1 Issue No 17/2015-2016

Thetford Grammar School

The small, friendly school that gets results for individuals.

29th January 2016

Dear Parents and Pupils,

It has been a very busy and positive week once again here at Thetford Grammar School. I

am certainly looking forward to this year’s major theatrical spectacle on the TGS calendar:

Grimm’s Tales on Tuesday 9th and Wednesday 10th February in Williamson Hall. There is

currently a very intensive schedule of rehearsals for all our talented performers, backstage

members and Mrs Juliet Boyce, Head of Drama. I wish them every success over the coming

days.

On behalf of us all at TGS, I am delighted to welcome Sam into Year 9 at the start of this

week. Moreover, we are fortunate to have an exchange student from Denmark, Anja, who

will be at Thetford Grammar School for the next three weeks. This, I am certain, strengthens

our connections to Denmark benefitting Sixth Form students and their work experience in

Year 12. I do hope that both pupils have settled happily into their new school.

Please do make a note in your diaries for two forthcoming events:

Tea and Talk – Wednesday 3rd February, 3.30-4.30pm

All parents, from all phases in the school, are cordially invited to the school to meet with me

and other senior members of staff here at TGS. This will be another opportunity to hear your

thoughts and considerations regarding your child’s education and progress here at TGS.

This is a chance for the school to consider parents’ views as well as review and explore

initiatives for the benefit of the school.

TGS Parents’ Focus Group – Tuesday 8th March, 8.30-9.30am

Once again, all parents are invited to attend this educational presentation, discussion and

workshop. The meeting’s agenda, at the moment, will comprise:

Educational technology – 21st century schooling. Considerations for the future of TGS

and its technological provision

Responses and feedback on the TGS parent survey (January 2016)

My wishes to you all for a very warm and happy weekend break.

Mr Mark S. Bedford

Headmaster

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MAGNIFICENT COLLECTONS

On Saturday 23rd January, 5 TGs pupils were invited to the

Sainsbury Arts Centre, Norwich for an afternoon of

Celebration. The pupils, Alexandra Ackerman, Jude

Blakemore, Kudzi Garikayi, Isobel Tod and Chloe Garrett, had

all had their work displayed as part of the Magnificent

Collections Exhibition.The exhibition was part of an MA

research project on ‘the reception of interactive projects in art

galleries.’

Our artists each presented their work to the audience and described how their collections

had been chosen and displayed. Miss Sherring said the she ‘ was congratulated many times

for the quality of their work’

Isobel Tod said her box was inspired by her late Grandma’s button box which held, not just

buttons, but pieces of lace, darning wool, buckles etc –

anything that could be kept and re-used and it almost took

on the quality of a time capsule.

Jude’s box was inspired by Joseph Cornell and Jude said he

was interested to discover that his piece had been seen

online and researched into by a visitor to the exhibition.

The pupils all enjoyed the experience of presenting their

work to a varied audience and having the opportunity to

view a diverse range of collections from artists of all ages.

PRE-PREP DINOSAURS

Pre-Prep have been linking their dinosaur topic to their PE sessions this term. They have

been enjoying dinosaur stomping, dinosaur trail

and playing capture the dinosaur’s tail.

Miss Julie Blakemore

Pre-Prep Class Teacher

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OLD THETFORDIAN ASSOCIATION NEWS

Several Old Thetfordians are among the staff of volunteers

who run the very popular and successful Thetford Dad's

Army Museum.

Some Old Thetfordians might have been spotted in

Wednesday night's

BBC1 One Show

Special on the new

Dad's Army film. Filming took place in Thetford last

Saturday and again, live, from the Bell Hotel on

Wednesday evening. OT Stuart Wright, who started the

popular Dad's Army Trail in Thetford and then founded

the Dad's Army Museum in the town, was interviewed

for the show and he and his family (Jacob and Lizzie

being present TGS pupils) were among 'extras' who

appear in the new film. Several other OTs hovered in the background! Another OT, the

Mayor, Robert Kybird, was featured with the Mayoress singing a line from the original

show's theme tune, while other OTs were involved in groups singing along too.

YEAR 4 AND 5 BREAD MAKING SESSION

This term in D.T Y4/5 are looking at food technology, in particular baking bread. The first

group made bread rolls in various shapes and completed a taste test on the finished product.

Mrs Renate Dimminger

Year 4/5 Class Teacher

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GIVING BLOOD

Giving generously!

Y12 and Y13 students have been inspired by last week’s NHS presentation “Young Blood”

to donate some of their own. This is a wonderful gift and they deserve our praise.

