J9657 Wirral Nuntius Summer Newsletter - proof 3 … · Head Boy Team every success for their...

NuntiusSummer 2015

Cross Lane, Bebington, Wirral, CH63 3AQ Tel: 0151 644 0908 www.wirralgrammarboys.com

WIRRAL GRAMMAR SCHOOLA Business and Enterprise School for Boys

House Captain and Mock General Elections At WGSB 2015

The 7th May will go down in the

annals of history for a host of

reasons, but put the idiosyncrasies

of our electoral system and the

delusions of our pollsters to one

side and what we are left with

is the really important business

of democracy in action at Wirral

Boys. From an extremely busy

start to polling at 8.30am, through

to an enthusiastic team at the

count at 4.00pm, the school

delivered an overall turnout of 77%

and some popular winners. School

journalists Tom Smith and Jacob

Bradshaw captured some of the

excitement of the day and offer

their own perspectives.

I would just like to add my

congratulations to Rhys

Shakeshaft (Barber), Matthew

Callanan (Dodds), Druvi Edirisinghe

(Hodgson) and Sam Lock (Lever)

for their appointment as new

House Captains and I wish them

well for their year of office. Well

done also to the candidates in the

mock election and particularly to

James Evans for steering a course

to victory.

Mrs Ahern

WGSB Gripped By Election Fever!

Messages from the Newly Elected House Captains Barber House

Rhys Shakeshaft

I’m delighted to have been

elected House Captain for

Barber this year and am

excited to take a lead role

in managing our House.

I believe that if we all work together we

can achieve great things and so I want to

strive to include everybody in our efforts

this year with the aim of becoming the

dominant House.

While I would love us to come out on

top at the end of the year, I believe that

a healthy, friendly rivalry is better than a

fierce one as we also need to work with

the other Houses to maximise the results

that we can achieve. At the end of the day,

we need to make a positive change to not

only our school, but to other people’s lives

through the charity we support. Thank you

for supporting me and I hope I can return

the favour and repay your faith. I’m looking

forward to a productive year.

Dodds HouseMatt Callanan

To take over from Jack

Hulme as Dodds House

Captain is a huge honour.

Jack has done a great job

in helping us, as a house,

to excel to the top of the charity money

leader boards. Unfortunately, this year we

have not been as successful with the house

commendation totals and this is what I

hope to change next year.

I want to bring in different ways of gaining

commendations, other than in sports,

such as music, chess and academic

opportunities. I believe rewards are the key

to increasing our House Commendation

totals and further increase our charity

totals; therefore I plan to reward forms and

individuals that contribute highly to these

totals. I look forward to next year and the

success it will bring for Dodds!

Hodgson HouseDruvi Edirisinghe

Just a few words. Firstly I

would like to thank everyone

who voted me in as Hodgson

House Captain for next year,

and showed faith in my ability

to lead us to glory. As we all know, the road

has been tough for Hodgson these past few

years, certainly while I’ve been here- we

have always been scrapping it out for 3rd

place, which isn’t good enough for me.

Last year we showed tremendous character

to achieve 2nd place in the house league

tables and really put in a sustained title

challenge, however ultimately we didn’t

achieve our primary goal. I want to build

on this 2nd placed finish next year and

see more people getting involved with the

school and striving harder. Not only this

but I will be putting a stronger focus on

charity events, such as the hugely popular

FIFA tournaments, and possibly inter-house

football competitions in order to raise as

much as we can.

Lever HouseSam Lock

I am absolutely delighted

that Lever house have

selected me to be

their House Captain.

I am humbled by the

amount of you that have shown your

support throughout the school for my

campaign. First of all I would like to say

commiserations to the other candidates

and thank them for running, as they

made the election an interesting and

unpredictable process.

I feel whoever was selected out of myself,

Gabe or Craig would have done an

excellent job. Now next year lies ahead and

I have got a lot planned and a busy agenda

for Lever house. I hope we can have a

successful year and look forward to the

challenges that lie ahead. In Lever I believe.

www.wirralgrammarboys.com2


Headteacher’s WelcomeAs the 2014/2015 school year

draws to close, we once again take

time to reflect on the achievements

of the past twelve months. There is

a familiar rhythm to our school year

with certain events being part of our

annual routine. No two years are

ever the same, however, and there

have been many new opportunities,

successes and challenges.

Developments in our House

System saw a very busy

programme of election

campaigning prior to our Election

Day in May and the appointment

of our new House Captains for

2015/2016. My congratulations

go to Rhys Shakeshaft (Barber),

Matthew Callanan (Dodds), Druvi

Edirisinghe (Hodgson) and Sam

Lock (Lever). All boys were able

to take part in the voting process

and I am very pleased to say that

we set an example to the entire

nation in having a turn out that

was significantly higher than the

General Election!

The Summer Term has seen the

appointment of our new Head Boy

Team with Ben Turner at the helm.

My thanks to the out-going Head

Boy Team ably led by James Evans

for their outstanding leadership and

organisational skills.

Sporting achievements have again

been high on our list and there

was a notable success for the

Under 15s who made it through

to the National Semi-Finals in the

Nat West Cup. Both our Under

18s and Under 16s were North of

England Indoor Hockey finalists

and our Basketball Under 14s were

Wirral School Champions, while

the Under 13s were Wirral Schools

Runners Up. Toward the end of the

term, our Year 9 and 10 Athletics

Teams were the winners of the

Northwest Track and Field Cup.

We have again enjoyed excellent

musical performances with our

Chamber Concerts and termly

Music Society Concerts, the last of

which took place in the penultimate

week of term. I would like to add

my thanks to Mrs Amy Chalmers

who has made an outstanding

contribution to Music in our school

over the last 11 years and who is

leaving at the end of term.

Our Musical Production this year

was ‘Evita’ and once again, the

standard of performance was

exceptionally high. Well done to

Lewis Casella who was this year’s

Drama Cup Winner. Plans are

now well underway for next year’s

performance of the Madness

musical, ‘Our House’.

The Awards Ceremony combined

with the House Award Assemblies

presented a formal opportunity to

celebrate the many achievements

of our pupils both in the classroom

and in extra-curricular activities.

