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Dear Parents and Carers,

A very full term draws to a close. This Newsletter is packed full of the activities and developments at Townley. Do take some time to read it and join in the celebration of our students.

You will notice that the building work continues on the new Dining Room and Computer Suite. The finish date has been pushed back but we are confi-dent it will be finished before the end of the Summer Term and we look forward to moving in. Thank you to the school community for coping so well with the temporary facility. Happily we launched our replacement for the Snack Shack and the student working group have named it “The Munch Box”.

Our Townley Elections have got underway and it’s been impressive to see the level of engagement of our students in the political process. Thank you to the students who have stood as candidates for the political parties and engaged in stimulating debates.

We have of course had a number of events, not least of which was our production of ‘Annie’. Thank you to all the parents, family and friends who filled the Theatre for the several nights of its run. I’m pleased to say we now have the ‘Annie’ Backstage video to share on the Townley website. We also had our Dance and Drama Showcase for Year 7 and you will find this video on the website too. Indeed the website has been growing all year so do browse through.

This time of year is significant for a number of reasons. March marks the National Offers day for Year 7 entry and this year we have had the highest numbers of first choices ever. It is a testament to the reputation and popularity of Townley that we have so many wishing to join us. This is true of the Sixth Form also where we have again broken all previous records for applications. We will be welcoming prospective newcomers to two reception events after Easter.

We will also be holding a Selective Tests Open Morning in June for Bexley parents of Year 5 and their daughters who wish to know more about the se-lection process and education in a grammar school like Townley. Details will be sent to Bexley primary schools and will be in the Primary Times.

There is much more that I cannot fit here but do read my blog throughout the year at http://www.townleygrammar.org.uk/news-events/headteachers-blog and I will endeavour to keep you posted.

Wishing you and your family a happy Easter holiday.

Desmond Deehan

TOWNLEY GRAMMAR SCHOOL EASTER NEWSLETTER 2015

Headteacher: Mr D Deehan BA (Hons), MA Ed, FRSA Contact: Mrs C Dooley, Headteacher’s P.A. at headspa@townleygrammar.org.uk

Townley Grammar School, Townley Road, Bexleyheath Kent DA6 7AB Telephone: 0208-304-8311 Fax: 0208-298-7421

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Townley Grammar School celebrates record success at Oxbridge

Townley Grammar School is celebrating the success of seven of its students who have been offered places at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities. The students have re-ceived offers for a range of course from History of Art to Computing. The numbers represent the highest uptake yet for the school, which this year was placed in the Top 100 schools nationally by the Times.

The Headteacher, Desmond Deehan said “This has been a record year for us in every way and reflects the success of our strategies to raise further the attainment of our stu-dents’.

The school last year initiated the Oxbridge Consortium comprising the four grammar schools in Bexley - Beths Grammar School, Bexley Grammar School, Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School and Townley Grammar School, with the aim of boosting the success of Oxbridge candidates from the four schools by sharing the wealth of expertise within them and collaborating with other schools beyond Bexley.

Mr Deehan said of the consortium “Individually we are all very successful schools and we realised that by pooling together we can better enable all our students. We have con-ducted mock Oxbridge interviews across the four schools and shared information to better advise candidates. This year’s success suggests that it has worked. For Townley Grammar School, over 60% of the students interviewed were offered a place which is an extremely high success rate.”

Townley Grammar also works closely with St Olave’s Grammar School and Bullers Wood School in Bromley and the Con-sortium plans to offer its services to other schools in Bexley who have Oxbridge candidates.

Pictured are the Townley Grammar School students who have been offered places at Oxford and Cambridge.

Ella Hollis – Natural Sciences at Churchill College, Cambridge

Ewa Iyaniwura – Studying Chemical Engineering at Newnham College, Cambridge

Kamile Matulenaite – Studying Computer Science at Girton College, Cambridge

Charlotte Coventon – Studying Geography at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge

Isobel Frankis – Studying History at Pembroke College, Oxford

Alice Hawkins – Studying French and German at St Hilda’s College, Oxford.

Molly Nickson – Studying History of Art at Christ Church College, Oxford.

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Annie School Production 2015 By Mrs Anderson, Assistant Head Teacher and Annie Co-Director Townley’s whole school musical production of ‘Annie’ took place in March and was a sell-out success. There were over 150 students involved onstage and backstage, either per-forming, stage managing or playing in the band, from all ages and all year groups. It was wonderful to see such talent, dedication and teamwork in action. The show was co-directed by Mrs Brittle and Mrs Anderson with Musical Direction from Mr Ting, who all agreed that the creative process was hugely enjoyable, challenging and rewarding. Due to the wealth of talent at Townley, there were two casts over four performances – one featuring Key Stage Four students and the other mainly Sixth Form in the leading roles. Special mention must go to the students playing the title role of Annie – Emma Moore (Year 8) and Cassylda Augusto Rodrigues (Year 10). The show would not have been possible without the backstage crew ably led by Mrs Melluish and Tori Massey, a Year 11 student. There were many other staff who supported the smooth running of the show, including Mr Suranyi and Miss Flannagan, and indeed staff members who assisted with front of house, costumes and set, and backstage super-vision. Many parents assisted with the loan of props and costumes, and parent Sally Hills was an invaluable member of the production team. Thank you to all the staff, Governors and parents who attended the show and for all the positive feedback received. We are very proud of the high quality of Townley’s produc-tions and performing arts events that the students participate in. We are also pleased to announce that through the generosity of our audiences before the show and during the interval, World Challenge were able to raise over £500 towards their next adventure to Mongolia in 2016. Praise for Annie: Katrina Estien, VIP Guest and Managing Director of the Diverse Leaders Network organisation: “This is the best school production I’ve seen – it was absolutely fantastic and the students were amazing. It got me up dancing on the night and I was singing all the way home! It has certainly reignited my passion for the stage. It was nice to see Year 7’s through to Sixth Formers working together – it was very well done and worked really well.”

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Mrs Anderson, Assistant Head Teacher and Annie Co-Director said: “It was so exciting to work with such committed and skilful students, who gave so much of their time and energy to produce such a professional production.” New Year 7 Parent: said “I’d heard how good the Townley productions were and I was so looking forward to seeing the show; my daughter was playing an orphan and when I saw the show I certain-ly wasn’t disappointed – it was amazing!” Mrs Brittle, Director of Visual and Performing Arts and Annie Co-Director said: “I am so very proud of every single student involved in this production – their hard work, dedication and professionalism has shone through and made this a truly memora-ble experience for us all.”

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On Wednesday 25th February Townley House system welcomed Joanna Trollope to the school. Ms Trollope spoke to the

entire Year 10 cohort and took questions from the students regarding her life and career as an author. Joanna Trollope

was extremely impressed by the school, commenting “I have never been to such a lovely school.” In addition she was over-

whelmed by the enthusiasm of our students as well as the insightful and intelligent questioning they provided throughout

her ninety minute session. Mr de Fabiani (House Leader) commented “It is testament to our school’s vision and a tribute

to our students that we can host such events. I very much look forward to welcoming Ms Trollope back.

Mr F Gupta de Fabiani

Joanna Trollope visited Townley Grammar School in February 2015

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Poetopia

This term saw a whole host of students from across year groups entering the English Department’s competition ‘Poetopia’. Students had to follow specific rules in order to write poetry according to their faction, in the style of popular fiction novels such as ‘Divergent’ and ‘The Hunger Games’. The entrants seemed to really engage with the competition and produced some outstandingly powerful poems across all factions. In fact, the skill and talent demonstrat-ed by the students was such that out of 101 entries, 94 have been selected to be published in the ‘Young Writers’ anthology, to be distributed in May. If you would like to be inspired by some wonderful writing, then the anthology will be available in the Library once it is published. We undoubtedly have some very gifted future Wordsworths and Duffys in our midst; a huge well done to all involved! Miss Welch

Zoo Lab Report

On March 6th all of Year 8 had a visit from Zoo Lab. Overall the Zoo Lab visit was fascinating for a variety of reasons. Firstly the fact that they had

brought a specialist to speak to us about the amazing animals. Jack (our ranger from Zoo Lab) knew the animals thoroughly and showed excellent

knowledge and had a good connection to them. Secondly we enjoyed the variety of unusual creatures that Zoo Lab brought. The animals that our

group saw were: - a millipede, a corn snake, a tarantula, two fire bellied toads and lastly a giant land snail. Thirdly it wasn’t just the viewing of the ani-

mals we actually enjoyed the academic aspect of it. To start the talk the ranger from Zoo Lab informed us of the whereabouts of the tropical rainfor-

ests on the Earth. They are found around the equator due to the hot, wet climate. Also the adaptations and lifestyle of the different animals were ex-

plained to us for example:- the millipede releases iodine when frightened or irritated which will scare off other creatures, the tarantula shoots hairs

when scared as a defence and these contain poison and will grow back, the corn snake does not need to eat every day but has a large meal that can

last it for several days. Lastly we had the chance to touch or hold some of the creatures if we wanted to. In conclusion the experience was an amazing

opportunity which we learned a lot from.

