DGGS Times - Issue 15 -Feb 2012 - Dartford Grammar School ......2012/02/15 · The Poppy Day Appeal ˚ ˙ 3789:;2 #5 ( ˙- % PAGE 4 ISSUE 15 FEBRUARY 2012 Fine Art and Textiles Visit

sure will be a superb

performance this evening. I

would like to thank Ms Stanley

and the other staff who have

assisted with the produc�on,

and of course the whole cast

and student helpers for their

dedica�on and commitment.

Finally I would like to wish

all our families a res ul and

enjoyable break. We look

forward to welcoming back all

students on Monday 20th

February.

Sharon Pritchard

Headteacher

Dear Parents/Guardians,

It is my pleasure to be

wri�ng the introduc�on to

our first newsle+er of 2012.

As usual this term has been

very busy with students

si.ng external examina�ons

and Year 11 Sixth Form

transi�on mee�ngs taking

place, in addi�on to a wide

range of trips, visits and

spor�ng successes. Further

details can be found in this

newsle+er.

As I am wri�ng this ar�cle

on the last day of term, I am

grateful that we have reached

the end of term without really

being affected by the recent

adverse weather condi�ons.

We have been very pleased

with the students’ sensible

and mature a.tude over this

period and a+endance has

con�nued to be excellent.

Thank you for your con�nued

support.

Although the first evening

performance of Oliver!

regre+ably had to be

cancelled yesterday because

of a power cut in the local

area, we are all very much

looking forward to what I am

I N S I D E TH I S

I S SU E :

Code Breaking

News!

2

Year 11

transi�on to

Sixth Form

3

Fine Art and

Tex�les visit to

Paris

4

Art & Design

Tex�les visit to

V&A and

Postmodernism

Exhibi�on

5

Swimming

Galas

6

Kent School

Games

7

Thinking about

Oxbridge?

8

Interna�onal

Maths Training

Camp, Hungary

10

DGGS Year 9

Song Contest

11

FPTA 12

DARTFORD GRAMMAR SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

DGGS Times

From the Headteacher

ISSUE 15 FEBRUARY 2012

Higher Education Evening-8th March 2012 All students, parents,

carers and guardians of

students in Years 11 and 12

are invited to a+end the

school’s Higher Educa�on

Evening which takes place on

Thursday 8th March 2012 at

school.

The date of the event is

planned to coincide with the

launch of the Higher

Educa�on programme within

the school, in the main for

current Year 12 students,

and Year 11 students are

invited along to encourage

them to start their research,

planning and decision-

making well ahead.

We look forward to

welcoming you when the

doors open at 6.30pm. At

that �me, representa�ves

from the universi�es will be

available to chat informally

in the Dining Room un�l

7pm so please take

advantage of their exper�se

by arriving early for that

opportunity. Mrs Jane

Marshall, from Imperial

College London, will be

giving the Keynote Speech in

the Main Hall at 7pm

focussing on The Benefits of

Higher Educa�on.

This is an informa�on-

gathering evening with

speakers a+ending from a

number of UK universi�es,

including Oxbridge, together

with a range of London

Universi�es and a Sco.sh

university. We have

arranged for a

representa�ve from an

organisa�on providing

informa�on about

interna�onal universi�es and

opportuni�es to study

abroad to give a seminar.

The seminar topics will

include: The Applica�on

Process (UCAS), Effec�ve

Research and Planning,

Wri�ng a Successful Personal

Statement, Accessing

Compe��ve Courses,

Sandwich Courses (with

Work Experience), Stay in

London! and Taking a Gap

Year. There will be prac�cal

seminars, addressing

Student Finance,

Accommoda�on, and more.

In past years we have

been encouraged to count in

excess of 400 a+endees at

this event, so please put a

note in your diaries and

come along.

We look forward to

seeing you at this important

event.

Tracey Carver

UCAS Transi�on

Co-ordinator

Working together to achieve academic excellence and personal poten�al

P A G E 2

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 2

every year, and any school

age student is welcome to

par�cipate (visit

www.cipher.maths.soton.

ac.uk for more

informa�on). Across the

20 weeks, 8 enciphered

messages of gradually

increasing difficulty are

published online, and

students race to decipher

them. On the 12th January

the results of the

challenge were revealed,

Congratula�ons to the junior students

who recently par�cipated in the Readathon

organised by Mrs Skinner, our Librarian. The

students read a great many books and

raised an excellent £1,000 for the Sir

Code Breaking News!

ISSUE 15

The Readathon

and team ‘Florence & The

Machine’ came in 3rd

place, winning £700 and

an invita�on to a prize-

giving ceremony at

Bletchley Park, including a

tour of this famous World

War II Code-breaking

ins�tu�on.

David Finney

Curriculum Team

Leader: Mathema�cs

Florence Salter and

Natalie Behague of Year

13, codename ‘Florence &

The Machine’, were one

of 1600 teams compe�ng

in the Na�onal Cipher

Challenge. This UK-wide

Compe��on runs from

September to January

Malcolm Sargent Fund for Sick Children.

Thanks must also go to the English Faculty

for their support.

