Terms 3 to 4 2018

Issue 2 2018

RGS Newsletter

Spring Edition

CONTENTS

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Letter from the Head of School

1

World Book Day 2018

2

NChant competition Year 8 Visit to Ypres

3

Duke of Edinburgh Case Study Year 13 Essay Competition

4

STEM National Science Education Week

5

"When You Wish Upon a Flair" Year 7 Globe Theatre Visit

6

The Royal Shakespeare Company Time for Tea

7

Sports News Sports Relief Step Challenge Change of Office Email address

8

The Importance of Being Earnest RGS Charity Funding

9

Student Council News Black History Month RGSA

10

Kelly Tolhurst Visit RGS Suffragette Centenary Celebration

11

Looking Ahead - Important Dates

12

Dear Parent/Carer

We have had another busy few terms since I last wrote in the Christmas newsletter. As I write this message, students are busy planning and rehearsing for our Multicultural Fashion Show. This is our final event of the term and the final event of Multicultural Week.

Students will be showcasing the dance, art, language and food that people have been able to experience this week and of course there

will be the highly anticipated annual fashion show itself.

There have been so many wonderful opportunities for students to showcase their talents in a variety of areas. Earlier this month I was in the audience at the Royal Festival hall to support NChant, who had reached the final of the Barnardos National Youth Choir

Competition. The Music department continues to thrive and the Spring Concert was an excellent example of the depth and breadth of musical talent in the school. The orchestra, NChant, Gospel Choir, Dynamic Voices and Choirisma were fantastic and the solo

performance on the evening were beautiful.

Year 8s spent a very cold but thought provoking Friday in Ypres to learn more about the experiences of soldiers in WW1. Visiting the

cemeteries and getting a sense of the landscape, enriches all the work done in history lessons at school.

STEM continues to go from strength to strength and the number of students who attend STEM club on a Friday after school is such a positive endorsement for Mr Jackson and his team of teachers and students who help run all the competitions and projects.

Staff seem to have spent a lot of this term in fancy dress, first celebrating World Book Day and then National Science Week. Congratulations to Somerville, who won the Golden Bunsen Burner competition in Science Week.

I am sure those of you lucky enough to come and see Flair this year will agree it was a brilliant show and as usual money was raised for

an amazing cause, Make-A-Wish. I know how hard the students and staff work to make this event as professional and entertaining as it is and every year the bar seems to get higher and higher. This year’s school show was The Importance of Being Earnest and as someone

who studied this at school myself I was really looking forward to the RGS version. I was not disappointed. What a talented bunch of

actors and actresses who had me laughing all evening.

I have recently hosted another ‘Afternoon Tea with the Head’ for students who were nominated by teachers for having a positive impact on the school community. Whether that is helping to run clubs or supporting younger students they all embody the ethos of our school

and I am very grateful for the time they spend being positive role models. A huge thank you as ever to the staff who really go the extra mile to support our students and offer the wide range of extracurricular opportunities.

It just remains for me to wish everyone a safe and enjoyable break and I look forward to seeing you all next term.

Issue 2 2018 March 2018

Term 3-4

MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

RGS Newsletter

Mrs Brinklow Head of School

RGS Newsletter Page 2

WORLD BOOK DAY 2018

On Thursday 8th March, a belated World Book

Day was celebrated by staff and students at RGS. Staff dressed up as characters from different

novels, including one member whose enthusiastic portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the

West, left her feeling a bit green for at least 2 days! Staff also created posters showing the

covers of their favourite books which were then

attached to the door of their classrooms for students to look at on their way in. The

selections were truly diverse and encompassed everything from Jean-Paul Sartre to Paul

Gascoigne. Pre-starters that day saw teachers discuss these books and explaining what had

made them pick it up and read it, why they had

enjoyed it, if they been inspired to read more books by that author and if it had prompted them

to visit any of the places mentioned in the book.

In form time, students took part in a quiz and were all given a World Book Day token which

they could swap for book of their choice. This

was followed at lunchtime with a variety of fun

activities; these included creating their own character for

a novel, writing a mystery suspense story, completing a literary word search and taking part in an interactive

quiz. There was also a photograph competition where students had to guess which teacher was hidden behind

their favourite book. The activities proved very popular with both staff and students and a lot of fun was had by

all.