Gemma Perrin and Mayokun Olowosuko 8 Persephone

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Year 11 Student Quotes

“It was amazing! It was so inspirational to hear from so many females in the technology industry as we don't hear of many in the media.”

“I liked the fact that mainly women were talking to us about the technical world but I also found speakers such as Michael Rubin at Google were also very interesting and informative. The trip had quite a big impact on me because it allowed me to actually realise how complex and broad the computing industry is. The trip has also made me think about my future career path, and I would now like to somehow involve computing and IT into it.”

“This trip has definitely been one of the most invaluable experiences that I've ever had and it was such a privilege to be a part of it. If there was one part of the trip that stood out for me, it would be Facebook. All the inspirational speeches given out by each employee of Facebook was so moti-vating and made me think more about what career path I would like to take in the future. Being female, I know how much of a demand there is for female engineers, and hearing that from actual women who work in the industry really meant a lot. I will never forget what one of them said, 'If you're not failing, you're not trying hard enough.' Hence why you should never give up on achieving your dreams.”

“I really enjoyed the trip, and it had a huge impact on me personally. It gave me a fantastic insight into the world of computing from talking to the tech companies and showed me what kind of jobs are available in the industry that I have always wanted to go into. The talks from the employ-ees from all of the companies we visited were particularly helpful, as it gave us realistic advice about how those women got to where they are and how we could follow in their footsteps.”

Silicon Valley 2015

On Saturday 7th February thirty-four students and four staff departed for

San Francisco for our fourth annual visit to the home of modern computing. It seems difficult to believe that the visit has been running for four years; gaining immense popularity within the student body – as well as frequent parental requests to join the group!

The students were exposed to some of the best career guidance available, together with thought provoking tech talks from female executives at Google, Facebook, Netapp and Warner Brothers. Coupled with visits to Microsoft, Intel, Stanford University and California Institute of Tech-nology the itinerary proved to inspire many of the students to reconsider their career path; as can be gleaned from their comments below.

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Silicon Valley 2015 continued

“It was especially interesting to speak to women in industry and having their own perspective from working in such large companies surrounded by such a diverse community. These talks were inspiring and made many of us reconsider our future career paths and they were able to give us valuable advice.”

“This trip definitely gave me everything it promised and more. Coming away from the speeches and talks we were given by people who work in the big tech companies like Facebook, Netapp and Google, I felt so inspired and motivated to work hard as that was a really big lesson I took away from the trip - you have to work hard, but it's worth it in the long run.”

“For me, the trip solidified what I want to do in my education and career path, it was obvious from everyone that we spoke to that this industry allows you to do something you love with people who feel like you, and be creative whilst doing it. I was shocked at how inspired I felt after the trip - especially as a woman, we are often under the impression that we can't go into these kinds of jobs, but this trip absolutely proved that this isn’t the case - that we are just as capable, and just as good at doing it as men are. Because of this, the Silicon Valley trip is an experience which I can say changed my perspective and was most definitely worthwhile.”

“I loved the trip. I still haven't stopped thinking about all the amazing places we visited. It has had a huge impact on the way I view the technology world, and I can’t go on to Google without thinking about the people we met there, and all of the inspirational females we heard from. The trip made me more confident about what I wanted to do in the future and confirmed my A-level choices. It has really made me appreciate the innova-tion in technology these people work so hard to provide, and share with the world.”

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WE DAY, WEMBLEY ARENA

On Thursday 5th March, 12 year 10 students along with Mr de Fabiani and Mr Douglas

attended the “We Day” celebration event at Wembley Arena. The annual event celebrates

young people’s contributions to the local, national and international community. Townley

Grammar was allocated the tickets due to the fact the school had won the “Best School”

Award at the National Young Philanthropy Awards in June 2014. The event involved

speeches, workshops and a general celebration of social action enacted by young people.

We were invited due to the excellent philanthropic work and social action our students

have partaken in over the last two years through the YPI and First Give. The students en-

joyed the event; we were seated very close to the stage so we could listen intently to Richard Branson, Martin Sheen,

and Kweku Mandela and many more inspirational figures.

Mr F Gupta de Fabiani

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Poetry By Heart

This year, I had the fantastic opportunity of taking part in ‘Poetry By Heart’ (PBH), a national competition which involves contestants of

Years 10 to 13. Contestants are required to memorise and perform poems they choose themselves from a given list. Intrigued, I signed

up, deciding to participate in something I’d never tried before, spoken word poetry.

The first round was the school competition, from which one winner would go on to the County Finals. We each had to select one pre-1914

poem and one post-1914 poem to recite. Students from Year 10 to Year 12 took part at Townley, meeting up at lunchtimes with Ms Thur-

low to practise our poems together. In November the school competition took place, with an audience of Year 7s and 12s, and teachers

judging each contestant’s performance. We were judged based on our understanding of the poem, the level of difficulty of the poem cho-

sen, overall performance, and accuracy. Although there were a few slip-ups, everyone did extremely well, and it was an enjoyable experi-

ence.

I was fortunate enough to advance to the next stage in the competition at Soho Theatre in Central London, one of many of the PBH Coun-

ty competitions dotted around the country. For this competition, everyone had to learn another poem from PBH’s First World War antholo-

gy. This part of the competition was split into two rounds: in the first, we all recited our pre-1914 and post-1914 poems, from which the

judges picked the three contestants that would perform their war poem in the second round. After that a winner and a runner-up out of

those three contestants were chosen. I was delighted to be able to perform in both rounds and came third overall. Sadly I wasn’t able to

advance to the National round of the competition. However, it was a wonderful experience shared with some lovely and talented fellow

contestants, and I received a bag of poetry goodies for my participation in the County competition. This experience has reinforced my love

for poetry and has given me confidence in performing poetry out loud. I had previously only ever read and written it. I would like to thank

Ms Thurlow for organising the competition, without whom I never would have had this brilliant experience, and I encourage all of you to

indulge yourselves in some poetry, especially the spoken variety! Hannah Li, 12.1

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Year 7 Dance & Drama Showcase January 2015

The Year 7 Dance and Drama Showcase is an annual event that gives every student in their first year at Townley the chance to cre-ate a performance piece that incorporates both dance and drama.

Working in Form Groups under the expert guidance of the school’s specialised Dance and Drama staff, students then bring their work

together to present a showcase production for their family and friends.

This year the showcase focused upon the two themes of ‘Influential Women’ and ‘Dances Throughout the Decades’, with Dance exploring the styles associated with different decades and Drama focusing on women who have influenced society. A video of our Dance students can be see on the school’s website.

The Year 7 students produced a wide range of delightful performances that were thoroughly enjoyed by all those who attended.

Mrs Brittle, Director of Visual and Performing Arts said:

“This has been an amazing Dance and Drama Showcase. The students have worked extremely hard in their preparations for this show and have shown real dedication and commitment. I’m delighted that we have been able to offer every Year 7 student the opportunity to perform a creative piece in front of their family and friends. I’m so very proud of every single one of them!”

Performances on Tuesday 13th January:

7 Hestia focused upon the plight of Joan of Arc and, through the use of story-telling, music and movement told the tale of her life and her valiant stand against the English during The Hundred Years War.

The group then went on to perform a number from ‘Top Hat’ called ‘Top Hat, White Tie & Tails’, a dance piece that was heavily influenced by the movement of big musical numbers in the 1930’s.

7 Aphrodite used music, movement and story-telling to tell the inspirational story of Mary Seacole, a pioneering nurse and heroine of the Crimean War, who as a woman of mixed race overcame a double prejudice.