Ann Roberts

Assistant Headteacher

The Dining Experience The first full mee�ng of our

“Dining experience” working

party will take place early next

term. A maximum of one

representa�ve from each form

has been invited to join the

group. We will discuss ideas

their form have for making the

whole dining experience at

DGGS a more pleasurable one. I

will give further feedback on our

progress through the newsle+er

at the end of each term.

ANer ini�al discussions with

students from all year groups, I

have a clear idea of the

strengths and areas causing

concern. One of the on-going

problems is the size of the

queue, especially at lunch �me.

Part of the problem is caused

by students standing at the

food counters deciding what

they would like and looking at

prices. So, from the start of

term 4, we will be pos�ng an

enlarged version of the menu,

including all prices and special

“meal deals” on a no�ce board

just outside the front of the

canteen in the main corridor

and possibly in other loca�ons

around the school. We would

like to encourage students to

look at this before entering the

canteen in the hope that swiN

decisions can be made at the

food counters, leading to an

increase in our customer flow

rate! We are also currently

inves�ga�ng introducing

service points in another area

of the school and the possibility

of alterna�ve methods of

payments, both in an a+empt to

make the service more efficient.

With a school of our size,

space and facili�es in the school

canteen are always going to be

at a premium, but our catering

team are very keen to work with

staff and students to con�nue to

improve all aspects of the

service they provide. Plans are

in place for a series of “themed”

dining events and advanced

no�ce of these will go in register

folders and on the new main

canteen no�ce board. We also

have some fantas�c

compe��ons, the first of which

is outlined next to this ar�cle –

design your own soup and the

winning entry will have their

very own soup prepared by our

catering team and sold at break

and lunch�me in the canteen.

Why not trial some soup ideas

on your family over the holiday?

Carol Williams


Design a new soup to go on sale in the

canteen! For more information

please go to FS1 for an entry form


Year 9s make art in the Tate

Britain Gallery

P A G E 3

Year 9 Fine Art students were

lucky enough to take part in

workshops led by prac�sing ar�sts

in the Tate Britain gallery in

January. Having had their eyes

opened to a range of Bri�sh art

from Tudor portraits to weird and

wacky contemporary art, they then

embarked on their own group

pieces of art inspired by the art

around them. These were either

collage pieces or large scale site

specific artwork made from

insula�on tape.

We were proud to hear that the

ar�st leading the groups had

commented on how engaged the

students were; she said “the

behaviour and level of

concentra�on was excellent”. Well

done ladies!

We are really pleased that the

visit had an impact on the girls and

that they had an opportunity to

visit a range of artwork first hand in

an important London art gallery.

Rachel Oliver

Curriculum Area Leader: Fine Art

It was very inspiring to create unusual pieces

of work we never normally would have created.

It showed that to get the best pieces of work

you have to think outside the box”.

Molly Kearney, 9L

I had to walk through a series of rooms’ created by the ar st

Mike Nelson, that were connected together with doors. However,

when I turned one door, there was an old arcade game playing by

itself. It was very strange.

Lucy Thurlow, 9H

Year 11 transition to Sixth Form have had the chance to meet Mrs

Smyth and the Key Stage 5 Team

and have visited the Sixth Form

Common Room and the Key Stage

5 Study Area to chat with students.

Recently all of our Year 11

students and their parents/

guardians have had the

opportunity to meet with a senior

member of staff to discuss their A

level choices and their aspira�ons

post-18. These mee�ngs are

designed to allow for choices, their

suitability and workload to be

discussed. We also look to see if

the choices made support a

par�cular career path. These

mee�ngs are very useful from an

administra�ve point of view but

they also provide a forum to

Every Friday aNernoon during

Year 11, the students (except those

doing La�n and RS) work with a

team of staff preparing for life in

the Sixth Form, looking at the

challenges that lie ahead and

ge.ng ready for some of the big

decisions they will need to make

during the course of the year.

Thus far they have been

involved in teambuilding and

problem-solving ac�vi�es and have

worked collabora�vely across the

year group to examine issues of

poverty in Africa and how this

might be tackled. We have spent

�me looking at making informed

decisions and developing the

competencies needed during the

interview process. All students

discuss opportuni�es for

leadership in the Sixth Form and

the Enrichment Programme that

we offer here, which is very

extensive. This week we will be

holding mee�ngs with external

candidates who are hoping to

undertake their Sixth Form

educa�on at DGGS.

It should be remembered that

we par�cularly wish our own

students to progress into Key Stage

5. All of our students, who meet

the Sixth Form criteria, will be

offered a place at DGGS.

Ann Roberts


Leadership Link to KS5

Our Sixth Form Philanthropic Team

ensured that all parts of the school

were visited with their collec�ng boxes

The Poppy Day Appeal and as a result, the school raised a very laudable

£234.89. Ann Roberts



P A G E 4

ISSUE 15

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 2

Fine Art and Textiles Visit to Paris At the end of the Autumn term, Fine Art and Tex�les students visited

Paris, an exci�ng opportunity for all to experience one of Europe’s cultural

capitals, accessing a large range of interna�onal ar�sts, designers and

museums. Students and staff alike had an absolute blast! I hope that you

enjoy reading some of their accounts.