Finally, a book drive was organised and the English

Department was overwhelmed by the donations of much loved, used books which have now been passed

on to The British Heart Foundation and will hopefully be enjoyed by many more readers in the future.

This term, RGS celebrated World Book Day- which took place throughout the school. Around RGS, teachers were encouraged to stick

both their favourite books and the books that they were currently reading on their classroom doors. Not only this, but on the day teachers from the English Department decided to dress up as their favourite literary characters – and most lessons were themed around

the day.

At lunchtime, an activities fair was open to students – this contained a mixture of both creative tasks and literary quizzes. Some examples of tasks included: creating potential characters; book reviews; quizzes about famous novellas and themed puzzles and word

searches. Students from all year groups attended the activities fair and the event was enjoyed by all. Students were able to meet others

with similar interests and have in-depth conversations about their favourite books and authors.

World Book Day at RGS was a

huge success, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I cannot wait until

next year!

Jasneet Samrai, Tm5

Issue 2 2018 Page 3

On Monday 12th March, NChant were delighted to have been

chosen to compete in the Barnardos National Youth Choir Competition Final 2018 at the Royal Festival Hall. To enter

we had sent a recording of two songs (back in October) and we were selected to be in the final with five other senior school

choirs (over 400 choirs had entered this competition!).

At 11am, we boarded the coach up to the Festival Hall and

were in good spirits’, singing some popular music together as a warm up on the coach! On arrival there was a real buzz

around the foyer of the concert hall as other choirs were gathered. We were taken backstage to our dressing room, and

then after a short warm-up session it was our turn to go onto the fantastic stage at the Royal Festival Hall to perform for the

Judges. It was scary but also exciting! We sang brilliantly, a

testament to all the hard work that has been put in during all our rehearsals.

After performing there was time for a quick trip for dinner at

Pizza Express. It was a chance for the choir to have time socially, away from the pressure of the competition. After a

great meal we went back to the festival hall for a massed rehearsal with all the other primary and senior choirs who had also qualified

for their place in the finals, to rehearse two joint songs. It was a different experience for NChant to sing with other voices especially with male voices!

During the first half of the concert we got to watch some of the other choirs perform and then at the end of the second half, it was our

turn to perform to the large audience (which included our supporters, parents, grandparents, alongside Mrs Brinklow and Mrs Gregory).

Although we weren't placed 1st or 2nd it was an achievement just reach the final six choirs! Overall we all had a really great time and despite being exhausted afterwards, it was a pleasure to represent RGS.

Francesca Lewell

NCHANT COMPETITION

YEAR 8 VISIT TO YPRES

On an extremely chilly Friday morning, 90 Year 8 students set off to the

beautiful town of Ypres in Belgium. Despite the early start, spirits were high as the coach departed from school. The journey was around 3 and a half hours

altogether which included 30 minutes on the Euro Shuttle and the drive through Northern France.

Our first destination was Lijssenthoek Cemetery. It was shocking to see the

amount of gravestones (10,875 in total) of British, French and Commonwealth

soldiers that had fallen in battle. There was only one female grave there, the one of Nurse Nellie Spindler who died saving lives on the front line. We also

visited the German cemetery Langemark, which contained almost quadruple the amount of dead that Lijssenthoek had, and Bayernwald German trenches.

Visiting the trenches was astonishing and really showed me the harsh reality of living and fighting in the First World War.

One highlight for me was when we travelled deep into the heart of Ypres. Here we visited the beautiful yet shocking Menin Gate, which contains the names of thousands of soldiers that were never found, and an authentic Belgian chocolate shop which sold delicious

confectionary. After the visit to the town, our last stop was Tyne Cot Cemetery, which is the largest cemetery of Commonwealth Soldiers in the world.

For me, visiting Tyne Cot was the most memorable part of the entire day. We got a chance to look round the cemetery, and in this time

I located the name of one of my relatives on the memorial wall. His name was Joseph Rooks and he died in battle on the Western Front

in Flanders on the 26th October 1917 during the third battle of Ypres (Passchendaele). For me, it was a very moving moment to have the honour of placing down a wreath beside his name to commemorate the soldiers that died fighting for our country. I would

recommend a trip to Ypres to anyone, it is a real eye-opening experience that you will never forget.