The group then looked to Madonna and her ‘Vogue’ for their dance inspiration, which takes stylistic influence from the 1920’s and 1930’s.

7 Athene performed a drama piece based upon Malala Yousafzai, the 17 year old girl and youngest person ever to receive the Nobel Peace Prize who was shot by the Taliban for campaigning for the right to education for all children.

The group then danced to the song ‘Shake It Off’ by Taylor Swift, a piece inspired by the 1950’s and Jive Dancing.

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Year 7 Dance & Drama Showcase January 2015

7Artemis took their inspiration from a contemporary woman, 14 year old cancer victim Talia Joy. Through the use of story-telling and physical theatre they told the narrative of

Talia and her determination and optimism in the face of illness.

The group then performed a routine based upon the popular dance craze from the 1920’s, the Charles-ton.

7 Demeter were inspired by the ‘Mother of the Civil Rights Movement’, Rosa Parks. Through the use of story-telling, music and movement they told her extraordinary story and how her violation of the segre-gation laws kick-started a huge protest led by Martin Luther King.

The group then performed a piece in response to Cheryl Cole and her ‘I Don’t Care’ single, focusing on current commercial dance trends.

7 Persephone chose Emmeline Pankhurst and her family as their inspiration. Through rap, song and ver-batim theatre they devised an original and creative reconstruction of the events surrounding her life and her remarkable achievements.

The group then performed a dance to ‘Disco Inferno’, inspired by the 1970’s and early disco dancing.

7 Hera used story-telling, physical theatre and music to tell the tale of the extraordinary and inspirational Harriet Tubman, a woman who escaped slavery, led other slaves to freedom and who went on to become a leading abolitionist and Civil Rights Activist.

The group then performed a piece called ‘You Can’t Stop The Beat’, a number from the finale of the hit musical ‘Hairspray’ which questions attitudes to-ward race and segregation in 1962. See our video at http://www.townleygrammar.org.uk/news-events/news/2015/march/new-videos-on-our-youtube-channel/

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ARTiculation Prize 2015

Regional Final at The Saatchi Gallery London, January

Townley student India Ferguson was delighted to represent the school at Monday’s Regional Final of the ARTiculation Prize 2015. India, who won the School Heat back in December, was one of nine finalists at the event which was held at the Saatchi Gallery in London.

ARTiculation is an annual competition designed to promote the appreciation and discussion of art. It is run by the Roche Court Educational Trust in association with the University of Cam-bridge and invites Sixth Formers to present a talk on a piece of art, artefact or architecture of their choice that reflects their individual interest and appreciation. Entrants are then assessed on their presentation as a whole, looking at content, structure and delivery and their ability to give the listeners a deeper insight and enthusiasm for the artwork in question.

The Saatchi Heat opened with a welcome speech by Francesca Wilson, Head of Education at the Saatchi and an introductory talk from Lucy Salisbury, Head of Outreach at The Roche Court Educational Trust. Lucy spoke about the origins of ARTiculation and explained how the com-petition has grown and embraced new developments over the few years that it has been running. She also introduced the speakers and au-dience to Simon Grant - Guest Adjudicator for this highly competitive London Heat. Simon is Editor of Tate Etc magazine, (published by Tate and currently the highest circulation art magazine in Europe), Co-founder of the art journal Picpus and Editor of ‘In My View: Personal Re-flections on Art by Today’s Leading Artists’.

Nine contestants from different schools across London then had the chance to perform their presentations and compete for a place in the Grand Final at the University of Cambridge in March.

Students presented a wide variety of subject talks that included ‘Night Windows’ (Edward Hopper); Our English Coasts (William Holman Hunt); ‘Mary Magdalene’ (Donatello); ‘Vincent’ (Tim Burton); The Lady of Shalott’ (John William Waterhouse); ‘Coronation of the Vir-gin’ (Filippo Lippi); ‘Celebration’ (Jeff Koons) and ‘The Oyster Lunch’ (Jean-Francois de Troy).

Townley’s entrant, Year 13 student India, gave a highly commendable presentation entitled ‘The Rotunda Chandelier’, a talk based on Dale Chihuly’s exquisite glass sculpture situated in the foyer of the V&A Museum in London.

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The adjudicator, Simon Grant said of India’s speech:

“I was really impressed by your knowledge of the subject and your passionate delivery. I’m glad that you spoke about the actual process of the making of the sculpture and I also liked the fact that you incorporated the ‘is it art or is it craft?’ debate into your presentation - this is an ongoing discussion in the art world and I thought it was important and right to mention this”.

Lucy Salisbury later added:

“On behalf of us all here at the Roche Court Educational Trust I would like to thank India for her excellent talk at the Saatchi ARTiculation Heat. She was a very competent speaker and popular with the audience for her informative and absorbing talk on the Chihuly Chandelier. It has certainly made me want to re-visit the V&A. I am sure you are all very proud of her. I would like to thank the Head Teacher and other school staff for attending the event and of course the lovely Townley students, who it is always such a pleasure to meet.”

Any students who would like to know more about ARTiculation, or who would like to enter the School Heat in the Autumn Term, please see Ms Reeves in the Arts Office.

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ARTiculation Conference at the University of Cambridge, March 2015

Townley staff were delighted to offer all students who entered the ARTiculation School Heat the opportunity to attend the ARTiculation Conference and Grand Final 2015.

This invite only event takes place at the prestigious Clare College, University of Cambridge and is a day packed full of educational lectures, art talks, university tours, networking opportunities and of course, the ARTiculation Grand Final.

Guest Speaker for the conference was Dr Veronica Sekules, Head of Education and Research at Sainsbury Centre for Vis-ual Arts, University of East Anglia, who started off the day with a fascinating talk on Global Art History and World Art Studies.

This was followed by tours of the University and College’s art collections, architecture and chapels led by current Uni-versity of Cambridge undergraduates.

Dr Abigail Harrison-Moore from the University of Leeds gave a talk on University Admissions, which covered the admissions process, what uni-versities are looking for in a personal statement and much other valuable advice and guidance for students.

The Grand Final began with a welcome by Dr William Foster, Tutor for Access and Outreach at Clare College and an introduction to the ARTicu-lation Prize by Lucy Salisbury and Laurence Wolff, Trustee of the Roche Court Educational Trust.

Ten finalists then presented on subjects ranging from Bernini’s Bust of Medusa (c. 1638-48) to Jeff Koons’ Celebration (1994) and, the winning presentation based on Cindy Sherman’s Untitled #153, 1985. The adjudicator for this year’s prize was Dr Penelope Curtis, Director of Tate Brit-ain.

Townley students thoroughly enjoyed their day at Cambridge and hugely benefitted from taking part in ARTiculation; not only did they devel-op their knowledge about their own (and other entrants!) chosen art and architectural pieces, they also learnt how to improve and develop their public speaking and presentation skills. They would like to encourage all Sixth Formers to take part in the ARTiculation School Heat in the Autumn Term!

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Oxbridge Information Evening

The Sixth Form team have held two evening events for the Lower Sixth during March. On 4th March we held our Higher Education Evening

for students and their parents to explain the UCAS process. This included talks from two guest speakers, one from Birmingham University

on the application process and from Lancaster University on student finance.

On 18th March we hosted an Oxbridge information evening for the Bexley Grammar Schools Oxbridge Consortium which comprises of

Townley Grammar School, Bexley Grammar School, Beths Grammar School and Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School. It was well

attended by students and their parents from Year 11 and Lower Sixth from all four schools. Representatives from admissions at both Ox-

ford and Cambridge gave a talk about applying to Oxbridge and student representatives were on hand to speak to prospective candidates

and answer their questions.

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RHS Chelsea Flower Show comes to the Design and

Technology Department

On Monday the 16th of March, Paul Kettle - RHS Education Project

Manager, Andrew Wilson -Landscape Architect who displays at the

Chelsea Flower Show and Chris Taylor – Photographer to the stars,

carried out a landscape design session at Townley Grammar School.

This meeting consisted of creating a professional white model of

the landscape designs to scale, which were initially designed on paper. This gave the participants a sense of their

landscapes in 3D perspectives. Andrew Wilson who lead the project, taught the girls the specialised methods used by professionals when creating their model

landscapes, whilst suggesting tips and ideas of different methods that could be used. The session was also recorded for a mini documentary for the RHS. The

participant’s thoroughly enjoyed the sessions and learnt a large amount building on the RHS and Townley Partnership.