Siobhan Campbell

Curriculum Area Leader: Fine Art

Year 11

and Year

12 Fine

Art and

Tex�les

students went on a trip to Paris in

December. It was one of the best

school trips I have been on as it

was so much fun!

Firstly when we arrived we

were taken around Paris to the

Christmas markets and fashion

streets of Paris which were a work

of art in themselves. The Dali

gallery was small but had beau�ful

artwork within, we all took funny

photos of ourselves in a

photobooth posed as Dali himself!

On the first night we went on a

boat trip, showing us all the

beau�ful buildings from a

spectacular view. It was chilly but

an experience not to miss. We

visited so many galleries including

‘Rodin’, Le Louvre, Musee de

L’Orangerie, Musee d’Art

Moderne and Musee Pompidou

(whose architecture is fantas�c:

the exterior has escalators and air

condi�oning pipes around the

outside). My favourite ar�st

Monet, who inspires my art, was

featured in one of the galleries we

visited and looking at the art close

up was amazing as you could see

each and every marking – it was

beau�ful.

We also visited some of the

well known monuments such as

Montmartre and the Eiffel Tower

(being at the very top was a great

experience!) There was li+le �me

to rest on the trip as we were out

for the whole day on all three days.

The food wasn’t bad, don’t worry

mums: we definitely had plenty of

veg!

I have definitely gained from

the trip, learning new skills from

the art we saw – including the

famous Mona Lisa! If another Paris

trip is available in the future, I

wouldn’t hesitate to go and I would

recommend the trip to anyone if

they had the chance!

Nancy Nigh�ngale, 11K

Fine Art Student

Three days, five

croissants and 30 metro

journeys later, what I

can only describe as the

best school trip that I

have ever been on was

finally over. Arriving at

Gare du Nord (an

interna�onal train

sta�on just north of the

city) we were met by wind,

rain and the freezing cold,

but we were in Paris,

Europe’s fashion capital, and

no adverse weather was

going to dampen our spirits.

Being a group of 27

teenage girls, and three

teachers, all art and tex�les

students/staff, I found that

even those from different

classes found common

ground in their apprecia�on

of the fantas�c art we had

the honour of experiencing.

Although the trip i�neraries

varied for art and tex�les, I’m

sure everyone involved

would agree when I say it

was a truly unforge+able

more reasonably priced

souvenirs at the Christmas

market along the Champs

Elysees! As if being in Paris

and feeling the buzz of the

city wasn’t magical enough,

it was less than 2 weeks un�l

Christmas, and the icing on

the cake for me, was going

to the very top of the Eiffel

tower at midnight, and

looking down over a lit up

city in awe of the surreal

beauty of it all!

It was an amazing

experience. I learnt so much

and the studies that I gained

for my tex�les work will be

invaluable in my future

projects. Many thanks are

owed to Mrs Evans-Wild,

Miss Campbell and Mrs

Oliver, without whom our

Parisian voyage of discovery

would simply not have been

possible.

Hannah Graham, 11I

Art &Design Tex�les

Student

experience. As a member of

the tex�les group, I visited

everywhere from the YSL

fashion founda�on to the

Pierre Cardin museum, in

addi�on to dropping by

several famous Parisian

landmarks including the Eiffel

tower and the Sacre Coeur.

We also had the chance

to visit the “Galleries

Lafaye+e”, an enormous

department store crammed

full of designer brands and

lovely li+le souvenirs, and we

even saw a live fashion show

in the penthouse of the

store! It was gorgeous, if a

li+le pricey, so many of us

managed to pick up some


P A G E 5

A last word….

I should like to men�on how

impressed Miss Campbell, Mrs Oliver

and I were with the mature a.tude

and excellent behaviour of everyone

who came to Paris. Despite late

Fine Art and Textiles Visit to Paris (continued)

nights and ac�on packed days, the

staff spent much of the journey

home discussing ideas for future

foreign trips, instead of sleeping!

I am sure that the students would

like to join me in saying a big ‘Thank

You’ to Miss Campbell for arranging

and leading this excellent visit.

Julie Evans-Wild

Curriculum Team Leader: Arts

Faculty

Art & Design Textiles visit to V&A and Postmodernism Exhibition

The Postmodernism Exhibi�on:

There were lots of wacky and extravagant pieces, from metal rod chairs to triangle based

dresses. One of my favourite pieces was a pastel coloured hoover. It was made with simple

3D shapes and had pastel colours painted on it. Another was a shopping trolley that had

been cut and moulded into a chair. It was an interes�ng idea and, remembering how I sat in

shopping trollies when I was younger, it related to my childhood memories. There were also

costumes with geometric shapes and scene based costumes with very intricate detailing.

Laura Cu@s, 9H

On Thursday January 12th, our year 9 Art and Design Tex�les students enjoyed

a visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum, to collect research for their next

project, which will involve designing costumes on a Postmodernist theme.