Mr Stephen Spencer

Head of Sixth Form

BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE

Y12 and y13 linguists and film buffs attended a

one-day course at the British Film Institute on

the South Bank as an introduction to French

cinema. This was a whistle-stop tour covering

120 years of Gallic filmmaking, starting with

‘L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat’ (1895)

and finishing with a screening of the more

recent ‘Bande de filles’ (2014).

Highlight was Esmé Holt at the microphone

during the morning debate. Chapeau!

Mr S. Spencer

Head of Sixth Form

PARENT STAFF ASSOCIATION

The PSA extends a warm invitation to staff and parents to join us on 24th February

at 4.15pm in H5 for our next meeting.

Main topics for discussion will be the Summer Fete and the Nearly New Uniform

Shop. Please do come along if you can; just let the office know so we know numbers

for refreshments.

Mrs E. Brooks Mrs C. Sutton

Headmaster’s Secretary PSA Chair

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A VISIT TO NORWICH CASTLE

On Monday 25th January pupils in Y7 visited

Norwich Castle for a ‘Storming the Castle’

workshop where the children learnt about the

invasion of Norwich Castle in 1216. This is an

excellent workshop which spreads across the

subjects with the children using their skills in

English, Mathematics and History to solve the

problems of withstanding a siege, how much a

battle would cost, how much armour weighs and

measuring walls to find their weak points.

This is what the pupils found out during the day:

‘To defend a castle whilst under siege you had to

be ready. You had to have a good supply of food

and water because once the attackers had

surrounded the castle no one could go in or out.

They had to ration food and water.’ (Amy)

‘The defenders at Norwich Castle had a well and

four rain collectors, on each corner at the roof of

the stone keep. ‘(Oskar)

‘We worked out how long the water would last for

in the event of a siege. The amount of water we

had would last for just over 13 days. You can

survive for three weeks without food, but only

three days without water, so the siege could not

last for longer than 16 days before people began to

die.’ (Maddy)

‘No one could go out of the castle so people

trained birds of prey to fly out and bring back

small rodents and other things for them to eat. The

birds did not eat much or drink too much water so

they were easy to keep.’ (Charlie)

‘As attackers we needed to work out the true

dimensions of Norwich castle. We did this by

measuring the width of one of the outside walls of

the castle, then we had to measure the width of a

‘to scale’ model of the castle which was located in

the great hall and then we worked out the scale

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and concluded that the real castle was about 28m wide. We then measured the height of the

model, used our scale and worked out that the real castle was 21m high. This information

could be used when attacking the castle because we now knew how tall the ladders had to

be. The only problem with that was that the defenders could easily push the ladders back

and send the men climbing them to their deaths.

Another way of getting into the castle as attackers

was using a battering ram at one of the castles

gates. This was usually a large tree with a large

metal piece attached to the front. About half a

dozen men on each side or more held it and tried

to knock the gate down; but this plan also had a

flaw, as the men charged at the gate the defenders

could pour boiling wax over them from above.

The boiling wax would go through the flesh and

even the bones of the enemy and would

eventually kill them.’ (Franzi)

‘Lady de Burgh taught us a strategic game called

“Fox and Geese”. It goes like this:

You have one fox and ten geese

You play on a grid and can only move on

the lines

You take turns and can only move one at

the time

The aim of the game is for the geese to

surround the fox and for the fox to eat all

the geese one by one ‘(Jenni)

‘One of the most effective ways to defend the castle was using the arrow slits to fire at your

enemy. It was nearly impossible for the attacker to fire through them and kill the archer

behind.’ (Ella)

‘My favourite activity was the weapons session as we

could see how heavy the armour was and learnt

different ways of attacking our teachers and we also

learnt who carried what weapon.’ (William)

‘Longbow men had to be able to shoot ten to twelve

arrows per minute. Consequently, an army consisting

of five hundred archers needed 300.000 arrows per

hour and over three million arrows for ten hours

shooting.’(Sam)

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‘The chainmail is the most effective armour but it takes a lot of time and costs a lot of money

to make. The armour that you can wear in battle

can weigh up to 7 stone and that is just the

armour. To make a chainmail shirt could take up

to 6 to 8 month.’ (Will)

‘I enjoyed looking at the armour and weapons and

trying on a helmet, shield and gauntlets. I was also

able to touch a short sword, a long sword, a flail, a

longbow, a cross bow and chainmail.’ (Sam)

Mrs Kathrin Elders

Deputy Head

TEA AND TALK

We are holding our second Tea and Talk session on Wednesday 3rd

February from 3.30pm – 4.30pm in Old School and all parents are welcome

to attend. This is a good opportunity for an informal meeting with the

Headmaster and other members of staff to put forward any thoughts or

comments you have to review and ultimately improve our school. We

always welcome any feedback and thoughts from you and look forward to

seeing as many of you as possible.