See our video at http://www.townleygrammar.org.uk/news-events/news/

Giny Huynh (Year 13 Physics prefect) reports on the Science Department’s observations of the partial solar eclipse From 8.00am to 1.00am on Friday 20th March there was to be the biggest solar eclipse in London since 1999! By 8:30am all the equipment was set up out-side the Science building. This equipment included light sensors, temperature sensors, a gamma ray detector and a telescope. However, the clouds were so thick that the sun couldn’t even be seen! Despite the lack of clear skies, a crowd of excited students swarmed onto the field to witness this once in a lifetime event (not just Dr Phelps' tie). The sky gradually darkened and at 9:30am it was at its darkest, and we noticed that parakeets came into roost on the nearby trees. Slowly the sky began lighting up again. The sensors showed that the light intensity and temperature dropped to their lowest at 9:30am too, so the eclipse re-

ally did happen, even though we couldn’t see it! We even had enough time to then watch the total eclipse happen at 9:40am at the Faroe Islands via television, which was spectacular.

Thanks to our Physics Technician Dominique Uchan for helping us to detect the eclipse.

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Annual Darwin Day Six students from the Lower Sixth had the opportunity to attend the Annual Darwin Day Lecture on the 12th of February at the Institute of Education in London. We were fortunate enough to get front row seats to hear Professor Richard Dawkins and Dr. Eugenie Scott speaking regarding the theme: ‘What would Darwin say to today’s creationists?’ The room was filled with budding scientists anticipating the arrival of the renowned speakers; as they entered the room it fell silent with everyone in awe. It was fascinating to hear their views on how Darwin might feel about the amazing discoveries that have happened in the field of genetics, the new evidence that supports the theory of evolution and how he might view the modern world. The main speaker, Dr. Eugenie Scott spent her life’s work on the study of American physical anthropology and is also one of the strongest voices chal-lenging the teaching of young earth creationism. Throughout the evening, she provided detailed explanations and theories on how the theory of evolu-tion came to be as well as a respectful humanists point of view. She informed us of previous scientists, such as Patrick Matthew and Edward Blythe who had touched on the basis of evolution in their work, yet had not covered it to its full extent. This led to people accusing Darwin of plagiarism, however a reassuring statement was made – the true scientist who founded the theory is the one who develops, spreads and proves it, which is exactly what Dar-win has done. Dr. Scott provided some interesting thoughts that questioned our perspective on evolution from what we have learnt at school from a young age, therefore allowing us to delve deeper into the topic. Not only did Dr. Scott provide an interesting insight on Darwin’s life such as his ‘Deathbed Confession’ and the involvement of Lady Hope, she also offered factual evidence and enlightening information on how evolution is not a ‘theory’ but a proven fact. She explained how Darwin would be elated to see today’s discoveries, evidence and proof which all support his theory and her frustration could be understood as Darwin himself isn’t present today to enjoy the fruits of his labor and his outstanding addition to science. The event came to an end with Professor Dawkins and Dr. Scott answering the audiences anticipating questions, which was very intriguing to listen to their response on. Overall, the lecture was a unique experience that we were privileged to be able to attend! Arrani Raveenthiran (12.10) Hannah Pereira(12.5) Paula Abu (12.9 ) and Kiran Virdi (12.5)

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GCSE & A Level Dance Showcase, March 2015

The annual GCSE & A Level Dance Showcase took place over two nights in March. This event gives all dance students the opportunity to perform their pieces in preparation for their forthcoming exams. Parents, carers and school staff were treated to an evening of exceptional live dance that included solo performances, cho-reography and compositions, duets, group choreography and swan song performances. Students thinking of studying dance also had the opportunity to chat to the Dance Teachers and gain a greater insight into studying dance at Townley.

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Townley Contemporary Gallery

‘Outside Looking In, Inside Looking Out’

Recent Paintings, Drawings and Pottery by Brian Blunden

Installation Space: ‘Untitled’ by Sandie Camilleri

‘Outside Looking In, Inside Looking Out’ was the Spring Term Exhibition at Townley Contemporary Gallery, the school’s dedicated in-house gallery space.

The Exhibition showcased some of the exceptional artwork created by professional artist and Townley Art Teacher, Brian Blunden. Also on display and situated in the Gallery Installation Space, was the giant sculpture ‘Untitled’ by conceptual artist and Townley parent, Sandie Camilleri.

Gallery staff were delighted to welcome thirty-five guests to an opening night Private View event that included artist talks by both Brian and Sandie. Each artist gave a fascinating insight into the thoughts behind their pieces, their individual creative processes and the art work on show.

Mrs Anderson, Assistant Headteacher said:

“This was a hugely enjoyable evening. The talks from the artists involved were really enlightening and entertaining and explained the thought processes behind their works. The exhibition itself was incredibly interesting and beautifully displayed. I particularly liked Brian's Venice pictures and I thought that Sandie's sculpture looks so effective in the Gallery Installation Space. I would like to thank everyone involved in making the evening successful and my con-gratulations go to the artists for creating such inspirational pieces.”

Artist and work:

Brian Blunden

Artist and work: Sandie Camilleri

21

Saatchi Gallery - Townley Art Work Displayed at London’s Saatchi Gallery

Townley Grammar School has enjoyed strong links with the world renowned Saatchi Gallery in London for a number of years now. Townley students regularly visit the Gallery and take part in bespoke workshops, participate in the Regional Final of the national public speaking competition ARTiculation (which is hosted at the Saatchi) and are inaugural and founder members of Young Saatchi, an initiative designed to promote art and art awareness to other young people all over the world. Each year, the Saatchi also sponsor and present the ‘Saatchi Award for Contemporary Practice in Art’ to a Townley art student at the school’s Summer Exhibition Awards Ceremo-ny.

At the beginning of the term, Francesca Wilson, Head of Education at Saatchi visited Townley Contemporary Gallery to look at work produced by the school’s Art and Photography ‘A’ Level students. After careful consideration, Francesca chose items from five student portfolios to be part of a collection that was then put on display in the Saatchi’s Education Gallery this spring.

We would like to thank Francesca for giving Townley students the opportunity to publicly display their work at the Saatchi and our congratulations go to Florence Moore, Lauren Beckingham, Sarah-Jane Roberts, Veionella Spaine and Rebecca Douglas on this fantastic artistic achievement.

22

Library

The Spring Term has been busy for the Library promoting Reading for Pleasure through a number of events this term. A group of Year 7 visited Haberdasher’s Aske to meet the twice awarded Queen of Teen author Cathy Cassidy. For the annual celebration of reading we marked World Book Day with everyone dressing up as all sorts of book characters from mythology to manga. Year 7, 8 and 9 also met Branford Boase Award winner - Frances Hardinge. There is good news for this au-

thor as she is one of this year’s Carnegie Medal Award Shortlisted authors. Book Club are shadowing this

award and have enjoyed reading her work and we look forward to the awards in June.

Our last author event this term saw Year 9 meet with Poet Paul Lyalls at Bexleyheath Central Library as part of the SPINE festival: Libraries Out Loud which was celebrating arts and literature across Lon-don Libraries in March. 2800 books were borrowed this term with the most popular books including: Year 7—Sweet Hon-ey, Cathy Cassidy; Year 8 Going Vintage, Lindsey Leavitt; Year 9 Mortal Instruments ,Cassandra Clare; Year 10 The Hitchhiker’s Guide To the Galaxy, Douglas Adams; Year 11 The Help, Kathryn Stockett; Ye12 A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving, Year 13 The Young Inferno, John Agard.

May Easter bring you many books and good stories, happy reading.