Below are some of the day’s highlights:

First impressions of the museum:

We went to the museum to see an

exhibi�on and to take notes and draw

some of the costumes in the

Postmodernism Exhibi�on which

could help us with our own work in

tex�les. Upon arriving at just before

eleven o’clock, we received a map to

help us find our way around. Firstly,

we walked through some galleries

with statues and some people took

photos of these. Next, we walked

through a jewellery gallery which

was two floors high and had some

magnificent pieces in it. Although we

were not allowed to take photos, it

was well worth a look, all the same.

In the jewellery gallery, there were

some amazing glass stairs which led

up to the second floor, which was

also filled with amazing jewellery.

The a+en�on to detail was fantas�c

and I think that was what made the

pieces unique and interes�ng.

Although we will not be making

jewellery in tex�les, I think seeing

the pieces will benefit us in various

ways, because we could see that

everything was very crea�ve and

detail is important.

Chloe Mehmed, 9H

The Costume Galleries:

When I entered the Performance

Gallery, I was stunned by the amount

of fantas�c work. My personal

favourite, which I drew, was Sarabi’s

lioness costume used in the popular

West End show, ‘The Lion King’. The

amount of exquisite detail and pa+erns

were fascina�ng as everything stood

out and looked life-like. ANer this, I

went with the rest of my group to look

at costumes from worldwide films and

musicals. A few of the recognisable

ou its were - Tweedle Dum and

Tweedle Dee, Scar from ‘The Lion King’

and the Royal Ballet costumes. We also

had an exci�ng opportunity to try on

costumes that resembled ou its from

the past. We spent lots of �me

drawing the well known

costumes and trying to add the

finest detail we could, to show

how carefully we had looked. I

was extremely impressed with

the handmade costumes and the

amount of work that must have

gone into them. It was one of my

favourite trips that I have been

on during my three years at

DGGS.

Leah Gray, 9I


P A G E 6

ISSUE 15

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 2

Seniors

100m I.M- Leanne Saheed 3rd

50m Backstroke- Miren Elphick 1st & Lizzie Benne+ 2nd

50m Breaststroke- Leanne Saheed 3rd & Ciara O’Hare

6th

50m Fly- Miren Elphick 2nd

50m Frontcrawl- Iona Williams 3rd & Tobi Olusanya 5th

Medley Relay-Miren Elphick, Leanne Saheed, Lizzie

Benne+, Tobi Olusanya 1st

Frontcrawl Relay-Tobi Olusanya, Leanne Saheed, Miren

Elphick, Lizzie Benne+ 1st

Squadron Relay- Zahra Crane, Rebecca Burford, Lucy

Kearney, Vanessa Elver, Tobi Olusanya, Molly Kearney,

Lizzie Benne+, Elle Barnes, Miren Elphick, Iona Williams,

Emily Elphick, Leanne Saheed- 1st

Swimming Galas Wednesday 25

th January

Gala vs Sevenoaks School and Kent College

Juniors

100m I.M- Rebecca Burford 3rd

50m Backstroke- Vanessa Elver 2nd & Rebecca Burford 6

th

50m Breaststroke- Brooke Heywood 3rd & Hannah Carroll 6

th

50m Fly- Lucy Kearney 1st & Aneesha Patel 5

th

50m Frontcrawl- Zahra Crane 2nd & Vanessa Elver 4th

Medley Relay

1. Vanessa Elver, Brooke Heywood, Lucy Kearney, Zahra Crane 3rd

2. Rebecca Burford, Hannah Carroll, Aneesha Patel 5th

Frontcrawl Relay

1. Vanessa Elver, Lucy Kearney, Zahra Crane, Aneesha Patel 3rd

2. Rebecca Burford, Brooke Heywood, Hannah Carroll 6th

Tobi Olusnya, Miren Elphick, Iona Williams,

Lizzie Benne*, Emily Elphick, Ciara O’Hare,

Rebecca Burford, Lucy Kearney

Kent Schools Swimming Gala - 28th January 2012

Senior Boys

Ethan Bonthron 100m Frontcrawl 1st in heat, 2

nd overall out of 10.

Intermediate Girls

Lizzie Benne+ 100m Backstroke 5th overall out of 15.

Iona Williams 100m Frontcrawl 15th overall out of 24.

Miren Elphick 100m Bu+erfly 1st overall out of 16.

Emily Elphick 100m Breaststroke 11th overall out of 18.

Medley Relay: Backstroke-Lizzie Benne+, Breaststroke-Emily Elphick, Bu+erfly-Miren

Elphick, Frontcrawl-Iona Williams. 2nd overall out of 16 teams.

Freestyle Relay: Iona Williams, Lizzie Benne+, Miren Elphick, Emily Elphick, 1st overall out of

16 teams.

Outstanding results, well done!

Kent Schools Swimming Gala - 21st January 2012

Juniors

Lucy Kearney 100m Bu+erfly 6th in heat, 22


Zahra Crane 100m Breaststroke 6th in heat, 22


Tobi Olusanya 100m Frontcrawl 3rd in heat, 12

th overall out of 41.

Molly Kearney 100m Backstroke 4th in heat, 20


Medley Relay: Backstroke-Vanessa Elver, Breaststroke- Zahra Crane, Fly-Lucy Kearney,

Frontcrawl-Tobi. 4th in heat, 20


Frontcrawl Relay: Vanessa Elver, Tobi Olusanya, Molly Kearney, Zahra Crane, 3rd in heat,

16th overall out of 28.

