals and finishing 4th out of 8. The U14 team is very athletic and determined and has won six out of eight fixtures. Hannah Gee is strong and experienced, Phylidda Cligg and Samantha Ford have been shooting well and Samara Lawrence is outstanding in defence. Lucy Mason is a great new asset to the team, adding a positive and determined attitude. The players selected for the U18 1st VII have changed this term, with a blend of the youth from the U5 in attack and the experience of the U6 in defence. The combination is working well and they have recorded good wins against Plymouth College (28-19) and St Margaret's (28-23). Captain Jess McLennan must be commended for her outstanding defence and Jocelyn Trayler-Clarke and Amy Glover have been shooting very well. All the centre court players are very athletic and determined.
All our girls teams have qualified for the Ashford League Finals Day at St Luke's Science and Sports College. Our U12 and U15 teams will be playing hockey and our U13 and U14 teams will be playing netball.
Hannah Gee and Samantha Ford were selected for the Exeter EDCNA Netball Satellite Academy, which should enable them to represent the county in the U14 regional tournament.
Representative Honours:
East Devon U16 and South West:
Jocelyn Trayler-Clarke
| P | W | D | L | |
| U18A | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| U18B | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| U15 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| U14A | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 |
| U14B | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| U13A | 9 | 7 | 0 | 2 |
| U13B | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| U12A | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| U12B | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Representative Honours:
East Devon U14: Hannah Gee, Samantha Ford
PENTATHLON
Will Cummings' impressive pentathlon career continues! He has been selected for the GB U18 squad for the April Youth International to be held at Millfield.
RUGBY
Coach Mr Poustie writes: "Owing to their successes in the Daily Mail Cup and the Devon Cup the U15 rugby season continued well into the Spring Term. The first match of the term was the semi-final of the Devon Cup against Torquay Boys' Grammar School, which was played at Torquay. The side played very well and after a hard game won 19-7. This prepared us for the regional final of the Daily Mail Competition, which was against Millfield. In a titanic struggle, which could have gone either way, we won 3-0, thanks to a Patrick Shaw penalty. Our next match was the final of the Devon Cup, against West Buckland. We established an early lead and played with great confidence to win 36-0. In what turned out to be our final match of the term we played St Paul's, London in the last eight of the Daily Mail Competition. Again it was a match that could have gone either way, and after leading 6-0, we eventually lost 6-14. The side have had a fantastic season and all members of the squad should be congratulated on what they achieved. Winning the Devon Cup at U13, U14 and U15 level has never been achieved by a school team before, and reaching the last 8 of a National Competition which had an entry of over 400 schools was also a first for an U15 side."
Rugby Sevens: The U15 VII triumphed at the Devon Championship, adding the sevens title to their main county cup win.
Representative Honours
Devon U17 James Harris
Devon U15 Charlie Taverner, James Collett, Patrick Shaw, Daniel Barnes, Nick Leach
SHOOTING
Sanjay Mortimer and Michael Snell have been selected for the British Schools' Small-bore Rifle Association international match teams: Sanjay for the England A team and Michael for the England B team.
The school shooting teams continue to make splendid progress: the Devon small-bore season is nearly over. The A team has won 14/17 matches, the B team is unbeaten and the C team has won 11/17 matches. Michael Snell and David Rowell have been shooting very well against adult competition.
Sanjay Mortimer and Michael Snell have just been awarded England shooting colours. At the International Schools Postal Match, Sanjay achieved the highest score of anyone in the English teams with 197 out of 200.
SQUASH
During the squash season there have been some fine individual performances, but in the National Competitions we have not done as well as in the past. In the U19 competition we were well beaten by a very strong Millfield side. In the U15s we progressed through to the last 16, but again lost to our conquerors from last season: Bishop Luffe School, Chichester.
In the Devon Junior Leagues our U19 and U17 teams should progress through to the play off finals. In the U15 competition we have to beat Exeter Golf and Country Club to go through, although that team is composed entirely of Exeter School players!
Individually Ben Rodgers is pushing upwards in the National U17 rankings and he, Michael Keough and Jonny Telford have represented the Devon U19 side which had a good run, before losing to Wales in the National Inter County Competition. Ed Howe, Sam Webber, Henry Parkin, Patrick Shaw, Henry Cross and Adam Jackson have all played well at U15 level and we have a good group of 3rd Formers: James Clay, Henry Courtenay-Stamp, Jack Dee Shapland, Henry Thompson, Shaun Mort, Edmund Howard, Oliver Woodley, Ed Trump and Luke Stitson, who have all made excellent progress.