Congratulations to all our Award

winners this year.

At the end of the school year we

say our farewells to a number

of staff: Mr Morris (Head of

Technology) is retiring after 25 years

of service; Mrs Ahern (Head of

Politics and House Co-ordinator) is

leaving to take up a new post at The

Grange School in Northwich after

19 years of service; Mrs Chalmers

is moving to take up a new post at

Birkenhead High School Academy

following 11 years of service and

Miss Stebbing (Temporary Teaching

Assistant) is leaving to go into

primary teaching. We wish them all

every success and happiness for

the future. From September, we will

be welcoming the following new

staff: Mr David Andrew (Head of

Technology) and Mr Jonas Tattersall

(Teacher of Music).

I would like to thank all parents

for the superb support that they

have given the school again this

year and I hope that all families

enjoy a relaxing summer break.

Our new academic year

commences on Thursday 3rd

September and parents should

refer to our school website for

details of our phased return.

For those students awaiting

examination results in the

summer, their hard work is

now over; let’s hope that you

all achieve the excellent results

that you fully deserve.

D R Hazeldine

Headteacher

Head Boy Team: Appointments 2015-2016 Following the process of staff and student nominations

and candidate interviews, the following students have

been appointed:

Head Boy: Ben Mark Turner

Deputy Head Boys: George Watson and Jamie

Norris

Senior Prefects: Oliver Webster, John

Fieldhouse, Aaron D’Cruz

and Sam Fisher

Congratulations to all seven on their successful

appointment to these leadership roles. We wish our new

Head Boy Team every success for their period of office

in 2015-2016.

Many thanks to our out-going Head Boy Team for their

exceptional services over the last year: James Evans

(Head Boy), Joe Lawton (Deputy Head Boy), Aaron Drury

(Deputy Head Boy), Robin Leach (Senior Prefect), Conor

Richie (Senior Prefect), Jack Abel (Senior Prefect) and

Matthew Herbison (Senior Prefect).

Welcome From Your New Head Boy Team 2015-2016 It is a great honour to have been appointed Head Boy of Wirral Grammar School for Boys for the forthcoming year. Last year was a very successful year and great credit is to be given to James Evans and his team for this. Our focus this year is to continue to build upon the work and foundations that his team set in place, to strive to an even stronger year for the school. It is also our firm intention to strengthen the communications between all departments within the school in addition to the House Councils and House Captains. James Evans and his team had a hugely successful year with regards to the school charity- I am in no doubt that this year will be no exception as a consequence of your continuous selfless donations and unaltered commitment and hard work.

The Head Boy team for the forthcoming year consists of myself, Ben Mark Turner (Head Boy),George Watson, Jamie Norris (Deputy Head Boys), Sam Fisher, Aaron D’Cruz, Oliver Websterand John Fieldhouse (Senior Prefects). This is a highly committed, motivated and proactive team who are looking forward to working with you, leading to a highly successful and rewarding prospective year ahead.

Ben Mark Turner – Head Boy

3

Summer 2015

Nuntius

Barber House

Daniel Dorda

- Barber House

Captain

In my final

paragraph

as Barber House Captain,

I’d really like to congratulate

everyone in our amazing house.

It’s been a tough year, but we’ve really

pulled it through! At the moment of writing

this, we are proudly first on the House

Commendation totals – we’re absolutely

racing ahead of the competition. Due to

the success of the £10 Challenge we were

pushed up to second place on House

Charity totals too. I’d like to sincerely

congratulate everyone who took part,

and especially the forms B/KJS, B/AW

and B/RR, who raised £100, £80 and £40

respectively. An exceptional effort and I

think we could all follow their example.

I hope that we can keep up the hard work

until the end of the year and that I can say

goodbye to a house that left me feeling

proud. Let’s hope that next year will be as

good as this one!

Dodds House

Jack Hulme

- Dodds House

Captain

This year has

been hugely

successful for

Dodds in terms of fundraising.

The House has topped the

charity leader boards with over

�1500 raised for charity from loose change

collections alone! We’ve organised many

successful events including a baby face

competition which consisted of pupils

trying to guess which baby picture was

which member of staff and we are currently

in the process of selling raffle tickets for a

signed Gareth Bale football shirt. My role

as House Captain has been challenging,

yet thoroughly enjoyable, it has been an

invaluable learning experience for me. I

would like to thank Mrs Ahern and the

House Council for all of their support and

wish the best of luck to Matt Callanan as

our the next house captain!

Hodgson House

Jack Kelly

- Hodgson

House Captain

This year has

been very

exciting for Hodgson under

the newly reformed house

system. We have seen victories

and defeats, up and downs, yet our

commitment was rarely out of sight. I am

proud to have been part of an array of

events during my term, ranging from cake

sales to the Christmas Fair, and would like

to take this opportunity to thank everyone

who helped make Hodgson great this year.

Every House Commendation earned and

every penny given to charity truly merits

our outstanding achievements. I would

also like to thanks Mrs Ahern for all the

‘behind the scenes’ help she has provided

to the House System and to Mrs Kahn

for supporting Hodgson every step of

the way. Whether it be for simple advice,

assemblies or even large events, I could

always count on her.

The future of Hodgson now rests in the

capable hands of the one and only, Druvi

Eridisinghe, who I would like to leave with

the following quote from Mark Twain: “It’s

not about the size of the dog in the fight,

it’s the size of the fight in the dog”. In Fide

Continere.

Lever House

Udit Shankar

- Lever House

Captain

As my final

term as house

captain draws to a close, we

can be proud of what we have

achieved as a house. From

the huge success of the FIFA competition

to laborious shaking of the charity pot

around in house group time, I think we can

all say that everyone has done something

for the house this year. Every House

Group raised money within their forms but

I’d like to give a special congratulations to

Dr Warren’s House Group for raising the

most money out of all the forms with Miss

McKenna’s House Group a close second.

All in all, as a House we managed to raise

over £1,000 which is a staggering amount,

and I’m sure will be greatly appreciated by

The Walton Centre in Liverpool.