Jessica Rooke, Fz1

RGS Newsletter Page 4

The Thinking Schools Academy Trust (TSAT) is made up of a family of twelve schools which include Primary Schools, Grammar

Schools, High Schools and Comprehensive Schools. These schools are located in Medway and Portsmouth. Both of the Grammar Schools in the Trust (The Rochester Grammar School and Holcombe Grammar School) have delivered the Bronze Award

successfully for many years and the other secondary schools (The Victory Academy and The Portsmouth Academy) have run DofE in the past. When Medway Council decided to change how DofE was funded in its local area, it became clear that although both of the

Grammar Schools could continue to run DofE, The Victory Academy would no longer be able to give students the opportunity to participate in the DofE programme. Following discussions with the DofE, it was decided that the Trust would be granted its own

licence as the Trust had the right structure to support the growth of the DofE programme across the whole Trust rather than in the

individual schools. This was only the second time a Multi-Academy Trust had been granted a licence in the South-East Region.

Ben Vickery, the DofE manager for the Trust explains what happened; “At

the time we learnt that the funding of DofE was changing, I was the acting coordinator for the Bronze award at The Rochester Grammar School. Due

to changes in staffing and as I already worked across the different Trust sites in another role, I suggested that I should be the manager. My first task was

to get as many staff as possible to get involved and have as many as possible

receive training. This year we have had four staff members trained to be assessors, with one of these taking on the role of coordinator in her school

and another start the Lowland Leader Course. I myself have had training to be the Manager and have done the training part of the Hill and Moorland

Leader Award. To minimise the staffing requirements, I have organised the Bronze expeditions so that we only need to run three combined expeditions

for our 161 enrolled students from the Medway area. We are also running

the Silver and Gold expeditions for the first time. There are 57 Y10 students currently signed up to do Silver and I expect this to hit 70 before next

summer. We have ten Y12 students signed up to do Gold and I will be encouraging the Y11 students to sign up as soon as they turn sixteen. My main aim is to have the DofE programme running in all 4 schools and we are currently developing a strategy on how we

can encourage as many as possible to take part.”

This desire to give everyone the opportunity to take part in the DofE

programme is also felt strongly by Stuart Gardner, Chief Executive Officer of

TSAT and a Gold award holder himself, who explains; “I know from personal

experience that the Duke of Edinburgh is a fantastic programme for young

people and has the power to transform lives. The focus on the development of,

and engagement with, essential life skills and habits allows young people to

develop as a whole person. For me, the expeditions have always been the

highlight of the Duke of Edinburgh process. Effectively working as a team,

taking responsibility for finding your way to the next camp site and ensuring

that you had enough food to keep you warm and full created some of my

fondest memories.”

YEAR 13 ESSAY COMPETITON

We would like to congratulate Jasmine Powell and Isabelle Thorneycroft for being shortlisted for the New College of the Humanities

Year 13 essay competition prize.

At the award ceremony took place on 10th January at New College of the Humanities (NCH) in Bedford Square and the Master of the College, philosopher A. C. Grayling, commended the 50 shortlisted candidates from schools in the UK and Europe on the qualities of

their essays and their ideas (Is democracy the best form of government?, What is the future for globalisation? Or do we need philosophers?) and the exceptionally high standard of the entries.

It should be noted that Jasmine and Isabelle were doing their mocks at the time of the entry date while many of the entrants weren’t doing their mocks until January!

Mrs Brinklow

Head of School

Issue 2 2018 Page 5

NATIONAL SCIENCE EDUCATION WEEK

The Science department at RGS celebrated National Science

Education Week (12-16 March) with a wide range of activities that centred around the theme of “wildlife.” The students

participated in an inter-house competition to earn points towards the Golden Bunsen Burner Award.

Key Stage 3 classes had special lessons all during the week. Year 7

students designed and built a boat to test and see how much mass

it could hold before sinking. They also had a great time making slime and building mini rockets where they had to calculate the

right amount of reactants to have it launch after a set period of time. Year 8 classes designed and built bridges out of paper and

wooden splints. They tested them to see how much mass they could hold before collapsing. They designed an insect and justified

the adaptations it had. DNA was extracted from strawberries and

they dissected a fish which proved to be a very exciting and memorable experience for many.