Senior

Helen Brown 100m Frontcrawl straight final 4th out of 5.

Intermediates

100m I.M- Elle Barnes 2nd

50m Backstroke- Lizzie Benne+ 1st & Tobi Olusanya 2nd

50m Breaststroke- Emily Elphick 2nd & Ciara O’Hare 3rd

50m Fly- Elle Barnes 2nd & Molly Kearney 3rd

50m Frontcrawl- Lizzie Benne+ 1st & Tobi Olusanya 3rd

Medley Relay-Elle Barnes, Molly Kearney, Iona Williams,

Ciara O’Hare 1st

Frontcrawl Relay-Molly Kearney, Emily Elphick, Elle

Barnes, Iona Williams 1st

Overall Points

Sevenoaks School 1st with 159 points

DGGS 2nd with 141 points

Kent College 3rd with 109 points


In line with other

schools, the use of

aerosols by

students is now

banned anywhere in the

school for Health & Safety

reasons. There are a

number of students with

asthma which can be

triggered by the use of

aerosols. Students have

been informed about the

ban by the PE department

and form tutors. Please

could parents support the

school by reitera�ng the

importance of not using

aerosols in school.

Aerosols banned Preliminary

Round of the

Sports Hall

Athle�cs - 20th

January 2012

A team of

Year 7 girls

(Taylor Ellis, Eve

Brand, Zahra

Crane, Emily

Shrimpton and Rebecca Burford)

and Year 8 girls (Aiashah Adio, Ellie

Palmer, Rebecca Clayton, Vanessa

Elver, Philippa Whewell, Sephora

Varatharasan) entered into the

preliminary round of the Sports Hall

Athle�cs at North West Kent College

on Friday 20th January. The event

consisted of a number of running

races and field events such as speed

P A G E 7

On Thursday 2nd

February DGGS

a+ended their first

finals event of the

Kent School Games

compe��on. The U12 Futsal team

travelled to The University of Kent

Canterbury to compete against the

other qualifying school teams in

Kent. The girls performed

excellently gaining 1st posi�on in

their pool. This took them through

to the semi-finals where they beat

U12 Kent School Games Futsal Finals Tonbridge 4-1.

The girls were

in the final!

They were

against a very

tough

opposi�on,

Bexley,

however the

girls did not

back down and gave Bexley a

challenging game. The overall score

was 1-1 taking the match to

penal�es. With a great save from

Goalkeeper Emily Shrimpton, the

girls were victorious, winning the

game on penal�es 3-2 making them

U12 champions of the Kent School

Games Futsal! A nerve racking but

exci�ng day, the girls were fantas�c!

A huge well done, you made us very

proud!

Nane@e Barnes & Natalie Wood

Teachers: Physical Educa�on

The PE department would like to

offer our congratula�ons to

Courteney Gibson 12A for her

outstanding achievements in

Football. Courteney currently plays

for Charlton Ladies 1st team and

Kent U19’s. Last August Courteney

was selected for the England U19

England Football Ladies team, of which she has been

a+ending training camps since. She

recently played against Ireland

where they drew 1-1. This is a

fantas�c achievement! We look

forward to hearing about the games

that Courteney will play in!

Extremely well done!

Nane@e Barnes

Teacher: Physical Educa�on

Kent School Games bounce, standing

long jump, shot

put, ver�cal

jump and

standing triple

jump. The two

teams competed

with excellent

talent and

enthusiasm and

brilliant team

spirit. The year 8 team came 4th

overall in their age group and the

Year 7 team won their age group

meaning that they go through to

represent Dar ord at the Kent

School Games. Well done everyone.

Alison Fisher

Ac�ng Curriculum Leader :

Physical Educa�on


P A G E 8

ISSUE 15

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 2

Squeak Cakes and

Cauliflower Macaroni

Cheese over the next few

weeks. All recipes are

placed on FROG for

students to access. We

s�ll have some places for

Key Stage 4 and 5 students

in the senior sessions, so

students please sign up on

the H Factor no�ce board.

As Spring approaches,

we will also be looking to

start up a gardening club

to grow herbs, fruit and

Our healthy cooking

club started again in

January with a winter-

warming and very popular

Spicy Parsnip Soup. Many

of the Year 7 students

were cooking in school for

the very first �me and

were all quick to learn and

keen to come again. Our

Key Stage 3 cooking

sessions are all fully

booked un�l Easter, so we

will be moving on to

Spring Green Bubble and

H Factor

vegetables in our new

kitchen garden and will be

looking to include our

produce in future recipes.

Carol Williams


Everyone reading this has

probably heard some strange

stories about the Oxbridge

interview process. Some of

these are fairly in�mida�ng:

interviewers throwing rugby

balls at applicants, asking

ques�ons like ‘tell me about a

banana,’ or, even worse, just

si.ng there in silence. Well, we

want to demys�fy the whole

process, and tell you what it is

really like.

What qualifies us to tell you?