It’s hard to think that I have spent one

whole year as House Captain, but we

found ourselves at that point again where

the new House Captain would be elected.

After a rigorous and sometimes

‘controversial’ election campaign, the

votes were cast and it was nice that

it coincided with the national general

election for Parliament. I’d like to

congratulate the three Lever candidates

Sam Lock, Gabriel Rutherford and Craig

Ashman for valiantly fighting for position of

House Captain, but after a sleepless night

for them, it was revealed Sam Lock had

achieved the most votes.

A deserving winner and someone who

I’m sure will build on the successes of

Lever House this year. In conclusion, being

House Captain has been a thoroughly

enjoyable experience and one that will stay

with me for the rest of my life. Finally, I’d

like to thank Mrs Ahern for giving up hours

upon hours to marshal her troops and

keep the House Captains in check and I

wish her all the successes in the future.

House Matters

James Evans (Head Boy)

As the year draws to its

inevitable close, the time

for this year’s Head Boy Team

to take a step back has arrived.

This year we have strived to enhance

the presence of the team, pioneer a

new structure to the Prefect Team, as

well as fulfil our existing roles to the

very best of our ability. I have been

privileged to work with some fantastic

people; Aaron and Joseph (Deputy

Head Boys), the Senior Prefect Team,

the Prefects, as well as the staff and

students that have been supportive

throughout my tenure as Head Boy.

There has been no greater honour

than serving as Head Boy, and I wish

the new team the best for the coming

year. I hope that everyone goes on

to achieve the best of results this

summer, from Year 7 summer exams

to A2 grades, and that whatever time

you have left here is both happy and

successful.



Wirral Grammar - The ElectionThe 2015 election has been dominating the news of late

and Wirral Grammar was keen to encourage students

to be politically involved as well. We hosted an election

of our own on 7th May with students standing for their

respective political parties: Sean White stood for UKIP,

Conor Ritchie for the Greens, George Cotcher-Riley for

the Liberal Democrats, James Evans for Labour and

George Head for the Conservatives.

The turnout was near 80% with students from all year groups

taking part by voting outside of lesson time and clearly caught

by the buzz of the day. Similar to the election, the exit polls were

incorrect in their estimates, predicting a surprise victory for UKIP.

Labour though won the election with a strong majority, despite

significant support for the Conservatives in second place. Aside

from the result, what was most important was that students

showed just how interested they were in having their voices heard

by managing a higher percentage of turnout than even the UK

election itself.

Tom Smith 13B/JLH

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Summer 2015

Nuntius

‘Nuntius on-line’ Larger articles can be found by accessing the ‘Nuntius On-Line’ link via the school website

www.wirralgrammarboys.com

Music Department UpdateThursday 30 April saw another outstanding collection of solo

performances in the summer Chamber Concert. All 23 boys

performed admirably and were well received by an appreciative

audience. A particular mention should go to the 9 boys who

performed for the first time – never an easy thing to do – including

the following boys in year 7:

Vinay Varghese (violin)

Ben Jones (piano)

Ben Ramsden (violin)

Continuing the Department’s visits to primary schools during the

summer term, we were able to visit 4 schools on Wednesday 24

June. The Junior Brass Group, String Group, Woodwind Group,

Fiddle Group, Ukulele Group and Year 7 Choir, as well as a

number of soloists performed at Higher Bebington, Townsfield,

Bidston Avenue & Oxton primary schools throughout the day, and

over 60 boys in years 7-10 were involved. 68 local primary schools

have now received performances in the last 15 years, and this is

now one of the Department’s most important annual events.

All of these groups and more performed to the usual high

standard at the Summer Concert on Thursday 2 July, whilst

the Music Society Dinner proved to be its normal gastronomic

success on Friday 10 July. Many thanks to our Guest of Honour

Mr Graham Eccles, a professional organist and Choir master

of many groups in the Northwest, for a most enjoyable speech,

along with the other members of the Music Forum reporting on

their ensembles.

A number of boys took music examinations this term, but with

the results not yet with us, congratulations will have to wait for

Autumn’s Nuntius. However, the results from some of last term’s

exams did not make the Spring edition of Nuntius.

Congratulations therefore to the following list of successful

candidates, and to the high number of merits and distinctions:

Name Form Instrument Grade Result

Douglas Crammond 7L/TD Pop Vocals 1 Distinction

Harry Jones 8D/PM Keyboard 1 Merit

Daniel Jones 10D/KMH Keyboard 1 Pass

Matthew Parkes 8H/CD Drums 2 Merit

Lewis Quail 9B/RR Drums 2 Merit

John Fleetwood 9D/NM Keyboard 2 Pass

Andrew Gill 13H/CL Double Bass 2 Distinction

Hary Pickard 10B/AMC Pop Vocals 3 Distinction

Daniel Carter 10L/HSMusic

Theatre3 Distinction

Naseem Veevers 7B/RR Theory 5 Pass

Andrew O’Hagan 9B/JH Theory 5 Distinction

William Brady 9D/AJ Theory 5 Pass

Jonathan Heale 10H/MH Theory 5 Pass

Tom Rogers 10/GA Piano 6 Distinction

As you are reading this, 56 boys and 7 staff will be in the

middle of touring Budapest, which should include performances

from the Choir at the main Cathedral on Sunday morning,

as well as from the Concert Band outside the main Castle

on Buda Hill overlooking the river Danube. This will be the

Music Department’s 10th overseas tour, though the first for

Mr Dickinson in his role as Head of Music. I have no doubt that

everyone will come home with many lasting memories of what

is a fantastic city to visit.

Finally - and as I always say - as the long summer months get

under way with a vengeance, remember that 7 weeks without

music lessons does not mean 7 weeks without practice!

Mr P Thomas

Music Department



Photography Winners The theme of this year’s Bebington Rotary Club competition

was ‘Light Up The Community’ Two of our students, Ben

Morris (Year 13) and Rubin Holt (Year 8), made it through

to the final of the regional category of the competition.

Ben and Rubin were recently awarded prizes by Mr Matt Herbison and

Peter Wilson of Bebington Rotary club.