Year 9 classes competed to design and build a windmill that could lift the most mass whilst Year 10 classes tried to build the tallest light house using only a limited set of resources. All the classes worked very hard on their entries and the competition was fierce.

On Tuesday of Science Week RGS participated in the National Science Demonstration day. We had a variety of exciting and explosive

science demonstrations for the students to witness and increase their awe and wonder of science. The end of the week saw the Science

teachers creatively dress up in outfits related to the theme of the wildlife and students competed in a periodic table memorisation challenge.

At the end of the week the Golden Bunsen Burner was awarded to Somerville.

STEM

At the end of last year, the students of

STEM club indicated that this year they wanted to focus more on ecology. We have

been very busy since then with a variety of projects. A pond has been dug on the

school grounds and a team of students are working on designing the landscape around

it. There are plans to build a small bridge

over the pond and many students have been busy constructing bird houses that will be

situated around this wildlife sanctuary. More work needs to be done outside so

while the weather has been cold students have been active in researching, designing

and building a hydroponic system to grow

plants indoors.

The robotics portion of STEM club continues to be very active this year.

Students have attended local competitions to showcase their expertise in the VEX IQ

Robotics System and Lego robotics.

Unfortunately, the second Lego robotics competition was cancelled due to the snow,

but the students learned valuable engineering skills building and modifying

their robots along with computer programming. Hopefully they will be able

to put these to good use next year.

Thirty Year 8 students from STEM club

attended a special trip to the Dungeness B Power Station as part of Pretty Curious

Campaign to encourage more young women to consider a career in engineering.

They were treated to a tour of the nuclear power station and were able to talk to

many of the female engineers about the

career pathways that are open to them.

Teams of students from each Key Stage Group attended the Rotary Club

Technology Tournament. They had to work together to design a construct a lunch

system for a plastic golf ball. Our Year 9

team won first place in their division.

The Can-Sat Team has been busy putting

the final touches on their first entry into this national competition. They are

nearing the completion of building a device the size of soda can that will be

lifted by a large balloon into the atmosphere. It will collect data, including

pollution levels, as it parachutes back to

the ground.

There are still many more events and competitions coming up besides all the

projects we have at our weekly STEM Club meeting. Upcoming events include

the Salters Chemistry Festival, the

Faraday Challenge, and at the end of the year there will be a trip to the Big Bang

Fair for all the STEM Club members. Last year’s trip was a very exciting and

engaging time and this year looks to be even bigger and better.

Mr Ryan STEM Co-ordinator

RGS Newsletter Page 6

“WHEN YOU WISH UPON A FLAIR”

Back in February, the Year 7s were taken on a day trip to The Globe Theatre in London. This is a day that the students thoroughly

enjoy as not only do they have a tour of the theatre, but they also take part in a Shakespeare workshop which allows their drama skills

to shine! On arrival at the theatre, the students were split into small groups and each group was assigned a guide for the day. Each of

the guides was one of the actors from the Globe Company. First, they were all given a tour which included lots of information about

what the Globe would have been like in Shakespeare’s time (very crowded, very dirty and VERY smelly!), and the building of the

current theatre. Students were also given the opportunity to walk on the famous stage and were even given a line from Shakespeare to

speak to an imaginary audience, giving them a sense of what it is like to perform at this wonderful theatre. Afterwards, students were

taken to The Globe Workshops where they were given scenes to perform from ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. There was much

laughter and activity during these workshops as students worked on different ways to speak the lines, and the guides were all given an

enthusiastic and appreciative round of applause when we left. Our final stop after a quick lunch and a visit to the shop for some

mementos of the day, was The Globe Exhibition, where students could

explore the life of Shakespeare, the London where he lived, and the

theatre for which he wrote. They were also able to see some of the

magnificent costumes that had been worn in a range of productions at the

theatre. Students returned to the school at the end of the day with not

only their souvenirs but some very happy memories of an enjoyable and

informative day.