SWIMMING
The start of the spring term saw an influx of younger swimmers mainly from the 3rd form; Club membership is now around the 30 mark.
Four of the senior swimmers (Sally Young, Freya Young Sophia Wee and Matthew Franklin) have now embarked on an ASA Assistant Teachers' qualification which they hope to complete by the end of the summer term and start assisting with the teaching next year
OTHER ACTIVITIES
CCF AND OUTWARD BOUND
Dr Chapman has succeeded Mr Frost as CCF Contingent Commander.
Mr Harris accompanied seven RN cadets on board HMS Westminster on her passage from Portsmouth via a night at sea to Dartmouth.
BSES
Mr Chitnavis and I were pleased to attend the annual BSES presentation day at the Royal Geographical Society in London. We saw the expedition reports of the Summer 2006 trips to Svalbard, the Amazon, Peru and Greenland, which involved our pupils Amelia Davies, Jack Renninson, Sinead Blick, Ash McNamara, Harry Selley and Tom Pidgeon. Amelia Davies was presented with The Les Morgan Award (essentially the top prize for leadership for the most impressive Young Explorer in the Summer 2006 expeditions) by Field Marshal Sir John Chapple.
DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARD
Harriet Trayler-Clarke has completed her Duke of Edinburgh Gold award: a considerable achievement so early in the Sixth Form! Old Exonian Sarah Williams received her Gold award from Prince Philip at St James' Palace during half-term.
TEN TORS
We are gearing up for training weekends from the middle of March onwards. 59 pupils are involved in selection at all three levels - 35, 45 and 55 miles. The Challenge takes place on the weekend of 12 and 13 May
The first Dartmoor training session for the 2007 Ten Tors Expedition took place on Sunday 11 March, when 50 members of the school and 14 staff walked a circular route based on Okehampton Camp. Unlike last year, the weather was fine and dry throughout, although a full gale was blowing, which reduced the air temperature of 12C to a chilly 2C! Much to the credit of all concerned, the training went without a hitch and all participants completed the course in excellent time and high spirits. The second Dartmoor training session had an overnight element two weeks ago and was successfully carried out, in variable weather.
STUDENT INVESTOR COMPETITION
Nearly a hundred Sixth-Formers are using their business skills to buy and sell shares in quoted UK companies in the real-time, internet-based Student Investor Competition run by the Institute of Fiscal Studies. One of our L6 teams, 'Money Money' has qualified for the Regional Final in Bristol in March. Each team is allocated £100,000 virtual money at the outset, and 'Money Money's ' portfolio currently stands at £117,736.63.
HOLIDAY VISITS
Mr Harris, Mr Moon, Dr Chapman, Mr Bone and Mrs Cloke are taking a tri-service team away on CCF Adventure Training.
There is a Spanish homestay visit to Benalmadena from 30 March to 14 April led by Mrs Fenner, Mrs Wilson and Mr Keyes.
The school ski trip, led by Mr Willson, goes to Les Deux Alpes from 6-14 April.
The U6 Politicians are going to Berlin from 31 March to 2 April with Mr Goward
The Junior Christian Union is going on a trip to Alicante from 9 to 16 April with the Chaplain.
CHARITIES
The pupils raised over £600 for Exeter Leukaemia Fund.
DEBATING SOCIETY
Ben Lewis and Rachel Holden took on Deborah Bazeley and Jack McFarlane-Shopes to discuss the motion "This House believes that British Muslims should be more British and less Muslim," with Aidan Smallwood in the chair. The motion was carried by a narrow margin. Another Sixth Form debate, organized by Ben Lewis, drew a good audience to hear the motion: "This House would support the legalization of cannabis". Jacob Smart and Jack Dean proposed and Ben Huntley and Henry Renninson opposed. Will Blackshaw chaired. The motion was not carried.
EXEAT DATES FOR U5, L6 and U6
The senior examination classes will depart on Study Leave on the following dates:
U5 from 3.50 pm on Tuesday 15 May
U6 from 12 noon on Wednesday 16 May after the buffet lunch for parents and pupils.