The theme of this year’s school competition is ‘Nature’ and will be judged

in October. The prizes will be Amazon gift vouchers. If you would like to

enter please forward 3 digital pictures to Mr Ronayne.

Mr Ronayne

Community Partnership Manager

Drama Cup 2015 The Drama Cup is awarded each year to the person who has made the most impressive contribution to this year’s production. This year’s winner is Lewis Casella.

Lewis has been

one of the

longest serving

members of the

drama society

in recent years.

He began his

acting career

as a tentacle(?)

in ‘Little Shop

of Horrors’. His

first leading role

was as Britney

Spears in ‘We

Will Rock You’.

He then played

the male lead,

Emile, in ‘South Pacific’. Next came Bernardo,

leader of the Sharks in ‘West Side Story’, and

finally, Peron in this year’s ‘Evita’.

Few actors have taken on so many leading roles

in school productions and Lewis has excelled in

every one even though they all represented such

diverse characters and demanded a wide range

of acting, dancing and singing skills. Lewis was

always a commanding presence on stage and

generous in his support of younger members

of the company. He will be missed greatly, but

on behalf of everyone in the Drama Society,

I wish him all the best for the future and hope

he continues to perform.

Mr G Hinde MBE

World Book Day Our World Book Day celebrations were bigger and better than ever this year with every pupil in Years 7 to 10 inclusive having an ‘Author Experience’ of at least one hour.

Staff costumes included ‘Death’, ‘War Horse’,

‘Evacuees’ and ‘ Dr Frankenstein’s Monster’.

This year we ran a ‘shelfie’ competition where

pupils tried to match staff names to pictures of

their home bookshelves! The winners were Jack

Boniface, Ryan Hozack and Daniel Peake.

Mrs K Campbell

English Department

Next Year’s Joint Production with Girls’ School is -

OUR HOUSE - A Musical Love Story

15-19 March 2016

Winner of the 2003

OLIVIER Best New

Musical Awards, this

HIGH-ENERGY, FAST

MOVING musical features

the music of the band MADNESS.

It tells the story of a 16 year old boy who is faced with a moral dilemma

and the clever narrative shows what would have happened to his life

depending on which choice he made. It has huge cast and contains most

of the hits of Madness (Our House, Welcome to the House of Fun, Baggy

Trousers, Driving In My Car, It Must Be Love etc). It is full of great singing

and dancing and a powerful story.

Those of you who are fans of our highly professional productions will

need no further recommendation. If you are not, come along and we can

promise you a great night out! Auditions for the company will take place

in September.

7

Summer 2015

Nuntius

London Trip 2015 The London trip this year was one of the best trips I have ever been

on. So much was packed into the two days we spent there, which

made it feel like a week (only with 2 hours sleep!)

After an early 5.30am start, we arrived in London at about 11.00am

and headed straight to the Science Museum. We took part in a Coding

Workshop where we had to programme a robot to go around a course,

which sounds easier than it was. After this we went to the Natural History

Museum where we viewed many of the different artefacts and displays.

At lunchtime we went to eat at Planet Hollywood where everyone enjoyed

their food and tried to avoid the camera putting us on their big TV After

lunch we headed for the London Eye where everyone waited looking up

at the massive wheel and realising we were going to have to get on it.

When we got on it wasn’t so bad with many photos being taken.

The next morning we went to the forensics activity. We had to figure out

what ingredient was put in food in a school which poisoned the students,

which was really interesting. Once we had finished we headed off to

the grand finale, Harry Potter World. It took quite a while to get their

but once we had it was worth it. Everyone went into the museum with

bright eyes and pockets filled with money waiting to be spent. We saw

all of the props and scenes from the movie and all had a Butter Beer. We

then headed back home - the best part of the trip was yet to come. We

stopped at a service station with a KFC which was just what everyone

needed. London was a great trip and everyone enjoyed every minute of it.

Lewis Quail Year 9B/RR

The Catalyst Museum On Monday 16 March, the whole of Year 7 were

lucky enough to go to the Catalyst Museum,

sponsored by FMC, a chemical company based in

Bromborough.

Our day was full of fun science experiments and

interesting facts and we had a lot of fun! Each group

followed a different itinerary but we all took part in the

following activities:

• We explored the galleries - many manual

experiments were held in these galleries. My

favourite experiment was the mercury bubble pipe.

This consisted of pumping air into a liquid tank and

seeing how this affects the innards of the liquid.

• “Explore your universe” which included some cool

science such as pouring liquid nitrogen over a

super-conductor and putting a magnet over it. We

made the magnet float! It was so cool”!

• We explored more galleries, about the birth of the

chemical industry and how it started in Widnes.

• “Flash Bang Show” which included many bangs

and flashes. My favourite experiment from this

show was the engine experiment where the

scientist poured fuel into a ten gallon bottle and

then set it on fire! It exploded into flames and was

very exciting!

• We went to the observatory and built 3D maps of

the Mersey and bridges that supported themselves.

We had a brilliant time at the catalyst chemical

museum, courtesy of FMC.

By Matthew Byrne 7B/KJ

Salters’ Festival of Chemistry trip On the 12th

May Tom

Carroll, Seth

Collinson,

Nathan Newton

and Ethan

Cheung went

to Liverpool

John Moore’s

University to

participate in

The Salters’ Festival of Chemistry. The day consisted of two practical

challenges which involved different uses of our chemistry skills. The

first challenge was called “Trouble at the salt mine!” This involved three

experiments which included the use of chromatography, pH and ion

testing. The second practical activity, “University Challenge”, involved us

cooling solutions to slow down the reaction of a “chemical clock”. The

team that got the time closest to 30 seconds won. The day was fun and

enjoyable and we managed to come second in the salt mine challenge.

Thank you to Mr Mountford for taking us and the chemistry department

for funding the trip.

Ethan Cheung 8B/AW



Year 9 and 10 Berlin History Trip 2015 On Thursday 21st May, 53 pupils boarded a plane at Manchester Airport and headed to Hamburg for this year’s History Trip to Berlin.