Well, we have both received

condi�onal offers from Trinity

College Cambridge to read

Mathema�cs, at least partly as a

result of the interview. We have

been asked to talk about our

experiences, so let’s start at the

beginning!

We received no�fica�on of

our interviews in late

November. ANer what seemed

like a very long two week wait,

first Florence on Monday, then

Natalie on Tuesday, took the

train from Kings Cross Sta�on to

the beau�ful town of

Cambridge. We were provided

with a free lunch and dinner

with the current students in

Trinity’s hall, which was

absolutely delicious! Whilst

Thinking about Oxbridge? wai�ng for our allo+ed �me, we

shyly cha+ed to fellow

interviewees and current

students in the Junior

Combina�on Room.

Perhaps too quickly, the �me

came for the hour long pre-

interview test. Neither of us felt

par�cularly pleased with our

performances on the test, which

had 10 difficult problems on a

variety of topics. Immediately

aNer this, we headed off to our

interview rooms, standing

anxiously outside the door un�l

invited in. So far, our

experiences were pre+y much

the same, but at this point they

deviated slightly. Natalie’s two

interviewers, although formal,

were friendly and encouraging,

whereas Florence felt her

interviewers showed no

emo�on throughout the

interview. This was a very

difficult environment to work in.

Both interviews focused on

the test we had just a+empted.

First, we explained and

corrected our solu�ons to the

problems we had done. Then we

moved on to those we had no

�me to do. The interviewers

suggested possible methods

when we began to falter, and

hesitantly we progressed

through the ques�ons. Florence

was asked nothing but maths

ques�ons, and it was almost the

same for Natalie. However, as

the interview drew to a close,

one of the interviewers glanced

at his watch, commen�ng that

we had about one minute leN,

and flicked open a folder

containing my UCAS applica�on.

Skimming through my personal

statement, he exclaimed, ‘did

you really like A

Mathema cian’s Apology? I

thought the author came across

as very arrogant!’ Taken by

surprise, I laughed and replied

that I had enjoyed it. The

interview came to a prompt

end.

ANer our interviews, both of

us felt like we should have done

be+er. But it seemed we had

li+le reason for this worry, when

on the 5th January le+ers arrived

confirming our successful result.

We are both delighted to have

this opportunity, and are looking

forward with enthusiasm to

living and studying at this

beau�ful and pres�gious

University next year.

Natalie Behague and

Florence Salter, Year 13


University Students come back to talk to current students

P A G E 9

Ex-Students are one of our

favourite resources !

Almost 30 ex-DGGS students came

along on Wednesday 4th January to

speak to current KS5, Year 13 students

in the main, about their experiences at

university.

This is the third �me this event has

been held and was by far the best

a+ended. The �ming was planned for

the first week of the New Year term to

impart words of advice to mo�vate Year

13 to se+le down to their studies in

readiness for re-takes and then final

examina�ons in Summer 2012. Indeed,

some of the speakers re-enforced this

message to the current Year 13

students and told them to make the

most of this opportunity to achieve

their predicted grades and go to their

first choice universi�es.

The ex-students in a+endance spoke

about the benefits of Higher Educa�on,

and the differences between school and

university, the need for self-mo�va�on,

a variety of situa�ons relevant to

accommoda�on, balancing work and

play, managing their finances, gap year

experiences, growing up and, of course,

the opportuni�es to explore a great

number of new experiences in addi�on

to the expected social scene. En�rely

prac�cal advice such as “if ‘you’ don’t

get your predicted grades and first

choice ‘Man Up’ and get on the

telephone and secure a place through

clearing whilst everyone else is s�ll

crying”. This last piece of advice is the

one that seems to have registered most

in the minds of our current Year 13!

In addi�on, it was great to learn how

well our ex-students are doing. Higher

Educa�on has clearly been worth the

investment. Final year students have

secured impressive jobs – one at the

FSA,

another

at a

leading

Adver�sing Agency, for example.

Two ex-Head Girls a+ended as well

as two Cambridge students. Ex-

students were happy to mingle and talk

to students and some were s�ll at

school at 4pm! In the Common Room

the following morning, Year 13 students

said that they had taken a variety of

thoughts away with them and had

spoken to ex-students taking the

subjects they have applied for and also

other students about life in general at

university.

This will hopefully become a

permanent fixture in the school

calendar.