L6 from 3.50 pm on Monday 21 May
OTHER INFORMATION
TALKS AND VISITS
Our M5 and L6 modern linguists visited Exeter University in order to increase their awareness of the benefits of degree-level study in that area. Our M5 and U5 hispanists were taken by Mrs Fenner and Mrs Wilson to a day conference at Bristol University. The day focused on cultural activities and the study of the main topics for GCSE Spanish and was much enjoyed by all.
24 L6 and U6 geographers went to the Geographical Association talk by Jurgen Neuberg on Volcanoes and a lecture about the regeneration of Cardiff, both at Wellington School. It was a very good talk, to over 100 6th formers from 7 schools. Professor Neuberg had an excellent way of combining stunning visual material of eruptions with some complex science which he explained in a very accessible way.
Mr Edwards and the English department hosted a valuable U6 study day about the AQA Synoptic Paper, led by the Chief Examiner. The session was shared with staff and pupils from St Cuthbert Mayne School, Torquay.
The Army section of the CCF enjoyed the visit of the Royal Engineers: they gave an interesting presentation on bridge building and demolition.
A Study Skills course was again held after the Mock Examinations for the U5 - the feedback from the pupils was very good.
Parent Dr McLennan gave a helpful M5 presentation on smoking on 31 January
Field Day was chilly and bright and seemed to go pretty well. The various CCF and D of E groups had productive days and there was Community Service visiting as usual. One L5 group enjoyed its visit to the Science and Natural History Museums and the Eye in London. other L5 formers joined went dry-slope ski-ing in Plymouth. The 3rd Form went to Torrington and the 4th form to Paignton Zoo. A trip of mainly L5 visited Bovington Tank Museum and Maiden Castle. Dr Foxall led a very successful concert trip to the West of England School for children with little or no sight.
The A level Geography trip to the London redevelopment schemes was very useful for our senior Geographers, although the weather was poor! They visited the City, the Brick Lane area, Canary Wharf and the Thames Barrier zone.
Our Sixth Form Theatre Studies pupils and our Sixth Form Artists saw "Caught", a play about the life of Caravaggio, at the Phoenix Arts Centre.
The REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) presentation team visited and gave a session to our senior Design Technologists.
Mr Mason, Miss Doyle and Mrs Marshall led a senior Art exhibition to Madrid on the weekend of 2-4 March. Miss Doyle writes: "To bask in the evening sun in the garden of the Reina Sofia museum, Madrid, was a delight for all 25 students and 3 staff. The gallery visits we made were to the Prado to see the national collection, where the students were vastly impressed by Goya's work, the Reina Sofia, which is a large collection in which the students were guided towards the work of Picasso, Dali and Miro and where the visiting exhibition of Chuck Close's paintings was very popular and the Thyssen Museum, where we looked particularly at late nineteenth century and twentieth century works. The students quickly became street-wary after thefts in the metro and were able to thoroughly enjoy the city and, on Sunday morning, the huge flea market known as the Rastro. The students all behaved in an adult and responsible way, so there was a relaxed and happy atmosphere. Feedback from students indicates that they all had a really good time."
The Onatti Theatre Company gave a performance of its show "Lese die Zeichen" to the L5 and other Germanists on Monday 12 March.
Monday 19 March saw two academic trips led by departments: the M5 Geographers were taken on a useful trip to Bristol by Mr Sljivic, Mr Hunt, Mrs Stevens and Mrs Cloke. The senior classicists went to the Exeter
University Classics Department study day, with Mr Keyes, Mrs Shiel and Miss Davey.
STAFF NEWS
We wish every success to our departing Gap tutor Mr Kevin Tucker who has done an excellent job in the PE and Games department since September.
FOES
The annual FOES Quiz, run by Mr and Mrs Hawkins and Mr and Mrs Sharman, was much enjoyed by the 43 competing teams. Congratulations to Mr Daws' winning team! Various fund-raising L6 formers waited efficiently (and profitably!) on tables.
There is senior games on the first day back in the summer. Pupils must remember to bring the correct kit
Next term begins at 8.40am on Wednesday 18 April.
I should like to wish you and your families a restful and enjoyable Easter.
Yours sincerely,
Bob Griffin