On day one we took a guided bus tour of the beautiful city as

well as a trip to the Holocaust Memorial. This really opened our

eyes to the history of Berlin and it was very interesting to learn

all about the representation of the Holocaust Memorial. On

the guided tour we saw many iconic buildings; the Reichstag

(German

parliament

building) and

the British

Embassy. In

the

afternoon

we took a

tour of the

Wannsee

Conference

House,

where

the “Final

Solution to

the Jewish question” was agreed upon. The solution was written

in a series of documents and they were written with censored

language so that if the documents were discovered the people

involved could not be found guilty of horrible crimes. Following

our evening meal we took a tour of the Reichstag Dome.

The following day of our tour we took a guided tour of

Sachsehausen, a former Concentration Camp. Walking round

this camp was spine-tingling. This was easily the most interesting

part of our trip and was well worth the early rise in the morning.

Later that day we had a guided tour of the Topography of Terror,

which shows the rise of Hitler and goes into depth about the SA

and SS. My particular group had a very good guide, who had

many interesting views about Hitler’s hatred towards the Jews.

In the evening we ate at Spreebrick then went for a walk around

the Berlin TV tower, which was a jaw-dropping 368 metres tall.

Here you could view all the landmarks in Berlin.

A full day was taken up with a visit to the Berlin Wall, with some

great stories about the length people went to so they could move

on the western side, and also the lengths the East German army

went to prevent eastern Berliners moving over to the west. In the

afternoon we took a guided visit to the Stasi (East German Secret

Police) prison in Hohenschönhausen where our guide had actually

been imprisoned in one of the isolation cells there. The evening

was rounded off with bowling where both teachers and pupils’

competitive side came out. This was a great end to the day.

Day 5

was

probably

my

favourite

day of

the trip

as we

visited

a secret

German

war town

where

we went

inside the

former

Soviet

bunker,

which was extraordinary. It was a lot bigger than I had expected

and we had a great guided tour. In the afternoon we went to

Seelow Heights where the final battle for Berlin happened during

World War 2. Here there was a museum and a very beautiful

Soviet memorial. This battle was one of largest battles of World

War 2, where the Soviets lost 100,000 men taking the city in

1945. We ate our evening meal at Hard Rock Café, with many

pupils spending their parents’ money on Hard Rock t-shirts

and sweatshirts.

Our final day started early so we could visit the Olympic Stadium

where recently Barcelona beat Juventus in the Champion’s

League Final. However more famously, it is where American

runner Jesse Owens won 4 gold medals despite not being

allowed to compete originally. After this we took the aeroplane

home and arrived home in time for bed, after an amazing tour

of a wonderful city. Thanks to Mr McKibbin and all the staff for

making this trip such a memorable and enjoyable one.

Cameron Crabb

10H/SLJA

Years 9/10 History Trip 2016 Boys in current Years 8 and 9 have signed up for the annual

History trip to Belgium and the Netherlands for next Easter.

They will be taking in sites related to both World Wars and a

visit to a theme park. I am sure it will be another great learning

experience for them!

Mr L McKibbin

History Department

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Summer 2015

Nuntius

Awards CeremonyOur Annual Award Ceremony took place on 1st July. Pupils received

awards for a wide variety of achievements including, best attainment,

best progress, best commitment, best attendance, spoken English,

performance in Languages, achievements in sport and school

representation. The achievements of 130 boys were recognised and many

more gained House Awards during the House Award Assemblies that took

place the following day. Mr Hazeldine started the Award Ceremony with

his report on some of the achievement of this academic year and this was

followed by Ben Turner (Head Boy) who gave a detailed account of the

extra-curricular activities that have taken place. We were very pleased to

welcome Rev. Mike Loach, vicar from Christchurch, Higher Bebington.

Mike was a former pupil of Wirral Grammar School having left in 1991.

Addressing the Award Winners, he congratulated them on their excellent

achievements and emphasised the importance of pursuing personal values

of kindness, fairness and compassion for others.

A selection of the Award Winners and pictured here together with Rev.

Mike Loach and Headteacher, Mr David Hazeldine

A View from REDuring the course of this half term, our class has

been studying the topic of Islam. We started our

topic on the founder of this religion, Mohammed.

We also studied the five pillars of Islam and their meaning. As a

piece of homework set by Ms Razbully, we each had to build our

own replica mosque. This was a very challenging task for us, but

fun at the same time. Bearing in mind we could use whatever

materials we wanted to, a wide range of mosques were brought

into school.

We had cardboard mosques, lego mosques, polystyrene

mosques and even one or two wooden mosques. Ms Razbully

was very impressed with the standard of them and Mr Hazeldine

even took a sneaky look. He thought they were so good that he

wanted a picture of us with our mosques. As pupils we have had

a great time studying the topic of Islam. It has shown us how

to appreciate religions in different ways of life. Ms Razbully has

made our lessons very interactive and fun at the same time.

Matthew Farrell 7H/CD and Cameron McLure-Murray 7H/CD

The Late Sir Philip Carter CBE

We were saddened

to hear the news

announced by Everton

that life president

Sir Philip Carter had

passed away. Sir Philip

served on the Governing Body of

Wirral Grammar School for Boys for

many years and was a true friend to

the school.

During his years of outstanding service, Sir Philip

held the role of Principal Officer on the school’s

Finance Committee. Mr Hazeldine, Headteacher

said “Sir Philip guided the school through

significant times of change, most notably the move

to Grant Maintained Status in the 1990s and the

more recent conversion to Academy status”. He

was instrumental in helping to secure funding from

Central Government for a building programme that

saw £3.5 million invested in the school.

Our Chair of Governors, Mrs. Sheila Clarke MBE

commented, “Sir Philip was a man of exceptional

integrity and he took a keen interest in the life of

the school and the achievements of the boys. On

several occasions Sir Philip presented Awards

at our Annual Certificate Evening. He was a very

good friend to our school community and he will

be sadly missed.”