Mrs Fernandez

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Maths Masterclass

For eight Saturday mornings, we have both been attending the Royal Institution Mathematics Masterclasses held at the University of Greenwich - alongside thirty-eight other Year 9 students from several Boroughs. The lectures we have attended have been based on many different topics, including prime numbers (Sawen's favourite!) and ciphers (Tolu's favourite!) as well as logic, moral games and matrices. No two lectures have been the same; there is a different lecturer every week ranging from mathematicians to professors to doctors. For each lecture, we are given starter sheets with puzzles to stretch our brains. Then after a brief introduction to the topic, we immediately get down to business by taking notes and working on complex mathematical problems from our topic for that week. The work is deliberately designed so that we will find it challenging and we often find ourselves arguing over whose answer was right. For some weeks, we are required to use prior knowledge to help us, however, for others we know nothing. We also have to learn all the necessary aspects in a two hour period. Fortunately, we have many teachers on hand to help us if we get stuck. The lectures have been very interesting so far. Many of the topics are things that would not strike to you as particularly useful: exploring the different types of symmetry on a car tyre. Nonetheless, all the topics have a use in real life and it was fascinating to see this. The ciphers in particular had us looking at World War II and the schematics of the Enigma machine, as well as the maths behind how it worked. Overall, we both thoroughly enjoyed attending the Mathematics Masterclasses and we hope to have more opportunities like this in the future as the expe-rience has been very enriching. We would also like to thank Mrs Oswald for arranging this amazing opportunity for us because the experience has been mesmerising, unforgettable and highly beneficial for the two of us. Sawen Ali, 9.Hestia and Tolu Duckworth, 9.Athene

24

The Annual Award Presentation Ceremony for all of the Duke of Edinburgh Award participants in the Borough was held on Thursday 29th January 2015 at the

new Civic offices in Bexleyheath.

Townley were extremely well represented at the ceremony. All students received their Award certificates and badges along with much praise and recognition from the Mayor of Bexley Cllr Howard Marriner. Parents can find more photos here: http://brianaldrich.zenfolio.com/p216971930/h2c7cfd7e#h2c7cfd7e and download them free of charge. Pictured are Townley Students receiving their Bronze Award.

Students who took part in the Award at Townley dedicated much of their time to the volunteering, physical activity and skill development sections of the

Award whilst also having to overcome a gruelling expedition where they had to navigate independently to a campsite and camp overnight – two nights for the

Silver and one for the Bronze Award participants.

Congratulations to all of the students who successfully completed the Award. Any students who did not receive their Award at the presentation evening and

have successfully completed the Award will be invited to the next ceremony.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all of the staff who have supported the Award over the past year, in particular to Miss

Hossain, Ms Farag, Mrs Atkins, Mrs Maddison, Dr Rees, Mrs Perfect, Mr Quinn, Miss McCarthy, Mrs Urquhart, Mr Ting, Miss Clarke and Mrs Robinson. Not for-

getting Mrs Bevington, Mr Davidson and Miss Heslip all of whom are unfortunately no longer at Townley. All of the members of staff above have given up a lot

of their own time to allow our students to achieve such a prestigious Award, and continue to do so over the coming expeditions this academic year. So I write

this with huge thanks to all of them for without them none of the expeditions would be able to take place.

Reminder of upcoming expeditions: Bronze Practice Expedition: Friday 17th April 2015 – Saturday 18th April 2015 Bronze Qualifying expedition: Thursday 14th May 2015 – Friday 15th May 2015 Silver Qualifying expedition: Sunday 5th July 2015 – Tuesday 7th July 2015 Miss L Butler Duke of Edinburgh Award Leader

25

Pictured below Townley Students receiving their Silver Award

26

TOWNLEY GRAMMAR SCHOOL’S FORMER PUPILS

Townley Grammar School in Bexleyheath is looking for former pupils who would like to help students who are at the school now to achieve their best. The school is working with the charity Future First, which helps schools and colleges set up and maintain networks of alumni who can act as role models, mentors, governors or fundraisers. The school’s alumni include Baroness Valerie Amos, Team GB weightlifter Zoe Smith and actress Gillian Saker. Alex Shapland-Howes, Managing Director of Future First said “If pupils see that someone who went to the same school and grew up in the same community as them has a fulfilling and satisfying job, it helps them see it’s possible for them too.” To get involved, email Toni Reeves at treeves4.303@townleygrammar.org.uk

27

In the morning the reporters assembled in to discuss the plans for the day. We were assigned roles such as anchor-girl, reporter, weath-er-girl, media editor, online representatives, and online journalists. For the next two periods preparations were made to develop the key assignments so that filming could be done for the main broadcast. To benefit our journalistic skills, we analysed a variety of news-papers and online media articles to gain an understanding of how to write a well-rounded article.

During Period 3 we reconvened in the Library to film the anchors and set to work on writing the online articles. Once the anchor report had been filmed, it was now time for the additional reports to be filmed, e.g. the Word of the Day. Words included in the report were blatant, ultramarine and pigeon. As soon as all the Words had been filmed, the Politics section of the report was filmed. This included information about the general British election, and we linked that with the Townley election that is run by Mr de Fabiani. After that report was filmed, the media editors went away with all the footage filmed so far to fit it all together. Meanwhile, in the Library everyone else continued to write their reports, and some finished them and went to lunch.

At 13.30pm a student interviewed Mr de Fabiani about the Townley Election, and throughout Period 5 the media editors continued to edit all the footage made. Later, a BBC representative called Richard - (who had previously visited us the week before), came back to assist with any queries and to give me-dia advice and assistance in case it was needed. While that was going on in the Mac suite, all the other students were in the Library and had started to write some new reports. Some of which were on WE Day which is an event to inspire children to make a difference in the world. Other articles that were written included role models, inspirational women, whether racism is still a relevant issue in todays developed society, the future job market and the credibility of ‘Vlogging’. All of these articles relate to our day and age, and is something that people our age would find interesting and informative.

Period 6 was very stressful and hectic as we needed to work as a team very quickly to proof read all the articles and make sure that all the filmed media video was edited and ran smoothly in order to meet the deadline which was 15.30 pm. After all articles and reports were proof read and corrected where necessary, they all had to be sent to Miss Thurlow who organised them to be uploaded to the website. They all were uploaded at 16.00, as planned. Year 10 School Reporters

BBC SCHOOL REPORT 19th MARCH 2015

DEADLINE 4.00pm!

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Townley Staff Art Exhibition – `Perceptive Discoveries’ – 25th February 2015

This was the first time that we have had an Art Exhibition which showcased the many and diverse talents of the staff here at Townley Grammar School together with some of our Arts partners. There were over thirty exhibitors, from first timers to professionals. The ex-hibitors came from many different Departments within the school which was really fantastic to see. There was a large variety of artwork on display including painting, poetry, photography, cast, acrylic and paper sculptures, charcoal drawings, jewellery, costumes, cross-stitching and video postcards. The thought processes behind each creation was intriguing as well as the time taken to produce the pieces on display and the amount of work involved, resulting in an amazing and original exhibition. The success of this show has paved the way for a second Townley Staff Ex-hibition soon.

`Sir Edward Heath, PM’

Mrs Olszowka

Gallery Curator

`A Strand at a Time’

Mrs Fernandea

Librarian

` Assam, India’

Babu Barabhuiya

Science Technician

‘Marilyn’

Mr Hurley

Site Team

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Senior Medical Society report: “Extra-terrestrial life – is it plausible?” - Hannah Clark 12.9 Last Monday, I gave a talk on the plausibility of life elsewhere in the universe as part of the Senior Medical Society. This, despite its name, is a club that convenes every week or so to discuss matters involving science. One group presents their topic, and so I discussed the subject of astrobiology, admittedly more so from an astronomer’s point of view than a biologists, but nonetheless an interesting and engaging topic. The basis for my presentation stemmed from the Drake’s equation which I learnt when I did Astronomy GCSE. This equation takes into account the different factors that affect the development of advanced life forms and thus the probability of us per-haps making contact with said civilisation.