DANISH WORK EXPERIENCE

We are pleased to welcome Anja Sofie Prastekar from Jutland, Northern Denmark. Anja will

be spending three weeks with us as a guest of the Rupp family, having hosted George in

Denmark last year. This is an excellent opportunity for current Y11 pupils to find out about

Anja’s community in preparation for their 2017 Work Experience trips under the Brit Week

programme. Can you spot Anja in the British Film Institute photo below?

Mr S. Spencer

Head of Sixth Form

PREPARATORY SCHOOL HOUSE SWIMMING GALA

A letter has been sent home this week to confirm the arrangements for this year’s

Preparatory School House Swimming Gala. The gala will take place on Friday 5th February

2016 at the Breckland Leisure Centre between 2.00pm – 3.15pm. All pupils in Pre-

Preparatory – Year 6 will be involved in this event.

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Pupils will need to bring their swimming costume, two towels and a plastic bag. Pupils will

travel to the Breckland Leisure Centre by coach.

All children will be representing their House teams in a variety of events in the main pool

with Pre-Preparatory pupils enjoying a swimming lesson in the learner pool. The exact order

of events will be available in programmes on the day. Please can you ensure you complete

and return the permission slip at the bottom of the letter and collection arrangements for

your child and place in the Preparatory school post box.

JUNIOR THETFORD TOWN CRIER

Following the hugely successful Adult Thetford Town Crier Competition last

year, 2016 is the junior’s turn. This is open to pupils aged 6-14 years with 3 age

categories: 6 – 8 years; 9 – 11 years; 12 -14 years.

It is a good opportunity for children as the work involved to put together their

presentation goes across the curriculum using skills learnt in English, History,

Drama and Art as well as learning to work as a team.

Details of the competition have been attached to the newsletter and are on our

website.

WORLD BOOK DAY Thursday 3rd March is World Book Day and we have a number of exciting events

organized for that week.

Monday 29th February Alex Scarrow – Author visit with senior school pupils

‘A Pirate Adventure’ for preparatory pupils

Tuesday 1st March Senior Library Book Quiz

Wednesday 2nd March Preparatory Library Book Quiz

Thursday 3rd March Preparatory School Book Character Day and the ‘Story of Mary

Anning

Friday 4th March Tasty Book Competition – cakes/cupcakes with a book theme

And finally on Monday 22nd February we have a chance to take part in a Guinness World

Record Official Attempt – more details to follow.

Mrs Julie Settle,

Librarian

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SAINSBURY’S ACTIVE KIDS VOUCHERS

Active Kids vouchers started again on Wednesday 27th

January, so please collect as many vouchers as you can from

any Sainsbury’s stores and place in the Preparatory School

foyer in the special box provided. Last year we received some

new sports equipment, games and cooking equipment for the

children to use during their break, lunchtimes and cookery lessons. Thank you for your

support in this venture.

BLAZERS

Could we please remind pupils that blazers must be worn into school every day under their

outdoor coats. Thank you.

SKI TRIP 2ND HAND CLOTHING

Following the Ski Information evening we have had some items of ski wear sent into school

for sale – if you would like to view any of it please contact Cathie in the office to arrange a

time to come in.

GRIMM’S FAIRY TALES

Rehearsals have already resumed as we begin the final preparations for

this year’s extravaganza! Mrs Boyce has been working furiously with her

co-directors, Finn Humphris and Emily Bell and the performers are slowly

bringing the stories to life.

Sunday rehearsals will be taking place on the 31st January and 7th

February from 10.00am – 4.00pm.

Just to confirm that the dates are:

Tuesday 9th Feb

Wednesday 10th Feb

Ticket prices are £5 per adult and £2:50 for children and OAPs and are available from the

office.

CAR SHARE

We have a family in the Scarning area who are looking for another family to car share with

on a daily basis. If anyone can help, please contact the office for further information.

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LOST PROPERTY

Gabriel Galvieas Pr of Black Gloves Star Wars picture on each glove

Sam White Black games sock

White PE sock

Named

Named

Rory White Coat Blue, Next

Andrew Forbes Analogue watch Light blue strap

John Jenkins Leicester Tigers scarf Green/Red – brand new

Ben Jacob-Haigh Cake box Plastic with a green lid

Franzi Elders Pe sock Black, named

Tomás Morgan PE shorts Named

LOST SHOE

A Y8 pupil has lost one of her black Dr Marten shoes size 7 during a PE lesson this week.