Psychology Trip to Chester Zoo On the 12th of February, boys from Wirral Grammar, accompanied

by Ms Razbully, Miss Heymans, and Mr Nutt travelled to Chester

Zoo to study primate behaviour as part of their GCSE & A-Level

Psychology courses. The day consisted of classroom based

lectures at Chester Zoo’s Education Centre, and walk-about talks

from experienced keepers. We had the opportunity to apply our

classroom learning of parental care and attachment theories of

Bowlby & Ainsworth and use Chester Zoo’s animal collection to

study a range of behaviours in primates. We delved deeply into

Evolution of Intelligence, considering the intelligence of non-human

animals, looking at self-recognition and social learning. We also

examined the case study of Konrad Lorenz and imprinting, as well

as the impact of imprinting on management and care of animals.

The out-and-about teaching was fun and interactive, allowing

the entire group to get involved in both discussing and observing

social organisation, communication and identification of animals.

Only slightly concerning (and also slightly impressive) was the fact

that the chimp enclosure was sealed off due to the chimps having

smashed a window with some rocks they had fetched earlier! And

of course, the day was not complete without a visit to see the newly

born baby Black Rhino, giraffe and tiger cubs.

Ben Morris B/JHH U6

Achievers International Over the past months a select group of year ten pupils have

participated in a scheme called Achievers International. Achievers

International is an on-line enterprise project for students,

encouraging them to understand international trading and business.

The group of students with the help of numerous teachers form a

company and import and export products with a partner school

overseas. Currently two groups are in place, a German group,

and Spanish group. We have already communicated with our

partnership school in Spain and are hoping to contact the partner

school in Germany in the upcoming weeks.

Joe Irvine 10H/JM

Leadership Training DayOn Friday 19th June, the Head Boy Team, House

Captains and the Music President took part in a

Leadership Training Day. Firstly, a representative

from the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust

(SSAT) came into the school to help equip us with

the necessary skills needed for our roles within

the school.

Public speaking, managing people and organising a

successful meeting were just a few of the essential areas

of successful leadership that were covered. The course

was preceded by a meeting in which we discussed and

decided upon an action plan for the next academic year

with a particular emphasis on charity fundraising and

increased communication with the lower school in an

attempt to provide the student body a louder voice.

Personally, I found this day highly informative and most

useful. The skills which my colleagues and I have learned

will prove invaluable in making us more efficient and

productive leaders. This day has enhanced our arsenal of

capabilities and with the mix of enthusiasm and passion

which we all possess, we will be a strong unit with the

ability to successfully lead and develop the school during

our tenure.

George Watson

Deputy Head Boy

Chess Club The chess club has been continuing the UK Schools Chess Challenge tournament that started before the Easter break, with all of the games now finished.

At the start of the tournament, there was a crucial

encounter between Thomas Carroll and James Lee. The

latter was winning the game until he made a mistake,

passing the initiative to Thomas. He held out for the win. A

few weeks later, James Lee faced Seth Collinson in another

important match. Seth, who was on maximum points at the

time, lost, meaning that the tournament was in Thomas’

hands. Thomas beat Seth in a close game, putting Thomas

into clear first place. With a few more victories he won the

tournament. Second was James Lee who finished with an

excellent score of 19/21. Third was Seth Collinson with

17/21. Tomas Clark also qualified for the next stage of the

tournament, the Megafinal, with 15/21. The Megafinal is a

regional tournament which is held in Cheadle Hulme. From

this year’s Megafinal, Thomas Carroll and Seth Collinson

both qualified for the Northern Gigafinal. This was a very

tough tournament so congratulations to the two qualifiers.

We have now started a new seven round tournament

involving four teachers. The tension is high as the teachers

try to avoid being beaten by the students!

Thomas Carroll 8H/GE

11

Summer 2015

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Annual GCSE and A-level Art Exhibition To celebrate the hard work of the art pupils over the past two years the Art department held its annual GCSE/AS and A2 art exhibition private view on Tuesday 23rd June.

The GCSE pupils completed two pieces of coursework, one based

on natural structure and one on urban structures. However, the

terminal examination allowed pupils to work more independently

and to choose their own subject matter and material base. A wide

variety of work was displayed showing the diversity of our students’

work and allowing us to celebrate two years of hard work by both

the pupils and art department staff.

The work displayed by the AS and A2 pupils was much more

independent, each pupil being able to develop work in their own

style. Many of these pupils had the opportunity to

extend their artwork through a residential at both the

Conway Centre, Anglesey and a trip to Tuscany this

year. These trips have formed a large part of many

of the pupils’ work and could be seen referenced

in their sketchbooks. These extra activities running

alongside a school based curriculum ensured that

our pupils have had every opportunity to excel in

their art portfolio.

Mrs K Johnson

Head of Art





WGSB Question Time Event On Friday 20th March our school hosted its second BBC-Style Question Time event.

The distinguished panel of politicians and community

representatives, chaired by Clive Cooper, consisted

of: John Bell (Conservative Parliamentary Candidate

for Wirral South), Pat Cleary (Green Councillor), Alison

McGovern (Labour MP for Wirral South), David Scott (UKIP

Parliamentary Candidate for Wirral South) and Jon Tonge

(Professor of Politics from the University of Liverpool).

Both parents and students had the opportunity to ask

their burning questions regarding the upcoming General

Election. The panel covered a wide range of topics

including the recently announced budget, education,

immigration and Britain’s involvement in the European

Union. The event was a fantastic opportunity to see

how politics affects us and a chance to see what our

local politicians stand for. We look forward to the guests

returning for next year’s event.

Matthew Laing Y12

Peer SupportThe PSG are a team of friendly, helpful and understanding students, who offer guidance and advice to pupils who need help with general day-to-day concerns such as finding their way around the school, how to complete their homework planner, difficulties with homework, friendship issues.

The PSG reps for 2015-16 are:

If you have any concerns or need someone to talk to in school please feel free to speak to any of the PSG, Mrs Smith, or a trusted adult.

Also, there is a new Anti-Bullying Email Address to email if you want to report instances of bullying or request a meeting: [email protected]



13

Summer 2015

Nuntius

Sainsbury’s School Games Table Tennis On Thursday 26th March, Mr Taylor, along with a team of four Year 11 students (Daniel Peake, Daniel Head, James Murphy and Matthew Davies) went to represent the school in its first ever table tennis competition at the Halton Regional Table Tennis Centre in Liverpool. The competition was organised by Sainsbury’s School Games and the event hosted 15 different schools from several Merseyside districts.