Tracey Carver

UCAS Transi�on Co-ordinator

Forthcoming Dates Last Day of Term - 10th February

Half Term - 13th - 17th February

20th February - Sixth Form Entrants - Deadline for Acceptance of Offer

20th February - China Informa�on Evening 18.00 - 21.00

22nd February - Year 9 subject Staff Consulta�on Mee�ngs with Parents

23rd February - Year 11 GCSE Drama Mock Exam

23rd February - Alaska Expedi�on Development Day 15.45 - 20.45

24th February - Year 10 & 11 Trip to Tate Modern

24th February - GCSE Drama Prac�cal Mock Exams

27th-29th February - Igtham Charity Week

28th February - Year 11 GCSE Drama Prac�cal Exams

Easter Holiday : 2nd - 13th April

Start of Term: 16th April

1st - 2nd March Igtham Charity Week

1st GCSE Core Science Resits

1st March - Year 9 Op�ons Mee�ngs for

Parents

2nd March - Year 11 Reports home to parents

2nd, 5th March GCSE Maths Unit 1 Public Exams

7th 8th & 9th March Year 8 Tex�les trip to Horniman Museum

7th March - Young Enterprise Culture Evening 18.30 - 21.00

8th & 9th GCSE Drama Prac�cal Exams & Modera�on

8th March - January 2012 Exam Results

8th March - Higher Educa�on Evening 18.00 - 21.30

9th, 10th 11th March Arc�c Expedi�on Training in Snowdonia

9th March - Year 8 Reports home to parents

12th 13th 14th 16th March - GCSE Dance Modera�on

13th March - AS Level Drama Mock Prac�cal Exams

14-16th 19th - 21st March Year 10 Controlled assessment -

Shakespeare & ELH

14-16th March Science Fair

14th March U12 Kent Netball Tournament, Rainham School

15th 16thGCE A2 Drama Prac�cal Mock Exam

15th March FPTA Quiz 19.00 21.30

16th-30th March Japanese Exchange Visit to DGGS

16th Year 12 Reports home to parents

19th Year 11 Music Performance Exams

21st Year 8 subject Staff Consulta�on Mee�ngs with Parents

22nd March GCE AS& A2 Music Recitals

23rd - 26th March Year 10 Geography Trip to Swanage

23rd March Year 13 Reports home to parents

24th - 31st March - Swiss Exchange to DGGS

28th March Year 8 Op�ons Mee�ngs for Parents

29th March GCE A2 Drama Prac�cal Modera�on

29th March Year 9 Song Contest Final

30th March Year 10 Reports home to parents

Last Day of Term: 30th March


P A G E 1 0

International Maths Training Camp, Hungary All students

at DGGS have

no doubt

par�cipated

in a UKMT

Maths Challenge at some point.

A number of Sixth Formers

par�cipated in the Senior Maths

Challenge on the 8th November

2011, and the two of us did well

enough to proceed to the next

round, the Bri�sh Mathema�cal

Olympiad, Round 1. We sat this

3.5 hour long paper, along with

about 1000 other students

across the UK, on the 2nd

December. With the help of

some custard creams, we both

completed 5 of the 6 problems.

This may not sound like many

problems for 3.5 hours, but

every asser�on has to be

rigorously proven, and 10 marks

are awarded for each ques�on.

To our delight, both of us did

sufficiently well to be invited to

the Joint UK-Hungary

Interna�onal Mathema�cal

Olympiad Training Camp 2011-

12. Twenty carefully selected

students a+ended this all-

expenses-paid week in Hungary,

to prepare for Interna�onal

Mathema�cs Compe��ons. We

met up with our fellow

Mathema�cians at London

Gatwick airport on the 27th

December, ready for a week of

intensive training with the

Hungarian squad. We were fairly

shy to start with, but very quickly

se+led in, so much so that by the

end of the week we felt like old

friends. As well as plenty of

maths, in our free �me we

enjoyed games of pool, ‘the

ac�ng game’ and ‘mafia’. We

ventured from our hotel for an

evening tour of the beau�ful city

of Budapest and a night at the

Opera. As the camp spanned

New Year, we of course had a

New Year’s Eve party, complete

with Auld Lang Syne

accompanied by ukulele!

Most important, though, was

the maths! Problems were set

every day, some for individual

comple�on and some for perusal

at our own leisure. In addi�on to

this, there were several

fascina�ng talks, introducing us

to techniques to help us tackle

Olympiad problems as well as

many new

ideas which

expanded our

mathema�cal

horizons! We

also

competed in

a fun team

relay, consis�ng of a series of

problems. A correct solu�on is

exchanged for the next problem.

On the penul�mate day there

was an Olympiad-style test, with

3 ques�ons to be a+empted in

4.5 hours.

All too soon, the week came

to a close. We hope to do well

enough in the Bri�sh

Mathema�cal Olympiad round 2

on the 26th January to be invited

to another camp, this �me at

Trinity College, Cambridge. If

this occurs, we may well be

selected to represent the UK in

the European Girls

Mathema�cal Olympiad in April.

Wish us luck!

Florence Salter and

Natalie Behague,

Year 13

ISSUE 15

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 2

Individual Initiative

We know that our

students can be relied

upon to support

events for charity

being organised inside school.

Recently three of our junior

students held a very successful

Bake Sale and raised £126 for the Samaritans. The students were

Annabel Haylor-Giles, Sharon

D’Souza and Ellie Higgins in Year 7.

Very well done to this crea�ve trio!

Ann Roberts

Assistant Headteacher –

Community

Toys to the Tree The annual Toys to the Tree

Service reaped many and

varied contribu�ons from our

students. Many of the toys

and books have already been

distributed to local schools, churches and

nurseries. Toys have been delivered to

Rowhill School for their soN play area and

the remainder of the giNs will be going to

the Salva�on Army and Darent Valley

Hospital.

The generosity of the students will have

an impact upon the local community and

beyond in many ways, par�cularly during

these difficult economic �mes.