Could all Y7/8 girls please check in their PE bags to see if they have picked it up by mistake.

Thank you.

CONGRATULATIONS

The following certificates were presented to pupils during our whole school assembly this

morning:

Artist of the Month – December Tom Hayden Y6

Senior Librarian’s Initial Training Bethan-Eve Morgan Y7

Louise Macrow Y7

Rockschool RSL Grade 3 Drums – Merit John Jenkins Y8

Mr Bedford had also the pleasure to present three certificates to Sixth Formers who took part

in the British Physics Olympiad last term. It is an annual international competition for

secondary school pupils from around the world, in the fields of Astronomy and

Astrophysics. This year over 1,600 students participated across the UK and the paper was

designed to stretch and challenge the top young physicists in the country in a national

competition. Well done to Omar El Oakley and Liam Vinton who both achieved a

Commendation and to Robbie Heighton who achieved a Bronze II certificate.

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Well done to the following pupils that received certificates from Mrs Peace in Monday

morning’s assembly.

Iris O’Reilly Noah Sanders Connie Foreman Arthur Summers

Jack Hendrie Oscar Harris Nathan Murfitt Joe Lawson

Sophie Peace Alexis Goodwin Sam Sidery Hamish Russell

Also, congratulations to Gracie White on being awarded her blue ‘Blue Peter’ badge.

Congratulations to all of the pupils in Y6 who have worked extremely hard during their

Entrance Examinations. Although the children in Preparatory School are guaranteed a place

into the Senior School, they also complete the same Entrance Examinations that external

candidates sit. This ensures that Senior School staff are able to create two equally balanced

classes taking a range of different factors into account as the children enter Senior School.

MATCH RESULTS

Tuesday 19th January U15 Netball v Finborough Won 26 - 9

Wednesday 20th January U12 Netball v Finborough

U13 Netball v Finborough

Lost 19 – 2

Lost 30 - 11

Thursday 21st January U16 Netball v Sacred Heart Won 26 - 13

Tuesday 26th January U15 Netball v Thetford

Academy

Won 23 - 4

Wednesday 27th January U12 Netball v Sacred Heart

U13 Netball v Sacred Heart

Won 15 – 5

Won 9 - 3

Thursday 28th January U16 Netball v Finborough Won 17 - 6

NEXT WEEK’S FIXTURES

Tuesday 2nd February 2.00pm – 4.45pm

2.00pm – 4.45pm

U14 Football v Finborough (A)

U14 Netball v Finborough (A)

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Sunday 31st January 10.00am – 4.00pm Grimm’s Tales Drama Rehearsals in English

Factory

Monday 1st February Breckland SSP Winter Games Cross Country Greshams School,

Holt

6.00pm – 8.3opm Y7 Parents’ Evening in WH

Wednesday 3rd February Y6 visit by Mr Dennis – Gideon Bibles

3.30pm – 4.30pm Tea & Talk Old School. All welcome

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7.00pm – 8.00pm German Exchange Info Eve in F1

Thursday 4th February Y12/13 Ethics Conference, Guildhall, Cambridge

Intermediate UKMT Maths Challenge

Friday 5th February 2.00pm Prep School House Swimming Gala at Breckland

Leisure Centre

Sunday 7th February 10.00am – 4.00pm Grimm’s Tales Drama Rehearsals

Tuesday 9th February ABRSM exams in Old School

Y10 Maths Feast

7.00pm – 8.30pm ‘Grimm’s Tales’ Production in WH

Wednesday 10th February ABRSM exams in Old School

Y10 Meningitis/DPT & Y11 ACWY Meningitis Vaccination

Olly Day Road Safety Magic Show for EYFS - Y6

7.00pm – 8.30pm ‘Grimm’s Tales’ Production in WH

Thursday 11th February 7.00pm – 8.30pm Higher Education Evening in Old School

Friday 12th February 9.00am Endeavours Assembly in W9

2.30pm Prep School Fun Swim at Breckland Leisure Centre

Last day of half term

Wednesday 24th February 4.15pm – 5.15pm PSA Meeting in H5. All welcome

ATTACHMENTS

Junior Town Crier Competition – for details click here

FORTHCOMING LETTERS

EYFS - 6 House Swimming Gala

If you would like a printed copy of this newsletter please contact the office.