The day started off with group stages and after a great

round of games against some tough opposition, we

finished second out of four in the group. A very tight last

game in which our team were very unlucky to lose, meant

we could not win a medal. Although several matches took

place afterwards to decide the school rankings, after a

consistent run of magnificent performances from all of the team,

and some excellent coaching tips from Mr Taylor, we finished in

sixth place. At the end of the tournament we were presented with

certificates from the Mayor of Halton and we were also awarded

a ‘Spirit of the Games’ trophy for the best attitude during the

competition. This was a phenomenal achievement for us all and

we also gained the valuable experience of what it was like to take

part in a competitive tournament.

On behalf of those involved, I would like to thank Mr Taylor and

all the staff involved for giving us the opportunity to take part in

a prestigious competition. We hope we can continue to improve

our game and enjoy it as much as we have done so far.

Daniel Head 11L/MY

‘MAKING IT’ AT ANFIELD On 7th May I took a team of eight Year 9 boys to the home of Liverpool Football Club for the latest Manufacturing Institute’s ‘Make It’ campaign.

This is a whole day, demanding challenge against 15 other

schools from across Merseyside. The event was sponsored

by local Wirral company ‘Survitec’ who make various types of

survival equipment, everything from a life vest to life boats that

can hold up to 75 people. The boys’ task was to create, cost,

manufacture, market and present a survival pod to be used in

different environments.

At the end of the day the students have the daunting task of

presenting their work to a team of ‘dragons’ just as challenging

as facing Sir Alan Sugar and his TV team on The Apprentice.

To round the day off the staff have to carry out the same task

and present their business case to the dragons and 130 highly

amused students!

Mr P Ronayne

Community Partnership Manager



Annual Rugby Club DinnerIN May, over 200 boys, parents and staff attended the 48th Annual School

Rugby Dinner in the School Hall. The Guest Speaker this year was Mr Matt

Mullen, WGS Deputy Head boy and 1st XV Vice Captain 2008. He received

an excellent welcome and spoke very warmly about his time at Wirral

Grammar School.

Team Captains gave their annual reports which were very well delivered,

Colours were awarded and individual trophies were presented as below:

INDIVIDUAL TROPHY WINNERS

G Noonan Novices Cup Lucas Jackson

(U12 Player of the Season)

E Langton Junior Bantams Trophy Ross Ward


E G Hodgkinson Bantams Cup Louis Botes


The Colts Cup Ben Thomas


Wirral RUFC Under 16 Cup Joe Totty


2nd XV Player of the Year Jamie Norris

West Trophy Louis McGilloway

(1st XV Players’ Player of the Season)

J P Howarth 1st XV Cup Jordan Price

(1st XV Captain’s Trophy)

Thompson Cup Jack Nelson

(Top Captain)

Kent Trophy Aaron Drury

(An Outstanding Contribution to Rugby Football)

Mr P Crowley

Head of Physical Education

14Th Annual Primary Schools’ Tag Rugby Competition In May we hosted 16 local primary

schools in our Annual Primary Schools’

Tag Rugby Competition. This year we

were blessed with good weather and

perfect playing conditions. As usual,

the event went very smoothly with

all schools enjoying a very pleasant

afternoon. The semi finals were tightly

fought affairs with St Peter’s C of E

Primary defeating Poulton Lancelyn 4 -2

and Higher Bebington Junior edging out

Church Drive 5 - 4. The final was again

hotly contested and after two periods

of extra time, with no winner emerging,

Higher Bebington eventually scored

the ‘Golden Try’ and won 2 - 1 to take

the trophy. Many thanks to all the sixth

formers who refereed the games so

efficiently, the Year 7 rugby players

who acted as school liaison, staff for

preparing their teams so well and most

of all to the boys and girls who took

part in the competition and entertained

us all afternoon.

Mr P Crowley

Head of

Physical

Education

School Grounds Our school

grounds look

amazing!

All thanks

to the hard

work of our

dedicated

Groundsmen,

Dave Hallam

and Dave

Helsby.

15

Summer 2015

Nuntius

Athletics The short summer term has resulted in the Schools’ Track and Field Athletics Programme becoming somewhat protracted.

Added to this, summer

examinations, a certain apathy

amongst some establishments

and our unpredictable climate and

opportunities for boys to participate

in track and field athletics are

increasingly limited! However, we do

our best and this year again, there

have certainly been some highlights.

We started the season with a ‘bang’,

back in April, when we fought off

some very strong opposition from St

Anselm’s College to again win the

first event of the Summer, the Wirral

Schools’ Relay Championships at the

Oval. Our 4 x 100m and 4 x 800m

Relay Squads from Years 7 to 10 were

superb in the defence of a trophy we

have won for the last two years.

Our Junior team qualified for the

English Schools’ Track and Field

North West ‘A’ final in Wigan. Only

the top twelve teams in the region

qualify for this prestigious Meeting,

where competition for a National

Final place is fierce! Our Juniors (Year

7 & 8) came a very creditable third

in a very tightly fought Competition

in which only a handful of points

separated the top teams. Our Inter

team were massively depleted in

their first round match, but still

managed to qualify for a Regional

‘B’ final in Warrington. Here, we were

back at full strength and won the

Competition convincingly, beating a

lot of top schools in the area.

There were many excellent

performances, but perhaps the most

outstanding were from Juniors :

Harvey Darroch (100m: 12.6, Long

Jump: 5.62m), Joshua Davis (100m:

12.8, Triple Jump: 9.99m), Ross

Ward (300m: 41.7, Shot: 8.99m),

Inters: Will Tyrer (100m: 11.9, Shot:

10.69), Jack Nelson (80m Hurdles:

12.4, High Jump: 1.44m), Stephen

Higgins (100m: 12.0), Josh Kenyon

(300m: 39.6).

Our Year 7 and Year 8/9 teams again

successfully defended their titles

at the Wirral Schools’ Year 7 & 8/9

Track and Field Championships.