Considering how we’ve only one model of a perfect planet, our own, to study it is difficult to discern the exact conditions necessary. However, cosmically suitable solar systems must occur in the middle of a spiral galaxy. For if it is too close to the centre there is the danger of interactions with other stars ‘stealing’ material to make plan-ets and possibly disrupting the orbits of existing celestial bodies. But if too far out, then there are not enough heavy elements such as uranium and thorium to make rocky planets. It is important to bear in mind that most supernovae occur in the centre of the spiral galaxy (the yellow part) because the stars there are not only older but they are in denser numbers, so the rate of supernovae explosions is much greater (that also poses a risk of frying any life on a planet within range!) A suitable star is also required, namely a main sequence star that is less than 30x more massive than the Sun so that it doesn’t burn out too quickly before life can get a hold. But a star that has very little mass, such as M class red dwarf star (M refers to its place on the Hertzsprung-Russel diagram (figure 2), which is to say very dim, much fainter than the human eye can see). Once a suitable star is found, then a suitable planet is needed. Planets that have little mass do not keep an atmosphere very well, so with a thin atmosphere the low pressure passes the triple point of water where it starts to sublime. I.e. if we take it that water is essential for life, planets with little mass cannot provide a surface that supports liquid water. Also, small planets lose the heat from their cores too quickly, so as their tectonics shut down they lose the pro-tective bubble of their magnetic field and the carbon-silicate cycle which maintains the level of greenhouse gases. So runaway-glaciation, the freezing of all the water on the planet’s surface, is certainly the fate of such a planet and the freezing temperatures solidify not only water but all polar solvents. An example of this is Mercury. On planets more massive than the Earth, the opposite is true. This type of planet favours runaway-greenhouse-effect, where the planet is boiled dry. An example of this is Venus. Even after a suitable planet is found, for life to get started, even autotrophic life (life that survives on inorganic elements in the environment), requires an envi-ronment with a lot of reducing elements to set up the electron transfer system to create ATP. Unfortunately for me, it’s too complex and detailed Biology for me to fully understand, hence why I skimmed over it in my presentation. I will however, through my EPQ, be able to learn about (and understand) the biology aspect of Astrobiology a little better to maybe give a follow-up presentation focusing on this more complex side of astrobiology. But using the knowledge we have already attained through the research I’ve done. We can take an estimate of some values to represent the probability of a planet forming under these set conditions, we can plug them into the equa-tion to calculate the number of planets in the universe with life. So if we take the rate of star formation to be 7, factoring in where it must form in the galaxy and how massive it should be; we can agree it is quite unlikely. Next if we take the fraction of stars with planets to be quite high considering how we have already discovered some 200 exoplanets and counting in the immediate vicinity, we can give it a 0.6. But the number of habitable planets will be quite small as we have to factor their mass and distance from their star and also the presence of a moon and a ‘gatekeeper’ (for us this is Jupiter) to fend off the worst of the meteorites. So that would only be 1. Then of those planets if we take the fraction of those with life to be 0.5, on the basis that the life itself needs certain environmental requirements, even on a planet that is theoretically habitable. But a fraction of those planets that have intelligent life will be very small as within the solar system the only possibility of life is microbial. So that we can say is 0.01. Then if we ever hope to make contact, the intelligent life needs to be technologically advanced. So considering how it took us as humans (primitive humans included) over a million years to reach some level of self-awareness and then another million years to start making technology, we can safely say it is quite unlikely another civilisations could do so as well. Thus we can give it a value of 0.2. Finally, if we ever hope to make contact, the civilisation must live long enough to receive our signal. Thus we must also factor in the lifetime of the civilisation. So homo-sapiens have been around for around 10,000 years. So we can use that value in our equation to, considering how in the last fifty years we’ve been in two world wars and look set to go into a third.

Therefore, an estimate of the number of alien civilisations we could make contact with is 42.

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Bexley U12s Netball Tournament

Congratulations to the Year 7 team that took part in the Bexley U12s Netball Tournament on Thursday – they performed excellently. Out of 8 Bexley Schools we came 2nd in the tournament- runners up to Trinity. The girls won every match but one – to the winning team- and only lost this match by a goal difference of 1! The scores of the matches were: 1st- Trinity School - 35 points- won every game! 2nd- Townley Grammar School- 32 points 3rd- Bexley Grammar School - 25 points 4th- Chisleshurst 7 Sidcup Grammar School- 23 points 5th- Bexleyheath Academy- 15 points 6th- Crayford Academy- 9 points 7th- Welling School- 8 points 8th- St.Catherine’s Girls’ School - 5 points Well done to Ingrid Ghosh, Anna Blincoe, Rebecca Akinbamiyorin, Angel Gediz, Stephanie Damoah, Sarah Ogunnaike, Amy Claibounre-Dixon, Alice Pavlou, Temi Fadimu, Amarachi Dennis-Durugbor, Vivian Efiannayi, Aarti Jandu (Captain), Maddie Murray and Motolani Shittu who all played brilliantly and were great ambassadors for the school. Special mention to Aarti Jandu who was chosen as Townley player of the tournament. Thank you to Ndidi Ugwu and Danielle Colley in Year 12 who kindly came along to help out and thanks to Bexleyheath Academy who hosted the Tournament.

Cricket at Townley By Mr Daniels, Townley Cricket Coach

Townley Grammar School at the Under 15s Schools Lady Taverners Indoor Cricket Competition (North Kent Division)

The school team took part in the above competition on Friday 13th March at Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar Leisure Centre. In their initial three team group they lost their ini-tial match against Bromley High, but had a great result against Colfes School, bowling the opposition out for just 17 in 4.1 overs - one of the schools best ever performances. Thus, second place in the group, this enabled them to go through to the play offs on the day. In the play offs they lost to Cranbrook (who had a current England under 15s player in their team). The school eventually finished equal third out of the seven teams competing. Only the top two teams qualified for the county finals and the school only narrowly missed out.

Results: TGS (49-4 in 8 overs) lost to Bromley High (51-2 in 4.1 overs) / TGS (19-1 in 3.4 overs) beat Colfes (17 all out in 4.1 overs) / TGS (54-5 in 8 overs) lost to Cranbrook (83-4 in 8 overs)

Other Cricket News

The school have been piloting two cricket schemes recently. In an ‘Outreach’ programme, pupils from Old Bexley Primary School have been invited to train at Townley, giving the students the opportunity to play in a full size sports hall for the first time. This pilot ran for two months and was very successful. It is highly likely that this project will be run again in the future.

In the second initiative the school have been fortunate to have a professional cricket coach attend the after school club on Thursday evenings for three sessions. This coach has also agreed to return to the school on an occasional basis. The project is being funded by a pot of funds that has been raised through various sources to help promote cricket for girls in the Bexley Borough, with Townley Grammar School being selected as a beneficiary.

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Kent Netball School U13 Netball Tournament

We would like to congratulate Townley’s U13 Netball team on their achievement at the Kent Netball Schools Tournament at Rainham School for Girls on Thursday. The players were Riess Fernandes, Erin Thomas, Gabrielle Olanrewaju, Naomi Abbe, Elena Kop Bessomen, Charlotte Forster, Kiki Ly, Georgina Llovet, Grace Bennett, RIshika Sivanendran and Evie Townrow who was Captain. It was a lovely sunny day perfect for netball and there were teams from all around Kent. It was delightful for so many schools to take part and was an excellent opportunity for the girls to take part in. The Kent Tournament is a really hard competition with many netball specilaist schools entering and our girls did really well to come fifth out of their group of eight. They played five intense games against Bexleyheath Academy, Sutton Valance, Langley Girls School, Rainham Mark Grammar and Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School and performed well, improving in each match. The players of the match, as chosen by the team, are Naomi Abbe who was really enthusiastic and had excellent dodging and driving technique so was able to get round the other teams’ players and was ready to intercept lots of passes. Also, Evie Townrow was an amazing Captain she led the warm- up and technique practises and was real-ly encouraging to everyone keeping team spirits high and organised team structure. The whole team worked really well together and showed great sportsmanship, they are great role models for the school and were a pleasure to take. Thank you to Amy Collins and Ciara Laker who have been giving up their lunchtimes training the team. Well done to all those that took part!