Ann Roberts

Assistant Headteacher – Community


P A G E 1 1

involved whether it be as

performers, part of the Backstage

Team or giving up their lunch �mes

to help paint and make set and

props. Many members of staff have

also kindly offered their help, so it is

truly a whole school produc�on. I

look forward to wri�ng again in the

next issue.

Anna-Maria Stanley

Curriculum Area Leader: Drama

Oliver! As I write this we are hard at

work rehearsing for the whole

school produc�on of Oliver! By the

�me that you the parents and

students read this, it will have

already taken place on February 9th

and 10th and I hope that many of

you will have had the opportunity to

come and see it. A large number of

students from years 7 to 13 are

DGGS Year 9 Song Contest 2012 Thursday 29th March 7pm – School Hall

Admission £5 adults £3 Concessions *tickets must be purchased from the music department in advance and can’t be obtained on the door*

Available at break times from X1 after ½ term.

***** The finalists ***** There will be a number of main acts which qualify for the final via their class ‘sing-offs’ There are usually 8-10 finalists with

songs which present a wide variety of different musical styles. We currently have more students studying music in year 9

since it became optional so the competition should be greater than ever.

***** The support acts ***** There will be a number of support acts consisting of past winners / finalists along with a variety of talented school ensembles

and soloists.

*****and our very special guests:***** The team of judges will consist of song contest ‘legends’ from the last 7 years.

*****Lights and sound:***** DJ Alex

• Vote for your favourite bands ( winners announced on the night and 3 rather impressive prizes awarded to 1st, 2nd and 3rd placed bands )

• The audience share the final 50% of the voting after the judges have given their verdicts

( each of the 5 judges gives a mark out of 10 )

Why should you support this event ?

• You can meet many of the finalists and winners from 2006-2011 • Year 8 students have a preview of what we do in year 9 music ( spring term )

• Year 9 students can support the band members within your form • Year 10/11 – you can see if the current year 9s have maintained the high standards

which you achieved in 2010 &2011. • Year 7 – if you enjoyed being part of the Christmas Concert you will love this !

• Refreshments will be provided.

I’m also looking for experienced Song Contest participants in years 10-13 to help out on the night. Please ask a music teacher for details.

WHo will get your vote ?WHo will get your vote ?WHo will get your vote ?WHo will get your vote ?


Spring Term

Many thanks to

everyone who

purchased �ckets for

our Christmas Raffle.

We raised just over £1,100.00 which

makes it our most successful raffle to

date. This money and other raised will

be used to equip the new key stage 3

area with 50 chairs. We are also in the

process of reviewing funding requests

from mul�ple departments and hope

to meet as many of these as possible.

Further details will be published in the

next newsle+er.

You will have seen from the

Christmas newsle+er that the FPTA

has purchased outside tables and

chairs – even without any sun they

are proving to be very popular. We

will be purchasing parasols so these

can be used during the ‘very hot’

summer months ahead!

Friends, Parents & Teachers Association Fundraising Target for 2012

Our fundraising target for the

remainder of the school year is to

raise £5000 on behalf of the PE

department. This will be used

primarily to help equip the new

fitness suite. This seems to be a

par�cularly relevant target in 2012!

Our first event will be a quiz to be

held on Thursday 15th March.

Think of a’ Ques�on of Sport’ with

a mix of ’Don’t forget the Lyrics’ and

‘Trivial Pursuit’! Tickets will go on sale

aNer the February half term. Further

details will be announced via the

school website and our no�ce board

as well as being announced at form

�me. Please make a note of this date

in your diaries and help us on our way

to mee�ng this important target

which will benefit the en�re school.

For anyone interested in making a

dona�on to our fundraising efforts or

who would like to sponsor a new

piece of fitness equipment, please

contact the FPTA via the email

address below.

The FPTA will also be providing

refreshments for the performance of

Oliver on the 9th and 10

th February

and for the Year 9 song contest to be

held on Thursday 29th March. Any

volunteers to help on these evenings

would be welcome. Contact details

are below.

Lastly, another plea to ask as

many as possible to register on

easyfundraising.org.uk and raise

funds as you shop online. Just follow

the link below and you will raise

valuable funds every �me you shop –

it really is the easiest way to raise

funds without even leaving the

comfort of your chair!

www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/

dggsfpta

Contact: [email protected]

We are always very eager to

welcome new members. If you would

like to help out at any future event,

please contact us via the above email

address.

With many thanks for your

con�nued support.

Wendy Acres and Joanne

McCrone

Chair and Vice Chair

Feedback/Comments

We would very much welcome your

feedback or any comments you may have,

and would also be very interested to hear

if you have any sugges�ons for ar�cles or

items you would like to see in future

newsle+ers.

Please email your feedback/sugges�ons

to: ajw@dar ordgrammargirls.kent.sch.uk

Andrée Wakeman

Assistant Secretary/Editor of DGGS Times

Documents

DGGS Times - Issue 15 -Feb 2012 - Dartford Grammar School ......2012/02/15 · The Poppy Day Appeal ˚ ˙ 3789:;2 #5 ( ˙- % PAGE 4 ISSUE 15 FEBRUARY 2012 Fine Art and Textiles Visit