A large number of our athletes

competed very successfully in the

Wirral Schools’ Trials and were

selected to represent Wirral Schools’

at the Merseyside Championships in

June, including twelve Year 7 boys,

which obviously bodes well for the

future! Harvey Darroch deserves

special mention - he has been

selected to represent Merseyside

in the Long Jump at the English

Schools’ Championships in July

All in all, not a bad year again, for

Wirral Grammar School Track and

Field Athletics!

Mr P Crowley

Head of Physical Education

Year 9 Cricket Update Matches played 5 won 4 lost 1

This year has seen the Year 9 team show huge

improvements on their performances last year.

In the first game away against Calday GS, the

home side batted first and were restricted to

84 for 3. In reply Wirral got the runs for two

wickets in just 9 overs, with Louis Botes hitting

51 and Stan Lewis 23. In the second game,

Helsby were the opponents in the Cheshire

Cup. Batting first, the visitors had no answer

to Wirral’s good fielding and bowling and were

dismissed for just 18 runs. Lewis McKeown

took four wickets, Tom Palin 2 and Sam Croll

3. Elliott Verry, Callum France and Lewis Quail

hit the runs off in 3 overs. In game three, Wirral

entertained Lymm HS in the Cheshire Cup.

Game 3 saw Wirral beat Lymm HS. Lymm

scored 94 for 7 with Sam Croll taking 3 wickets,

and Louis Botes hit 41 not out as Wirral got the

runs, reaching 95 for 3.

Game 4 saw Wirral travel to Kings Chester.

Batting first, Sam Croll set about the Chester

bowling with some big hitting in going to his

50 not out. Ably supported by Oliver Roberts

(13) and Lewis McKeown (26) Wirral made 117

for 4 off their 20 overs. In reply Wirral once

again bowled and fielded with good discipline.

Oliver Roberts took a storming catch and

Sam Croll capped a great match for him by

taking 4 wickets. Tom Palin took 2 wickets and

Chester fell short of their target by reaching

100 for 7, Wirral winning by 17 runs. In the final

match prior to me writing this report, Kings

Macclesfield were the visitors in a Cheshire cup

quarter final match. Wirral batted really well

against a good Kings side, totalling 102 for 4

off their 20 overs. Sam Croll made 22 and Louis

Botes 61 not out in a late flurry of runs. In reply,

Kings batted sensibly against decent Wirral

bowling but their batsmen played some good

shots to knock off the runs by the 10th over.

I want to thank the boys for their efforts this

term and for their attitude in particular which

has been excellent. Mr Atkinson helped out

too and thanks to him! I hope that the boys go

on to enjoy their cricketing careers and keep

learning to make themselves better cricketers.

Those who have played for the Year 9 team

were: Louis Botes (Captain), Sam Croll, Lewis

McKeown, Oliver Roberts, Stan Lewis, Lewis

Quail, Tom Palin, Cameron Daulby, Elliott Verry,

Callum France, Jack Gerrard, Dhruv Vassoja,

Nathan Bradshaw, Will Thomas, Adam Green

and James Reston.

Mr L McKibbin

All Weather Pitch Appeal Havard Law

of 62 Hamilton

Square, Birkenhead

became our first

corporate sponsor

of the All-Weather

pitch.

Their banner has been

placed on the fencing

adjacent to where the

pitch will be built. Liz Bird and Maureen McKeever from Havard Law are

pictured with the banner together with some of our students. Liz said, ‘We are

delighted to be part of this project which will be an asset for the school and

the community.’ If you would like to take part in the Corporate Sponsorship

scheme please contact Mr Paul Ronayne at the school or via email on

[email protected]



Ways to Keep In Touch... Wirral Grammar School for Boys has a

Twitter feed and we can be followed @WGSB

Those with Facebook can be kept up-to-

date with achievements, developments and

events through our secure, school managed

Facebook page: Wirral Grammar School for Boys (Education).

To have our up-dates in your Newsfeed, simply

‘like’ this page.

Created by www.concept4.com (ref J9657-07/2015), an ISO9001 Quality and ISO14001 Environmental accredited company.

Parent Mail: Is your email address up to date?The majority of parents with computer access have registered

an e-mail address with us and ‘Parent Mail’ is proving to be

a fast and effective means of getting letters and messages to

parents. To remain effective, parents need to keep their e-mail

address information up-to-date. If you have not registered, or

if your e-mail address has changed, this can be amended by

logging into the Parent Mail website: www.parentmail2.co.uk

and following the ‘parent login’ link or by contacting the school

Finance Office.

www.wirralgrammarboys.com• news • achievements • events • admissions

Parents’ Association 2015-2016 Our Annual General Meeting takes place

on Tuesday 8th September 2015 in the

dining hall at 7.00pm. Following the AGM, there will be a Committee Meeting at

which officers will be appointed. All parents are welcome

to attend. Extra support is always welcome. Details of the

2015-2016 meetings can be found on our website.

Absence RequestsParents are reminded that the rules have changed regarding

parental requests to take boys out of school during term time.

The new regulations now clearly state that “Headteachers may

not grant any leave of absence during term time”.

Visited our website recently?Over the last two terms, our website has grown into a

very important source of information about the school:

news, forthcoming events, guidance materials, sporting

achievements etc are all to be found on the website


Mobile Phone Policy - ReminderOur policy on mobile phones is very clear. Pupils are permitted

to have phones available for use before and after school but

during the school day they must be switched off and out of

sight. Staff will confiscate mobile phones that are on view/in

use during the day and they will not be available for collection

until the end of the next school day.

Cashless PurchasingAccounts are available for ‘top up’ at the relevant paying

stations but parents are also able to ‘top up’ their son’s

canteen allowance through our on-line service via

‘Parentmail2’. Using our on-line facility means that boys

do not need to queue up at the payment point in school.

Admission EnquiriesEnquiries relating to admissions should be directed to our

Admissions Manager, Mrs Tanya Fry on 0151 644 0908 or by

visiting the school website: www.wirralgrammarboys.com

Parents’ Surveys - The 2014/2015 AnalysesMany thanks to all parents who have reported through our

Parents’ Evening surveys which are always available at our

Parents’ Evenings. The full analyses for all year groups will be

available very shortly. Please follow the link from our website

home page.

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