Townley U13 Netball Team Townley U12 Netball Team Townley Indoor Rowing Team Townley Sixth Form Boys’ Team

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PE Achievements Spring Term 2015

DATE EVENT PLAYED SCORE PARTICIPANTS PLAYERS OF THE

MATCH

03/03/2015 Bexley U13s Netball

Tournament

Schools in Bexley Won 4/5

games, so were

second in their

group and 3rd

overall

Evie Townrow / Charlotte Forster / Grace Bennett

Reiss Fernandes / Rishika Sivah / Kiki Ly

Georgina Llovet (Captain) / Ebun Adebiyi

Gabrielle Olanrewaju / Erin Thomas / Elena Kop-Bessomen

Naiomi Abbe

Naiomi Abbe and Reiss

Fernandes

02/03/2015 Football Match Bexley Grammar 3-1 to Townley

05/03/2015 Kent U13s Netball

Tournament

Bexleyheath Acad-

emy/Sutton Val-

ance/Langley Girls’

Rainham Mark

Grammar/

Chislehurst &

Sidcup Grammar

Schools

5th out of their

8 in group

Riess Fernandes / Erin Thomas /Gabrielle Olanrewaju / Nao-

mi Abbe / Elena Kop Bessomen / Charlotte Forster / Kiki Ly /

Georgina Llovet / Grace Bennett / RIshika Sivanendran and

Evie Townrow (Captain)

Naomi Abbe and Evie

Townrow

09/03/2015 Basketball Match St Olave’s 43-37 to St

Olave’s

Sixth Form Boys’ Team Dante Roberts

10/03/2015 Yr 7 Netball Match Bexleyheath Acad-

emy

5-1 to Townley

10/03/2015 Yr 8 Netball Match Bexleyheath Acad-

emy

6-6 draw Riess Fernandes

10/03/15 Yr 10 Netball Match Bexleyheath Acad-

emy

18-13 to BA

33

PE Achievements Spring Term 2015

DATE EVENT PLAYED SCORE PARTICIPANTS PLAYERS OF THE

MATCH

12/03/2015 U12s Bexley Netball

Tournament

Bexleyheath Acade-

my / Bexley Gram-

mar / Chislehurst &

Sidcup Grammar /

Crayford Academy /

St Catherine’s

Girls’ / Trinity /

Welling Schools

Achieved 2nd place in tournament, only lost once to the winning team and only by one goal difference. 3-2 to Townley vs. BA 8-0 to Townley vs. St.Caths 4-3 to Townley vs.Bexley Grammar 3-0 to Townley vs. Welling 3-2 loss to Townley vs. Trinity 3-1 to Townley vs. ChisnSid 4-0 to Townley vs. Crayford Academy

Ingrid Ghosh / Anna Blincoe / Rebec-

ca Akinbamiyorin / Angel Gediz /

Stephanie Damoah / Sarah Ogun-

naike / Amy Claibourne-Dixon / Alice

Pavlou / Temi Fadimu / Amarachi

Dennis- Durugbor / Vivian Efiannayi /

Aarti Jandu (Captain) / Maddie Mur-

ray / Motolani Shittu

Aarti Jandu

13/03/2015 U15 Schools’ Lady Tav-

erners Indoor Cricket

Competition

Bromley High /

Colfes / Cranbrook

3rd overall in Tournament Under 15s team

18/03/2015 Sixth Form Football

Match

Beths Grammar 5-4 to Beths

20/03/2015 National Junior Indoor

Rowing Competition

See article overleaf

34

On the 20th March, 45 Townley students from all years took part in the largest indoor rowing event in the world - the National Junior Indoor Rowing Championships. This event took place at the Lea Valley Athletics Centre in North London and is a very prestige event. There were over 2,700 competitors from around the UK including rowers from top-level clubs and rowing schools so the levels of ability were very high to compete against. However, our students row-se to the challenge and everyone performed brilliantly with some outstanding results. Congratulations to the following in their individual rows- for performing exceptionally in their categories:

Special mentions to medal winners Julia Olawumi who came 3rd out of all the Year 10s, only missing 2nd place by 2 metres, and Chelsea Fashina who came 2nd out of all the Year 9s, with only 10 metres difference between 1st place! Also, Townley’s Relay Teams performed really well. Congratulations to the Senior Relay Teams who came 5th, 10th and 11th and congratulations to Chelsea, Diana, Roufiat and Abibor; the Junior Relay Team that came 4th overall! Only missing a medal position by 10m! Team Townley’s Rowing Coach, PE Teacher Mrs Hawkey, was elated with the achievements of the Townley students, she said, “I am so proud of all the girls for partici-pating with such enthusiasm and endeavour. They were an asset to the school. Additionally, it’s exceptional that at a National event we came out with 2 medals this year! After gaining one in last year we are aiming for three in 2016!” Thank you to Alison Strub in Year 13 for running Indoor Rowing Club alongside Mrs Hawkey and for coaching the girls! Overall, it was a very enjoyable day for the students - not just the amazing experience of competing at such a prestige event against rowers up and down the country - but there was also a variety of activities to take part in when you weren’t rowing, ranging from rock climbing, table tennis, football and basket-ball. There was also a Zumba instructor doing a warm up for the competitors! Also, there to encourage and help ou,t were Olympic and Oxbridge rowers. Bring on NJIRC 2016! Full lists of results can be found on the London Youth Rowing website; http://londonyouthrowing.com/2015/03/20/njirc-15-results/

National Junior Indoor Rowing Championships 2 0 1 5

Year Group

Name Row Results Position

Yr 13 Alison Strub 2000m 8.23.2mins 9th in competition

Yr 10 Julia Olawumi 5 min 1343 metres 3rd in competition

Yr 9 Chelsea Fashina 4 min 1086 metres 2nd in competition

Yr 8 Ngo Pungong 3 min 775 metres 4th in competition

Yr 7 Phenomena Umukoro 2 min 496 metres 5th in competition

Junior Rowing Teams Senior Rowing Teams

Team 1 - 4th overall Team 3 - 5th place overall

Team 2 Team 2 - 10th place overall

Team 3 Team 3 - 11th place overall

Team 4

Team 5

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Some of Townley Grammar School’s exhibits for the Excel Centre’s Fashion and Embroidery Textiles Exhibition,

London 27th—29th March 2015

Installation of Townley Grammar School’s

new Food Pod—’Munch Box’

TOWNLEY GRAMMAR WIN THIRD PRIZE WITH ELAINE MAN’S ENTRY IN THE EXCEL CENTRE’S SCHOOLS’ FASHION DESIGN COMPETITION

36

Lower Sixth Students get a feel for University Language Studies

Following on from our Year 10 visit in the Autumn Term, the Modern Languages De-partment was invited again this term to the University of Warwick, this time for a tast-er day aimed at Lower Sixth students. Mrs Bottaioli and Mr Symes accompanied fifteen students from all four of our AS level Language courses, to attend the day. The programme was tailored specifically to Sixth Form level and as university is now just around the corner for these students, they were really able to see and understand what continuing their language (or starting a new one!) at university level would feel like. Our students chose from sessions on Italian cinema, French pop culture, German poetry, as well as language sessions and a taster class in Russian. They had the oppor-tunity to find out about the different options for studying languages at university (there are many possibilities and combinations) and to hear from current undergradu-ate students at Warwick. Here are some snippets from their comments about the day:

‘The taster lectures were very enjoyable and I especially liked the cultural session which was very different from the content we are used to at GCSE and AS level. Visiting this Russell Group university gave us something to aim for in the future. ‘Ellis Mackenzie –Ingle ‘It was interesting to have the opportunity to attend a lecture from a leading member of the Warwick Languages Department. ’ Katherine Farrell ‘I found the trip useful- it allowed us to get a taste of uni life and gave us an opportunity to see different courses in relation to languages. ‘Emma Freeman I’ really enjoyed our trip to Warwick, as it gave me the opportunity to ask the students about university life The taster lectures helped me to understand why the cultural aspects of learning a language are important. ’ Chloe Huggon ‘The opening talk was also very informative and covered key aspects of languages courses, convincing me even more to apply to Warwick to study a lan-guage course. It was a great opportunity. ’ Katy Conybear ‘I learnt that if I studied Spanish at degree level I could do a single or joint honours degree or even a major and a minor. I found the teachers very enthu-siastic and interesting and the trip definitely provided me with helpful information for considering my future options. ‘ Bethany Paige