Ms Cumming

Curriculum Leader English

The 1st-3rd February saw our 8th charity

dance show “When You Wish Upon A

Flair”, celebrating the music and magic of

Walt Disney. A wonderful group of choreographers, dancers and crew worked

from September to bring this world to life in a “friendly, supportive and amazing

atmosphere”. The show was a real crowd-pleaser with dance styles including lyrical,

tap, street and African, and the Disney

films ranging from classics, such as the “Lion King” and “Beauty and the Beast”,

to live-action versions such as “Hocus

Pocus” and “A Wrinkle In Time”. The stage was filled with prowling animals and

intricate arm movements for the whole cast numbers, while other numbers

represented pirates, trolls and some of your favourite heroes and villains.

The Flair company would like to thank their friends and families for their fantastic

support, and the generosity shown in

donating prizes and buying tickets for the

raffles. We also thank the staff and the student front-of-house team who donated

their time for this great cause. While the

final total is still being determined, we are thrilled to be supporting Make-A-Wish in

enriching the lives of children who have life-limiting conditions.

The Flair Team

YEAR 7 GLOBE THEATRE VISIT

Page 7 Issue 2 2018

On Monday 12th of March, six Year 10 Drama students had the

amazing opportunity of performing live at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury; along with the Royal Shakespeare Company’s

Associate Schools Program. The annual production brings together aspiring young performers (of a variety of ages) and

demonstrates just how exhilarating exploring Shakespeare through Drama can be. This year’s Production was ‘Julius

Caesar: The Ides of March’. The performance as a whole was

not only a brilliant collaboration, heaped with vibrant, talented students; but offered a lovely experience to all those involved.

The Rochester Grammar School students involved were Esther Anthony-Ajileye, Brooke Bettey, Lucy Conaghan, Amber

THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY’S ASSOCIATE

SCHOOLS PROGRAMME

JULIUS CEASAR: THE IDES OF MARCH

.It is our second year being part of The Royal Shakespeare Company’s Associate Schools Program and the performing standards continue to get

higher. All students involved behaved and performed to an incredibly high standard and feedback about The Rochester Grammar School’s extract in the final production was overwhelmingly positive. We are looking forward to embarking on our next project with the program, which will see a selection of our students perform an abridged version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth at The Royal Shakespeare Company’s theatre in Stratford Upon Avon. This

performance is due to take place in July.

Mr Selby

Cuthbertson, Shaan Dhillon and Ellee Ray; as well as the dynamic

performance piece being led and directed by Mr Selby.

On arrival, all Associate School’s taking part in the production were introduced to the Marlowe Theatre directors; and then given

a technical rehearsal. Following this, the day was filled with meeting other schools (and rehearsing with them - sharing skills

and helpful tips), blocking through the final piece with costume

and props, and even a leisurely scavenger hunt around Canterbury High Street!

The day at the theatre was long, however, gave a real insight into

the world of professional theatre. The evening performance saw an audience of over 800 people and was a massive success. It gave a

new, challenging, but mostly rewarding experience to the students

at The Rochester Grammar School; and was overall an incredibly enjoyable day. To perform in such a large scale production was a

very unique opportunity, and will always be remembered as a day filled with teamwork, persistence and great fun.

Thank you to The Royal Shakespeare Company, The Marlowe

Theatre and Canterbury High School for arranging such a

wonderful day. Also, a massive thank you to all the supporting staff and students involved in making the performance a massive

success.

Brooke Bettey, 10 Hildegard 6.

T IME FOR TEA

As part of our reward system at RGS, we hold a celebration where students are invited to have afternoon tea with the Head of School.

Students who joined Mrs Brinklow this term were Grace Wingrove, Isabelle Thorneycroft, Mayong Tabe, Hannah Silver, Jasneet Samrai, Jasmine Powell, Louisa Pledger, Lucy Pgden, Michelle Ngugi, Niamh McLaughlin, Damilola Matthew, Charlotte Le Breton,

Emma Lambkin, Eleanor Hicks, Amy Dennis, George Cook, Christiana Adewumi

RGS Newsletter Page 8

SPORTS NEWS

Term 3 started with the Year 7 A and B netball teams playing

against Walderslade Girls coming away with two wins. Unfortunately, the other games that were due to be played this

term were cancelled by the other schools, meaning that even though we received the points the girls were unable to play

these games.