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A Trip to Remember - Malaga 2015 Following months of painstakingly detailed planning and uncontrollable excitement the 14th March finally came. At last! We were going to Malaga! We set off from school after boarding the coach at the ungodly hour of 3.00am and although only minutes before we had literally been falling asleep stand-ing up, as soon as we were on course for the airport all ideas of rest were forgotten. Everyone was contently chatting way in anticipation for the long await-ed trip that was now so close. After an almost smooth security check (I won’t mention the scissors incident), and a roughly three hour flight, we landed in bright, beautiful Malaga and boarded the coach to Enforex, the school we would be seeing quite a lot of during our short stay. We dropped off our luggage and were introduced to Sergio who would be our leader/tour guide/Spanish culture expert/go-to man every time we were out and about. Not to mention his excellent goal-keeping skills. He led us towards the restaurant where we would have lunch but along the way, stopped to give us some information about Malaga. When we arrived at the restaurant, we enjoyed a plenteous helping of pasta in a meaty tomato sauce. But of course that wasn’t all they had in store for us. We were also served fries and plates of very controversial battered squid rings; just like marmite you either loved it or you hated it. After an incredibly long walk along la playa we spent the rest of the day playing volleyball on the beach and dipping our toes in the sea before meeting our homestay families for the first time and going back to their houses. On Sunday we visited Granada, another city, like Malaga, in Andalucia. The surroundings were picturesque; the sun was shining and its light reflected on the windows of the tower-like buildings we saw on every street. We all got excited at the familiar sight of a Burger King and so the teachers took the opportunity to give us a toilet break and let us buy some food, which was greatly appreciated. Later on we stopped to take a group photo in front of the Granada cathe-dral and to our surprise, were greeted and welcomed by the Bishop of Granada himself. By the time this day was over, I think our phone memory cards were already bursting and there was still a lot left to see. Monday began with lessons at the Spanish school but in the afternoon we visited the Malaga city centre where we had a historic tour (courtesy of Sergio, of course) and saw the birthplace of Picasso. One of the most memorable aspects of the trip was the completely back-breaking, arduous climb to the top of the Gibralfaro Castle hill. We were rewarded for our fatigue however, when we set our eyes on the utterly breath-taking views that we could see from the height we were at. We ended a tiring but very enjoyable day with a Malaga Tapas Tour that was eventful to say the least. We were served a variety of col-ourful, strange and quite frankly outrageous-looking delicacies which actually turned out to be quite delicious and returned home worn out but content. Our Spanish lessons were again the first feature of Day 4 in Malaga but instead of setting off when they were over as we had done the day before, after re-turning from lunch with our families we were given a flamenco dancing tutorial in the school gardens from a native dancer and I’m sure we all felt like little flamingos by the end of it. Straight after this we were taught how to cook the famous Spanish dish Paella and although there were a few minor complica-tions, *cough* ants *cough*, we finally produced a meal we could be proud of. We were then given a chance to freshen up for our evening out to watch a real Spanish Flamenco show in the centre of Malaga. I think it’s safe to say our opinions of the experience are very varied but I believe none of us will ever forget it.

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Malaga 2015

On our final day in Spain, although we were met with rain in the morning we managed to keep our heads up and enjoy the remainder of our time in Malaga. The rain cleared up after a while and some of us took the opportunity to enjoy the Picasso Museum while others preferred to search for souvenirs among the area’s many shops. We reunited and then returned to the res-taurant we had first eaten at on our arrival in Malaga before visiting a large, Bluewater-style shopping style where everyone took the opportunity to spend every last cent they had re-maining. Then all that there was left to do was say “Adios!” to Malaga and prepare to board our plane home. All in all, Malaga 2015 was a truly wonderful trip and I personally learnt a lot about Spanish history and culture and I believe my Spanish has improved considerably. I am sure I speak for everyone who came on the trip when I say we will never forget it. Abigail Oyedele 10Aph

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Year 13 STEM Day: Imagineering Your Future

This year’s theme for Year 13 STEM Day was ‘Imagineering Your Future’ with the aim of providing students with skills and information that will be useful to them when they embark on the next stage of their lives. Students were given a selection of workshops to choose from including Cooking on a Budget, De-sign, Politics, Science and Finance. Some of the students also had the opportunity to visit a local garage to learn about car maintenance. The workshops were followed by a Science Show called ‘Look to the Future’ with guest scientist Neil Monteiro, which introduced the students to future ad-vancements which would affect them all regardless of career such as within the fields of biotechnology and medicine.

Mr Kent

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ASSOCIATE STAFF VACANCIES

Full-Time Finance roles available—36 Hours per week - 52 weeks per year

Townley Grammar School is one of the top 100 schools in the country. We are a multicultural girls’ selective school with a specialism in Per-forming and Visual Arts with Mathematics and Computing.

The Finance Office is central to the smooth running of the school and is responsible for various activities including:

Payroll Administration; Budget Management; Sales, Purchase and Nominal Ledger; Asset Management; Contract Register; Production of Statutory Accounts and the Generation of Working Papers; School Voluntary Fund.

We would like to hear from suitably qualified and experienced candidates for the following roles:

Finance Manager - £26,277 - £28,395 Per Annum (depending on experience)

The successful candidate will be expected to manage the day to day Academy finance functions providing financial assistance and support to the Business Manager. The candidate will have a sound knowledge of financial management, including budget management, accounting techniques and producing reports. Previous experience of working in the education sector would be desirable but not essential.

Finance Assistant - £18,381 - £19,182 per annum (depending on experience)

Reporting to the Finance Manager, the main responsibility of the role will revolve around the sales ledger and providing assistance with oth-er tasks connected to the purchase ledger and general ledger. You will also be required to assist the Finance Officer with other tasks associ-ated with the school voluntary fund.

We would like our Finance team to be flexible, able to communicate with a wide range of people and able to adapt to the needs of the school and local community.

Application forms and further information are available from the school’s web site at www.townleygrammar.org.uk

Completed application forms should be returned to Mrs K Evans, School Business Manager at kevans37.303@townleygrammar.org.uk

Closing Date: Monday 13th April 2015

Interviews week commencing 20th April 2015

(please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted) The School operates a no smoking policy

SCHOOL NOTICES

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CAR PARKING

WE WOULD LIKE TO REMIND PARENTS THAT WHEN DROPPING OFF OR PICKING UP STUDENTS AT THE BEGINNING AND END OF THE SCHOOL DAY THAT THEY MUST NOT DRIVE INTO THE SCHOOL GROUNDS.

WE HAVE 1500 STUDENTS COMING IN AND OUT OF THE GATES DURING THIS TIME AND IT IS THEREFORE A HEALTH AND SAFETY RISK TO HAVE EXTRA CARS COMING IN. WE DO NOT HAVE THE CAPACITY FOR YOU TO DO THIS AS WE HAVE STAFF CARS COMING IN AND GOING OUT AS WELL. STUDENTS ARE REMINDED TO BE VIGILANT WHEN WALK-ING IN AND OUT OF SCHOOL – PLEASE REINFORCE THIS WITH THEM.

WHEN WE HAVE A PARENTS EVENING, THE REASON WE DO NOT LET PARENTS PARK IN THE CAR PARK IS BECAUSE WE DO NOT HAVE THE SPACE. PLEASE PARK WITH CON-SIDERATION IN THE SURROUNDING STREETS OR IN THE CAR PARKS IN BEXLEYHEATH. THE TRAFFIC WARDENS WILL TICKET YOU IF YOU ARE ON THE YELLOW LINES.

WE WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT WITH THIS – IT IS TO KEEP YOUR CHILDREN SAFE.

THANK YOU

STUDENT MEDICATION

May we remind parents to please arrange for collection of expired medication which is kept by Student Services. Letters are sent to remind parents/carers to

advise that medication has expired or is due to expire. However, we have a number of items that still await collection.

If your child no longer requires medication that is kept by Student Services, please advise of this in writing. It is preferable that we have letter from the pre-

scribing medic explaining there is no longer a need for this medication.

All medication brought in for safe keeping in Student Services must be in the original packaging as stated in

DfE Statutory Guidance.

SCHOOL NOTICES

New Canteen and IT Facilities

It is anticipated that the new facilities will be handed over from the main contractors to the school in June. After this the school will have a number of tasks to complete prior to

the building becoming functional. It is aimed to brin gthe canteen and dining hall on stream first with the view that the IT classrooms will be in in September 2015. This will require

a significant re-organisation and refurbishment of the existing classrooms on the second floor over the Summer holiday. We will keep you informed of our progress.

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Please visit the Parent View website to take part in the Ofsted parental survey at:

http://www.townleygrammar.org.uk/parents/parent-view/

SCHOOL NOTICES

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WITH BEST WISHES FOR EASTER

FROM ALL THE STAFF

AT

TOWNLEY GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Summer Term starts:

Monday

13th April

2015