Since then the Year 7 and 8 teams have entered the Kent

County Netball Tournament. The Year 8s played on a very cold Monday where the rules were bent by the organisers to

allow them to play in gloves and hats! The girls played extremely well winning 4 games and losing 2. They were

excellent representatives of RGS and even though the courts were frozen at the start of the day they kept their enthusiasm

going throughout. The Year 7 team played later the same

week. They were extremely excited and nervous, as it was their first tournament, but they started well by winning their first

game. By the end of the day they had come forth in their group. All of the girls that took part should be very proud of

themselves.

Since January RGS has also entered two Swimming galas, with

the first being the Kent Schools gala. For this event took place in Margate on a Saturday and 5 students took part. They all

tried hard with most of them competing in two events. The next gala entered took place at Kings School Rochester and it

was the first time we had been invited to this event. It took

place after school and 9 students took part. During this gala the

students showed great sportsmanship and the Year 9/10 team came joint first, well done girls!

There was another first for us this term and that was entering a

gymnastics competition. This opportunity was given to those students who attend gymnastics club and this took place in

Maidstone with 6 students taking part. The behaviour from the

girls throughout the day was exceptional and it resulted in Ellen Jones and Marlei Hutchinson coming 3rd in their sections. The girls

are already looking forward to competing next year.

Mayong Tabe has also broken the Kent Indoor Athletics Championship record for long jump which was 5.50 metres and she

jumped a staggering 5.79 metres, well done Mayong! This has now

also become her personal best.

Finally, this term Florence Green-Cronin represented Kent in the National Cross Country Championships in Loughborough, running

2.7km in 13 minutes and 10 seconds. This resulted in her coming 143rd out of 220. This is a huge achievement, especially as Florence

is in Year 7! We look forward to seeing what Florence can do next

year.

Miss Clements PE Department

As part of Sport Relief 2018, The Rochester Grammar School joined in with the

nation’s 1 billion step challenge. Staff and students alike competed to log the most

amount of steps throughout Sport Relief Week with an amazon voucher up for

grabs for the highest placed student. In total, we as a school managed to log a

mammoth 3,629,467 steps which equates to roughly 1800 miles! To put this in

perspective, if we tag teamed all of our steps together we could have walked all the

way to Istanbul in Turkey!

It was thoroughly enjoyable to see students and staff getting excited about exercise and competing with each other to walk the furthest

each day, as well as the main competition I know there were many individual challenges going on between staff and students! A special

mention to the three highest placed students who were battling it out for top spot throughout the challenge with Rebecca Hanks

finishing in third, Elsa Burdett in second and Madeline Colley in first - narrowly pipping it at the post with 355,446 steps. Also, to Miss

Moore who managed to take the staff title from Mr Willard who had been leading the staff contingent for most of the week!

A big well done to all of you who got involved and we hope that you continue to make your 10,000 steps a day target!

The PE Department

CHANGE OF OFFICE EMAIL ADDRESS

Please note that from Tuesday 3rd April, the office@rochestergrammar.medway.sch.uk email address will no longer be valid. If you

wish to email the school, please use the new address:

office@rochestergrammar.org.uk

Issue 2 2018 Page 9

RGS CHARITY FUNDRAISING

MONEY RAISED FROM JANUARY 2018 -

Date Details of Donation Charity name Funds raised

13.12.17 Whole School Tag Day (final total) Student activity Fund 845.13

15.1.18 Somerville Charity Week 316.85

2.2.18 Xmas Card staff collection Demelza House 20.20

5.3.18 Byron Charity Week 290.54

1472.72

‘THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST’

It’s only been a few days since our final

performance of Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ but I’m

missing it wholeheartedly already. It’s

probably been my favourite school show to be a part of since I started here with ‘The

Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ in Year 7.

By playing the character Cecily in the play, I was able to inhabit a character unlike any

I’d played before amongst a cast of both old and now new friends. With only 9

characters in the show we all became a really close and supportive unit, and it was

an incomplete dynamic when anyone

wasn’t there in the days leading up to the show. We were able to bounce ideas off

each other really naturally and develop an energetic rhythm for comedic timing, which

in this play in particular was very important.

We made it through three very eventful shows, to say the least. Whether somebody

forgot a line, or slid half way across the stage or even fell down the stairs; we as a

cast used it to fuel the comedy of the play and worked well as a team to recover

whatever didn’t go exactly to plan.

I can’t think of a better show experience

that could replace this one as my final play

at RGS. I can only hope next year’s musical, and my final show at the school,

will be just as rewarding an experience to remember as Earnest has been.

Alice Humphrys, 12 Sv3

As I wrote in the show’s programme, being the only male cast member has not led me

to feel in any way alienated or pushed away by other members of the cast. I felt

extremely welcome and at ease whenever

we were together. Throughout all of our

rehearsals and days leading up to the performance, the cast became so tight-knit

and close with one another- I couldn’t

have asked for a more lovely group of people to work with in my first school play

at RGS. Everyone was just so passionate about making the show the best it could

be.

My favourite thing about being in the

show was the independence that was put upon each member of the company to

ensure that we were doing exactly what

was expected of us. This gave us the freedom to come together and take the

leaps of faith that (most of the time) caused the show to vastly improve. Of

course, I give no discredit to the amazing team of teachers and not to mention our

director, Miss Moore who were able to

shape the performance and guide us to success. Miss Moore led us through such

an amazing experience that I have never had before in my school career.

The Importance of Being Earnest is such

an incredibly funny play and I am so

grateful to have not only been able to explore it as a whole, but also the

character of Algernon Moncrieff. Algy’s mischievous antics and frantic

‘bunburying’ excited me when first reading the script, and I simply couldn’t

wait to portray him up on the stage. The

magical moment for me was putting on

his waistcoat and jacket to simply walk

around his living area, enjoying the opportunity to step into someone else’s

life for an evening and waiting for the curtain to rise.

Bartholomew Hall, 12 Hg4

RGS Newsletter Page 10

WE NEED NEW PARENT MEMBERS

TO JOIN THE RGSA!

The RGSA are a group of parents supported by staff whose purpose is to raise funds so that various departments can purchase items

to support your daughter’s learning.

The RGSA help out at events throughout the year to enrich your daughter’s life outside the curriculum. These include: Drama and Music events, Flair, Parents’ Evenings, Discos, Founders’ Day ball etc. The meetings take place once a term and the group are a

registered charity. The RGSA also co-ordinate the sales of the nearly new uniform; the uniforms are then sold before the meetings which are advertised. We need committee members and helpers to successfully run as a charity.

Meetings take place once a term but you do not need to attend every meeting to support the RGSA, all are welcome to support school

events throughout the year.

If you would like more information, please contact www.office@rochestergrammar.org.uk.

One of the most recent additions to RGS following Student Council

discussions has been a running water fountain. The School received a donation from Clancy Docwra which was topped up by the school in order to install the

fountain. It’s now available for students to use in a covered outdoor eating area!

Alice Humphreys

Head Girl

STUDENT COUNCIL NEWS

BLACK H ISTORY MONTH

This October saw the UK’s 30th celebration of Black History

Month and RGS took to the opportunity to celebrate and

educate throughout October and beyond. A range of activities

happened during the month including: a cookout, which was a

swift sell out thanks to the delicious range of dishes on offer; a

Spoken Word Showcase, which saw students from all key stages

demonstrate their impressive talent and assemblies and form

activities that celebrated inspirational British black people. There

was also a writing competition. All students were invited to take

part in the competition to celebrate Black History Month and its

legacy. Since Black History Month was 30 years old, the theme

for our competition was also legacy. We are pleased to

announce both the winner and the runner up. It was a tough

decision; the standard was so high. Congratulations to our winner

Matthew Exley in Tm5 for his piece 'The Elder Tree' and to our

runner up Sara Karim in Sv4 for her piece 'The unsung poet -

Muhammad Ali's legacy'. Over the course of the month £100 was

raised and this money was given to Medway African and

Caribbean Association. We very much look forward to our

continued work with MACA and their Black History Live project.

Mrs Still

English Department

Kelly Tolhurst, MP for Rochester and Strood, visited RGS today to meet with Sixth Form students of Government and Politics. Pupils

had the opportunity to ask Kelly about important constituency issues as well as items on the national agenda. The discussion

covered diverse topics such as Brexit, homelessness, local transport and her experiences of being an MP. Students also discussed ways to

engage young people in politics and todays visit will certainly help.

KELLY TOLHURST VISITS RGS

Issue 2 2018 Page 11

SUFFRAGETTE CENTENARY CELEBRATION

2018 sees the centenary of the

Representation of the People’s Act, a law which enabled 8.5 million women the right

to vote for the first time. As a high achieving girl’s school it seems only fitting

that we commemorate this momentous moment in British history.

It has often been overlooked that the inclusion of women in this Act was an

afterthought and that this act was originally intended to give the vote to 5 million extra

men who were still disenfranchised despite the fact that they had been asked to fight for

their country in World War One. Although

an afterthought for the politicians at Westminster, female suffrage was a life

consuming mission for hundreds of women across Britain who had campaigning

tirelessly for 20 years. It was a campaign that included marches, petitions, vandalism

and arson and even claimed the life of one

Suffragette – Emily Wilding Davison. Despite this the franchise offered was a

limited one and it would take another ten years to get the vote on equal terms.

It has been argued that the suffragettes

should be pardoned for the crimes they

committed for their cause. I object to this.

Not because I don’t agree with their cause, or even because I agree with their

methods, but because I do not believe that they would have wanted to be pardoned.

They wanted to make a scene, they wanted to highlight just how unjust the world they

lived in was. To pardon them would be to

undermine their very message.

Much like in 1918 women in Britain have much to celebrate. It is illegal to pay

women less than men for the same job, girls are out-performing boys at every level

of the education system, we have more

female MPs than ever before with 208 being elected in 2017 and we have had two

female Prime Minister. In a similar vein it is also clear that much is still to be done.

Experts have claimed that the gender pay gap will take anywhere between 100 and

217 years to close meaning that although

girls are getting better grades than boys at both school and university they are failing

to get those highly paid jobs. In addition to this; headlines such as those regarding

powerful men such as Harvey Weinstein highlight how many women are perceived

and treated by society.

It is up to the girls of RGS to change this.

It is very easy to get angry at statistics, but it is far more effective to change them.

Ann Taylor said about female MPS that “Having women to vote for in politics is

very important, but we have to make sure these role models aren’t presented like

superwomen. We’ve got to get across that

ordinary women can do this.”. Our girls are anything but ordinary. Year after year

they achieve astounding examination results as well win a significant amount of

sporting events, organise impressive events such as the Multicultural Fashion

Show and even author published articles

and books. If anyone can live up to the legacy of the NUWSS and the WSPU and

make a real change to the lives of women it is the girls of RGS.

Miss Beggs

History Department

Issue 2 2018 Page 12

LOOKING AHEAD—

IMPORTANT DATES FOR TERMS 5&6 2018

The full newsletter can be downloaded from the RGS website.

Monday 16th April First day of Term 5

17th April Year 8 Geography field trip

18th April Year 7 Parents' Evening

23rd/24th April Year 8 HPV

25th April Year 8 Cornwall Parents' Meeting

26th/27th April Year 7 Science tirp to Port Lympe

30th April - 18th May IB External Examinations

30th April - 181h May Year 12 A level and IB formal unseen exams

5th May Year 10 Silver Duke of Edinburgh Assessed Expedition

7th May MAY BANK HOLIDAY

12th May Year 9 Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Assessed Expedition

14th May GCSE/A level external examinations start

19th May Year 12 Gold Duke of Edinburgh training

25th May Last Day of term

28th May - 1st June May Break

4th-8th June Year 8 Cornwall trip

6th June Year 10 IB Information Evening

11th/12th June Year 10 Geography field work trip

13th June Year 9/10/12 Wicked Theatre Trip

20th June Cornwall 2019 Parents' meeting

21st June Art Exhibition

21st/22nd June Year 7 Dover Trip

25th-29th June Year 10 Full formal exams

27th June Year 5 Taster evening

29th June Year 12 Economics visit to the Bank of England

2nd-6th July Year 12 Workshadowing

2nd-4th July Sixth Form Induction

4th July Year 6 Induction Evening

5th July Year 6 Induction

9th-12th July Year 12 Virtually University

11th July Higher Education Evening

16th July Sports Day and Tidy Up Day

17th July Olympiad

18th July House Arts Day

19th July Celebration Day / Last Day of Term 6

Tuesday 4th September First day of Term 1